MAKING A HASSOCK

For the last few months I have been eager to try my hand at making something from a pallet.  Just in case I might get hold of a pallet, I have been diligently wasting many, many hours frequenting Pinterest looking at them.  I don't want to miss a single thing, you know.  I even set about amassing a stash of lady size tools for the job.  I practiced my skills by building a few birdhouses and watching my "jack of all trades" husband use his tools.  He is very good with almost any tool and he is very territorial about his tools.  So now I was ready for a big project.  I just needed a specimen to work on.  Daughter Ginger called one day to find out if I wanted a half pallet.  You know I snapped that thing right up.  I had no idea what exactly a half pallet meant, but there had to be something we could make out of it. 

Since Ginger had hers and the one for me in her car, she said they were just the right size for a hassock.  That sounded like a dandy idea to me, so we set about gathering our ideas and supplies.  I was trying to keep my cost down, since in reality I didn't even really need a hassock or anything else to take up space in my house. 

I spent $58.00 for 8 industrial wheels for both pallets.  I just had to buy the wheels as soon as I saw them without even measuring or planning ahead of the purchase.  Of course, as I exited the store I spotted a MUCH cheaper alternative, but couldn't tell the hubby I had made a costly wrong choice.  So after determining that the wheels were just way too big for where I wanted to use my hassock, I did haul my 4 wheels back to the store and amuse all the men at the customer service counter as I tried to hoist them up on the counter.  They were big and heavy (the wheels, not the men).  I ended up buying a moving dolly, which had much smaller wheels and they were already mounted on a wooden frame that I thought might be easier to work with and already had the mounting bolts, nuts, washers and everything. 

The pallet.

The moving dolly.

So here is the final product.  It fits nicely under the coffee table in the living room so the grands can sit on it to play or sit on it to eat when we have the whole crew here for a meal.  Once they figure out how fast it will roll on my scored concrete floors, I may have a bit of disciplining to do.  I have even thought of scooting around on that thing myself.  It has two nice storage shelves where magazines fit perfectly.

It was great fun to make and I'm ready for a full size pallet now. 

SPRING BASKET REDO

OK, it definitely is time.  After the pallet project I just had to have some burlap in my house.  I resisted as long as I possibly could.  After almost embarrassing myself in front of my husband by rescuing an old thrown out piece of burlap at a yard and garden show, he had to save me from myself by bringing a small roll of landscape burlap home to me. 

"For Me?" I beamed.  He smirked and strutted out of the room.  What a guy.  I know that must be one of the love languages in one of those Gary Chapman marriage counseling books or something.    He is not big on those types of books and lovey dovey, mushy stuff like that.  Anyway, yippee.  I am a happy crafter!

Now I had to peruse my Pinterest boards to choose just the right project for my new found treasure.  Nothing seemed to speak to me, then - there in the corner of my attic sat an old ugly basket just begging to be loved again.  She needed a nice new scratchy dress for spring and maybe I should adorn her with one of those twisty flower decorations everyone is making.  So.....

Maybe Easter eggs in a few days..... 

THE BLUEBONNET TRAIL OF TEXAS

A number of years ago the hubby and I made a mad dash across Texas to New Mexico to see our daughter who was stationed in the Army in New Mexico.  As we blasted across the state via I20 we topped a hill near Dallas and were amazed at the sea of blue - bluebonnets that is - which covered the highway median for miles and miles.  We were in such a hurry and back twenty something years ago you just didn't have a camera on you.  So, I have pondered that image in my memory ever since in the hope of going back to see if those flowers would really be as beautiful as in my mind. 

Several weeks ago I opened the mailbox and pulled out the April Southern Living magazine.  On that day of the month I always alot at least an hour to sit and sip on a tall glass of sweet tea and pour over each and every page of my new mag.  It really is a beautiful magazine and it always has articles about places not so very far away from us here in Mississippi, or maybe even nearly next door.  I always think I might just go to those places some day. 

As I turned to page 26, there it was - Tour the Texas Hill Country - with a big old picture of Texas bluebonnets!!!  Game on!  The wheels in my head started turning.  There had to be a way to go this year.  They had the tour route for the best spring wildflowers all laid out.  It really isn't so far to the Dallas area from here.  I'll just mention it to him tonight at supper.  Maybe, just maybe.......

He wanted to go too.  Yippee!! 

