Swing On By...

photo: Rodney Smith

There are many reasons I'd like to live in the country. I have written of them before, in fact; but the reality is that I will not be living in the country anytime soon, nor am I sure it will ever be the best choice for us anyway. Still, I have my reasons. Big yards - with ample room for vegetable gardens, a pool, playhouse, tree house, room to raise chickens, and a barn to house barn cats. I would wish for apple trees, picnic spots, and a little pond my kids could skate on in the winter. Sounds idyllic, doesn't it?

Still, there is one more reason: I would want a swing. Now, I realize you don't need to live in the country to have a swing set (although our present lot doesn't afford the space), and we do have our porch swing - which sees lots of use - but I want a swing like this:

photo: Katrin Cargill.com

Or maybe a tire swing, which I could strategically settle myself upon, fling my head back and, throwing caution to the wind, let my hair graze the worn, dusty ground as I swing.

The memories of doing that as a school girl come flooding back even as I picture it. I distinctly remember the dizzying feeling as the tire would swing round and round, and my head would spin even more if I closed my eyes. I would marvel at how the backs of my eyelids appeared bright red as the sun shone through them, and I felt as if I didn't have a care in the world. It leaves me wondering if I could still summon that same, carefree feeling.

I remember teaching my children to pump their legs, ever hopeful that I wouldn't be forever beckoned to "Push me, Mummy," when I longed to just chat with the other mums at the playground, or read a few pages from a book while sitting on the deck at home. I now know that those are days I sometimes miss; but I know they are days I will return to and appreciate more when my own children share their young with me some day.

Each spring I prowl around my little yard looking for a potential spot to hang a swing for our daughter, hoping one surfaced like some forgotten new planting. I want to have another look at a little girl swinging happily, head thrown back...hair sweeping the ground.

Back out I go to search for a magical beanstalk...

How low can I go with "no sew"...??

photo: creme de la creme interiors

My desire to putter about my home, dreaming up new projects and improvements, can lead to the occasional teasing from my friends and they sometimes revert to the old stand-by: dubbing me "Martha" (which, depending on the delivery, may or may not be considered a compliment). I can take a joke, however, and calling me "Martha" is a joke indeed. For the record, I refuse to iron, truly do not enjoy baking, and am most inept at sewing. I do own a sewing machine, but it sits in my lonely craft area, collecting dust. I can sew a straight line with it, but always seem to get the thread tangled up in the machine and end up muttering unpleasantries under my breath. My lack of sewing skills does not deter me, however, when faced with a project, and I instead quietly whip out my glue gun for sewing projects that require only the weakest of bonds...

I have, however, sunk to a new low...

I have been eyeing my porch swing for a while now, with plans to pretty it up. I have had a new seat cushion for it for some time now, but hesitated to use it until I could figure out a way to add a skirt to the seat without resorting to sewing. I also had a pretty watery green and brown toile window valance that I had picked up a while ago at a bed and bath shop, and had not found the ideal spot to hang it. Voila: I decided to use it as the new skirt for my swing! In a stroke of dumb luck, I had also stumbled upon a tension curtain rod in my garage while tidying it recently. It, too, had no intended purpose; so I decided to test my theory that it could be pressed into service as a way to skirt my swing!!

Guess what? It worked!! With the skirt in place, I simply set my new seat cushion on top - thus preventing the potential discomfort of the rod - and added a spare pillow to the mix. Now, I happily have a comfortable and pretty porch swing - again, using things I had lying forlornly around the house!

porch swing: before...

and after!!