My Backyard

I walked The Loop trail today, the first time since last fall.  It was like visiting old friends.  I had no excuses.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  Dixie's owner had not picked her up last night--or at least drove by at 11 p.m. and didn't see her in the yard--I'd gone to bed an hour earlier.  I awoke at 2:30 a.m. and found Dixie huddled up against the deck right in front of the food bowls, protecting them from the fox, I guess, even though they were empty.   So I let her in, gave her three bowls of water, hoisted her up on the bunk where she seemed to sleep soundly the rest of the night and I slept fitfully because the only way I could turn over was to swing my legs over top of her first.  Her owner showed up at 11 a.m. this morning indicating she'd been worried sick and took her home before she left to open her shop so neither was I hampered by a three-legged dog.  And the coast was clear of snow...

Although there were still some very dirty snow drifts in deeply shady areas...

I attended the get-together of Eldora residents this evening at a restaurant in Nederland.  I found out that it is the first Friday of every month, not every Friday, thank goodness, although I found it totally enjoyable once I forced myself to get ready and go, but it's my bedtime so I'm just going to post a few shots taken along the trail today.  This is my backyard...

Enjoy the walk?  Teddee

Hidden Treasure

Today I decided to paint a mirror I'd purchased last year at the Goodwill in Lafayette.  My original intent when I purchased it was to use it as a top for this old wash stand that is serving as an entry table... 

The top is not only cracked and warped, my mother had covered it with some faux wood-grain tile which I attempted to camouflage by painting it last fall...

The mirror turned out to be too large and I'd had it propped against the wall over this wash stand all winter.  We were having a lovely day.  Sunny, almost hot with just the mildest breeze, so I decided I would be able to paint the mirror frame.  I hadn't decided whether I was going to keep it or try to sell it to Tim at The Wild West Mercantile, but didn't like the dark green and faux wood of the frame...
 

I cleaned the mirror and used a damp cloth to clean the frame.  There was a bit of a rough spot on one side and I decided to sand that down before I painted.  As I was sanding, I started to see some interesting color and what looked like incised vines...

...I kept on sanding and found that the green paint, if dampened, came right off, leaving the surface below intact...

I ended up with this...

Paint shreds were everywhere and I had to use a paint brush to get them from between the frame and the mirror...

That wood color does a rather nice job of picking up the darker color in the grape leaves, but I could see on the corners where it was worn that it was actually that really cheap paper from which some inexpensive frames are made so decided it needed painting.


Because of my discovery, I had to tape off not only the mirror, but the painted bit in between the faux wood bits...

I decided to paint it black.  I won't know until I take the tape off whether I'll like it with the grapevine motif.

I'm using Krylon Fusion...

I thought it was just for plastic and had bought it so I could spray paint some white plastic hangers I have that stick out like a sore thumb against this dark paint I used on the interior of the cabin.  But I noted it could be used on wood so thought I'd give it a try.  They got the lid right on this one.  Easy off.

So now I'm waiting for the second coat of paint to dry...and Dixie is pouting...

Not only did we not go for a ride today, but I made her stay in the cabin while the fox and I ate lunch outside.  I was reading at the picnic table and the fox stayed around quite a long while, eating and even coming up on the deck.  I have concocted a scenario to make sense of her reappearance and apparent need for company.  I'd been wondering why all of a sudden she was able to spend so much time away from her kits.  Today I noticed that something had almost chewed her gorgeous tail in half and I'm now wondering if something killed the kits and she got injured in the fray. 


I have got to try to get some photos of this funny thing that's happening with Dixie and the fox.  Dixie is outside and the fox comes to eat.  Dixie starts barking and tries to pursue the fox on three legs.  The fox trots off, staying just in front of her.  I call Dixie back and when she turns around and starts to return to the cabin, the fox also turns around and starts for the cabin so then we have the fox pursuing the dog!   Up to now my first thought has been to stop Dixie from possibly injuring the fox, but I can see the fox has that part well in hand so I'll have time to stop for the camera on the way out the door the next time it happens.


