And a quick chore update

Got another screen painted today and touched up some of the porch posts that were stained from red clay (before the screens the cats jumped up and down from the porch rails and the little posts were places their paws touched going up and coming down). Now all I have left is the end - one big screen, the support beam, and the triangular screen up at the top.

The front door got its last application of tung oil and that effectively took care of the Corgi nail marks.

Looking ahead, once done with the screens I'll also clean and touch up the firewood bin on the porch too. Then it's reward time - I need to find the light replacement and get it hung!

I've ordered something called TC Guardian which is supposed to kill mold and fungus in wood. I'll apply this to the front steps, then move on with my French Gray milk paint on the cat tunnel and steps. I found a page on the Real Milk Paint site that gives proportions to mix French Gray with white to get different gradations of color. I think 1:1 is going to be the perfect shade. The great thing about moving on to the tunnel is that I don't have to block the tunnel, lock the cats off the front porch, etc. to do the work. I'm looking forward to it.

Once the tunnel is painted and tung-oiled I'll move back to the steps and do the same to them.

And isn't it always true that once you check something off, or get close to doing so, another chore pops up? Today as I was working I noticed that the honeysuckle and wild muscadine vines have literally pushed the trellis along the bottom of the porch off the board they were attached to. Sigh. Once all these vines are dug out and removed I'll get the trellis repaired and then (this is a mid-winter project I think) I'll work on securing the space beneath the front porch - and make a little ramp down for the cats so they can dig and patrol and have expanded but secure territory. It will present its own little nightmare if we want to get them in and they don't want to come, but what the heck. I can still pull a can of tuna out of the cupboard and use that as a reward.

Once the front steps are done I'm moving to a very special (and fun) project on the side fence. It will be part of what I'm calling the "garden project" - going into winter I will be expanding beds and prepping them for new plantings as I create a pollinator garden. This is going to be my big attempt to get control of the wild mess that has taken over in the current beds, with the goal of having something fairly easy to maintain but also very lovely and bee/butterfly/hummingbird/goldfinch friendly. I saw an idea on Pinterest for the fun whimsical part. Can't wait to photo and show it off here.

I also decided it was time to inch my way toward riding the Big Bay. Step one on this 75-degree day was to put him in the arena with the pony and do some free lunging to see how he's moving. It also effectively cleaned their hooves and the donka boys insisted on joining in so they got some exercise and hoof polishing too. Keil looks good. He warmed up into a lovely big trot and canter and I'm feeling good about some rides in the next week or so.

The pony looks like a million dollars. If he could grow a couple of hands I'd ride HIM!