Instead of having to play “Pick Up Sticks” this morning, I actually found one of our long, metal SHOVELS in the front yard, plus the part of a mop bucket where you put the mop to squeeze out the excess water, plus a rectangular bin – all from the garage. Apparently, the garage is Amber’s new playground, complete with toy storage area…
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
“Duck on Lake” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Great Joy” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Lunch for Ducks – Grass” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Amazing Animals, Paul Militaru Photography
Interesting Facts
Murphy’s Technology Law #7: All great discoveries are made by mistake.
#8: Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget.
#9: All’s well that ends … period.
#10: A meeting is an event at which minutes are kept and hours are lost.
#11: The first myth of management is that it exists.
#12: A failure will not appear until a unit has passed final inspection.
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor
(1) My husband put a HEAVY piece of 1/4″ thick metal on the CNC table yesterday. He loaded the code he wrote to talk to the computer that guides the torch. He was able to cut out the rounded triangular piece with the holes in it that you see in the model picture just below the horizontal tubing above. He had to turn the speed of the cutting down to crawl because the metal was so thick, but he was able to do it! There is no way in the world he would have been able to cut the piece out by hand and cut the holes to specifications if we didn’t have the CNC machine and my husband’s expertise. Hooray! I think he’s going to work on the horizontal tube next. I’ll post pics as he starts putting the tool together.
(2) We cut out the new Christmas mailbox decoration yesterday before my husband did the heavy metal cutting. (He DID have some ‘heavy metal’ playing on the speakers while he was doing it :0) )
Here’s the picture from which we are working.
First, my husband created the code needed that tells the torch needs to cut to create the design we would like. The computer-guided torch then cuts the design out while we watch. This is the cut out metal design. We’ll get the rough spots off the back and then my husband will make the part that attaches it to the mailbox and he’ll weld the two together. Then we’ll mark the piece using a transparency printed on our printer and an overhead projector. I’ll show you pics as the work progresses. I’ve stored this in my painting area for the moment, because it won’t be needed until the end of the year. I’m working on the pumpkin mailbox decoration you can see on my painting table in the background, trying to pump up the orange color. I would LIKE for it to glow in the dark when car lights hit it…
(3) Our third project started yesterday was the complete emptying and cleaning out of our front hall closet – made unusable due to our stashing of ‘stuff.’ My goal was to put things that should be elsewhere in their proper place, see if there was anything we wanted to donate to the Veterans Thrift Shop, throw stuff away, and reorganize what was left, putting it in a clean closet. That project is FINISHED!
This is the closet when I started.
This is the cleaned out closet.
We now can use the closet as a front hall closet – hanging up visitors’ coats.
We have a bin in the basement where we store extra out of season coats, vests, etc., so we moved what we didn’t need now down there until the spring. We now have two large leaf bags of nice winter things for the people who shop at the Veteran’s Thrift Shop, plus some exercise stuff that was redundant to the equipment I’m using, or not being used enough to keep. We want to add to the donation bags a bit more before we make the trip to Fort Smith, but should do that by the first week in February, at the latest. Another area checked off!
TODAY’S PROJECT:
I have a set of nice, big shelves on my side of the bedroom, plus an even larger set in the guest room. I’ve been going through both, but at a very slow pace. I’m going to try to get both sets of shelves so that I can find and reach the books on the shelves, getting rid of a bunch in the process. A lot of moving, hauling, shelving and cleaning ahead – my exercise for this wonderful rainy day!
“Lady Swan and Her Shadow” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Two Black Ladies” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Betsy Youngquist – “Bird”
Nancy Josephson
Filed under Beans & Seeds Art, Creativity
Recently we’ve received a wonderful gift of being able to look at lots of birds we don’t often see. When we’re eating breakfast, we love watching the birds come to eat the seed we put out. We’re not official birdwatchers, and identify most as just ‘pointy headed birds,’ ‘cardinals,’ bluejays’ (my husband tries to shoot the bluejays because he read they eat the eggs of other birds), and more.
Recently, though we’ve seen –
a wonderful roadrunner who looked like a baby. He sat in the dish of one of our deck planters, then finally made it over to the shovel bird and found sunflower seeds in the shovel part. We see full grown roadrunners from time to time in the summer, running in their characteristic, comedic way, where they put their head and tail down to form a kind of horizontal line with their body, run like mad for a few feet, then stop putting head and tail up – frozen as they survey their surroundings – and then the ‘horizontal line’ runs again as they cross the yard.
We also saw –
TWO robins! I guess we probably have a lot of these around, but recently was the first time we remember actually SEEING them on our deck railings and feeders. I realized that I didn’t know if we were seeing two males, or two females, or a pair. I found this –
So we saw two males – meaning that we hopefully have at least two pairs of robins close around!
