For Karin

Karin, it’s not quilting. But I have been sewing. potholders.

And some require binding. My corners aren’t nearly as good as yours, but they are improving!

An Adventure...A Bucket List item...A Personal Challenge

Last week at this time I was hiking the Appalachian Trail in Georgia.  I can't say I loved it, but I can't say I hated it either.  At times, as evidenced by my text messages to Kevin, I absolutely hated it, but time blurs those memories.  Right?

A couple of years ago, while day hiking in the Wichita Mountains with the Herron Girls, Kim and Bailey, our conversation turned to a curiosity about hiking the Appalachian Trail.  We decided we needed to give it a go.  We didn't set a date at that time, but we started talking about making it a Girls Only trip and giving it a try.  We decided to start at the beginning. Over time, we committed and picked last week to go.  So I started gathering my "tools."  I bought a backpack--a cheap one.  I bought new hiking shoes and got them 1/2 size bigger as advised.  I started gathering dehydrated foods.  I read.  I read guides on hiking the AT.  I read peoples memoirs.  I tried to absorb as much as I could.  I upped my workouts at the gym, walking more, raising the incline, coming in with the packed backpack and working out with it on.  I even walked home from town several times to get used to walking on real terrain.  (ha...as if the Kansas prairie can ever prepare you for hiking in the mountains of Georgia!)

I'm not an experienced backpacker or even hiker.  I've hiked three times in Colorado.  I've "hiked" here in Kansas some.  I've never backpacked. I've camped and cooked over a fire, I've slept in a tent.  I just haven't hauled everything in a backpack and relied only on what was in my backpack.  So this was going to be an adventure.

I'm 53.  Kim is 43.  Bailey is 23.  We tried to convince Miss Kat to join us, but the thought of no showers for a week turned her off and she declined.  On June 2, the three of us left for Georgia.

We decided to hike from Springer Mt. to Unicoi Gap.  A distance of 53ish miles.  We had a week.  We figured we could make 10 miles a day but would aim for 7 for the first couple of days, as recommended in the AT Guide.

So on a rainy Sunday morning, we began.  We hired a shuttle driver to meet us at Unicoi and drive us to Springer.  We started hiking at 10:30 in the rain.

And it rained for two days.

At first, I didn't mind the rain or the walking.  For the most part, Springer is an easy climb and it stayed that way for the first 4-5 miles.  The rain was cooling, it was a gentle rain.  We quickly shed our rain gear because it was just too hot.  About mile 6, I hit a wall.  I was exhausted and probably hadn't snacked or drank enough.  I happened to have a Gatorade (which I HATE).  It tasted wonderful and gave me some much needed energy.  Our backpacks weighed between 25 and 30 lbs.  We didn't weigh them because we really didn't want to know how much weight we were carrying.  My biggest problem I think, was I was carrying the big bear canister in a backpack that was really to small for it.  That first night, we did some switching around and Kim took the bear canister and I traded her for the tent and the snack food which was in a bag.  That stopped the canister from digging into my shoulders and hips. (I found some chafing marks later from the canister on my back.)

Day two was a long day with hiking up Sassafrass Mountain.  It had rained during the night, so not much sleep was had by any in our tent.  My feet started to be a real issue on day two along with the rain that continued.

Shoes:  it's recommended that mountain hikers get their shoes 1/2 size to 1 full size larger than their regular shoe size.  You need this space because your feet slide in your shoes as you go downhill and your toes can slam into the end of your shoe leaving your toes bloody and you can and will lose toenails. I'd bought new shoes 1/2 size larger, but I didn't get good shoes, just normal over the counter shoes.  BIG mistake.  My feet hurt horribly by day two and all you can do is keep walking. There's only so may places you can get off the trail, so I kept walking, every step painful.  Every step UP and every step DOWN.

I tried not to let my misery show, but I failed.  Kim and Bailey knew I was hurting and knew I was miserable.  And it kept raining.  In fact, while on Sassafrass, it poured.  It rained so hard we had streams pouring down the trail ankle deep.  It rained that way for over an hour.  Just made everyone miserable.  Add that to my foot problem, and I was ready to quit.

At times, I had to walk on alone because I knew I wasn't fit company and I will admit, I told the girls if there was a way out, I'd probably take it. I tried to talk them into stopping at Neels Gap, but they were enjoying the adventure and wouldn't give in to my not-so-subtle hints. (good for them because it made me keep going too.)

Day three was better.  WE took a two hour break at Woody Gap and dried everything out.  It was paved, so the asphalt was warm and dried everything.  That two hour break allowed me to rest my feet.  The walk from there while still painful, was a nice walk.  I started to enjoy the trip a bit more.

Day four found us ready to go up Blood Mountain.  We ran into a south-bound hiker with his son who suggested we take the trail around the mountain, Freedman trail, because he was seeing hikers come across Blood Mt. with cuts, and bruises and bleeding.  We took Freedman.  Which was our toughest hike.  It's all climbing boulders and rocks.  It seemed never ending.  But once we made it back to the mail trail, it was a relatively easy walk down to Neels.  Where I bought new shoes.

Lord what a difference a new pair of shoes made.  My toes didn't hurt anymore and I had more support for the remainder of my feet which made such a difference!  And Pizza!  We had a pizza.  It was the best frozen Red Baron's Pizza ever made.  Ambrosia wouldn't taste any better than that pizza did.  With my shoes, we continued on for another 4 miles.

