The Sudden Ender to My Bender

Growing up, the word Project (always with a capital P) was tantamount to a swear word in our house; particularly when it was spoken with great enthusiasm by my father. If I'm honest, I will tell you that my left eye still twitches when I hear him say the word. (I also have to fight an overwhelming urge to flee ;o) Why? Because his idea of a "Project" was enough to instill fear in even the staunchest of hearts. I think the worst one I ever had to do was the brick walkway. There was a straight brick path leading from the patio to a circular bricked garden complete with benches and a birdbath, then a second straight path [opposite the first] that led to a pergola. It was very pretty to look at, beautiful really, but I grew to hate it. In the spring I had to dig up every single brick, clean off any and all [unwanted] moss and "dirty" sand, then put each brick back in the same place making sure they were both level and uniformly spaced. When I was done, my dad would stop whatever P-word he was working on and pour in fresh sand to refill the spaces. In hindsight, I can't help but wonder why on earth the man didn't just buy some concrete and be done with it (because talk about tedious -  Yeesh!)

And now? Well, now I find myself using that very same word with increasing abandon (then glancing over my shoulder in trepidation and apologizing profusely for using such language in the event someone actually heard me). For some reason, however, my own projects don't seem quite as horrifying as those inflicted upon me so many years ago (though I will own up to periodic panic-induced ponderings [Ha] - usually along the lines of: "Hello? What in the world were you thinking when you thought this was a good idea Jennifer? Does this LOOK like a good idea? Are you mental?"). Of course DH - if and when he gets dragged into the middle of one of them - is usually all too happy to question my sanity for me.

My largest act of lunacy DIY Pro- um - Undertaking so far this summer has been adding a super-sized container garden to the back yard. We had six (count 'em, six) garbage cans left over when the county switched to an automated trash pick up system. What was I supposed to do with all those cans? Did you know it's virtually impossible to throw out a garbage can? Not to mention the overflowing landfill issue. I decided to commit an environmental nicety and turn them all into ginormous planters. Not as nice as the kind I would love to have, certainly, but I can't afford the amount they charge for any of those great big beautiful things (nope, nary a one - and I've looked). Since this bed would be largely made up of our old garbage cans and wheel-less yard carts, I decided to entertain myself by dubbing it the "Recycling Plant" (I thought it was pretty darn punny myself; ba-dump-bump ;o) I haven't made the sign for it yet, but it's on the list. DH let me raid the lumber stash we were saving for the boys stalls; there was a reason we had gotten it at a steep discount, and most of it had turned out to be unusable for any structural endeavors so it was just sitting there in a big pile.

Since it was just a "spot in the yard", I didn't take a picture at the very beginning. It occurred to me to snap a photo about the time I had the first garbage can painted and buried and had already hauled several other items around to their new home. I wound up digging the first can I planted back up and burying it in a different spot. What can I say? Clearly, I am mental. *laugh* I drilled about a bazillion holes for drainage, and honestly didn't think I'd ever finish painting it all. Although I went with all brown, several were in metallic shades (which I love). To save money, I used regular paint in a close color for the base coat then topped it off with the metallic paint (that stuff's too darn expensive to use for multiple coats!) Then when I finally did get all done, didn't we just have to have that crazy hail storm out of the blue? ACK!! It messed up my paint jobs in several places. Big, fat raspberries to that. Hopefully, nobody will notice once the plants get going; or should I say get growing? *snicker*

Don't you wish things would actually progress as easily at they appear to in photos? Although it may not look like it, this particular P-word turned out to be quite labor intensive. I'm sure my neighbors wondered initially what in the world I was doing lugging all that big ugly junk to the same place though....

Pine cones, in case you're wondering, make an excellent natural filler for large containers (dirt gets expensive to buy, I can only dig up so much, and we've got pine cones in spades - Ha - I'm on it today, eh? ;o)  I put a layer of pine cones in the bottom of the old water trough (above left) as well as the other big stuff. They will break down eventually, so I'll probably have to add a bit more dirt when they do, but for now it's quite helpful in pinching what's left of my pennies (both of 'em ;o)

Having learned my lesson the first go-round (a rare, yet happy occurrence) I spent some time playing around with the rest of the containers and moving things around to see where I liked them the best before I buried anything else...

