Beautiful Fall Sunday 11-5-2023

quhl – @quhl5 on X

It’s a beautiful fall day here in Arkansas. I’ve been whining and gritching about it being too hot or too cold, so I thought I would make a point of praising the weather today. Mother Nature’s head is ‘on straight,’ and her nose is ‘in joint,’ so the weather is truly nice. It’s 58 here right now and the high is supposed to be 77 this afternoon.

I’m trying to follow a new routine of doing something ‘significant’ outside each day, make progress on my glassware etching, do something significant in the house, and then spend time on the computer/reading/and/or listening to music – short sessions of each of these over and over throughout the day, plus do my yoga practice each afternoon in an effort to get off my rear, get things accomplished without hurting myself, and feel good about my progress each day.

Yesterday my outdoor project was to cut off the dead elephant ear stalks. I’m leaving what’s left now to dry out before cutting more. When I get them cut off at the soil level or just below, I’ll cram as many leaves as I can in the planter for the winter.

My outdoor project for today is cleaning up the raised bed square foot garden planters and covering them with tarps for the winter. I’ll at least get started with that today and see how it goes.

One of my pet peeves is rearing its head today – Daylight Savings Time. I just read a mishmash of ‘reasons’ we have it at all, and the fact that Congress can’t decide – IF they decide to stop having it – whether to keep Daylight Savings Time permanent or use Standard Time. (And we wonder why we’re in such a mess these days.) End of rant.

I hope that your day is beautiful and that you manage to cram as much fun into it as possible. :0)

Today’s Project 9-16-2023

These two pictures give you an idea of what I was trying to clean out today. There are 11 planters on the deck – all of them overgrown with weeds – some dead, most alive and thriving. I just came in from getting things cleaned out.

In the black planter in the center of this photo, there was a really big, strong root that didn’t want to come out. I finally got a stool, a short shovel, and some loppers. I pried up the root as much as possible and then lopped it off as low as I could. I don’t think we’ll see it again, since it will have to weather the winter with no water, little sun, and no food, but we’ll see. You can also see that Amber was helping me with the project. :0)

Things are looking more like someone cares now. I’m going to turn off the irrigation system to the back. There is only one planter along the driveway pad that needs watering, and I can do that by hand.

Today’s Project 9-14-2023

Before – the trio of brick planters had become completely overgrown with out-of-control runners on plants, weeds, and Bermuda grass. Today was a perfect day to try to get this under control. The sky was mostly overcast. It’s just now 81, but was cooler most of the morning while I was doing the first session. There was a breeze. I had my stool, the big trash can, my gloves, and two kinds of loppers.

Things are looking a bit better now, and I’m finished for the day outside. I haven’t decided what the next project area will be yet, but I have a wealth of areas from which to choose….

Today’s Project Done

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after

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The outside project is done and we just got the mail and drove the trash to the bottom of the driveway. Now we’ll eat some lunch and I’ll rest awhile before going up to play in my art room. :0)

Too Hot to Handle

Digital Mom Blog

Actual temperature forecast to be 104 today. I have no idea what the “feels like” temperature will be. All I know is that IT’S TOO HOT! I’m eagerly awaiting the possibility of rain late this weekend or early next week.

We’re leaving for errands in a few minutes. When we get back, we’re in for the day.

I finished my spraying for weeds yesterday. I’ll give it a few days and then see where I need to treat again. My husband is smiling at the turning-brown-and-crunchy grass.

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Yesterday I cleaned up and reorganized the dining area. Today I’ll tackle what we call the ‘go-out table,’ a catch-all for many of the things we should have been putting where they belong, but landed there because we were too lazy.

As you can see, the baskets are full-to-overflowing and things are getting ready to topple off the table. Hopefully, I can remedy that today.

I hope you have a calm, quiet day, insulated against weather extremes, with a hug or two to help you through.

Did It!

We have the first floor now almost completely converted from the old-style fluorescent fixtures, ballast transformers and tubes to the new-style LED tubes. We put fluorescents everywhere when we built because we liked the fact that they last a long time and give a really good amount of light.

We just learned that the tubes we have been using will no longer be made starting this August (!) so we really had no choice. My husband ordered a box of LED lights (count of 30). He got antsy waiting for the delivery, so he went to our local Yeager’s and bought the 6 tubes they had that were the color we had ordered online. We laboriously put the six in and then the box of 30 more arrived.