Day five, we hiked 15 miles!  We had an illusion that we could make the remaining 3 miles and get out a day early, but it was pretty rough headed up to Blue Mt. Shelter, so we camped.

Day six was a short day, around 3 miles to Unicoi.  We were up early, broke camp quickly and were on the trail by 7:30.  About an hour in our hike, we came upon 3 bear cubs--who we saw climb a tree.  Worried about Mama Bear, we slowly backed up, bunched together, and made lots of noise.  We then watched the cubs climb down the tree and head down the mountain to Mama.  We gave them plenty of time, then continued our hike down the mountain.  Two miles downhill.  It was rough.  We'd decided early on that climbing sucks, but going downhill hurts. It's just hard on your knees.  That two mile hike down was the worst as we knew we were on our last downhill trek.  We were at the car by 10:00.  Foot sore, knee sore, tired, and so happy, proud, sweaty, and very dirty and smelly.

I'm glad I didn't give in to my disillusionment and quit.  I'm glad I finished our set section.  But I don't think I'll do any more hiking on the AT.  Camping didn't bother me.  The rain?  Maybe it affected me more than I thought.  What I really think got to me is the fact that all you do on the AT is walk.  All.day.long.  It's up and it's down.  All.day.long--up and down.  It was work.  Not hard work, but work.  And it does take it's toll on knees, ankles and feet.  Somehow it just wasn't was spiritually fulfilling as I wanted it to be.  It is that for others, but for me it just wasn't.

Part of me says to try it again and now that I have good shoes, I'll do better.  But I've been home 4 days now and my knees still hurt.  I don't like that!  It wasn't fun enough that I want to go back.  It's just not my cup of tea.  I'm rather sad about that.  I want to love it.  I want to feel awe or inspired or something.  But I don't.

I told Kev that I wanted to do this to see if I could.

I got my answer.  I can do it, but for me I guess I discovered CAN isn't fulfilling.  I want to want to do it...and I don't.

I guess that's OK.  Trying something new is about self-discovery, and I did discover things about myself. It's OK to discover you don't enjoy something.  It's probably as important as discovering you DO enjoy something it's just not as much fun.

I did it.  I set a goal and I met it.  I didn't give up when I so desperately wanted to. I hiked a section of the Appalachian Trail.

2016 Reading list

Passenger	Alexandra Bracken
The Secret Chord	Geraldine Brooks
The Nazi Officer's Wife	Edith H Beer
Jeremy Poldark	Winston Graham
The Dirt on Ninth Grave	Darynda Jones
Unbroken	Laura Hillenbrand
Eva's story	Eva Schloss
Ruins of Gorlan	John Flanagan
Traveler	Arwen Elys Dayton
The Last Midwife	Sandra Dallas
Brotherhood in death	JD Robb
Glass Crown	Victoria Aveyard
The Great Influenza	John Barry
The 5th Wave	Rick Yancey
Rose: My life in Service to Lady Astor	Rosina Harrison
My name is Mahtob	Mahtob Mahmoody
Wild	Cheryl Strayer
Kardashian dynasty: controversial rise of …	Ian Halperin
A walk in the Woods	Bill Bryson
The Obsession	Nora Roberts
Game of Crowns	Christopher Andersen
First Dads	Joshua Kendall
The Infinite Sea	Rick Yancey
The Last Star	Rick Yancey
In the heart of the Sea	Nathaniel Philbrick
Return of the Witch	Paula Brackston
Bay of Sighs	Nora Roberts
The Dark Horse	Craig Johnson
As the Crow Flies	Craig Johnson
The Curse of Tenth Grave	Dryandra Jones
Schindlers List
It Wasn't Always Like This	Joy Preble
The Cold Dish	Craig Johnson
Roots	Alex Haley
The Virgin's War	Laura Andersen
Harry Potter and the cursed child	John Tiffany & Jack Thorne
Bonk: the curious coupling of science and sex	Mary Roach
Prayers the Devil answers	Sharon McCrumb
Messenger	Craig Johnson
Spirit of Steamboat	Craig Johnson
Divorce Horse	Craig Johnson
Hell is Empty	Craig Johnson
Jesus before the Gospels	Bart D. Ehrman
Grunt	Mary Roach
Death without Company	Craig Johnson
Junkyard Dogs	Craig Johnson
Any other Name	Craig Johnson
The Silent Sister	Diane Chamberlain
Apprentice in Death	JD Robb
The Mother Tongue	Bill Bryson
Notes from a Small Island	Bill Bryson
The Road to Little Dribbling	Bill Bryson
The Highwayman	Craig Johnson
Another Man's Moccasins	Craig Johnson
Dry Bones	Craig Johnson
Kindness Goes Unpunished	Craig Johnson
Serpent's Tooth	Craig Johnson
I am number Four	Pittacus Lore
The Fall of Five	Pittacus Lore
The Revenge of Seven	Pittacus Lore
The Last Days of Lorien	Pittacus Lore
I am Number Four: The forgotten Ones	Pittacus Lore
I am Number Four: Legacies reborn	Pittacus Lore
I am Number Four: Nine's legacy	Pittacus Lore
I am Number Four: The fallen legacies	Pittacus Lore
I am Number Four: Six's Legacy	Pittacus Lore
The Rise of Nine	Pittacus Lore
The Power of Six	Pittacus Lore
The Fate of Ten	Pittacus Lore
United as One	Pittacus Lore
An Obvious Fact	Craig Johnson
Turbo Twenty-three	Janet Evanovich
The  Chemist	Stephanie Meyer
The Undesirables	Chad Thuman

2015 reading list

I didn't post my list of books last year and was asked about it in, oh, July or so.  Because at least ONE person had asked, I decided to list books this year.  Now, looking at the list, there's only 60 some titles on it.  Which makes me wonder if I just didn't do a good job of writing titles down!  On the other hand, this year, I had a need to re-read several series.  I re-read the entire JD Robb "In Death" series (30+ titles) as well as Anne McCaffrey's Pern books.  McCaffrey's titles are listed below, Robb's aren't.  The Only Robb titles you'll see are the new releases.  I also re-read the Outlander series and they aren't listed.