OK.  So it's done.  I think I like it...

I sanded some off here and there on the black part so a little of the brown shows through and touched up the grapevine bit with Tim Holtz's Distress Ink in Walnut Stain because the sanding had scuffed it up a little.


What do you think?  Teddee

There Once Was a Little Girl...

I threw a tantrum this morning.  I had a real temper when I was little and my mother used to taunt me when I acted out with that little poem, "There once was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.  When she was good she was very very good, but when she was bad she was horrid."  She also believed in corporal punishment and as a result I learned to control my temper, but I always told my mother she beat it into me, not out of me.  It lurks at my core and occasionally I let it loose when I'm really frustrated.  Actually when I'm alone and frustrated and there seems to be no good reason not to let it rip, it's kind of liberating.  

I was trying to get ready to go out earlier today.  I decided I'd take Dixie, return the last of the three library books I'd finished, check out a couple more and perhaps drive to Central City.  I've been in a testy mood for several days.  I'm not sure why.  My allergies are flaring up a bit so I've been contending with congestion and a runny nose, itchy eyes and eustachian tubes; the fox hadn't shown up this morning and I was worried about her; and it's the last week before the Social Security check arrives so, as usual, I'm being forced to really curtail my expenditures.  But the IRS came through yesterday with the refund on that double dip payment they'd helped themselves to, so, even though I'd socked the money into my savings account, I should have been in a pretty good frame of mind.  Whatever.  

It seems as if no matter how hard I try, I can't get this one-room cabin organized so living here isn't frustrating.  Last fall as part of the continuing effort, I made tags for these baskets I use for my clothes...

It took some doing to get the type situated on the page "just so" so I could cut out the printed categories using a tag die I'd purchased.  Then I punched holes in the tags and used some cute little ribbon to tie them onto the baskets.  This really did help me keep my clothing where I could find it more easily.  But today I was trying to find a black vest.  I knew I'd worn it not too long ago, but it wasn't in the Cardigans/Vests bin so I looked in the Tops bin, then the Scarves, Gloves and Hat bin.  Nada.  Finally, in frustration, I dumped everything that hadn't already been pulled out on the bed onto the floor...

...this photo does not do justice to the mess I created.  I never did find the vest and had to change what I planned to wear.  I got my book and purse, put Dixie in the car and left this just this way, went to the library and drove to Central City.  

Central City is a really neat old Colorado mining town that has preserved its Victorian/Edwardian past...

 The town even has its own "opera house"...

I am drawn to this era and would be very happy living here I think.  Central City and adjacent Blackhawk, the local "sin city," have numerous casinos, but I don't really enjoy gambling even if I'd had the money and I  didn't want to park and leave Dixie unattended for long.  I drove through town and ended up at the cemetery.  

 

I decided to get out and take a look thinking the tombstones might be interesting from an historical perspective, but this was one of the most disconcerting cemeteries I've ever been in.  Back in the Midwest, and I think in most parts of the country, even old cemeteries are tended.  They are always grass covered and the plots and headstones are upright and in nice even lines.

Maybe it was just my mood--when I dropped Dixie off at her owner's bookshop on our return I mentioned where we'd been and she said she'd been at the cemetery last fall and found it "very peaceful."  

I was the only one at the cemetery and it was overcast and very quiet.  The only sounds were a squirrel and, believe it or not, a raven.  I wasn't frightened, but felt sad the town wasn't doing a better job of taking care of the graves.  

I'm only going to post a few photos although I took dozens of individual markers.  But let me know if you think this looks "peaceful"...

One disconcerting issue was that the graves were so haphazardly situated.   I don't know if the trees had grown up among the tombstones or if the graves had been dug in among the trees, but as you looked up the hill through the trees there were tombstones scattered hither and yon up the rise as far as you could see.  It was kind of like the Body Farm with tombstones.

  

Appropriately, this abandoned mine building loomed over the whole scene...