We have now finished the kitchen (above). Last night my husband sneaked in and converted the one in the pantry. (He said the last two tubes were “calling to him.”)

The only fixture left to be converted on the first floor now is the back bathroom, beyond the utility room.

Yesterday we spent all day converting these three fixtures in our office. We worked well together. In fact, my husband complimented me on what a good job I did helping him, anticipating which tool he would need when, etc., plus “helping him stay calm.” He cooperated with my insisting we take breaks, hydrate, eat lunch, etc. and this, I think, helped both of us a lot.

I’ve been having to flip the switch in the office 5 or 6 times each morning in an effort to get all three fixtures lit at the same time. Now, one flip and the room is ablaze in light! I keep finding myself expecting a light to suddenly go off. :0)

The tubes are expensive, but the regular fluorescents weren’t cheap, either. They are supposed to last 50,000 hours. They use less energy. They allowed us to get rid of the ballast transformers which were failing. Even though the conversion is a lot of work, these tubes may last longer than we do. :0)

We have another box ordered, but we have agreed (at least right now) to replace the upstairs tubes as they fail, rather than continue the race we’ve been on lately. Having been married to this man 54 years now, I know that this agreement will probably last until the delivery of the box of tubes, but at least I’ll get a break until the 20th, when the delivery is estimated.

If the Weather Will Cooperate…

Ryobi Reciprocating Saw

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This is a reciprocating saw and these –

DepositPhotos

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are loppers.

With the two of these, I SHOULD be able to clear many of the weed trees that have grown up along the civilized edge of our back yard, before the land drops off. I was planning to buy a reciprocating saw just for my gardening, but my husband insists I use his. We do have another blade to put on it after I finish, and we’ll probably need to, since I’ll be cutting down trees with some sap inside, even though I clean it as well as possible each time I use it. I’ve moved it from the shop to the garage so that if Mother Nature is feeling cooperative I can make some progress out there this afternoon.

Before and After

Before

The bricks have been moved from in the middle of everything, between the top of the driveway to the far side, between one place we store firewood and the end of the trio planters. (You can see the bare dirt rectangle on the ground where the stack of bricks was.) I used a leaf blower to clear the area as much as possible and then weed whacked along the edge of the planters on this side and the other side that faces the yard.

Looks a bit more like someone cares now. The rain spit on us a bit on our way home from getting some groceries, but let up when we got home, giving me the chance to finish this project. The rain is supposed to start again in about and hour, then continue throughout the night and into tomorrow. I’m doubly glad I got to a stopping point here.

I’m resting now and enjoying a cup of coffee and then will do my yoga practice for the day. (DAY 131 of yoga practice and I held the plank pose for a quick count of 45 yesterday.)

Stay warm and dry!

One of Today’s Projects 11-22-2022

This pile of bricks is part of a big group that we bought when we needed to replace two brick planters that were failing. These are the leftovers from that project and have been sitting here for several years now. We weed whack around them. We mow around them. They are an eyesore – one of the first things you see when you get to the top of our driveway.

True to form what bothers one person doesn’t bother another. While this pile of bricks has been grating on my nerves for quite some time now, my husband doesn’t even see it anymore. When I talked to him about our relocating the bricks, he was totally uninterested. Since I’M the one this bothers, I’ll do something about it – TODAY.

There is a spot between the far end of this trio of brick planters and one of our firewood holders. This would be out of the way and mostly out of sight. I’ll use the wheelbarrow and see if I can get these moved this morning.

Wednesday 11-17-2021

Marcus Westberg-ComedyWildlife-Forbes

I guess you can tell from the expression on my face above – it’s the height of being spoiled to admit that, when I’m lucky enough to have one of the best dentists on the planet with a full crew of good hygienists, I still HATE going there for our twice-a-year appointments.

Other than braces as a teenager, until this year I had never had a cavity or anything else done. One of the perks of getting to be older-than-dirt is that you start falling apart. Now I’ve had one cavity filled and one tooth pulled.

One of the things that scares me the most is the cancer check. My mom died of oral cancer. Hers, I think, was due to smoking. It still worries me that there MIGHT be a hereditary factor at play. Thankfully, my hygienist now does that screening for me first. (Did I tell you what wonderful people these are?)