One of the nice parts of reading ebooks is I can check my reading history.  But for titles I read in print, if I didn't remember to list them, they didn't get listed.  That is what I think has happened to me here.  I'll try to do better this year!

My favorite first reads of the year?   The Red Queen it's a fantasy/young-adult title but very well done.  Favorite non-fiction reads are harder to pick.  One that has inspired me to reduce the sugar I eat (knowingly and unknowingly), A year of No Sugar.  One that was fun?  Pioneer Girl: the annotated autobiography of Laura Ingalls Wilder.   The most moving and disturbing?  Born Survivors.  

So, without further ado, here's my reading list from 2015.

A year of No Sugar	Eve Schaub
Return from Gap Creek	Robert Morgan
Carnal Desire	Crystal Jordan
The Wilder Life	Wendy McClure
Bound by Flame	Jeaniene Frost
Tempted by Midnight	Lara Adrian
The miniaturist	Jessie Burton
Transcendence	Shay Savage
Gap Creek	Robert Morgan
Clockwork Angel	Cassandra Clare
Pioneer Girl:  the annotated autobiography
A 50 year silence: love, war, and a ruined house in France	Miranda RichmondMouillot
There was a little girl	Brooke Shields
Obsession in Death	JD Robb
As You Wish	Cary Elwes
Hatshepsut
Sweet Poison	David Gillespie
The Glass Arrow	Kristen Simmons
Red Queen	Victoria Aveyard
Seeker	Arwen Elys Dayton
To Marry an English Lord	Gail MacColl & Carol McD. Wallace
The Liar	Nora Roberts
Dragonseye	Anne McCaffrey
Dragonsdawn	Anne McCaffrey
Renegades of Pern	Anne McCaffrey
Masterharper of Pern	Anne McCaffrey
Dolphins of Pern	Anne McCaffrey
Dragon's Kin	Anne McCaffrey
Dragonflight	Anne McCaffrey
Dragonquest	Anne McCaffrey
White Dragon	Anne McCaffrey
Skies of Pern	Anne McCaffrey
Dragon's Fire	Todd McCaffrey
Dragon Fire	Todd McCaffrey
Dragon Heart	Todd McCaffrey
A Desperate Fortune	Susanna Kearsley
Whose Names are Unknown	Sanora Babb
After the Red Rain	Barry Lyga et al
Bound to Darkness	Lara Adrian
Virgin's Daughter	Laura Andresen
The Dragon War	Daniel Arensen
One year After	William R. Forstchen
Devoted in Death	JD Robb
The Perfect Nazi	Martin Davidson
The Winter Witch	Paula Brackston
The Midnight Witch	Paula Brackston
A Name of her own	Jane Kirkpatrick
Death on the Western Frontier	Eugene D. Fleharty & Gary Hulett
How to be a Victorian	Ruth Goodman
Outlander series again :)
tis herself	Maureen O'Hara
Lights out	Ted Koppel
Underground in Berlin	Marie Jalowicz Simon
Tricky Twenty Two	Janet Evanovich
Stars of Fortune	Nora Roberts
Born Survivors: 3 young mothers and their story…	Wendy Holden
The Heir	Kiera Cass
Tournament at Gorlan	John Flanagan
Pack	Jeaniene Frost
Droughts and Dreams	Glenn Beck & Matt Redhawk
The Virgin's Spy	Laura Andersen
Brighter than the Sun	Darynda Jones
Silver Witch	Paula Brackston
Eragon	Christopher Paolini
Eldest	Christopher Paolini
Brisinger	Christopher Paolini
Inheritance	Christopher Paolini

The Dish cabinet.

One of the things that I like to do is to restore furniture.  Specifically furniture that I will use and that has belonged to someone else in the family.  I've done a dresser, a library table, the Hoosier, and others that aren't coming to mind right now.  This most recent project is exactly like all the rest, it was a piece of furniture that belonged to the family.  I really thought I'd taken a picture of it "before", but I can't find it now.  Maybe I never did take that picture, but always thought I should take it.  That would be completely in character!

Sitting in the garage, ready for its new home!

 This cabinet belonged to Grandma and Grandad Woodruff.  Before the tornado, it sat in the kitchen, right inside the kitchen door, to the right hand side.  It's a solid black walnut cabinet, probably homemade.  There aren't any shippers marks or makers marks anywhere on the piece.  Grandma didn't have a "modern" kitchen, she had this cabinet and the Hoosier and I think the sink had a few cabinets under it.  This cabinet was the home of her dishes.  Silverware went in the drawers.  Under the drawers, she kept those dishes she didn't need as often. Boxes of cereal were kept on top. On the south end of the cabinet (or left side as you look at it), they kept a wire hanger that had been un-twisted.  Then they'd stick all their receipts on that wire.  Sometimes, it was behind the cabinet, but later in the year, it would stick out to the side.