Tractor Supply was kind enough to put their [cheapest] fake barrel planters on sale, and I found my first XL "rescue" plant at Lowe's (a Gaillardia for $2)

I honestly thought I'd never finish painting them all, but I did. I only painted what showed; as you can see by that awful yard cart green peeking out in the above photo. *laugh*

On one of the days, the only thing I did was move the bird bath. It took me forever to flip the base end over end from its point of origin to the flowerbed. The route from Point A to Point B had just enough incline to it that rolling it was a no-go. All that bending over to roll - then standing up because ACK, my back! - made me really dizzy. *laugh* Why do things always get so darn complicated? That joker was heavy. The top part I could carry without too much trouble; it was just a little awkward. Whew!

I had to wait for DH to come lend a hand with the left and right ends though; those 6x6's are a little too much for me to do all by myself (particularly the cutting with a chainsaw part ;o)

I put down a layer of feed bags to keep the grass and weeds from creeping up through the mulch; they're every bit as good as cardboard, which I didn't have. But feed bags? Got lots of those (though I obviously had a leeetle bit of trouble getting them all fully tucked under that front stack on the left end - oops). I'll go back with a knife and trim them eventually. Probably. Maybe....

I added the other half of the cypress log (the first half being in the front bed) to the right side and...

TAH DAH! So what do you think? It looks a little funny right now with some of the plants being so small in such big containers, but they'll grow. Salvaged plants notwithstanding, everything else was in the smallest container they had; which was the only way I could swing it. Well, that and spreading it out over multiple paychecks. *sigh* Hopefully they'll grow soon. Very soon. Tomorrow's good for me, actually. Day after at the latest. I may add a few more things here and there if I find anything else I can't resist (because who doesn't love a good bargain basement special, right? ;o)

On another (and completely irrelevant) note, look who I found hiding out in the tool shed:

Thanks so much for reading this far. Have a safe and happy Fourth of July and a beautifully blessed week y'all!

Two... Four... Six... WAIT!

Sad and True: This post was started in mid-January:

WHOOP! It has been a couple of weeks now, and I'm still reorganizing and sorting as much as I can (that would be the keeping and the tossing portion of our program). Progress is, of course, a LOT slower with the whole full-time job back on and all (but some progress is still better than none, right?) I would love to be able to get some things done outside; maybe play with the horses a bit (now there's an idea ;o) Unfortunately, the weather continues to be grossly uncooperative. I shouldn't complain really, since we're not buried in snow and ice around here, but with frequent heavy rains followed by sudden freezing temperatures? Well, I just can't stay out there long enough to do anything beyond the feeding (and that part's rough enough). 

Sometimes I think there's nothing more wrong than a cold, nasty, wet weekend followed by three gorgeous, sunny days in a row. You know, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday: the days you are AT WORK?!? Grrr. Does that happen to you? Isn't it just the most frustrating thing sometimes? The pile of things to be toted outside and painted (most just with clear polyurethane for protection from the elements and to prevent fading) is growing at an alarming rate. Between the weather and my work schedule, I just can't seem to make it happen. I started painting pine cones last November for a Thanksgiving table decoration and only managed to get a coat or two on, before the rainy weather shut it down. If it's not raining, it's freezing. Same with the partially done sink (this post), trash can, half finished homemade shutters, partially finished chairs (this post), along with all the other stuff for the visitor area. All of it is sitting around in various stages of incompletion. Sitting. Waiting. Sitting some more. 
I think it might be staring. 
Definitely staring.

At me.
It's creepy.

My right eye has now started twitching every time I walk out the back door.
Oy.