I did the repainting of the greeter robot at the bottom of our driveway yesterday afternoon. He doesn’t look ‘new,’ but it definitely looks as if he is a treasured member of the family now. I’ll try to get a pic of him to show you later as we leave for the dentist this morning.

We’re due for thunderstorms and colder temperatures starting this afternoon, so I’m glad I got that little project finished.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Perfect Afternoon!

metro.co.uk

We have finished our errands for the day. We will have some lunch and relax a bit, and then I’ll head down to the bottom of our driveway in the truck with the supplies needed to refurbish the greeter robot.

I was surprised to see how well the mold/mildew/elephant remover spray worked. I hosed him down twice and the green disappeared! Now the sweet robot is showing his rust. :0)

He is basically black and white, but there is a lot of masking to do so that I can see if I can use the spray can of white I bought. I’m hopeful that I can. This would make his refurbishment a lot easier. I have a can of hiding white and a brush, otherwise. I hope to do this all this afternoon, as we are scheduled for a cold front tomorrow afternoon with colder temperatures and rain.

Mother Nature is smiling on us today, though, so I’ll try to take full advantage of that.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Quite a “Thank You.”

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We just got back from Lunch Bunch and errands.

Our friend gave us quite a ‘thank you’ today for making the Freedom sign for her last week. She paid for our lunch, brought us a home-baked cake/bread with a huge, pretty bow on it, and hugged both of us. I feel that we should make her another sign for the extremely nice ‘thank you’! :0)

The sign said, “Don’t want $ – Want FREEDOM.” She stood on the side of the road across from a busy intersection off the expressway in Ft. Smith. She had a flag in one hand and the sign we made in the other. She said she had people honking and waving, and one man rolled down his window so he could yell, “Freedom!” and smile. It was a good experience for her and probably made some people who saw her happy.

(I’m happy to report that no one has damaged Yosemite Sam (our mailbox decoration) today. I’m relieved, and I hope to be able to one day take it for granted again, rather than driving down our driveway with dread. I will try to finish the repainting of the back of Wonder Wart-Hog this afternoon.

I hope that you are having a happy day, too.

Getting Older

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Hahahahahahahahah!

I woke up crackling and popping this morning. Even my husband heard it!

I will do a longer yoga practice this afternoon to see if I can improve things. That and W-D40….

My husband found an image of Wonder Wart-Hog, one of his favorite comic book characters from his childhood, and wants us to do another mailbox decoration. “Wonder Wart-Hog (the “Hog of Steel”) is an underground comic book character, a porcine parody of Superman, created by Gilbert Shelton and first published in 1962.” (Wikipedia)

He worked on the computer much of the afternoon, coming up with a program he hopes will work as it should to translate the image to the computer out in the shop and allow us to use a computer-guided torch to cut the image out of sheet metal. Then he’ll make an attachment that allows us to bolt the decoration to our mailbox, welding it to the sheet metal. We’ll use an overhead projector to mark the key areas of the bare sheet metal front and back. Finally, I’ll paint both sides of the piece plus the attachment. I’ll post a picture when it’s finished. :0)

Right now we have Godzilla on the mailbox. We’ll be exchanging it for Fritz the Cat in another week.

Our “Peacock” is Preening Again

When we got home from errands this morning, I brought the finished “peacock” out to his place in the yard.

This was a pain to re-paint, due to how wide and unwieldy he is. There are lots of angles that hide from you as you paint, and he doesn’t want to ‘sit’ quietly, making it easier to work on him. He also had lost most of his beads, so those had to be replaced.

He used to be high up on the tower above where we put the “Belly Vested Whapadoo,” –

but I thought he could enjoy a new view.

There are some other, smaller pieces we’ll have to take down from the side of the house, and some larger ones, like the robot at the end of the driveway, but we’re due for summer to come roaring back, so I’m going to take a bit of a break.

A LOT of Fun

Exploring Your Mind

My drafting table is covered with paint. I”M covered with paint. One wrap-around canvas is covered with paint. I splooped some dots of paint on my shirt, even though I wore my denim apron.

I’m letting my mess dry now, waiting to see if I got any “cells” in my paint. Even though I basically made a mess of the “Acrylic Pour” technique, I had a lot of fun trying.