After the tornado, Grandma and Grandad moved to town and left this cabinet in the basement. (Which was covered by a metal roof to protect everything they left at the farm.)  About 3 years ago, I finally convinced Kevin to bring this cabinet home for us to restore.  It sat in the garage until this October when we finally decided to get it restored and to give it to Andy.   So, we washed it and assessed its condition.

We knew there was some termite damage.  Everything stored in the basement suffered in varying degrees with terminate damage.  (The termites were discovered and eradicated during the 80's, after Grandad died.)  So, Kevin looked at the cabinet to decide what he would have to do.  I thought all the termite tracks could simply be filled in with wood putty, but Kev disagreed.  He took the back off, which was a walnut tongue and groove.  It was so brittle that it splintered when he tried to remove it.

One of the shelves was too far gone, so Kev pulled it out and replaced it.  Fortunately, he had an old piece of wood that was exactly the right dimensions.  One other shelf he could simply fill in the few tracks with putty.  One front edge, we just sanded the remaining tracks down until they were stable and left it.  One of the lower cabinet shelves had a knot hole about 3 inches in diameter.  The knot had long ago disappeared.  We left the hole.  We also left the spot where mice had chewed into the bottom corner.  There were huge gouges in the top.  Several deep dings in the sides  One of the sides still showed the saw marks. We left it all for character, and because, well, it is an old, beat up cabinet. It had survived at least 7 children and 20 some grandchildren and a tornado.  It's old and it's a survivor.  We wanted those scars to be a part of its story.

We bought some new tongue and groove car siding and replaced the back with new wood.  The top of the cabinet wasn't centered.  One edge was flush with the side of the cabinet, so we pulled it off and centered it.  We had to replace one of the pieces of glass.  All the hardware was sanded to remove rust, but we didn't remove it from the piece because we were afraid of losing screws or stripping them out and we wanted to retain the original as much as possible.

We wanted to keep the character, but we just didn't think staining and refinishing was the answer.  So, I convinced Kev to let me paint it with chalk paint.

 I'd been wanting to use chalk paint on something, and this became my first project.  Andy wanted it to be black.  I chose Rustoleum new line of chalk paint. The inside is painted in Aged Grey and the outside is called Charcoal.  I wasn't sure how we were going to like it once I had it painted, but then I sanded it and distressed it a bit.  And once we got the top coat on, I really quite liked it.  It looks old and rustic, and yet the paint gives it new life.

We took it over to Andy on Thanksgiving day.  My folks helped us deliver and set it up.  Dad thinks his grandad, (Harvey Woodruff) made it for his Grandma.  I wouldn't be surprised.  It had been built using square nails, finish nails,  and 16 penny nails--in other words, whatever was handy and available.  It had been varnished, or waxed, and stained, but not touched in a very long time, so not much of the original finish was left.  I'm not sure if the latch on the bottom doors is original, as there were tiny nail holes right above this latch that looked like it was for a latch.  But, then again, maybe he started to put the latch there and realized it wasn't centered, so moved it down.

I sure wish someone was around who knew the origins of this piece just so I would know and could pass that history on down with it.  It doesn't really matter though.  I'm  very happy we could save it.  I'm even more happy that one of my kids wanted it.  That Andy wanted this part of his roots means a great deal to me.  He never knew my grandparents.  He never knew the farm as it was when they lived there, and yet he wanted a piece of them.  Hopefully, this piece of them will live on for a very long time.

Yoga thoughts

I went to a yoga class on Thursday night and again on Saturday morning.  It was the perfect class for me, it was small.  There were 6 of us each time.  I knew all but two of the ladies.  (Since I'm still a "foreigner" in Bucklin, knowing this many ladies was comforting!)  And, we were all "older", the youngest is in her late 30's.  None of us are without tummy rolls either, which is comforting too!

I had a nice time, enjoyed the work out.  And had these reflections:

1.  I'm more flexible than I thought I was.

2.  My balance isn't what it should be!

3.  I do more yoga poses when I stretch than I ever knew I did!

4.  I know some folks who won't do Yoga because it's a false religion.  So, I enjoyed the irony as we worked out to Christian music.

5.  It all felt really good and I didn't think I worked that hard until I got home and realized that i was tired!

reflections down memory lane

It's been a long time since I've blogged.  Mr. Blue is fine, he's growing and is a handful! But he's a sweetie.  I say he's a smart dog.  Kevin says he's not very smart but what does he know!

I'm kind of in a reflective mood today...on Saturday, My Mom, myself, and my Aunt Sandy (Mom's sister) went on a trip down memory lane.  More their memories than mine, but it was fun.  I drove them down to their Grandparent's homestead.  It's on the Oklahoma border, on the Oklahoma side.  It's now owned by someone outside of the family, but they were kind enough to let us go and explore.  My Great Grandfather settled the place in 1912ish.  (I add the ish because I'm not sure of the exact year they bought the place.  And I think all 12 of their children were born there...probably 10 of the 12 were now that I think about it...)  But I still think they moved there in '12 because my Great Aunt Leatha wanted to hang on to the place so she could be a century landowner.  She was the last person in the family to own the place.  I just wish she'd put some money into it and had taken better care of it...but that's another story for another day.

