The side of our building at the shop is getting quite the face lift! The city had Diaz paint a huge mural on the back of the Rt. 66 Museum (the old firehouse part of the building). Then this spring they installed a nice brick drive in front of it so you can drive your car up there and have your picture made. The drive even contains bricks from the old Rt. 66 highway. Very cool.
Here's the front of our building...the white rectangle is where the new streetcar mural will be painted. Can't wait to see it all done!
I'm very excited about the events going on in Pontiac this summer. Pontiac is hosting the Walldogs this summer! The Walldogs are a group of sign painters and muralists from around the world. Each summer they converge in one town to create wonderful murals. 160 artists will visit Pontiac to create 17 murals around the downtown area. This design will be painted on the side of Old City Hall Shoppes! Come to Pontiac June 25, 26, 27 and 28. In addition to watching the murals being painted, you can attend Heritage days on the square and the Hang Loose Car Show in Riverside Park. You can view more of the mural designs here.
Since I run Old City Hall Shoppes downtown, I get to see all the preparation going on...the buildings have been tuck pointed and the mural sites are being primed. Some new artwork has been added to downtown for the summer.... there are dogs of all kinds, decorated by artists, to be found around the square. Here they are in a nice little group shot... right under a "no animals allowed" sign. Now they are scattered around the square, near the shops. If you haven't been downtown lately, now's the time to take a walk and see the action.
Kevin built this arbor from osage orange...it should outlive everyone at the party! The wistera on it was blooming so beautifully!
Handsome Cole boys. Mike, our son, is in the middle. The others are his twin cousins, Steven and Jake. Steven looks just like his dad. Jake looks just like his uncle (good thing they are twins! ;o)) and Mike looks like a combo of Joe and I.
Kids are never allowed to ride in pickup beds these days...but just for today, they were allowed (with adult supervision) to do just that on the little ride to the pond to fish.
Mike, Jill, Colleen and Brandy
The birthday boy...he has a huge collection of toy cowboy guns. He armed each little party goer as they arrived. I think this was a surprise to my sister, and not very p.c. but they had a blast! Apparently 8 year olds are not into considering the political correctness of their party plans!
"Cheese!"
Waiting for cake!
Looks like a tea party here.
Sometimes when you just buy what you like regardless of what is "hot" or "not," nice things happen. Like the lights from 5 years ago pretty much match the cushion fabric I purchased last year! Just snapped the little shades on a new strand of lights and we're done.
Last year the stores were full of black and taupe for outdoor living. I've seen beautiful porches decorated with those colors...but our house is yellow, and I didn't want it to resemble a bumble bee! Actually, our porch looks more like a circus, especially since adding the great table made by an artist friend. It's fun. I'd love to get that glider to an auto paint place and have it painted red or white.
Found these cushions at Pier One...made from fabric intended for outdoors, so hopefully they will not fade to quickly. I need to tighten up the cushion cover on that seat...it's just a tad too loose and wrinkles up a bit.