Next time I try, I’m going to try a different technique that I also saw on YouTube. As usual, the result was not at ALL what I pictured and I’m at the “learning-what-NOT-to-do-NEXT time” part of the learning process. That doesn’t keep me from having a blast playing. :0)

On a more successful note, I finished painting our yard art “peacock” yesterday and glued on lots of beads today, around his neck and on his ‘feathers.’ If the glue does well, I’ll bring him back out in the yard tomorrow and take some pics.

I hope YOU are doing something fun and/or challenging, too!

Beginning of a New Week 8-2-2021

Dolceluna

I’ve been using a new face cream. What do you think?

We just got back from doing errands and I’ll fix our lunch in a minute.

The scales are finally beginning to notice my efforts to lose the lard more. I’ve lost 2 pounds in the past 2 days. Re-losing – so no confetti thrown until I’m in new territory.

The new addition to my exercise regimen starts this week, too.

• Monday – yoga stretching plus exercises with weights
• Tuesday – yoga stretching plus 15-30 minutes on the elliptical trainer.
• Wednesday – yoga stretching plus exercises with weights
• Thursday – yoga stretching plus 15-30 minutes on the elliptical trainer
• Friday – yoga stretching plus exercises with weights
• Saturday – yoga stretching plus 15-30 minutes on the elliptical trainer
• Sunday – yoga stretching

Yesterday I cleaned and started re-painting the “peacock” yard art critter in our shop. The biggest part of the refurb project on this one is gluing new beads on the ‘feathers’ and around his neck. I’ll show you when he goes back outside.

Yesterday I also cleaned off my drafting table in my art room. I gathered my supplies for my “acrylic pour” experimentation. I also watched several YouTube videos on various techniques several really talented people are using. Today I bought some Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner to add to my supplies. I will find a heat gun or grab my hair dryer. Later this afternoon I hope to gather my intimidation and throw it in the trash.

I hope that you’re having a great day, too.

Mama and Baby Snail

Mama & Baby Snail are refurbished and living on our front porch now. I finished repainting these yesterday and brought them out late yesterday afternoon.

Next will be cleaning and repainting our “peacock.”

We have Lunch Bunch this morning, so I don’t know whether I will start the peacock cleaning today or start earlier in the morning tomorrow.

UGH

Our mailbox decoration represents a return to our ‘normal” summer in Arkansas, rather than the cooler, rain-filled summer we’ve had this year. We’ve gotten quite spoiled, not fearing heat stroke as we mow, weedwhack, tend our flowers and square foot garden veggies.

All that ended about a week ago now. The rain stopped, the sun came out with a vengeance, raising our actual temperatures to 100 or more in the afternoons, and the heat index to surge even higher. UGH.

The only thing left in the garden now is sweet onions, weeds, and our two planters of tomatoes.

My husband managed to get the civilized part of our yard mowed, mowing right before dark one evening and then first thing in the morning the next day. I followed that with weed whacking right before dark night before last, and then finished it up last night and blew the debris off our sidewalks and driveway pad with our leaf blower. I was planning to use our push weedwhacker this morning in the area behind our shop and beside our garden, but we talked about it and decided I would really be risking heat stroke. I walk outside, with my headband on, and I’m instantly wringing wet. I think we will only do what is absolutely necessary until this “Punishment from Mother Nature” passes. We might even wait until fall…

I WILL pull the sweet onions and start drying them soon. I don’t know how much longer the tomatoes will make. Even with our irrigation system, the tomatoes are almost boiling on the vines. Happily, my elephant ear plants and phlox or doing well, even with the heat. I’ll try to get out and get pics for you.

When I get out there early enough, I’m still working on the refurbishment project of of our yard critters. Right now I’m repainting “Mama and Baby Snail.” I post a pic when they’re ready to go back outside.

Every summer I regret the fact that we ran out of money when we were building our home over 30 years ago. We managed the main house and the small shop, but we had to give up my dream of a pool. I taught swimming every summer from age 14 through college to help pay for my education. We live on top of ridge line, and had to dynamite several times to be able to have our basement, septic system, and the pool. We got the first two, but not the third. Every summer I dream of a beautiful in-ground pool. Of course, I also dream of Sven, the gorgeous pool man, coming to take care of it – and me. (If I’m going to dream, I’ll include it all… :0) )

I hope summer is being kind to you.

Shovel Bird is Back

I brought out the second finished shovel bird and put him in place last night before dark. He is at one edge of the top of our driveway, ready to greet all comers.

It feels good to be getting our yard critters cleaned up and re-painted. Things were beginning to look at bit sad around here.