Mom spent quite a bit of time at her Grandad's place.  The youngest Aunts were 7-10 years older than Mom, and she had 5 older cousins who were there often to play with.  Of course, by the time Sandy came along (10 years after Mom), there were more cousins for her to play with (all boys).  So really, both girls have lots and lots of memories.  I have a few...a very few.  By the time I came along (I'm 10 years younger than Sandy is,) the family had spread out and didn't come home for holidays.  Grandad lived there still with Aunt Florence and she was raising 2 of her grandchildren by then.  Mike and Oleta were my age, so I remember going down and playing with them a bit.  So my memories are very limited compared to Mom's and Sandy's.  But, we walked through the house and they remembered where Grandad's chair sat, where the piano sat, how little the house was for 14 people!  Grandad had built a small "house" right outside the kitchen for the boys to sleep in.  It's called "The Boys house."  It was built on top of the cellar.  But they also had a basement under two rooms of the house.  I know when Grandpa was a boy, all the kids slept some in the basement, until they built the Boys house.  Then the girls got two bedrooms inside the house.  Grandad and Grandma slept in a screened in, unheated porch.  My Grandma said when she first started going there, they still had a dirt floor in their bedroom... (this would have been 1939-1940.)

The doorway to the cellar is starting to fall in now.  In fact, we were careful about going down due to the falling in brick and because of the 6' snake who wanted to stay outside sunning, but kept going into either the brick or down into the cellar because we scared him.  (hey, he made us nervous too!)

We also walked back to the garden areas.  Grandad had built 4 or more dams that he used to irrigate his garden and orchard.  I'm guessing 10 acres of garden and orchard.  Both Mom and Sandy remembered the gardens and the fruit trees.

It was fun for me to listen to them talk about their memories and adventures.

After lunch at Mom's house, we then drove out to where my Grandparents lived...where Mom and Sandy grew up.  Grandpa leased it, but they lived there for 20 years before moving in to town.  Their own house was small...4 rooms.  Let me repeat. FOUR rooms.  A kitchen, the "north" bedroom, Grandma and Grandpa's bedroom and the living room.  Notice the missing bathroom. Mom and Sandy spent a great many years of their childhood without indoor plumbing.  In fact, Mom shared that w hen they moved into this house, they didn't have running water.  Grandpa ran water to the house, but it wasn't until after Sandy was born that they had Hot water.  And the water went to the kitchen only.  (Remember, no bathroom.)

The girls talked about how much stuff grandma had in the kitchen.  Her Hoosier, kitchen cabinets, stove, washing machine, sink and table.  It's not a 10 x 10 room...  Then the girls laughed about every time Grandma added something to the kitchen, something got put in their bedroom (the North bedroom).  Like the Refrigerator, later the freezer, the cream separator, etc.  (In my memories, the North bedroom had those items, but was also where Grandma kept her ceramic supplies.)

I can remember having Mom, Sandy and Grandma taking me out to the Outhouse as a little girl.  But when I was 3 or 4, Grandma and Grandpa finally got a bathroom--by moving in a trailer house and using the bathroom there.  (In those days, you only needed a cess pit.)  And, you know, the kitchen drained through a long pipe outside the house that drained somewhere out in the trees.  (Steve and I used to sit on that pipe, or do flips around it...but only until Grandma came out and yelled at us to get off it!)

The Chicken house has fallen in...the brooder house was still there.  And we walked out to the barn.  I don't have many memories of playing in the barn.  But Mom and Sandy did of course.  My only memory of playing in the barn was when Steve and I were playing in the fleeces of wool--and getting in trouble for it.  The barn is falling down now, but it really was a cool design!  I'm going to take Kevin out.  He'll get a kick out of how it's set up.

We ended our day by finding the trash pit and digging around in it some.  Found some glass jars and other treasures that were partially covered by years of dirt and weeds, but we found it!

I really enjoyed our trip down memory lane and laughing and wondering how our memories meshed and differed.  There are 20 years between the 3 of us...and it was funny what we remembered differently.  For example, we each remembered Grandma's garden in different locations!  And we are all correct because they did move the garden over the years.  But Mom and Sandy argued about if the Windmill was there the entire time.  Mom says yes, I said yes, but Sandy said no.  There is one there now, but it's a newer "model".

My reflectiveness revolves around those who could answer all our questions.  Those who aren't here.  I'd love to ask my Great Grandfather about building those damns.  I would ask if they went dry during the 30's.  I'd ask about why they built a separate building for the boys bedroom instead of just adding on.  Heck, I'd ask WHY they built the house down in the hole instead up above where it was more accessible during bad weather!  I've got a million questions for my grandparents.  It's funny...I asked millions of questions.  That's my job in the family, to ask questions!  But now I have a million more and they aren't here to answer them.  I miss them...

Meet Blue

I have a new man in my life.  Meet Blue.

This was taken three weeks ago, when we brought him home.  He's an Australian Shephard.  Kev knew a lady who gave him to us for free.  Usually Aussie's sell for big bucks.  He's from working parents, so they could have gotten a lot of money for him.  Instead, they generously gave him to me to love.

We haven't had a puppy for 10 years, since Midnight came to live with us.  I'd forgotten what a new puppy means...  Taking him potty, taking him out to poop, taking him to the pen.  To bed, to play.  I'm sleeping with one ear open again, waiting for him to let me know that he needs to go outside. Just like I did when my kids were babies! Oh for the oblivion of a full nights sleep again!

But it's short term...right???