One really good thing so far this year? My brother Geoff and his family (wife Julia, and their two boys) came for a visit. I don't get to see them much at all, since they live in Oregon (that rather large state which sits at the opposite end of the country :o\ Even better? They stayed at our house this time, instead of at my parents' house. I was ecstatic as I'd only met my nephews once, and that was three years ago. We had a wonderful visit all the way around! My nephews had a great time with Kimby's boys (we were able to arrange a "play date"). To top it off, we were blessed with some really nice weather during their visit. We were even able to squeeze in some [supersize] "pony" rides on one of the days. I think the two-legged boys enjoyed themselves, don't you? Shadow, on the other hand, was clearly less than thrilled to be "saddled with" (ha) pony ride status. His mortification at being relegated to such a demeaning task, however, was easily overcome by a handful of his favorite treats.

Photo note: It's not shown in the shot, but there were grownups that came with the horses. (Didn't want you to worry ;o)

One thing that has bothered me for a long time was that I barely knew my sister-in-law, Julia. Though she and I have been together a few times - about three, if you count their wedding - it has always been somewhere we couldn't really talk. I love my parents, but they tend to um.... dominate any kind of family gathering/event (is there a nice way to call someone overbearing?) so she and I have never really had a chance to get to know each other.  One thing I already knew? She is an absolutely brilliant artist; I can honestly say that God has gifted her with a tremendous talent. If I can find out where she has her work posted (if she does), maybe she'll let me share some of it with you. My brother and I got to catch up as well, and I had all kinds of fun with the boys. Thankfully, Kimby's three boys keep me current with important "guy stuff". Sure do wish they lived on this side of the country though. *sniffle* Right before their visit, I stumbled across a "chalkboard tablecloth" in the clearance aisle at Walmart. Would you believe it was marked down to $1.96? Now there's a monetary risk I'm willing to take (since I wasn't too sure how well it would work). Turned out to be a lot of fun; we drew and played tic-tac-toe all over the dining room table ;o)

Happily, both my brother and his family love to poke around antique/thrift/junk stores as much as I, so we all piled in the car on Saturday morning and went to Sadies. One of my favorite things about visiting the flea market are the unexpected surprises. You just never know what you'll find from one visit to the next. Kind of like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates analogy, I suppose. Remember that heinous "Hollywood" chair? (this post). It was gone (and I can't help but wonder if someone actually bought that $750 monstrosity *laugh*). Anyway... this time I stumbled across the neatest thing; painted rocks. I'm guessing that sounds rather unexciting, but these particular rocks were both colorful and clever. Although it was the bright colors and pretty patterns that caught my eye initially, it just so happened that there was a rock with the word "Family" on it that perfectly matched the colors in our family room. What fun! When I got home, I set it down on top of the media unit, but after a day or so I realized it wasn't as visible as I'd like. Happily, this was easily resolved by putting to good use a small and inexpensive plate holder I had tucked in a drawer. I couldn't believe how perfectly it went with the existing decor; from my electronics "catch all" box to the wood carving done by my great grandfather. (interestingly enough, the photo on the wall was taken at my brother's wedding ;o) What do you think? Fun, right?

Meticulously hand painted, the rocks are finished with a nice heavy layer of sealant. I stopped to chat with the girl manning the booth, and it turned out she runs her own Etsy shop, called Carol's Mandala Rocks. Carol has all kinds of different designs in her shop (three of which are pictured below). She also has some very pretty heart shaped wooden magnets and she accepts custom orders (wouldn't a colorful rock with their name on it be a fun kid present?) You can visit Carol's shop here.

This was as far as I got (sans photos and edits) with my post. And then? 

**ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR**

It all came to a screeching halt (like my sound effect? *laugh*).

I think I'll end this post here; it's more than long enough already. Stay tuned for the explanatory whys and wherefores that will (I hope I hope!) be posted soon. In the meantime, thank you so much for reading this far and have a blessed week. Oh, and have a hug, too ('cause I missed ya! ;o)

Git 'er Done (doggone it)