I hope he brings a smile to someone’s face.

Hooray!!!!!!!

joemarino.org

We are in celebration and rest mode here today.

Yesterday my husband triumphed over the problem we were having with the Vette. (The Service Department at the Chevrolet place had quoted a price of $450 plus tax for the new part and then $500 for the labor of putting it in. THEN they told us, after keeping the Vette there for two weeks, they couldn’t get the part. It had been discontinued.)

My husband found the part we needed on the net, if we needed to order it, and bookmarked the page. He also found a video, with lots of positive comments, on how to get the part out, rewire it, and fix the problem. He has worked all day for three days, ending up with two hands and one arm totally bruised, bashed, gouged, and a bit swollen, plus really sore ribs from trying to hang over one side of the Vette and work to try to remove 6 screws holding the part in. Once the part was finally out, the factory had sealed it. He finally was able to pry the top off and clean up the inside. He soldered the 4 wires, put the part back together temporarily, installed it in the Vette (NO problem going back IN) and tested. IT WORKED!!!!!!

Now that he is over the hump on the problem, (knowing it is solved, and for a total of $10,) my husband can relax a bit from his “do it or die” mode of the past 3 days. I convinced him to take today off and REST. He is so sore that he seems happy to do that. He’s in the living room, drinking coffee and watching TV now. :0)

He will need to get the part out, seal the box again, then reinstall it. He’ll need to reconnect the things he had to disconnect to get to the part. But none of this will be the pressure-filled, impossible position, HARD work he’s been doing. Then he’ll be able to move the Vette from the shop to our garage.

He told me again how much he loves that car. (We bought it years ago when finances were really tight. I really wanted him to have his dream car. The smile on his face made it worth whatever we had to do to get it.) He’s still smiling. :0)

“And the Beat Goes On”

http://www.self.com

I’m managing to do a bit of exercising while also running out to the shop several times a day to check on my husband as he works on his beloved ‘Vette, armed with bottles of water, bandaids, etc.

I’m happy to be able to tell you that he has finished the hardest part of the project. He has the part out, after making no progress at all the first day. The part is out now. He will pry off the top (the manufacturers didn’t intend for someone to take it out and actually try to fix it) solder 4 wires, put it back in (he says this won’t be difficult) and test it. If it doesn’t work, he’ll order the replacement part he found on the net. If it works, he’ll zip things up and we’ll celebrate.

Service dept – two weeks – one call – if they could get the part – $1000+. They told us the part had been discontinued and they couldn’t get it. So we paid them $85.00 for them looking and the information.

My husband – three days. Either $0 or $148 plus shipping and tax. Quite a difference.

The only downside – my husband’s ‘fix it or die’ attitude, no matter what he promises. He is going to Lunch Bunch with me in about an hour. Both of his hands and one arm are really bruised, scraped, gouged, and pinched from his hard work to get the part out. It looks like he was in a bad accident or ran into spousal abuse. I’m glad we’re almost to the end of this.

Meanwhile, to maintain sanity, I have managed to do a session of yoga each day. I didn’t do my weights. I’ll pick them up again on Monday and see if I can do the exercises I found Monday, Wednesday, and Friday along with the yoga.

He Lied

Madison.com

You would THINK that after living with my husband for over 52 YEARS now, I would learn.

My husband promised me that he would take the ‘working on the Vette’ project as a PROJECT – with no time limit, no pressure, a little bit of work each day until the problem was solved. He promised me he would stay hydrated, make things as comfortable as possible in the shop, with a/c, etc. That he would take breaks and not work himself to exhaustion. He lied.

There’s no way to soften it. He got into the ‘fix-it-or-die’ mode yesterday. I went to check on him, taking a bottle of water. He didn’t have one out there, of course. He DID have the a/c on, but he just moved the mower out of the way, further into the shop, instead of moving it out and THEN the ‘Vette in – so mowing the lawn will just have to wait until the ‘Vette is running again – causing him to put pressure on himself even more than he usually does.

I went out at noon to insist that he take a break and eat some lunch. He did, but got right back out there when he finished eating. (At least I got him to eat a bit and drink some iced tea.)

I spent time out there yesterday afternoon to keep him company, plus get him to at least to sit down a few minutes and drink some water. He had scraped his arm badly, so I went back inside to get a cloth, water, and bandages to fix him up.

