Introducing Victor/Victoria

 Here's cutie pie....

This is Vixen's baby.  Isn't he a cuddler?  At least I think it's a male, but since I'm not sure, I've dubbed him Victor/Victoria for the time being.  And he really does have his Daddy's eyes!  He came and ate kibble and egg with his mom this morning and also got his own chicken because she was growling at him when he tried to dodge in and get some kibble.  I took a lot of photos and this is the only one that really turned out.  He is as jumpy as a wind-up toy and the sun was so bright he was over-exposing and even with computer magic I couldn't fix the rest.  Now I'm really glad I came back up to the cabin.

Have you seen, read or heard about the periodical Where Women Create?  It's a wonderful magazine that features the studios and work spaces of artists and other creative women.  Well, this is where this woman was creating today...


It started out on the picnic table...sewing machine, travel steam iron, makeshift ironing board with towel on picnic bench...

If you must sew, there couldn't be a prettier place...

I discovered, after a very long time, during which I measured, measured, cut, remeasured, remeasured again, pressed up edges, remeasured, etc., that my sewing machine wouldn't run off of an extension cord.  I guess Sears was afraid I'd fry myself.  So then I had to tote the sewing machine inside and set it up on the table, which necessitated moving the computer keyboard and monitor, something I had hoped to avoid...

Then it clouded up and started to rain and I had to bring in everything else, using the top of the cooler, which I'm keeping inside for now, and the area around it as craft central.  Water is for hydrating DIYer and steam iron...

I did any further cutting and measuring here in this little floor space in front of the door...

Do you think I might merit a page in Where Women Create?  Here's the finished product...

...two panels for one window and this took six hours!  As usual when I'm sewing, if I could figure anything wrong I did.  I intended to make the curtain for the big south window first and did all my calculations...depth of rod pocket, amount of turnover, depth of hem, amount of turnover...and, of course, did them incorrectly forgetting that I had to turn over raw edges twice, not once.  So the first panel was too short for the south window and too long for this window and I had to cut a chunk off.  Then I tried and tried and tried to get the patterns to match up on the top and bottom of the first and second panel and finally just gave up I was getting so frustrated and angry.  These look OK if you don't inspect them carefully.  If you do make the mistake of looking at the back of the first panel and the hem of the second you might think a small child from a country with no child labor laws had sat on the ground with her little sewing machine and turned these out for pennies.  If anyone asks, I'm going to say I bought them in...pick a third world country.


Hopefully the next two panels will go more smoothly although I don't ever seem to learn from sewing experience.  Each time is a new adventure and every time I measure anything when I'm sewing I get a different number.


I also want to make a skirt--yes, I know I said I was sick and tired of everyone skirting their cupboards, but the doors on this one were so warped they wouldn't stay shut--for the cupboard right under this curtain.  I took the doors off a few months back and the contents--cleaning and laundry products--have been on full display ever since.


Yesterday evening while I was waiting for various spray painting projects to dry I recovered the top for this little bench...

...I didn't want to miter the corners--I wanted a softer look--and tried to gather the corners, but I'm not sure I'm pleased with this, so may have to pull out a few staples on the corners and try again before I screw it back onto the bench.  Although I hate to sew, I love fabric and had hundreds of pounds of fabric in my storage (take my word on the weight!) so had numerous choices.  I think this pattern looks nice with the ornate wrought iron.  This will probably stay in the cabin to use as a side table by the bunk now that the steamer trunk is gone.  You can see why my motto is "Not Your Mama's Mountain Decor"!  I've been giving some thought to this idea I had for the cabin--and for my dream shop should it every happen--and it is an idea I've used in decorating some of the other places I've lived.  I think it is the combination that resulted when women who lived in more cosmopolitan cities homesteaded in more rustic or ethnic places, taking their most beloved household furnishings with them, and augmenting them with local, handmade treasures.


That's all for today.  I'm not sure I'll post tomorrow.  Kind of depends on how the sewing goes.  Oh, and by the way, for some reason I re-read yesterday's post and fixed that egregious spelling error...let's just say I was not at my peak!  Teddee

Fires to the Right of Us...

No matter where you live, you no doubt are getting some news coverage now of Colorado's numerous wildfires.  So far, we are OK here in Eldora and, in fact, had just a bit of rain late yesterday and last night.  Things don't look or feel quite as crispy as they did yesterday morning.


Although the fire in Colorado Springs seems to be the worst right now, there was a fire in Estes Park on Saturday...that's about 46 miles north of the cabin...and there is one in south Boulder as well.


Because I left my camera power cord at the apartment, I am still unable to post any photos, but just wanted my few (buy loyal) readers apprised of the situation here.


I have had a very productive few days here at the cabin and will just wait until I can post photos to provide any detail.  The high point was that I was able to get the glass out of the hutch doors so was able to rectify my painting error and the secretary is all assembled and fully stocked.  I did many other chores here and, although it appears my sister and her husband are not coming to vacation in the cabin in July, may not come at all or may not come until August, if they walked in today, they would be able to deal with the current situation nicely.  There are still a number of things I'd like to do before they come, but the weather has cooled off just a little...it's only going to be 94F degrees in Boulder today...and I'm going to take another load of things down to the apartment and then try to make myself go to the storage and bring out at least one more load to sort through.  What fun.  At least my erratic energy level seems to be way up so I'm striking while the iron is hot.