I thought about holding these until Halloween, but it is what I did today.  

There was some beautiful carving on some of the headstones...

So, if you narrow your focus, you can find beauty anywhere.


Oh, yes, when I got back I had to clean up my mess.  I made lemonade out of lemons and took advantage of the situation to pack up most of my winter clothes so I can take them to storage.  I finally found the black vest...in this hat box!

Bed and floor are clear and I'll be hitting the hay soon and opening one of the two books I checked out of the library today.  And the fox has been here while I've been doing this blog so she's OK as well.  Teddee

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday

As I was puttering around first thing this morning, making coffee and powering up the computer, I found myself commenting to myself about its being May 1, May Day, then wondered what the connection was between May Day and Mayday.  Turns out, none, according to Wikipedia, which explains, "The Mayday distress signal is based on the French venez m'aider or 'come help me.'"  I decided it was an appropriate title for today's post.


I spent a good chunk of my day horsing around returning what I believe is the third or fourth Kodak ESP 5250 All-in-One Printer I've had the misfortune to own in the past year.  I truly have lost track.  I was surprised several months ago to learn that Kodak was no longer going to be producing cameras and was going to turn all of its attention to the manufacture of printers.  I also have a Kodak camera, and for what I paid for it, I couldn't have asked for a better product.  But the printer has succumbed at least three times in one year and, to give them credit, Kodak has either replaced the printer or the print head each time even though I was over warranty by a month the last time it took a nose dive.  Of course, each time this has occurred I've been required to return the old printer.


This time I was told I didn't have to return the printer.  At first I thought, "Great!"  Then I wondered how I was going to dispose of it and e-mailed Kodak to find out if I could just put it in the trash since I had transferred the old print head and ink cartridges to the new unit.  I was told I should dispose of it in accordance with my local requirements or I could return it.  Since I have no idea what laws govern the disposal of computer printers or how to find that out, I decided, once again, to go through the steps for returning the printer.


First you locate the "Return Instructions for your KODAK All-in-One Printer" that came with the new printer...

 ...which you had cleverly saved even though you had been told in an e-mail from Kodak that you didn't need to return the printer...

Then you retrieve the box in which the new printer arrived that, luckily, was still in the woodshed and had not yet been turned into kindling for the wood stove. 


Next, holding the printer in one arm and a plastic bag provided with your new printer with the other hand, you wrestle the defunct printer into the bag.  I'm not sure why this protective covering is necessary since supposedly Kodak was willing to allow the destruction of the printer, so must be going to destroy it when it arrives at their end..or, if you purchase one of these you may get my old one refurbished?  Who knows.

Even more protection for the defunct printer that had been heading to the dump is provided by pieces of foam, top and bottom...

...which the instructions insist must be used..."1.  Use all packing materials to pack your original printer in the new box."

Then you must have an ample supply of sealing tape...

...Step 2 of the instructions stresses, "Seal the box with strong tape."

After you get the box taped shut, you must complete and affix a provided UPS return label...

...this requires going back to the e-mails you have exchanged with Kodak to determine the required Reference Number...

Step 4 of the return instructions indicate in bold type, "Important!  Keep the bottom portion of the label for 6 months for proof of shipment."  I can't fathom under what circumstances I would be required on October 1 of this year to confirm shipment.  


Then, if you affix the label on a different place on the box like I did instead of over the old label as directed, you have to black out all of the information on the original labels still attached to the box...

...God forbid it should come back to you!


Then you load it into the car, along with the water jugs, dry cleaning, dirty laundry, thrift store finds yet to be unloaded, etc., etc...

...and trek it to a UPS store because, if you arrange to have it picked up, you have to pay the shipping charges.  After three times, I'm an old hand at this so knew I could drop it in Nederland at The Business Connection, the local office supply and copy store...

So, Happy May Day and venez m'aider for sure.  Teddee

P.S.  I've gone to a larger font because I've been told the type size I've been using is difficult to read on smaller laptop screens.