I am a planner. I like schedules, order, and routine. Boring? Yep probably so, but I yam what I yam - and wasn't it Popeye who said that? Oookay, that's kinda weird - even for me. Must be all that spinach in my morning smoothies. *laugh* I am, most definitely, a creature of habit (one reason horses and I get along like a house on fire ;o) I try so hard to make allowances for glitches, hiccups and/or any of the various and sundry things that can cause a project (please excuse me for swearing) to fall behind. You know what I just can't figure out though? If I have something that should take two days, so I allow four, why then does it perpetually seem to drag out to six? What in the world am I supposed to do with that much time per "ToDo" in a summer that is flying by at warped (ha) speed? I've been in "pure panic mode" for a couple of weeks now. Does this happen to you? As of this paragraph, I have less than two weeks before I am due to return to reality. I have not ridden at all. Not one time. That may, possibly, maybe, perhaps, have been uttered with a teensy-weensy bit of a whine there. Apologies. The almost patio is STILL not finished - though it's getting closer - and DH is going on vacation (so he can drive me bonkers full time, instead of part time *rolls eyes*). Sometimes I think I spend all my time in a constant state of frustration; do you struggle with that? On the upside [photo inset] just look at the awesome fabric I found for the "patio classroom" table our visitors will be using. I love it! I even found some heavy duty clear vinyl to put over top to keep it nice (I hope ;o) I found it at the Carolina Cotton Company on Etsy (click here to visit the shop). Now all I need is to find someone that knows how to sew, since the edges are unfinished (oops ;o)

True to form, DH is indeed driving me bonkers full time (and didn't I say that very thing a paragraph ago? *laugh*). DH's nephew has come for a visit; we haven't seen him for years and years, and we have been thoroughly enjoying ourselves catching up. DD and her canine entourage came as well, so she could see her cousin, and we are fairly bursting (barking?) at the seams around here. At this point I have been knocked so far off my normal schedule/routine I'm not even sure which way is up (mostly because my eyeballs are completely crossed :oP I am hopelessly behind in my blog reading, among a bazillion other things, *grumble, grumble*, but I hope to be back on track soon! Happily, I did [finally!] get to sneak in a ride which went a long way toward helping me unwind a bit after a stressful couple of weeks. Unhappily, Faith [photo right] had six very bad seizures in a row the week before last. Frantic, DD rushed her to the vet where she was diagnosed with "Cluster Seizures" in addition to her Epilepsy (click here for more information on seizures in dogs). Faith could barely walk for the first couple of days following the seizures. Her mental state had regressed alarmingly (e.g. she did not know her name, forgot her potty training, and did not even recognize DD initially), though she is now, thankfully, improving, she still has a long way to go. Strange as it may sound, Diamond's reaction was a shocking aggression toward Faith (who is her daughter); even going so far as to attack her physically, prompting DD to quickly separate the two. Thankfully, after a few days the aggression disappeared as swiftly as it had come. Diamond is reteaching Faith how to play, and hopefully her new medication will prevent such a frightening thing from happening again. [Photo inset: Faith with her, "Can we come inside now?" face - taken this morning.]

DH's nephew came with his own little (and I do mean little) canine entourage. The most adorable and funniest looking little dog I think I've ever seen. "Buddy" is an English Jack Russell Terrier, which is something I've never heard of (the Jack Russell part, yes, but not the "English" version). Click here to read about the distinctions between the Jack Russell breeds. Faith, whose dad is a Jack Russell, towers over him. Even Diamond (who is mostly Chihuahua with a little Russell of her own tossed in) is taller than he is. Of course he's still a puppy; and a pudgy little one at that. Is he not just the funniest little thing? His personality is just as happy as can be. I think Diamond has a crush on him, though Faith seems to think he has cooties. He is just so doggone cute!  I couldn't resist taking a few more pictures of him for you. The one shot I wanted that I couldn't get, was a full-body photo of him sprawled out on the floor gnawing away on one of his natural chews (a beef trachea). He was literally laid out; stubby little back toes stretched straight out behind him. So funny. He had us all in stitches watching him run and play with  the girls (Faith and Diamond), those itty bitty legs going like gangbusters as he gamboled about with surprising speed and agility. I'll say one thing for him; for all his chunky-monkey appearance, that little guy can GO. Gravy, I'm starting to feel more like a DogBlog here, than a horse one. *sigh* Well. Here are a couple more for you...