When I finished cleaning the shovel bird and had painted a bit, I convinced him that he had spent enough time out there and to call it a day. Happily, he did. He then fell asleep in his chair under a throw at dinner time. I did the prep, fed our animals, but waited to fix our meal until he woke up again.

He woke early this morning and was already out in the shop when our alarm went off. He has watched the video again and thinks he saw something that might be causing his problems.

I’ll get the mail, shop for some frozen dinners at Real Food, and then insist he come in and eat some lunch soon.

And so the ‘hobby – non-stressful project’ goes…

The Internet is a Wonderful Thing

PaintRef.com

Several years ago my husband bought our 2003 Corvette on eBay. Yeah, that’s right. Nuts, huh?

He flew to Kansas City with a cashier’s check, a letter from the lady at the bank, and her phone number, in case it was needed. He drove it home.

He has smiled ever since.

He LOVES this car.

Recently, we started having messages pop up on the dash, indicating all kinds of problems, including “check engine,” for which we called, made an appointment for the Chevrolet Service Department in Fort Smith to look at it. Two weeks later, they finally called, said we needed a new ‘whatever module,’ and it would be $450 plus labor, but they couldn’t get one. The part had been discontinued.

We brought the Vette back home yesterday. My husband got on the net and was able to FIND the part we needed – $148.00 – but even BETTER – found a video by a guy who showed how to FIX the module we had! My husband had the tools needed, and he decided he would try to follow the video. There were about 100 comments from people thanking the man for making such a good video and helping them fix the problem.

So the Vette is in our shop now. This is a fix that does NOT require the whole front end be taken off, but my husband said it may take some time. I made him PROMISE to take lots of breaks, drink water, plus come in and rest from time to time.

Even with that promise, having lived with the man for 52 years now (and loving him longer than that) I know he’ll decide to act like he’s still in his 20’s working himself into exhaustion unless I play bad guy.

I will go out and keep checking on him. I’ve taken him a bottle of water this morning and watched as he turned on the a/c in the shop. I will check on him again in about an hour before I leave to get a haircut, and then I’ll insist he come in for lunch and a rest. Then I’ll go out there with him and start cleaning another yard critter.

I’ve told him that he gets no rewards for how quickly he finishes the job. HOPEFULLY, he will do this fix as if it were a hobby, rather than a matter of life and death…

He bought several Chevrolet manuals when he bought the car, but they weren’t much help this time. We’re grateful that he found the part, if needed, and hopefully a way to fix the problem – thanks to the wonderful man on the Internet.

“Dog with Bone” is Feeling Frisky

Our “Dog with Bone” yard critter is back up and feeling frisky. With the rains we’ve had, he had been in three pieces in the shop for quite awhile. In fact, when I took our dog Amber out with me, she wasn’t used to seeing him and barked, running over to check him out.

I plan to start cleaning another “shovel bird” today.

One of the reasons I was outside with Amber was to check on our elephant ear plants. They seem to be happy.

Super-Busy, Good Day

ebaumsworld.com

We’ve been super busy since I wrote my first post today about 9am. It’s been a good day – full of errands. We got most things accomplished and made it home for a late lunch. It’s very hot, so it was wonderful to get back into the air conditioning. We had lunch and a nap.

Yesterday I finished the refurbishing of the 4 ’emu’ planters. They are ready to come out, but it’s WAAAY too hot now to do it. We’ve figured out where we want them to live, and maybe it will cool off enough before dark for us to get them out. We get gusty winds here, so we got some U-bolts we can use. I plan to put one over a ‘toe’ of each of the ’emus’ pounding the U-bolt into the ground to make them steadier. I’ll take pics when we get them back together outside.

My husband is having a bit of trouble welding now because of shaking hands. He got upset the other day, thinking he would have to give it up. Since his shaking varies from day to day, I reminded him of that and suggested he just wait until he’s have a ‘good’ day and weld then. Today we got a full cylindrical bottle of argon to replace the empty one we took in. He was able to finish making a brace to make a beautiful, specialized welding table yesterday. :0)

I have finished 10 yard critters so far, and we now have 3 more in the shop for me to clean and refurbish – a ‘peacock,’ a shovel bird, and a dog.

We’ve had SO much fun making these wacky critters!