Filed under Amazing Animals, Arkansas, Favorite Things, Greenwood, Mother Nature
quotesgram.com
I love it when it rains – even when we’re not in the middle of the worst drought this area has seen in years. We’ve had so little that the lake where our town gets most of its drinking water is down to some 16 feet deep now, not nearly enough to allow the water system to work as it should. The people who get Greenwood water have switched to bottled water until further notice. I don’t know how much rain we need to get back to normal. Luckily, we – on top of the ridge line southeast of Greenwood outside of the city limits – get our water from Milltown-Washburn water and a different lake that isn’t having problems yet.
It isn’t raining now, but it did overnight. Everything is still very wet, so we’re finally able to burn some trash we’ve been stashing in the house and in the shop. On the way back from helping my husband take boxes out for the burn barrel, I stopped in the back yard to simply enjoy. It’s still gray, clouds so thick they’re not letting a lot of sun in. The air is so dense it almost feels as if it’s raining. I tipped my head back and slowly breathed in.
AHHHHHHHH!
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow via Lisa Bearnes Richey
Filed under Mother Nature
Mary Lou, my sister-in-law, sent me a surprise package. We received it yesterday.
A “Labrador” pillow cover to honor our sweet ‘puppy,’ Amber! We bought a pillow insert today after Lunch Bunch and I couldn’t wait to see how it looked on the couch.
Great present! Thanks so much, Mary Lou!!
Filed under Delightful Surprises
THING ONE:
We’ll use our CNC table and computer set-up to cut out this metal design for the mailbox. It’ll be about 2 feet high and 2-1/2 feet or so wide. (My husband converted the image we found on the net to computer code.) We’re doing this today because my husband wants to work on a part for the welding lathe he’s building. We have about half a sheet of metal on the table currently, so cutting out this design serves two purposes – a start to the mailbox decoration AND being able to clean off the table and put the really heavy metal for the welder part on it.
THING TWO:
Front Hall Closet Clean-out
This is a closet used for stashing. We hardly ever use it, otherwise, because people come into the house from the garage, rather than the front door. I’m going to change that, making it a closet where we can actually hang guests’ coats! (What a concept!) :0)
It’s embarrassing to post these pictures, but you already knew I was a slob. I hate housekeeping, second only to bookkeeping, taxes, and other legal stuff. I’m determined to go through my house, one area at a time, and take everything out, go through it to decide whether we want to keep it, donate it, or pitch it. If we’re keeping it, I’ll decide where it needs to live. A lot of this stuff should probably be elsewhere. I’ll clean the closet thoroughly and then reorganize what we’re keeping.
Here is a close up of the top of the closet.
And a close up of the bottom.
I don’t know how long this will take. I’ll put everything I take out onto our couch. That will give me the motivation to keep going until all of it has been sorted. I’ll post pics when the project is finished.
First, we enjoy our good friends at Lunch Bunch. We’ll do a few errands while we’re out. We’ll take care of animals when we get back, cut out the mailbox decoration, get the metal sheet remaining off the CNC table, and then I’ll begin.
We are in the middle of three main projects at the moment:
PROJECT 1: My husband convinced me to change from my current MAC computer back to a ‘regular PC’ with Windows 10 and Microsoft. He has been really upset that ever since I’ve been using my MAC, he was unable to help me fix problems. Our son, who wanted me to change to the MAC originally, lives and works in Thailand. He’s a good communicator and very patiently tries to help me when there is a problem, but there is a 12-hour time difference and he has a life other than being available to help MOM with her latest weird problem.
This is my new computer. As you can see, it needs a bit of work. :0)
My husband has ordered the parts and case so that he can build a new computer for me. We’ve now gotten everything except the CPU. When we get that, he can finish the hardware part of the project and start fighting with software. I won’t switch over to the new machine until everything has been moved and tested from my MAC – at least that’s the way it’s supposed to work. I’ll be happy when the changeover is finished and I’m sure it’s all working – and I know how to make it all work again.
PROJECT 2: I’m trying to work my way through our house, going through things that have been stored or stashed for some 30+ years now, gathering dust and taking up space. I’m forcing myself to take things one at a time, taking everything out of shelves, drawers, desks, buffets, etc., and deciding whether to keep each thing I find, whether it belongs here or somewhere else if I’m keeping it, if it would be better if I donate it, or it should be thrown away. I’m then deep cleaning – starting with the bulldozer, if needed – and then reorganizing what I’m keeping. My goal is to have one donation for the Veterans Thrift Store each month, and one donation to the local library as needed. So far, we’ve made a donation for January to the Veterans, but we don’t have enough books yet for a donation.
