scrubbing to rugging

Remember those scrubs I was cutting apart a bit ago?

I have had problems with straight edges on rugs.

So much so that at one time Anna set a goal to crochet a straight edge something or another

before I managed it.

I think I won this time.

A little pop of color to brighten up some rom of her life.

If you are developing a yen for the little white cabinet you see hints of in these photos ...

it will be for sale November 19th.

Just a little heads up.

a shade of gray

Then there is bench building when the dear hubby is home.

I suggest taking the truck and going to pick up pallets. We have pallet suppliers. Love it.

He says, "it would be easier to go to Home Depot".

I say, "how much is that going to cost?"

He says, "let's go look".

Shortly thereafter we leave Home Depot with a rolling big cart.

We come home and spend the rest of Saturday (or Friday or whatever day it was) playing together on the patio with power tools and wood.

And because he's smart and handy ... we end up with a bench that just needs a little more attention.

Like sandpaper, paint and fabric seat backs.

That would be my department.

Bench then moves to the "man cave" and takes up valuable space.

It nearly starts to petrify while waiting for the next step.

In the between time, I want a paint sprayer.

I have serious amounts of paint to spread around here and a sprayer would make life so much easier.

Hubby doesn't like the one he orders me off Amazon (thank goodness for Prime),

but I love it!

Sand, prime, paint.

The paint color (you'll see it a few photos down) came to be via the google.

I went to Diamond Vogel and used one of the top color picks for 2016.

Took my trusty little smart phone to Home Depot and said "I want this".

Works great.

Paint went on.

Poly went on.

Time for fabric.

I searched online and couldn't find trim I liked.

That could be a whole market for someone I think.

I tried wrapping burlap around cording and making it work.

I couldn't manage that either.

Maybe several projects down the road I'll have that down.

So I made my own.

I took the fabric I was using and cut 2 inch strips.

I folded it in thirds, leaving the open edge about midway on one side.

After the bench and I practiced some acrobatic motions getting the backs on,

the glue gun, the E6000 and the trim and I saw the clock wing well past midnight.

For some of you that is no big deal. For those of us who are up at 5 a.m.to enjoy some cooler weather ... it means a serious determination to get this bugger done.

Excuse the lighting/coloring in these photos. Midnight to morning makes a huge difference in the living room lighting.
The back of the seat ...

and another bench is born!

 

loving benches

Finally.

You've probably seen some of these photos at least once because they nearly give me heart failure.

A while back. A way back while back Jari was out of town.

I figured out how to take apart pallets with the handy sawsall ... and then learned he has a much smaller one that would have worked much easier.

(Now I know.)

The chairs that are stacked upside down in this pile got dismantled.
I am a serious fan of the curbside trash pickup in this city.
Just this past week I learned that Glendale has that going on every month!
This pile around here has to leave first.
And if I count the chairs on my patio today .... there are about 15 of them waiting for a miracle to happen.
I say miracle because the temp is 95 this Fathers Day morning at 7:55 as I write.

The fabric for these bench seat backs came from a craft supply swap we had a while back. I took the fabric sample into the paint store and had them color match the black. Not a jet black ... don't know what color it really is. The chairs were painted, the fabric backs went on and the chairs went into Jari's "man cave" to take up space.

That sounds like it took 10 minutes and was done. Not. Exactly.

Last weekend they came back out and the little things that needed fixing were addressed. Polyacryclic coating went on to protect the finish ....

and they moved to the living room waiting to be transported to another holding place.

This was my first attempt at doing anything upholstery related and if I have photos of the process they are lost to me until 2 years from now when they randomly cross my path. The backs of the seats have the same fabric as the fronts and are padded. I purchased cording stuff to cover my staples (like oodles of those buggers) and glued the dickens out of it with E6000. It should stay on through a hurricane.

I love benches and rocking chairs and anything wooden. Probably highly uncomfortable to sit in for very long but lovely to look at ... and a great place to plunk things.

Like books, bags and blankets ..

1,969 easy strawberry cake recipes

I have that many pins on Pinterest.
Over half of them are on one secret board.
Don't ask me why.
I really should move them.

One evening the other week we were getting some company after going out for dinner and I had that random thought ... Pinterest!

I whipped up a light, refreshing, simple dessert that I'm going to share. Can you believe it? I bet you thought we had completely quit eating over here. I haven't shared anything foodie related in forever! We eat. I can assure you.

This recipe may become my favorite in the summer. Easy to have the ingredients in the freezer and on hand. Super easy to put together. Tastes yummy too!

I don't know how to do fancy printable versions of recipes on here, but I sure do know how to link it! The Easiest Strawberry Cake recipe can be found can be found here.

For anyone else ... here goes!

The Easiest Strawberry Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 ring Angel Food Cake (store-bought)
• 1 large pkg. Strawberry Jello
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 small container frozen whipped topping (like Cool Whip)
• 1 large pkg. frozen strawberries (the kind that also have juice, not whole frozen berries)

Instructions

1. Break 1/2 of the angel food cake in to chunks and put in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
2. Mix Jello in a bowl with 2 cups boiling water.
3. Add strawberries immediately and stir.
4. Stir in spoonfuls of Cool Whip until well mixed.
5. Spoon 1/2 mixture over angel food cake in dish.
6. Repeat layers and set in refrigerator for several hours.
7. Cut in to squares and serve immediately.