We kind of called it his birthday trip.  Somehow that made it feel like it was almost necessary that we go, but really I think we just wanted to go somewhere and this had a specific timeline, so we had to go now.  Southern Living stated that the annual Wine and Wildflower Trail was April 13-22 and the best route would be from Johnson City to Comanche, Texas.  After all, Johnny's birthday is on April 13th.  Coincidence?  We weren't into the wine part of the trail and besides I didn't even know Texas was wine country.

We were not able to leave until the 18th of April, so we knew it was a bit on the tail-end of the peak of the blooming season.  We were hoping for the best and were not disappointed.  We did miss the very peak of the bluebonnets, but there were still about a gazillion flowers blooming along every roadway.  Absolutely beautiful!!

Texas Bluebonnets with Indian Blankets and Black Eyed Susans and others were growing in this pasture for as far as we could see. 

I think these are mostly Blanketflowers - acres and acres of them.

Beautiful tall white poppy looking flowers that have thorny, woody stems.

A Corn Poppy field.

I think these were Clasping Coneflowers and they stretched for miles and miles.  I would have loved them best except for the fact that they resemble our Mississippi bitter weeds.  As a young girl I can remember my daddy hating them so much, and I think he used to say they made our cows' milk bitter if there were too many of them in the fields were the cows grazed.

Spring has beautifully sprung in Texas!

Oh, and Texas did have some beautiful wineries and vineyards along highway 290. 

A SERENDIPITY DAY

For those of us who are squeamish about outdoorsy critters and things, this might seem a bit yuck; but to me, a country southern belle, it was a serendipity day.  That is to say, a day for "making a fortunate discovery accidentally."  Just quoting the old college Webster's dictionary.

I was having a leisurely lunch in the cool breeze of spring while swinging in the back porch swing when I heard some type of scratching noise nearby.  Of course when I stopped the swing and the squeaky gentle rhythm of the swing stopped, so did the scratching noise.  I started swinging and it started again, etc. 

Finally after contemplating the possibility of Lady Wren from last year returning to raise another brood in the metal can hanging on the wall near my head, I got up and gently took the can down so I could get a peek inside.  To my surprise it was a bird alright, but not Lady Wren - it was a BATTTTTTTT.  It had big red eyes and long fingers and, as sure as shootin, was going to fly right out of that can and latch on to my nose and suck all my blood out!!!!!! 

Remarkably I managed not to throw the can and to quickly put it back on the nail on the wall.  Bat still inside!!!!!

Just because I can't let anything interesting go unrecorded in my journal or scrapbook, I went and got the camera.  It made sense to me that he was sleeping because it was high noon and I think bats only fly about in the dark or dusk, so I gingerly took the can back down (away from my face, just in case) and took a couple of pics. 

He was in the big can on top.

Sorry about the trash in the bottom of the can.  It just isn't one of those things that gets cleaned out very often.   Sort of like my house sometimes.

After church and choir practice tonight I was telling Johnny about the events of the day and decided to just make sure that the bat had flown away in the dark; but there it was still in the bottom of the can.  I was so sad.   I had thought it wanted to stay in there, but it must have been scratching around trying to get out.  Johnny thought the sides of the can were too slick for it to get out of, even though bats can hang on sides of caves and places like that. Nothing to do but pour him out and see if I could revive him.  He didn't seem so scary all limp and not looking at me with bright red eyes.  They seemed all dull and pitiful now.

He looked all messed up.  I went back in the house to get my camera and when I came out I took lots of pics and decided that he wasn't going to make it.   He was looking straight at me.  His legs, wings, hands, feet, claws or whatever looked all gnarled and messed up.  I was very sad.  He is a hairy little rascal and quite interesting looking, don't you think.  Nothing for me to do now, but turn out the lights and get ready for bed. 

Just one more peek at the poor little thing before brushing my teeth.  WOW, it flew away!!!!!  Yippee!!!!  I think a little fresh air and total darkness was all he needed.  It was a fun serendipity day.

MUSHROOMS - LOTS AND LOTS OF THEM!

After a good rain, and especially following a little drought, little mushrooms appear seemingly from nowhere.  Such was the case on the site of an old oak tree stump, which I am trying to turn into a flower bed in the front of our house.  The tree has been dead and gone for some 7-10 years, and there is almost nothing left of it except the very big deep roots.  This is what we found the next evening after a big rain.