 Here's Blue today.  Yes, he has a sore, red eye.  The vet is pretty sure he's going to lose it.  I mean, he'll lose vision in it.  If he hasn't already.  We're not sure if he jabbed something in it or if he just had an infection.  He did have a goopy eye for a week, but I just thought it was something like my cats get...Not.  So, on Monday, we brought him to the vet.  We got antibiotics and eye ointment and have been trying to save his eye. Because he has to have his medicine 4 times a day, he comes to work with me.  (Yes I cleared it with my Boss.  And if he gets too rambunctious, we'll stay home.)  After seeing the Dr. again today, we're pretty sure he's going to be blind in this eye.  (And it was his BLUE eye!)  Still not sure if he poked it with a stick or something or if it's just an infection.  If it isn't better on Friday, the vet wants to sedate him and look to see if there is something in there somewhere.

At this point, I don't care if he loses his sight.  I just want him healthy again!  He and I can deal with blindness.

He's been such a good boy.  He has gotten carsick two of the past three days coming to work.  Today, I didn't give him as much dog food.  Which must have worked--he didn't get sick today!   But I bring a little "diaper bag" for my baby.  It has a baggie of food (in case he got car sick again.)  Some snacks, a rawhide chew bone.  Water, a towel, and sock that he likes to chew on and drag around and his wolf beanie baby.  And his blanket.  See, it's a diaper bag!

He comes in on his leash (and at 12 weeks, he's young to do so well on a leash.)  He makes the rounds of the library with me to open up and then he comes in the office and lays down on his blanket and sleeps.  We go out to potty and then it's time for lunch.  I've had some errands at noon lately, so he just rides with me.  Today, he felt well enough to run around and "chase" me outside.  Then he either takes a nap, or checks out the college kids.  When we get home, he goes with me to let the big dogs out of the pen and he chases and runs with them, mauls the kittens, and hangs out.

I'm hoping we can leave him home again next week... and we can if his eye heals enough that we can leave off the cone and if he doesn't have to have medicine 4 times a day...

Regardless, he's my baby and the new man in my life.

Siding part 2

Siding is complete!

Not painted yet, but it's up!

Not Caulked yet, but up!

Kim and Bob came out to help us finish the east side.  The four of us work well together.  Kim did most of the cuts, I was the gopher and I was the third ladder person for those high sections. (I did better than I thought!)

 Here's the house looking towards the front.  We're looking Southwest.  If you check out the last post, you can see how much grass has grown in the last 7 years!.  It's fall, so it's not green, but it's not dirt either!

 The East side of the house, showing the rock area.  We installed the big bay window at the top.  Right below that, the long skinny window was where we'd taken out a set of French doors.  We just didn't see the sense of having them with the entry door, and that's where we put in the pellet stove.

Another shot of the front...There's only one door on this end now, the sliding doors.  There used to be another door on this side also.  (The person who built this house must have had a thing for doors!)

We're still debating colors...We looked at shades of brown--similar to cedar.  We looked at grays.  (Kevin then veto'd gray.)  Now we're considering green.  An Olive green?  Grayish green?  We haven't decided yet.

This weekend we hope to get it all caulked and some trim put back up along the roofline.  I'm guessing paint won't come until spring.  We're getting late in the year to think about painting.

It's done, and it looks so nice!  Can't wait to see the difference in our heating bills!

The Siding Project

Kevin and I have been re-siding our house.  It's been an adventure.  In exhausting adventure.  A real work out.  A slow process.  Here's some "Before" pictures.  This first one is WAY before.  Because all that bare dirt?  It's now grass!  And the three windows at the top?  They were replaced by a bay window.  Gosh...I really need to take some updated pictures of our place!

 The "old new door" has been replaced.

The garage doors are staying. Because they were a project from a few years ago.  Still work beautifully.  But that siding?  It's all gone.

 Right now, the house looks like this!

Right now, the North side is the only side with intact siding.  (it was probably the easiest side to do!)

Kev and I have debated for over a year about what kind of siding we wanted.  I really wanted to put up siding that looks like logs.  He vetoed it simply because of the maintenance it requires.  We discussed the merits of vinyl, or cement fiber board.  We discussed if we wanted to stay with the current look of our house, or change it.  We discussed hiring the job out, or doing it ourselves.  Anything you can discuss about siding, we did.

Finally, this year, we decided we couldn't put off the decision forever.  So, we bit the bullet and decided to go with fiber cement board siding.  Why?  Well, a big factor was it's fire resistance.  We live in the country, surrounded by pasture and wheat fields.  Prairie fires move fast.  Cement board is fire resistant.  It is also relatively cheap and very durable.  

We picked the width we thought we liked and bought it.  But there was one issue that stalled us.  We felt like the east side (the walk out basement side) needed something...more.  It was such a huge span of space that we felt it looked...bland.  So we then debated whether to go with a stone facade, or something else.  Whether to go with stone panels, or individual stone blocks or faux stone.  We priced it, and gave up, finding it would cost as much as the actual siding.

But then we walked through our favorite store, Menards, and found a siding display that used stone.  Paving stones.  What a novel idea!  We priced it, and discovered it was MUCH more affordable.  So that's what we did.  We put the stone (above) on the walls stopping three feet above the ground.  It took a while--a long while--to install, but we love it!   (and yes, that's a new front door!)

We intended to start and finish the project over the labor day weekend. Oh, we were so naive.  We had help that first weekend.  But we got to the point you see here.  We discovered the old cedar siding was brittle and just shattered and splintered as we pulled it down, taking forever.  