I changed it up and used 1 small package of jello, a rectangle angel food cake and a smaller frozen strawberry container. And then to make it even more confusing .... I put it in a bundt pan and flipped it out when it was done.

And then I proceeded to eat half the cake. That is always a great indicator.

Let me know how it goes!

a place for everything

I am spending spare minutes trying to build saleable items for a craft sale in the fall.

I have to be honest and say that I'm seriously toying with starting a craft booth myself somewhere.

Maybe even an online site.

My life is a wee bit hairy, but (until the wood is completely warped) for the most part this is the stuff I love to do. I love when dear hubby is my helper and indulges me.

In between bigger projects that needed some things on order, I made some little boxes.

The jars are in them to show size.

Another candle waxing project ... am loving that leftover candle wax.

I used an ebony minwax stain on all of the wood pieces first.

And I learned that perhaps I should start buying my stain in larger containers.

I'm going through it mighty fast.

I rubbed candle wax on the parts where I didn't want paint to stick.

There was nothing scientific about this part.

I just eyeballed each piece and started rubbing on wax.

Brush the paint on after that and then using plenty of glue and finishing nails ... the boxes went together.

I'm using wood from the scrap pile.

This isn't fancy, straight, or unblemished wood.

It has so much character it can be challenging to get those corners coming together.

More candle waxing coming up over here!

Drawers from a curbside dump pile (three months ago!) found new life.

I can be a wee bit visionary sometimes.
I see these filled with any number of things.
If I had a counter in my bathroom ... they might hold bathroom kind of stuff.
If I had a baby in the house ... they might hold baby necessities.
If I had a room that was an office ... they might hold those kinds of supplies.

One person's junk is my treasure.
I'm not allowed to curb pickup this quarter.
My pile has morphed from a small one on the patio to take over the garage, the shed, the patio, the space off the patio, the bedroom ....

I do have a charitable donation box by the front door though.
Does that count?

time is getting away from me

Someone told me recently that I've been slacking in the posting department.
Don't I know it!

So here is a calendar post for the past two weeks or thereabouts.
If you're inclined to stick around ... it might take a minute.

Starting on May 15: Jari's dad flew into down in the evening. He came to warm up in the sunny southwest for three weeks.

Jari and I are both working some long days and Pekka isn't use to being alone all day. We figured out eating and coffee business. Macular degeneration is taking his eyesight but through some creativity and planning, I think he was able to get his coffee throughout the night and day. Yup. In that order.

May 19: We brought him to Rock Springs Café in Black Canyon City to meet up with his other son and wife, Juha & Annette. He will go spend time with them until the following Wednesday and then do another switcheroo.

May 20 - 22: My dear aunt Ruth passed away in Minnesota so Jari & I headed there for the funeral. Airports, rental car counters and traffic being what they were, we made it to the reviewal in Menahga for the singing of the last song. Only 3 hours behind schedule ... could have been three days.

I could write an entire blog about the kindness who was Ruth. If you never knew her, you missed an incredible ray of sunshine in your world. Even though alzheimers took her from her family a while ago already, she will be missed dearly.

We spent time in Menahga with some of our dearest friends, Kevin & Renae. Do you have those people in your life who your heart yearns to be near? Not for the hardy har laugh stuff kind of near. While that is certainly fun stuff, there are connections that are so much deeper. Yeah. That. Kind.

We spent a little time at their newly purchased property at the lake. (I tried doing a collage of this and couldn't not share these photos in full living color with you.)

When they build on this property, this will hopefully be the view out of one of the living areas of the house. As we were getting ready to leave, I realized that the lake would be my kind of cross country skiing all winter long. My hubby won't live in Minnesota, but oh could I live here. In. A. Heartbeat.

Even the view from the outhouse was awe inspiring. This girl may live in the city, but her heart is country through and through.

Our kummi boy and nephew, Sawyer, contemplating life with Harold.

This whole passel of cherubs. All so dear to my heart. Heather joined us at the lake with her three kids. Eight of us 10 Kuoppala kids were able to be at the funeral earlier in the day.

Another sleepless night on Saturday and we headed to Brainerd on Sunday morning for lunch with Mom & Dad. Alone time with them is priceless. So often there are so many of us around that plain quiet visiting is nearly impossible. We visited across the table at Perkins, brought them back to the Manor and headed to the airport.

A month earlier when we were in Minnesota, the traffic and construction was a nightmare heading in. Afraid to run into that again, we skipped a stop that we would have really enjoyed ... only to find out that the traffic situation was so much better! Oh well. We people watched and eventually made it home.

Short night followed by a busy week. I was on vacation starting that Thursday after work and we couldn't decide what to do. I wanted some time at home to work on projects, but we really really really wanted to go to Missouri. Plane tickets were horrifically expensive so we had decided to drive and leave on Saturday.

