Our New (Old) Hammock

We are fortunate enough to have two mature trees in our back yard just the right distance apart for a hammock. Every spring, we break it out of the garage and hang it up. Only this year, the hammock's not looking so good:

Even Pao seems to be shying away from it! This webbing used to be white:

And this used to be oiled wood:

I won't even speculate about what kind of critter made this mess:

It's clearly time for a change:

BUT...

I want to put off buying a new hammock for one more season, if I can. So I looked around for something I could do to make this current one more inviting.

This is what I came up with. I threw down an old quilt that used to be on the girls' beds when they were very little (and has since been reassigned to the old-but-serviceable blankets pile):

The scalloped edge is a little frayed from where somebody's pet rat chewed it (yes, we had a succession of them when the kids were small):

I think the tattered edge just adds to the cottage-shabby charm, don't you?

To cover the tied-on pillow of nasty green fabric, I dragged out an old pillow sham I've had forever. Well, practically forever. My Nana made this, and I couldn't bear to throw it out, even though it's not my favorite color scheme, because the material is an amazing, heavy, sturdy silk the likes of which isn't made any more.

I put it half under the pillow and then flopped it over the top, like a soft-taco shell around some filling:

See? the ugly pillow is covered up, and I don't need to mess with the dirt:

Then I added a little pillow, a little flea-market side table, something good to drink, and some magazines to read on a summer's afternoon:

I am soooo looking forward to reading this one:

"Contain clutter and reuse old stuff!" Music to my ears....

See you out in the back yard, soon.