Dragonfly Pad

Dragonfly Pad

I just started this post with the thought of a year in review to stay on trend. I kept starting it over, deleting,  rewriting, and changing the title, but this was what my heart wanted to share with you today.

 This is the first picture I posted and how my blog became Dragonfly & Lily Pads.
The Dragonfly
Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads,
there lived a little water beetle in a community of water
beetles.  They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond
with few disturbances and interruptions.

Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of
their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and
would never be seen again.  They knew when this happened; their
friend was dead, gone forever.

Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge
to climb up that stem.  However, he was determined that he would
not leave forever.  He would come back and tell his friends what
he had found at the top.

When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the
surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so
warm, that he decided he must take a nap.  As he slept, his body
changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful
blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body
designed for flying.

So, fly he did!  And, as he soared he saw the beauty of a whole
new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never
known existed.

Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking
by now he was dead.  He wanted to go back to tell them, and
explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been
before.  His life had been fulfilled rather than ended.

But, his new body would not go down into the water.  He could
not get back to tell his friends the good news.  Then he
understood that their time would come, when they, too, would
know what he now knew.  So, he raised his wings and flew off
into his joyous new life!


~Author Unknown~

When we found our lake home in 2011. I sat in front of the house on the broken pier and felt at peace. There in front of me, on a warm late spring day danced dragonflies, and next to me, as you can see in the picture above, those lily pads.  
So our lake home, where we go to find peace, sometimes quiet, other times busy loud fun with family, and friends is our place. 
Cricket is Fishing while I work on planting flowers my chair is waiting for me to take a break!
 The house was named Dragonfly simply because, it is a symbol of loved ones who came before us, loved ones who are here with us, and helped us get to this point. Some day I will watch with glee, our loved ones who follow us in this home, of love, peace, joy, happiness, filled with memories made, happening ,and to come. 

Cricket and I taking a moment to enjoy my favorite place on the broken pier.
The pier was removed the next day to be replaced by a new seawall.




Yes you are correct if you are thinking that is part of the pier. The top picture is my son and husband taking apart the part of the pier that was not underwater. The bottom picture is the section of the pier that was below water for years. Did you know that wood underwater is preserved? So of course being the Creative person that I am, we certainly could not dump the good wood.
I have several different ideas of how I want to use the materials. This is going to be a project for the Spring. As of know I am thinking of a Secret Garden behind the house, but for know I am taking suggestions.
Please add your ideas in the comments.
When the project is decided I will let you in on the decision, plus you will be able to follow
along on the progress of the recycled pier project on the blog.

Happy New Year to each one of you who take the time to include me in your day by reading my posts.
Thank you to all the new people I have made connections with during this 2 1/2 Months of this new blog world.
 I plan on building friendships, networks, while continuing to learn, how to share my passion for all things creative with others.
I wish you all a Healthy, Happy, Prosperous 2014!


 Daybeds inspired by Ana White

     I have to thank +Ana White for her terrific free plans for the beds my husband built. Each Winter we plan projects for inside our lake house. My husband wanted to build beds for our lake home. I searched everywhere I could think of  to find solid economical beds with storage, when I found Ana White's plans for a twin size daybed with storage. It has six storage cubes in each bed which gave me room to store linens on one side and a space for each guest to store their belongings while they visit. The design was perfect for our guestroom at night and a game room during the day. Please follow this link to get her plans, check out her site, and while you are there she has plenty of plans for many projects.
 First we studied her list, changed the wood to oak sanded plywood, because we planned on staining it with Minwax Stain and Sealer(Ebony), and Ana painted the bed White. Then we added up what wood we needed for two beds, which was easy because instructions included a detailed cut pattern. We purchased the oak sanded plywood from Home depot for the body of the bed, and the facing was oak as well.
  I was concerned about keeping the cost to a down. After giving the design a bit of thought I realized we could save even more money if we bought the cheaper pine sanded plywood for the inside of the cubes. The pieces that we cut out of sanded pine plywood included: Three bottom cuts, 4 sides of boxes, and 3 center cuts for each
Look at the cube in the background and top of bed on table.
Original Design complete
  My husband followed Ana White cuts, supplies lists, and directions exactly on the first bed. We changed the cut pattern on the second bed to the make cutting, staining and painting easier. We tried making the top on this bed one piece of wood instead of three separate pieces. This way my husband was able to paint the bottom or inside of the cubes Oatmeal on the inside and stain Ebony on the top, ends and facing.

Close-up of bed 
The beds made but the room is not yet complete.
You can see the daybeds in our guest /game room.
I added pillows that  I made to ones I purchased. I also bought Colonial Mills round baskets to add colorful  storage. I am still working on the bedding and decor of this room. I post more pictures later when I finish the guest/game room. I think Ana White will be proud my husband made these beautiful daybeds using her plans. We already had some guest stay over they gave the beds rave reviews. Please Leave a comment to let me know what you think of the beds or about Dragonfly & Lily Pads. Thank you again to Ana White for the wonderful plans hop on over and check out her site too.

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