End of Summer Work fest.

Sorry I have been out of the loop but this is my busiest time of year.  I am a person who loves projects but I have maybe "chawed" off more than I can swallow this season.  Here is the line-up to do list before the first rains come. 

• Paint the garden walls, 1/2 done...have to get some more paint at 89 euros a huge tin and 10 euros to mix the color...need a car for that one
• Paint the driveway pillars...3/4 done, mixed the paint myself, found some weird yellow orange exterior paint in the archive and it looks great.
• Paint the metal grill work in the windows traditional Nicoise blue, finished !!
• Tint the wood rail above the grill in the windows.  Bought the dark tint. ...should be easy.  
• Put protective varnish coat on the tinted wood after it's dry.  
• Paint the trim on the house same as garden wall.  Need to cut back all the plants next to the wall first.  Will wait till the plumbago  is finished showing off it's dark violet clusters. 
• Repaint the shutters which we had done 10 years ago but need it again.  They are antiques and you can't buy the old ones without nails, like ours so I really should do it.  I bought a nifty little sander.  But there are 14 shutters ( 7 windows) so this may have to be next year.
• Finish putting protective varnish on garden steps.  ( one more coat and I'm done with this one)
• Repot, fertilize and treat the plants that need it in both gardens.  Tend to the irises and move some of them around.  

Of course, summer is my busiest studio rental period too.  I have had some wonderful "guests" this year.  I wish many of them lived closer and weren't just passing through.  

 Now, however, I am getting itchy for my first vacation since the beginning of the year.  I am off to Croatia next week.  We all need to fill our tanks once in a while and I am running on empty.

I have kept in mind that I could be getting out of balance with all these "tasks" and so I have met up with new folks this year and had a lot of parties and fetes with friends since the season started. 

 I know that on my death bed I am not supposed to care about my shutters and painting the garden wall.... but I am still working on that one!!