He has the cutest little face:

He seemed a little tuckered after coming in from playing with the girls outside:

Guess they really wore him out, eh? (sorry for the blur). Poor little man. *laugh*

Next time I hope to have a small slide show with a handful of butterfly photos; I couldn't quite pull it off in time for this post. Though they weren't as good as I'd hoped for clarity-wise, I think they will be worth sharing. Have a blessed week everyone!

Mad Max and the X-factor

Have you ever noticed that the more balls you toss in the air the more likely it is that things will go amiss? Invariably those that fall (which is usually way more than half) seem to bonk you squarely on top of the head before crashing to the ground - or at least they do me. This post will likely be a day late, as I am now having technical difficulties with my monitor; which is now sporadically cutting off (arrgh!). It's kind of hard to finish a post when you can't see what you're doing. *sigh* While we are making progress of a sort with some things, NOthing seems to be going above the speed of sloth (the tree one; that moves like one foot every three hours *rolls eyes*). DH and our favorite volunteer Mr. Ron managed to finish framing out the restroom last week and get the outside walls up. Although DH has declared it "ready to use", I've opted to be a bit picky about it and wait until he actually hooks up the water (and puts up a DOOR! ;o) The pipe you see sticking up out of the concrete by the outside wall will be where we put the sink. I figure we'll be washing up and using the sink a whole lot more than we'll need the rest room, so it seemed prudent to place it on the outside where it's easier to access. Don't you think?

Somehow, in the next month or so I am going to give it my best to get a large number of "unfinished projects" completed. They seem to be everywhere. The prayer shawl on the right is finally finished; it's for a friend that had a stroke and is now wheelchair bound. Now I just have to figure out how to get it to her on the sly. The next thing I need to finish is the little angel I posted last week (you know, the one for the giveaway? Sheesh). Some days I just want to do the mad scientist routine; barricade myself in the house, rip out the phone, turn off the TV and run around like a crazy person in a frenzy of activity until I can GET-IT-ALL-DONE. I don't know about you, but I seem to have trouble with constant interruptions. Then of course, I forget what I was doing and go off and start on something else; just pitiful. Meh :oP Last week's big distraction was sponsored by Pleurisy (yep, really). It has been three weeks since Walk-In doc gave me the all clear (he did say if it didn't go away to go see my regular doctor) and it has been getting steadily worse instead of better (breathing has become quite an interesting challenge). My regular doctor took another xray (which was still clear), then gave me a whopping dose of steroids through the hip (and oh goody, a shot) on Tuesday, but things were no better by the follow up on Thursday (and they should have been). Happily (?) I already had my regular checkup scheduled with the Rheumatologist for Monday (today), so we'll see what he says. It is not viral, and since the steroid didn't work, he cannot treat the pleurisy until someone figures out its cause. Whoopee. In the meantime, just call me Wheezy. Wait. Maybe we should make that "Wheeza" after Shirley McLaine in Steel Magnolias (this IS the South, after all...Ha ;o)

Now to the moment you have been waiting for (unless of course you skipped straight to this part; and how rude is that? *laugh*). And the winner is... Daisy. Woo! *Applause*Applause* Congratulations! If you will give me a bit of patience and your mailing address, I'll finish up my your unfinished BC angel and get it out to you as quickly as I can. Thank you so much to everyone who left a comment (you know how much I love them!) That's it for now. Except for yesterday's sunrise, which was gorgeous:

Have a blessed week everyone!

I don't know about you, but I have a terrible time crossing things off my "To Do" lists. I have no problem making the lists; I do it all the time (in fact I'm pretty sure that there are about 100 different lists floating around here on various scraps of paper, index cards and sticky notes), so why do I keep making new ones to misplace?? Hope springs eternal? Noooo, more like some kind of self-inflicted stupidity (ha). I am also a total victim of Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder*. Between that, running [into] Special OPS (Other Peoples shhStuff), and a series of circular projects I can't seem to get anything done. Ever. It's making me demented. Do you have trouble with this? My house looks to be decorated in what can only be described as Early American Hoarder (boxes of Epic Farms stuff and filing cabinets stuck everywhere and anywhere they'll fit). I haven't seen my dining room table since Christmas, and there was a humongous paper avalanche in my office the other day. Thankfully, I made it out alive (although I believe I did take another giant step closer to "The Deep End"). Probably a good thing we don't have small children or indoor pets; we'd never find them. It's making me crazed, and I wasn't that far off from it to begin with.