I was on my way home from work Thursday, meeting Tia at the emissions station when my phone rang. Another oops requiring a rescheduling of plans and no emissions for her car. Let's hope it is drivable at some point. Only liability insurance doesn't do much for replacement.

The next morning the truck wouldn't start when Jari went to move it. How many signs do two people need? That was an easy one.

We shared some phone calls with the kids in Missouri and made the decision not to head that way.

We worked on projects here for several days .. I will share when at least one of them is done.

Sunday of Memorial Day weekend we ditched the heat and took a drive to Heber for the day ... hanging out at Rol & Cheryl's cabin with some of their family.

Monday & Tuesday work around here. Wednesday morning we left for a mini day/nite getaway. A while back we took the Verde Canyon Railway train trip that leaves from Clarkdale. It is one of those places that looks like fun to go back and explore. So we did.

If you are ever in the Cottonwood/Clarkdale area, make a point to have breakfast at Pepe's Café. Excellent food and even better service. We walked the shops in town, and even stopped for an olive oil tasting. So this dry place (not so dry next to the Verde River) is home to vineyards. Plenty of wine tasting things if that's your thing. Not mine. Jari's nose was turned a bit skew when I suggested olive oil tasting. I convinced him to try the mix of tangerine balsamic/chipotle olive oil. Although he was about as skeptical as you can imagine, his eyes went to saucers and we went home with each. I tried marinating salmon and didn't use nearly enough. It is going on chicken next. Delish!

Another place to stop if you're out looking for treasures ... Ruby Road outside of Camp Verde. Had I been alone, I would be the owner of another cute trunk I don't need or have room for in my life. Some cute stuff. Caution though: a good portion of the place is not air conditioned. Don't make it your summer excursion.

We also found a state park that was new to us. Dead Horse Ranch State Park covers 423 acres and is at a 3,300 foot elevation. Not going there in the summer either. Lagoons for fishing, horses available for trail riding rentals, tent spaces, rv spaces and ..... cabins! They are camping cabins, but it looks like fun. Added that one to the bucket list.

I also earned something else this week. If I wear pants that aren't yoga pant like ...  and I put a lint roller in my bag ... I can practice the art of what my hubby now calls "rugging" on the road. This would be highly important!

On our way home Thursday we went to Prescott and picked up Pappa. We are fortunate to spend the last part of his trip with him. He's not so fortunate. We spent the last days in Phoenix in scorching temps. I mean scorching!

Scorching enough that I get up around 5 a.m. and start making noise in the back yard. The paint sprayer is here and I'm trying to learn how to use it. I have furniture scattered hither and yon out there in various stages of completion. The problem is this. This is temperature in the shade. Paint doesn't like it anymore than I do. If I get up early and work fast ... I've got 3 hours and that's it. I could move it all to Gwen's house and work in her air conditioned shop, but then half of my stuff would be here. Quite the dilemma!

So my theory is that you get up early and work fast. Then when it looks like this .... you're fast asleep in a very nicely air conditioned bedroom. Works for me! And that 81.5 isn't my room. That would be the kitchen right next to the patio door which opens much too often during the day.

We had a visitor Friday evening for dinner which was so fun! Pappa enjoyed it thoroughly as did we and our guest.

Saturday morning outside early to spray some color ... work inside on things for a while and head to the airport where he safely got on a flight to head home. Three weeks is much too long for me to be on vacation ... and it was too long for him as well. He was ready to go home.

And that should about catch us up on life around here. Tomorrow morning it is back to an air conditioned work environment and long days. A meeting Tuesday evening. Organ turn at church Wednesday evening. Early outside painting Friday and Saturday with cleaning out a 3rd bedroom here that is stacked to the brim.

The cleaning will be well worth it ... we have peeps coming!! Take a gander to the left side of the page where it says My Blog List. The 3rd one down is titled "FindingSimple". Go check it out and you'll see which Mrs. Peep is coming to stay.

While you're there, check out the one above it ... Chasing 60. Love that these kids are writing. Love. Love. Love it!

Have a great week. Hope you're keeping cool wherever you are!

found at the laundromat

This scene doesn't happen too often.

At one time it was a way of life .. now only when the huge things need a swish.

And usually those swish needing things wait a very long time.

I am ready for next winter now!

Did I bring a book? Nope. My attention span isn't long enough anymore.

Check out what I did find! I think I'm going to bring dear hubby to the Subway next door some night for dinner and then come here to do some gaming!

I'll have to check and see if I have any 25 cent pieces left after loading those washers.
Wow! I forgot what it costs to use these places.

After all ... it is Friday night, isn't it?
Might be a good stop on the way home from a Home Depot date nite run.

that moment

when you are in desperate need

and finally find a restroom

you get inside the door

turn to lock it

and find no lock

at this point there is a disaster lurking

very near the toilet paper you see it

it is certainly odd but holds promise

there is a moment of hesitancy pondering

if the same red button will get you out of this place

as the door locks ... the red button becomes your instant friend

welcome to the month of june
maybe we can find sometime this month to be looking for a tree to squat behind
i'm hoping