Our house had never been wrapped, so we wrapped it for a better weather barrier (and to hopefully stop the breeze that blows under my bathroom cabinet.)  After our help went home, Kev's only help was me.

He and I have spent every weekend this month working on the house.  (Well, except one weekend, when he had to work at the hospital.) Yesterday, we finished the West and the South sides.  All we have left is the East side, above the basement level.  It's a side I'm not looking forward to doing.  I can do ladders, I just don't like to!  Hopefully, our help can come back next week and help finish this final side of the house.

So, how good of help am I?  Well, I've gotten better with the nail gun!  Lifting and holding the siding isn't an issue, but carrying 3 to 4 pieces very far very often gets tiring.  And I have this hitch in my hip that really has objected to the activity.  Today, I hurt! I can say, with complete confidence, that I don't ever want to earn my living by installing siding...all the measuring and math to figure where to start each course on each side is frustrating. We've stopped working every night exhausted.  Kev asked if it was because we're getting old, or because it's just simply hard work.  I voted for the hard work.  

But, we're getting it done.  It will look nice (once I pick out a paint color and paint it all.)  It should make our house more energy efficient.  I just hope we finish before the snow flies.

I lied

I lied.

I said I was going to stitch "Glory in the Morning."  Instead, I started this one:

It's by Blackberry Lane Designs and called

"Nativity Story Square Table Topper"

Three colors, Navy, Yellow and Gold.

I bought the pattern and the fabric five or six years ago. I also bought some hand dyed thread to use instead of using DMC floss.

Just to try something different ;)

I'm working on the star first.  Of course the star consists of the yellow blended with the metallic gold floss.  Which is reminding me why I hate stitching with metallic floss.  I love the end result, but hate the actual stitching.  Metallic floss just twists and knots and doesn't lay as flat as it should. Thankfully, the star is the only place I'm using it!

I will stitch "Glory" it's just when I started getting ready to pull the floss, I found I really just didn't want to do it.  This project jumped out and said, "stitch me, stitch me!" instead.  You should always listen to projects that beg to be stitched.

When I bought this, I thought I'd frame it and hang it above our couch at Christmas.  Don't know if it will be finished for this Christmas, but the thought has entered my mind that this might make a nice Christmas gift.

We will see what my instincts tell me to do once it's finished.

Eldar's Secret--FINISHED

Da da da DAAAAA!

 Finished!  After 18 months, Eldar's Secret is FINISHED!

Can I express how satisfied I am to have finished this HUGE project?

567,000 STITCHES.

90 colors of floss.

Hours of time.

But it's finished.  I'm not sad to finish.  It's very fulfilling and satisfying to finish.  This hasn't been my most difficult project.  By difficult, I'm thinking of those projects with lots and lots of 1/2 stitches and 3/4 stitches with lots and lots of backstitiching that you have to count out exactly or rip and start over repeatedly.  But it was difficult in the amount of short sections with lots of color changes.  The blocks at the top of the project had the biggest run of single color blocks.  The dragons the least.  I can't tell you how often I'd finish stitching a color and then realizing that there was ONE stupid stitch of this color in this next section.  ONE STUPID STITCH.  Sometimes I'd pull that floss color back out of the box and stitch that one stitch in the correct color.  Other times, I admit, I looked at the picture, at where we were in the picture, and I'd substitute a color (usually the one I was presently using).  

Am I ready to attack a full sized Heaven & Earth design?  Not right now.  Maybe when I retire!  12 pages took me 18 months...how long would 30 pages take?  Or 60!

Nope.  I'll turn my attention to a new project, one not so challenging or time consuming...I hope!  My next project is below:

Glory in the Morning

It's 3 feet tall!  Hand dyed two-tone linen fabric.

I can't wait to start!

I also can't wait to see Eldar framed and up in my office.

The finished Kitchen

You know us, we don't go very long without remodeling something!  

Miss Kat's High School Graduation is over.  Track season is over.  School is out, which means that I have Friday's off.  Which also meant that I had lots of "free" time to do projects!

After much thought and discussion, Kevin agreed that I could paint the kitchen cabinets.  Remember back in January when we replaced the counter tops?  I said then that the Oak just didn't match the new tops or the trim that we stained to match the counter tops and new back splash.  We (I) decided to take a chance and paint the cabinets.

I looked at lots of examples of rustic cabinet treatments on Pinterest and the web.  I thought about what I wanted, and decided on a Barn Red with a black glaze.  Except I wasn't sure I wanted to go with black, but thought a dark brown would work.  I asked opinions from lots of friends and family members.  I especially picked the brain of Megan, who had recently painted her cabinets.  She's in the design business and I value her opinion and experience.  She let me know that it was a lot of work, and she was right!

Before pictures:  just as a reminder of where we started!

So, three weeks ago, I started sanding the cabinets.  I removed the doors, removed the hardware, and sanded.

And sanded.

And bought more sandpaper.

And sanded.

Then I stopped by Sherwin Williams for paint.

I got primer (tinted dark grey), and the paint.

Two weekends ago, I painted.  On Friday, I painted the primer.  Two coats.  On Saturday, I painted red.   Two coats.  (actually three on the cabinet doors.)  I painted from 8 in the morning until after 9 p.m. both days.  I held a brush so long that I had blisters!

I also made a mad dash to the paint store for wall paint because we knew we weren't keeping the green, but I hadn't decided on a color.

And on Sunday, I made another mad dash to Dodge to the paint store because I hated the first color I'd picked!  It was too light and just didn't work.