Laugh and Hug

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I’m giving myself a hug and smiling right now. I just had two sales (one yesterday and the second this morning) from my HandmadeHavenbyLinda Etsy website! A really nice start to the day and a spirit-lifter, for sure. :0)

I’ve been having fun in our shop, refurbishing 4 “emu” planters this past week. I need to paint their legs, and then they can go back outside when they are dry.

I’m feeling very motivated on my weight loss and exercising goals. I’ll do two sessions with weights today – one with 5-pound weights, and a second with 3-pound weights, where I follow a short video online. Then I’ll do my regular session of yoga stretching and abdominal exercises later today. I’m trying to drink FOUR bottles of water daily (trying to ignore the fact that my eyeballs are floating as I get more movement in) – running to the bathroom. I’m eating some raw veggies and a bit of dip mid afternoon as a snack. Keepin’ on keepin’ on. (So far. 30.2 pounds down and 26.2 inches off).

I’m finding lots of wonderfully creative people on the net who have created artwork that makes my mouth water. I’m so grateful I live on the same planet and can enjoy their work and share it with you.

Have a wonderful Monday.

“Emu” Refurbishing Project

If you look carefully here, you can see 4 “emu” planters. (We actually have 2 more on our deck, but that will be a different project.) We have faux terra cotta flower pots that fit in the circle parts of the birds.

There is a combination of dirt, mold and ‘whatever all over them. It will take quite a bit of cleaning before I can even THINK of starting to repaint them.

There are detachable heads, necks, and then the legs come off the circular part that holds the pots. The wings and tail feathers are welded onto the circles. Googly eyes are glued onto the heads. Some of them have plain ‘head feathers,’ and others have beads glued onto them.

You can turn the heads so they “pose”. Usually we turn them so they all look toward the driveway – all looking at whoever is driving up to see us.

It will probably take several days to clean them. I’ll take pics of them when they are back in place beside the driveway.

Sassy “Belly Vested Whapadoo”

This “refurbishment” (Is that a word?) took a lot of time and effort.

While I was cleaning him, his head fell off! My husband welded it back on, but that added to the difficulty of trying to refurbish him, with huge black ‘burns’ around his neck.

I managed to clean that up, as you can see here, and then I put styrofoam stuff in a gap between the two layers of his ‘neck” to discourage wasps from nesting in there. Finally, I added a bandana.

We used to have him wired to a tree. We moved him to this spot, putting his tail feather between the spokes of the tower. This should hold him nicely.

I’m glad to see him with his ‘sass” back.

Refurbishing Progress

I’ve been working on the “Belly Vested Whapado” bird for several days now. He’s finally finished and will find his spot in the yard later today. We’ll have to tie him to something wherever he lives, because he needs the extra help, but I’ll take some pics and post them later.

Next up will be a set of 4 “emus’ we built to hold planter pots. There are actually 6 emus in the set. 4 live together to the side of the driveway and and there are 2 more that live on our deck. We haven’t brought the other 2 in yet. Pics to follow on these, as well.

There are some yard critters that I plan to refurbish in place. One is the robot who welcomes people to our home and holds our house numbers sign. He weighs 200+ pounds. I’ll do him in stages, first cutting the greenery away around him, then using a mold remover to get him clean, and then bringing a large can of white paint and a brush to the bottom of the driveway in our truck. I will also use rust preventing spray paint on him, masking areas carefully.

I noticed the ‘Mama and Baby Snail’ that live on one of the brick planters needs to be repainted, and a shovel bird that perches on the edge needs work, too. Right now I am refusing to even THINK about the ‘Flying Pig’ that hangs over the driveway. :0)

I’ll go out to the shop soon and take some pics.

“Cleaning Robot” Feels Better Now

Refurbishing Progress

Our “cleaning robot” is finished and ready to be put back in place. We will do that later and I’ll take pics for share with you.

Meanwhile, I’m now working on TWO pieces simultaneously.

We call this the “Belly Vested Whapadoo”

As you can see, he needs a lot of work. My husband came out to give me moral support. He steadied the ‘bird’ as I started the cleaning. All of a sudden, his HEAD fell off!

While my husband reattached the head, I switched to another piece. It was a smaller “shovel bird” that we use as a bird feeder in the front flower planters. We also drilled some holes in the shovel for better drainage.

I got about half of the shovel bird piece painted yesterday. I’ll finish that today, and then get started again on cleaning the Whapadoo.

Pics of the “Cleaning Robot” to follow.