For those of you wondering what on earth a series of circular projects is, it is a group of projects that are completely co-dependent. Like human co-dependents, each one does not function particularly well on its own. Example: The shop inventory for Epic Farms on Etsy and Wysiwigs currently overwhelming *cough* occupying the guest bedroom will be moved into the old office (which is crammed full of Christmas decorations and other storage-type stuff). The storage type stuff will move to a [not yet built] monster closet on the "old" patio, which is presently the feed/tack room but will (someday before I die) become an indoor Epic Farms area. The feed and tack will move into the new feed and tack room which (of course) does not yet exist beyond the concrete floor. I am waiting (ever so impatiently) for DH to hurry up and finish the "outhouse" so we can get started on the feed and tack room. A friend doing a remodel donated the *ahem* pot-tay; concrete was mixed and put around the pipe last night. Um, no pressure honey (really), but how's it coming?? Are we close to being ready for walls? I can definitely help with that. No, we can't leave it like this even if you do think it's much better than a tree. (Um, dear? Your Redneck is showing ;o) Oh, before I forget (again), have you seen my project list? I've misplaced [definitely lost] it. Did you find it? Me neither. I can't remember what I was going to do while the concrete is drying.
Guess I'll start a new list. Oy.

We CAN cross another school year off the list though; at least for students. I have a few more days left to go, but we are almost there. Ask me if I didn't have several versions of the Hallelujah Chorus running through my head when the announcement to load buses came Friday afternoon. Sometimes I think the last week of school exists for the sole purpose of torturing all of the grownups employed by the school system. To those of you who have never experienced it, all I can tell you is it completely and utterly transcends an "Are we there yet?" scenario from a 10 hour car ride with no A/C and multiple kids who argue, whine and complain incessantly from the back seat. If the CIA went for stuff like that instead of waterboarding, there's no telling how much intel they could get. The classroom teacher and I spent some time in therapy this week via a color sheet copied for the kids (photo inset). Do any of you still like to color? I do to a point, although I'll admit I got a little tired of it after awhile. I didn't get a picture of it after I'd finished; I gave it away to the student who asked if she could please, please, pleeeeeze have it. Hmmm...I wonder if she'll take it home and put it on the refrigerator. You think? ;o)

I've been trying to spend some time with Max, our resident problem child (on the left next to Champ). We are practicing the art of standing still. For those of you who are thinking that's kind of a strange thing to practice, picture Max as a young, seriously hyperactive kid with aspirations to become a world famous boxer. As far as his pasture mates are concerned, Max has turned annoying into an art form. He is all up in your face wanting attention but ducking and dodging at 90 mph to avoid getting beaned (his barnyard buddies are apparently FAR less subtle about correction than I am). This is compounded by the fact that he is extremely excited to have my undivided attention. Unfortunately, he is also jealous and doesn't want anyone else beating his time. This means any time another horse gets near his stall he has a hissy and lunges at them after quickly trying to push me around to his other side so he can "keep" me all to himself. I'm mostly sure he's starting to think I've changed his name to "HOLD STILL TURKEY!" Little booger actually knocked my glasses off the other day before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. *sigh* We've been working in his double stall, but could definitely use more room to maneuver. Join up time; definitely. Hopefully, we can get some kind of round pen back up early this summer and really make some progress. I should probably add that to my list; if I can find it (*rolls eyes*). Guess that means Mad Max will be attending summer school this year ;o)

Have a blessed Memorial Day (and rest of the week) everyone. Please pray for those who serve now, and many many thanks to all of the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country. After all, without them we might not even have the freedom to spend the day grilling out and visiting with friends and family. So thank you all!
Thanks for reading, and see y'all next week.
*Visit Joke of the Day to read an alarmingly accurate post on this particular disorder :o)