This past Friday, I mixed my glaze color.  And instantly began second guessing my color choice.  It wasn't as dark as I'd envisioned.  But I was NOT making another trip to town to change colors!  And I persevered.  And texted photos to Megan and Bailey for their input.  Both said they liked it, but I wasn't sure...

I finally decided that if I hated it when done, I could put another glaze over this one, but use black.

On Saturday, I took a break and went with Kevin to Wichita.  He was helping some friends move.  I went along and helped unload the truck.  We also stopped by Menards on our way home to get a few items we needed.  Like spray paint.

We'd decided to re-use the existing hardware, but we both really disliked it.  So, we spray painted it Oil-Rubbed Bronze.  

At Menards, we also bought a piece of beadboard to put on the front of the bar (the dining room side.)  I'd painted it, but it was that paper-covered plywood, like what we had on the sides of all of our el-cheapo cabinets.  That large of an area didn't take the paint well and I really hated the look of it--even after I glazed it.  It just looked awful.  We had to do something with it!

On Sunday, we rehung the cabinet doors, and I put on all the hardware.  Kev put up the bead board.  (which necessitated another flying trip to Dodge, because his staple/finish nail gun died.  We bought a new one.  He uses it way too often to be without!)

Here's the finished project (pre clean-up):

The east wall.

The West wall.

 The Dining Room side of the bar with it's new beadboard walls.

 The South wall.

 The North side/kitchen side of the bar.

I still need to paint the dining room.  It's still green.  I'm happy with the beige/tan wall color (it's darker in person than in photos.)  It goes great with my window treatment, so I'm keeping my chicken valances. (Yeah!)  

I do have a small confession.  It's been humid enough that drying time is a wee bit slower than anticipated.  I stacked my doors to bring upstairs, and a couple of them stuck together!  I have to touch up two cabinets.  And I think I will take Megan's advice and get some water based Polyurethane and give everything a coat--including the hardware.  I'm hoping I can apply it without dismantling everything...we'll see.  I also need to find some little pads to put in the corners of the cabinet doors to help with the "bang" upon closing.

And, for some reason, a couple of the big pantry doors don't line up like they did.  Kev tried leveling them, but that caused a gap problem.  So, we have to be a little careful about closing them just right, but I can live with that.  Hopefully this will last us till we can remodel the entire kitchen, in three or four years.

Kev is not a paint guy.  He really likes the beauty of natural wood (if you hadn't figured that out by now!)  He admitted that this looked nice, and looked better than what we had, and that he didn't necessarily have faith in me.  He just KNEW that I'd get started and that something wouldn't work right and we'd be forced to buy new cabinets.  He of little faith :)

I decided that the brown glaze works well.  It brings out the browns in the trim, the back splash and the counter tops.  The black hardware brings out the black in everything...so it does work.  (I shouldn't doubt myself as much as I do either!)

I'd like to say this was a cheap fix, but it wasn't cheap.  I spent $200 in paint and primer.  I guess that's cheaper than a new kitchen, but it was more than I hoped to spend :).  However...I think buying GOOD paint is worth it.  

Right now, I'm ready to retire my brush and get my kitchen back to normal.  I need to finish Kat's scrapbook/album (with graduation stuff.)  I've got a cross stitch project to finish.  (I haven't touched it since April!) I've got flower beds to weed, and hopefully some canning in my future.  

Today, I'm tickled...red...about the new look in the kitchen and am ready for normal.  However...Miss Kat did mention that her bathroom is the only room in the house we haven't touched.  We might have to look into that!

Never ending remodeling.

You'd think we were done with the remodel of Andy's bathroom.

But you'd be wrong.

We thought we were done in that bathroom.  

We were wrong too!

Here's the towel rods we originally installed.  They looked nice, but they kept pulling out of the wall or would fall off the brackets.  These are the kind where you don't have any visible screws, and they hook over brackets that you tighten a screw against the bracket to hold them to the wall.  

Nice in theory.  Not so nice in actual practice.

So, I've been brainstorming, and shopping, looking for something that would stay on the wall and still be "oil rubbed bronze."

I got the idea for the new ones we have by thinking about the stair rail in Mom and Dad's house.  It's simply a galvanized pipe screwed to the wall.  Now, granted, as a pretentious teenager, I thought it was cheap and hokey, and just lived with it.  (It was better once we painted it bright apple green!)  But now, I was thinking how it has been on that wall for almost 100 years and was trying to think of a towel rack that would do as well...Eureka!

 So I presented my idea to Kevin, to make towel racks out of galvanized pipe.  He was skeptical, but I searched Pinterest and found several examples.  I even found some painted black and a couple with a shelf.

I had him hooked on the idea with the shelf.

So on Saturday morning, Kev went to town and came home with all the hardware for new towel racks.

I washed them up--to scrub the protective coating and oil off the metal.  Kevin built his rack.  I spray painted it.  Kev then went out and found a piece of wood, cut it to fit, drilled the holes for the pipe, and we were in business!

I washed the piece of wood, because it was pretty dirty!  Kev spaced his brackets so that two were in studs and he installed those plastic brackets in the other holes.  THIS towel rack isn't going anywhere!

I LOVE it!

(Note, we did use ONE recycled pipe out of some that Kev had at home.  We didn't have any brackets or elbows.  I'm sure we could have found some if we'd gone to the farm, but it was easier to buy new.  But rest assured, I'm thinking of other ways to use some old pipe that's laying around!)