Today’s project was to finish the cleaning out of a set of shelves that live next to a window in our office. This was not only a ‘catch-all,’ it had become a ‘stash-all.’ I had piles of articles I had torn out of magazines, like exercises I should be doing, how long to keep things in the freezer, what I should be planting when, how to avoid problems at tax time, etc, etc, etc. I had previous year’s tax paperwork, cards of customers of Creative Artworks, greeting cards ready to send, the pile of stuff we’ll dump on our CPA as soon as we receive our records for the year from Schwab……
I’ve been working on this set of shelves for three days. I’m not sure if ONLY our lab puppy is shedding, or Molly is, too, and the cats – but I’ve been really fighting animal hair the past few weeks. I’ve vacuumed every day this week in here, plus dusted, and I’m STILL fighting it. And THEN the stashed ‘stuff’ is dusty…
The shelves finally look as though a normal person lives here. The pile beside the notebooks will go to the CPA, so that will be clear soon. Things are better than they’ve been in years. :0)
PROJECT 3: The other project we’re working on simultaneously is that my husband is building a “welding lathe or positioner.” This is a tool that would allow him to put a piece he wanted to weld on it. He could weld it at one angle, then turn the piece over, still secured on the positioner, to weld the piece on the other side without having to take it loose, reposition it, etc. This would save a lot of time and effort for him.
This is a picture of what he’s trying to build. He saw one on the net or in a magazine, but it cost over $1,000, not including tax or shipping. He decided to build one. He was able to secure some blueprints for the project. He already had a lot of what was needed to build it. The round part at the bottom comes up to make a mini welding table, if needed. There is a computer that runs a motor that turns the piece at the top.
He is trying to figure out the triangular piece that is right under the horizontal part – not only how to make the piece, but how to get the holes just right…. To say that this is a complicated tool is a vast understatement. He’ll have to order some of the parts, such as the motor, a chain, and the round piece at the bottom, but he already has the small raspberry pi computer to go inside the box behind the round thing. Big project, but he’s smiling as he tries to figure out how to do it. :0)
So, that’s what we’ve been doing around here. The days fly past, but we make a bit of progress each day. Life is good.
Filed under Lewis projects, Organizing/DeCluttering
Interesting Facts
Murphy’s Technology Law #1: You can never tell which way the train went by looking at the track.
Source: Unknown
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor
Solly-myartmagazine.com
Winslow Homer_A_Good_One-fishing-paintings.com
Filed under Creativity, Watercolors I Love
“Playing Sunlight In the Water” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Nanea Hoffman – SweatpantsandCoffee.com via Lisa Bearnes Richey
Filed under Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
“Don’t look at me in that tone of voice.” ~ Unknown
Filed under Pet Peeves
“Seagull in Flight” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Stars” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Leo Tolstoy via SayingImages.com
“Happiness is not in our circumstance but in ourselves. It is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, like the heat of a fire. Happiness is something we are.” John B. Sheerin
funnyfact.com
“Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress.” Epictetus
images.designntrend.com
“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” Marcel Proust
“Happiness is a by-product of an effort to make someone else happy.” ~Gretta Brooker Palmer
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement
The picture above gives you an idea of the LOVELY glistening grass with the sun shining on it we saw as we drove to town early this morning. It was almost as if it were “jeweled” – with glints reflecting as we passed! I was thinking about how beautiful it was and my husband said, “Isn’t the grass beautiful this morning?” :0) Mother Nature was definitely smiling at us!
Filed under Mother Nature
Oscar Wilde via sayingimages.com
Now that I’m older than dirt, many things are becoming clearer.
I would prefer that people like me. I love it when people enjoy my blog or some of my art work. I’m delighted when someone wants to spend time with me.
But more and more I’m self-contained. I have so many things I want or like to do that I’m never bored. I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by materials I can use to make things. I have wonderful books and magazines to read, plans to make on my greenhouse and raised bed square foot garden, new low carb, low sugar recipes I want to try, animals to love, a husband who annoys me only part of the time, (;0) – life is good and I’m so lucky.
I could stay up here on top of my ridge line for days at a time, only coming down for supplies of various kinds. I’m able to reach out to people via social media, my blog, chat programs, phone and letter. It just doesn’t get better than this.
I still would like to improve, but I no longer want to be like others. I’m content within my own skin. I would like to lose some lard and feel stronger and more flexible. I would like to continue to learn things. I would love to have more time and energy to play in my art room.
I hope that many people live to look around and realize that their lot in life is pretty good. Things are never perfect, but they sure could be a lot worse.
Be content being yourself. Find things that make your spirit soar. Surround yourself with people you cherish. Live every day – embracing it, wringing every bit of joy out of it that is possible. “Be yourself….”
Filed under Challenges, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
“Flying Dove”-www.etsy.com
Joe Cartwright-www.pinterest.com
Filed under Creativity, Watercolors I Love
“Flying Over the Frozen Lake” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Eating on Ice” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Ducks on Ice” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
creativeartworksblog 