WEEKEND RAMBLINGS SEPTEMBER 19-20, 2015

It has been a busy couple weeks for me. I've had to be in the office several times in the past couple weeks for training and I've been picking up some extra hours at Walmart. With the vet bills being so high lately I need some extra income. In addition, Mendards finally opened here in Jamestown!  I'm so excited. I hadn't been over to check it out as the crowds have been insane so Matt took me over Saturday for my first look. The place is HUGE. They built this one to be the Midwest hub and therefore it's the largest one in the Midwest now. Menards being open is another reason for needing extra income. We can finally start some of the renovations on the house that need to be done. We picked up an ice maker installation kit and a new water filter for the fridge. We've had repeated problems with the ice maker not working. Whoever installed it kinked the copper line so Matt's replacing that and the filter was due to be replaced. It's so nice to have some place we can buy the supplies now when we need them instead of having to order them online or drive 100 miles to get them. Next will be new flooring in my office area!

PETS:

Tip and Lacey

Tip has actually been doing well and is stabilizing out from the phenobarbital. He has an occasional wobble of the hind legs but otherwise has been doing well. No seizures thankfully. Because the medication makes him hungry, we have to be careful when leaving the house that nothing is within reach that he can get. He's pulled cast iron skillets off the stove while we've been gone to lick them. The idiot pulled a bag I left on the counter down and tried to eat a grow pod for cilantro I'd bought to replant. Nothing is safe so it's like kid proofing the house again, except it's furkid proofing.

Oreo hanging out with me at my work desk

I nearly lost my beloved Oreo last weekend to a GI infection. I initially thought it might be cardiac failure as she was wheezing a bit. She will be 16 years old next month so as much as I hated the thought of losing her, I can't deny it's not going to occur at some point. She stopped eating last Friday. I tried everything I could think to get her to eat something. I even went to McDonald's and bought some french fries and she turned her head away from them she was so sick. Last Saturday she wouldn't even come out of the bedroom. I'd worked all day last Saturday so didn't realize her condition until I got home that night. She did show more interest Sunday and came out of the bedroom but still wouldn't eat. I honestly didn't think she'd make it but she's resilient and after the vet gave her an anti-nausea shot and some medications along with a special food for intestinal issues on Monday she's make a nice recovery and is begging to eat to make up for those days she didn't.

CRAFTING:

back of desk before sanding

I started sanding the desk this weekend and got the first coat of stain on most of the desk before I ran out of stain. I had so much stain left over from my table and chair project that Matt and I figured a small can would be more than enough. I'll be making a run to Menards today to buy a larger can and plan on finishing the area that I didn't get to last night and then hopefully do a second coat later tonight after doing a light sanding. I had originally bought an antique walnut stain to use because my selections were so limited at Walmart but after seeing a picture on Pinterest of someone's redo of a table using mahogany stain I decided to go mahogany instead. Matt wasn't too sure about the mahogany until he saw the rich color after the first application and he really likes it.  It's such a nice rich, warm color. Pretty much my entire day Sunday was spend sanding the desk down. I used an electric sander for the first time and boy did my arms and wrist feel it that night. Thank goodness for Motrin.

I finally finished the Amish Toothbrush Rug!!!  I was so excited to finish it.  The shape isn't quite perfect, but it was my first one. It ended up being 37" by 33" in size. I need to take a picture of this on the wood flooring so it will pop more as the colors appear faded in this picture. I'm very happy with this rug. I crocheted a scalloped edging in the dark pink to finish it off, which is hard to see in the photo. It would be a great rug for a baby's room or little girl's room. I'd hoped to have enough fabric to do a second one but nearly ran out of some of the colors while doing it.

Crafting, Reading and such....

FOOD PORN:
Matt has been playing with the smoker and made us an awesome BBQ brisket last weekend. We had my son and his girlfriend down with the baby. Jordon had helped Matt on Saturday move a bunch of things around in the shed and storage unit so this was his thank you meal. I can safely say he definitely enjoyed it. He had to cut the brisket in half to fit it in the smoker.

CRAFTING:

I started this rug about a month ago and haven't been able to finish it yet. I like the way it looks and lays. The plan is to get this finished this weekend. I used 4 sheets I picked up from the thrift stores. I really like the way they coordinate together. The dark pink definitely makes the rug pop as you can see from the top picture where I hadn't gotten to the next round of color yet and the second picture where I just added another row of the dark pink. If this finishes as nicely as I hope, it will be going up on my Etsy store. I may have enough fabric left over for a second one. It would be a perfect rug for a glamper or a little girl's room. I'm so excited, I finally have my business cards now.

While looking at the Jamestown Garage Sale page a couple weeks ago I noticed a hardwood desk listed for $25 that I was interested in as a possible sewing table. A couple days later they listed it for free so I had Matt go with me to pick it up. It's not in bad shape but old and it had some deep gouges on the top so I'm working on sanding it down now and I plan on staining it an antique walnut. The picture below is after the first sanding but you can see how deep some of the scratches and gouges go. Matt suggested I use an electric sander so I need to pick up some sandpaper for it this weekend and hopefully get this project done.

READING:

The Refuge by Sue Henry
This is a series of mysteries I've been reading by this author. This particular series is about an elderly widow who buys a motor home and goes on adventures with her dachshund, Stretch, which always seem to end up with a murder. The Refuge is actually the third book in the series and I've also read the two before this one. I really enjoy these. This book takes place in Hawaii and she had to leave her beloved dog behind to help someone from her town in Alaska where she resides when not adventuring.

Made From Scratch by Jenna Woginrich
I've read several of her books and this one had been on my want list for a while when I spotted it at Tractor Supply for $6 in the clearance section when picking up some cat food. It's a nice light read with some interesting ideas. Some I can't use like having chickens or rabbits right now. Some I can incorporate like learning to play another instrument or buying oil lamps and using them instead of electricity. Jenna went from corporate cube as a graphics designer to now running a farm. She has an interesting story.

The Plain Choice by Sherry Gore
Sherry Gore is an Amish Mennonite woman who writes Amish stories/romances. I've followed her for several years and my heart broke for her as her daughter grew sicker and died about six months ago. How she managed to finish writing this autobiography during that time is nothing but amazing. Sherry's story is unique, she didn't grow up Amish and she didn't live by the Amish. She grew up in California. Life wasn't easy for her. Her parents divorced, she ended up homeless, and then ended up married to an abusive husband. Her path to becoming Amish is very interesting to say the least.

His Baby Bond by Lee Tobin Mcclain
This was actually a Kindle freebee and was actually quite good. It centers around a rich brother who makes a sudden decision to come back and raise his brother's baby daughter after his brother and his wife die in an accident. The first problem he faces is that his sister-in-law's sister has been caring for the baby and has no desire to give the baby up. The second problem is that in their will the parents leave custody to both of them.

Hinduism Made Easy: Hindu Religion, Philosophy and Concepts by Shalu Sharma
My reading on Buddhism and watching a lot of Bollywood movies recently made me interested in Hinduism and what the difference between Buddhism and Hinduism was so I decided to do some reading on it also. Interestingly enough, they both developed from the same sacred books but then took different paths based on what they thought were the important books after that. The big different is that Buddhism consider themselves God's in training (of sorts) but Hindu's believe that there's a Supreme Being. It's pretty interesting if you like learning about different religions.