Giving Thanks

I am thankful for my parents who always taught me home is where the heart is and not where you sleep or park the car.
I am thankful for Michael’s parents who remind us that if we can get through this project with our relationship in tact, we can get through anything.
I am thankful for Gina and John and the kids for always inviting us into their warm home.
I am thankful for Todd who is a world away at home, but always feels like he is close.
I am thankful for our friends and family who make us feel at home every day.
And I am thankful for Michael, and that we’re building our home together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nature’s Garbage Disposal

I was startled by a venue of vultures. Actually, I think I startled them first. Then this “venue” turned into a “kettle” flying overhead reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock. I seriously hate birds, but really wanted to use venue and kettle in a post.

Rocky Raccoon

Came by for dinner and a visit. Technically, I invited him. Rather than take the crab carcasses to the compost (say that five times fast), I wrapped them tightly and left them on the deck so that I could move them in the morning light rather than the creepy night.

We realized we had a visitor when the light with the motion detector stayed on – for quite some time. We investigated and found a furry friend happy on the deck having a crab feast of his own. Seriously adorable (even Michael agreed). The photo makes Rocky look menacing with the glowing eyes, but that was the flash and in no way a comment on his personality.

We don’t have a pet so I considered feeding him a second night in a row. I even had visions of domesticating him. Those thoughts were quickly forgotten as our friends told us about their raccoon, and a not so happy ending.

No revival for this Rocky.

Thank goodness I’m grounded.

And other electrical lessons.

I tried to use the dryer the other day. It sparked, and then didn’t start. Great. Wet clothes, no dryer.

I pushed the start button again. And again, a spark. This time it arced from the dryer to the vent and burned a hole. Figuring the third time would be the charm, I pushed the button again – no spark and the dryer still didn’t start.

I decided to bring in reinforcements. I called for Michael and told him what had happened. He got over the fact that I hit the button three times including a burn pretty quickly and he got to it.

He checked the wiring from the dryer to the wall – fine.
He checked the wiring from the fuse box to the floor – again, just fine. He headed for the dreaded crawl space.

Eureka.

The problem?
The former owners. Can you believe they (or folks they hired) changed the gauge of the wire below the house to save a couple of cents? Neither could Michael. He fixed the wiring and the dryer is back to normal.

Sarcastic Instructions Free with Purchase

For the record, Michael assembled the utility cart in far less than an hour. We had to replace the one we found after three good seasons of use.

Sew out of control

I wanted to buy a few outdoor pillows. I stopped by a couple of stores and wasn’t impressed with the prices or the fabric choices. I had some outdoor fabric left over from the chairs I restored, so that was a start. Then I found some really great outdoor fabric for half price one day. A few days later another print that would look great with the first.


















I made a bunch of pillows, and then still had fabric so I made some more pillows – for the hammock, and still had fabric so then I made an umbrella cover. I used all of the fabric and love the pillows, but now we need more outdoor furniture.

Huff and Puff

And the boat house blew down.
We had high wind the other night and lost the house. It had a short life – less than three weeks. In fact, I had been documenting the project with a nice little post called “Some Assembly Required” because it came with hundreds of similarly shaped pieces all serving a different function and a book (not a booklet) of instructions. It was a bear to put up, well… a bear for Michael to put up. The wind, however, took it down pretty fast.

I hope the next one stays up at least as long as it takes me to write about it.

It ain’t easy being green

We bought a solar radio for use outside. The problem?
Clouds and, of course, my shadow.

Signs of Spring

Moving furniture back outdoors and buying fun fabric to make outdoor pillows, the tall winter rye grass we’ll turn under to plant flowers in the deck beds, getting the huge and way too heavy planters ready for herbs and plants, and the many hours of planting and sowing for the new raised gardens (to be built in the coming weeks). Spring has sprung in our home… finally!

Ice, ice, baby...

We went for a walk today – it was sunny and about 45 degrees which felt downright balmy. The the ice in the water (and bone-chilling gusts of wind) was a harsh, but beautiful, reminder that we’re still in the middle of winter.

iceberg:

birds on ice:

Let it Snow... Outside!

We’ve had a couple of days of snow and ice, and it reminded me of sanding joint compound. We had at least a quarter inch of drywall dust on our floors and on me.

I look like I’ve been caught in a storm or I have an out of control drug problem.

Just dew it…

Michael has a lot of books. I have a lot of books. Together, we will have a library.

When we moved we packed up all of our books and promptly stacked them in the garage until we were ready. I thought we were ready this weekend. We have the office painted, the desk in place and empty shelves.

After moving what seemed like hundreds of boxes (37 to be precise and we still have about 15 more in the garage), I decided to start organizing them. First, fiction and non-fiction… easy peasy. Fiction by author, non-fiction by Dewey. Decimal, of course. If it’s good enough for libraries, it’s good enough for us.

By the end of this project, I’ll never have to use a catalog system to find a book at the library, I’ll just know.