There were little mushes all under the periwinkles, even though you really can't tell how many bazillion there are from this picture.

Since we first found them late in the evening, this pic was highlighted by flashlight.

This reminds me of some undersea pics I've seen.

The early morning sun shining on them.  I had thought they might be past their peek the next day, but they looked pretty for a complete day.

Not exceptional pic, I just liked the pretty bits of pink flowers and blue from the clear morning sky.

That little spider scampered all over the place when I was laying down trying to get the best shots.  It was like she was protecting her brood or food source.  She probably was, and I'll admit I was quite put off by her, small as she was.

Mushes by flashlight. 

The mass of the mushes was truly amazing.  I can't imagine seeing that many in one spot ever again.  Doesn't God give us a beautiful, interesting world to enjoy?  What a fun photo shoot. 

These were just a few feet away and obviously different.  Strange.





WHAT, 29 AGAIN!

Seems like just a few months ago I was celebrating my 29th birthday and here it comes again.  Amazing how quickly the years are flying by.  It's interesting how I am only 29 and have three grown kids with kids of their own.  Lol.  The kids gave me a Hob Lob gift card, handmade necklace and pottery, and my sweet hubby made a bench for my back yard out of old reclaimed wood. 

Yesterday I couldn't find him when lunch was ready, so I followed the noise out to our storage building.  There he was with stuff all over the floor, the power saw going full speed, a pencil behind his ear and a legal pad on the floor with some kind of hand sketch on it.   Pieces of lumber were all over the floor and the yard. When I asked him what he was doing, he had a sheepish look on his stern face and told me he was "just piddlin."  I knew instantly he was up to something and to drop the subject.  Back in the house and lunch for me.

After coming in and grabbing a bite he was gone again without even a word.  It seemed like he was having one of those monthly hormonal things like us girls get from time to time, or something.  Anyway, I just decided to let that sleeping dog lie.

Some time later he came in and asked me to, "Come out here, I want to show you something."  I was thinking this better be good, him getting me up off that comfy chair and acting all tooty and such.  There he sat in the back yard on a cute little wooden bench and smiling at me with this high school flirty look, cause he knew I would like it.  So that is how he gave me the birthday present.   He even pointed out how he left the old grey paint on it just the way I like it.  He's a keeper and the bench too.

It measures about 3 fannies long.  Cute, isn't it?

Ferns on the back porch - love the old blue stool I bought at a yard sale.

Larkspur in my garden

Black Eyed Susans along the roadside today

God makes all things good!

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

Officially, this was the last day of school for the 2011-2012 school year.  WooHoo!!!.  Unofficially, yesterday was the last school day for my kindergartner, turned 1st grader, grandson Baker and today was the first day of summer to babysit his grandmother - me.  We had a high-ho time.  At least I did. 

He is a funny kid and such a hard worker with a wonderful imagination.  He worked diligently for several hours on a construction project in my back yard where he was "installing a new playground for a new school."  That meant digging a LARGE hole in the yard.  All the while I was just as diligently de-spidering the swings that already exist in my backyard.  He CANNOT stand spiders!!!!   If he is ever going to get on that swing again, there cannot be one hint of the dreaded spider web in sight.  I have been researching every spider repellent/destroyer/spray known to man, so I am armed to the teeth to defend Baker and his construction workers.

Off course mommy sent him to me this a.m. in a new pair of shorts and new tennis shoes.  I, of course, live in a pine thicket full of bugs and mud, and I had a full day of sawing and painting planned for us.  So, he graciously put on one of my big button up shirts over his clothes (he looked like a poor little orphan child in an ugly dress), and we painted away the morning.  Watch out yard sales.  I need some old broken in, cheap clothers for this boy.  Since he had on the new shoes and was slinging paint to the four winds, I had him take off the shoes and socks.   It will take all three months of summer to make those little soles country tough. 

While he sawed and painted, I was having a great time myself making a serving tray out of some old shutters I got from a friend years ago.  The handles were made from an old spoon and a piece of metal Johnny and I found, when walking up and down our road for exercise in the evenings.  I have a whole bucket of found objects that I like to attach to my birdhouses and such.  My grands just roll their eyes at me.   You know the look.

I am still trying to decide if I would like to have some little feet on it.  Maybe.

This pretty little caterpillar was on one of my butterfly milk weed flowers.

 Hug your children as often as you can and let them know how special they are to you and to God.