Ready for Summer - is it every coming?

So, no luck at the garage sales today. My partner in crime wasn't feeling well yesterday so she slept in this morning and I was on my own. I think that's why I didn't find anything good; she's my good luck charm! At any rate, I saved myself some money and put my energy into other things, like taking a nap in the hammock. I did get some good cleaning up done around the yard and pool area. Though it isn't completely finished, my pool deck is looking a whole lot better. We've had lovely weather for the past few days but still not warm enough for what I would call summer.

You may have seen my post about a month ago talking about how the good weather gives me project fever and my plans for a patio makeover and lounge chair finishing. When my pool was installed way back whenever, it was plopped it into the middle of a full blown garden so by the time I got a hold of it, it was overgrown with mostly weeds taking over the pool area. I am lucky to have a separately fenced area with a nice, secure gate that houses my pool but I have been longing to get it tidied up and more usable and that was this Spring's project. Well, mostly my husband's project - he's the one who made the loungers, ripped out the garden, hauled most of the dirt (I managed 10 wheel barrows full!) and put in the patio stones (left over from major patio overhaul we did two years ago.) So, here's what it looked like a month ago.

Shudder... you never realize how bad it was until it's fixed up! We sold the table and chairs and started digging. Remember, we were using leftover stones so naturally we had juuuuust enough to almost finish it. Eeeeesh, what project ever goes smoothly? We are still working on finding the few extras that we need but this is what it looks like with the table and chairs in place...

See? better already! Now for the lounge chairs. "We" built these last summer based mostly on the plan Ana White's wonderful plan for a chaise with a bit of a size modification to match the cushions we found on sale for $25 each! I was supposed to paint the loungers last year and never got around to it. Can't remember what I was doing but it must have been important because without paint, they are so unattractive (lovely craftsmanship, though!).

So, this Spring, I dragged out the ol' can of exterior white and got down to it AND, complained the whole time to anyone who would listen. the slat bottoms were really annoying and I had to paint one side and then the other, and then it rained so I had to wait before I could resume painting, etc. But, they're done now and they look fabulous and I am so glad I put all that effort into them.

 So, with the table, chairs, loungers and matching umbrellas (also scored on sale end of season last year), here's how it looks!

Now, if it would only warm up, I might be tempted to jump in!