Odds 'n Ends

Yesterday I took some updated documentation to Boulder Housing Partners needed in order to finalize my lease on the one-bedroom "senior housing" apartment that it appears I am definitely getting.  I hesitate to get too confident until I actually sign the lease and get the key as it has been such a long and convoluted process.  

It was cool enough that I was able to take Dixie along and she was one contended dog...

She stays alert until I actually get in the car and say, "O.K.  I think I'm ready."  Then she heaves a big sigh of contentment and settles in for the ride.  I'm hoping to be able to continue to spend quite a bit of time up here at the cabin, but know I will miss the day-to-dayness of the experience.  This apartment building in Boulder is a "no pets" building, so there won't be any chance of my having a dog or cat there...or a fox.  Maybe a hummingbird!


Prior to leaving, I had responded to an e-mail I had received from the Wild Bear Mountain Ecology Center in Nederland indicating it was starting to offer some adult workshops, the first being yesterday evening, topic "Introduction to Essences" by Eric Bresselsmith, www.originaltradegoods.com

I decided to go, even though the $20 was not in my budget.  Eric distills and distributes essential oils from conifers of various types.  It was actually more of a lecture and at the end, included in the $20, we got to select a hydrosol spritz, captured, if I understood, from the condensed steam during the distillation process.

I selected the white fir.  It smells medicinal, but I found it a comforting fragrance.  The essential oils were for sale at $30 for a small vial, but I really couldn't afford even one of those.  Eric is going to return with his "still" in mid-June and, if it isn't too expensive, I might sign up for that.  Participants actually get to help collect and prepare the conifer needles and sit through the distillation process.


This morning, feeling as if I were working in a small airport because of the hummingbird traffic, I got the trim, that I'd had to remove in order to get the old hide-a-bed out, nailed back into place on both sides of the cabin door...

This piece that I broke off is a little crooked, but it fit back together just like a puzzle piece.  Most of the nails had been bent when I removed them and, although I can remember my Dad hammering nails out straight again so they could be reused, I just made do with the few straight ones I had left.  I think the person who had originally installed this trim had gone a little overboard anyway.  If it looks as if I'm not going to get a new door put in the south end of the cabin because of getting the apartment in Boulder, I'll get a few more nails of the same type and drive them in before winter.


For right now, it will do and I can remove the blue painter's tape I had been using since Tuesday to keep the mosquitoes out...

I also did a better job of screwing in the door hinges, using a combination of long and really long screws because, although I could see that my brother-in-law had used the extra long screws in order to reach sound wood, this door jamb is so rotten, I just didn't have the strength to screw those in in all six holes.

I've been having trouble figuring out how to keep a screw driver head in the chock of my cordless drill.  I had no trouble last year when I used it to screw in those roofing nails, but when I hung that coat rack, it wasn't working (or rather my mind wasn't working) and I haven't taken the time to figure out what I'm doing wrong.  It would be nice to use tools so frequently that these things came second nature, but I seem to need a tutorial every time I undertake a project. 

I'm facing the same issue with the weed eater, which I bought last year.  I need to put a new string in and haven't a clue, although I do have the printed directions for that so it's just a matter of sitting down and reading them.  I can't believe how fast the weeds are growing.  This was the growth between the flagstones on May 11...

This is today...

My neighbor just came over and volunteered, not only to take the hide-a-bed to the dump if I can't find an alternative, but to take anything I need to move from the cabin down to the apartment if I get it!  Teddee