I'll leave you with this photo from last June...

Think cool and wet.  More later, Teddee

Home Again

Yes, this little cabin still feels like home.  I spent all of the past week at the apartment in Boulder during some of the hottest weather the city had suffered through so far this summer.  And I thought I'd seen the last of triple digit temps when I happily departed Phoenix!  Unfortunately, the apartments are very hot.  They only have one unit air conditioner in the bedroom and there is absolutely no air circulation out into the living room and kitchen.  I looked for a fan at the thrift stores last week but, of course, in the midst of a heat wave, found none.  The unit a/c does keep the bedroom cool enough for sleeping, but is totally insufficient for cooling the rest of the apartment.  Other residents have told me that until a year ago they had no a/c unless they purchased a window unit and installed it themselves!  I don't know how they managed.

I made one trip to my storage unit on Sunday and two on Monday and I think one on Tuesday.  I've lost track.  I did finally remember to take some photos after taking out the first--and worst--load, but just realized this morning I'd left the power cord for my camera at the apartment so am unable to post any of the photos I've taken since I left here last week.  Just to break the monotony, I'll post a few shots I took here in Eldora last June...

It is quite hot and dry here in the mountains as well, and as I reviewed and edited these photos from a year ago, I'm impressed with how much further along all the blooming flowers are this year as a result.  The wild roses are in full bloom already, something I missed last year when I spent July in Tacoma.  The high in Eldora today is predicted to be 84F degrees.  I'm showing about 82F degrees at 2:30 p.m.  My neighbor said Eldora had received no rain during the days I was in Boulder and the grasses in the meadow are sounding crunchy.  One can only keep one's fingers crossed that no one thoughtlessly drops a cigarette.  It's predicted to be 102F degrees in Boulder today, tapering off to 96F degrees by Wednesday.  The high here in Eldora on Wednesday will be 77F degrees.

I think I have possibly five or six more carloads of stuff to remove from my storage unit.  I have until July 14 and have already alerted management that I'm vacating.  Once I got the first (or last) layer out of the front of the unit, I found I actually did have things stored in pretty good order in behind that.  

Loading the car at the storage unit is easy.  I can park right by the unit.  But at the apartment I have to take things up to the third floor using the grocery carts available and that usually takes three trips.  

I've been pleasantly surprised at how the ample kitchen cupboard space in the apartment...

as well as the small storage room...

...which is actually about twice as big as this photo reveals...have easily swallowed up a great quantity of dishes, decorative items, craft materials and the few pots and pans I had purchased after I moved into the cabin.

My neighbor here in Eldora had to come to Boulder for a rehearsal on Thursday...he plays clarinet in a small orchestra that, among other things, accompanies silent movies presented all over the country...so he brought the adjustable table that had been sitting out on the deck for the last several weeks and the rest of the baker's rack to the apartment.  I spent the day sorting all of the things I'd brought from storage up to that point, which were all over the living room, and had space cleared for both pieces when he arrived.  I took three lots of items down to the common room and put them on the "free table" and they disappeared quickly.  I had a lot of fun staging the baker's rack that evening and will post some photos of that later.

Well, it's 4:45 p.m. and almost 90F degrees.  A breeze has just come up thankfully.  It was quite still here for much of the afternoon.  Each one of these photos has taken at least 15 minutes to upload.  I have no idea what's causing this, but while I've waited on each one I cleared off the couch, put some clean linens in the trunk we use both as storage and as a coffee table, put all my painting tools and materials in a plastic storage box I brought back up with me from the apartment and got that wall where those two shelves had been removed painted.  

Now I can move the secretary and hutch back against the wall, put the drawers back in the base, put the hardware back on and affix the drop-down desk.  I purchased a bottle of gold enamel paint at Hobby Lobby in Longmont last week with a 40% off coupon on one of two trips to the chiropractor and will attempt to obscure the back of that insert on the hutch doors.  I was going to see if the paint would release with heat so I could get the glass out, but forgot the hair dryer so think I'll just go directly to the paint fix.

Vixen came last night about dark, ate every bit of kibble and egg I put out and took off with two chicken legs back to the den.  I haven't seen her today.  She seemed very subdued and I didn't think she looked well.  I fear she may not make it through next winter.


More later...Teddee

Sow's Ear

Yesterday I decided to go to Longmont so I could hit both Goodwill, which was having a 50% off Saturday, and Walmart.  Dixie had ended up staying all night and I was undecided about taking her along.  It was sunny here and NOAA was predicting a high of 60F degrees in Boulder.  I loaded her in the car and stopped to get my mail at the post office in Nederland.  By that time she was already panting, so I drove her all the way back to Eldora and dropped her at her house.  She didn't want to get out of the car and, as it turned out, it was more overcast in Boulder and Longmont than it was in the mountains and I think she would have been fine, but I had numerous stops to make, so it was a relief not to have to worry about her getting too hot.


I went to Goodwill first and found a little secretary that I think will meet many of my storage needs.  I got both pieces for a total of $15! It's a bit of a sow's ear, but I think with some filling, sanding and paint I can make it acceptable if not a "silk purse."  I couldn't get it in my car, so they gave me until Monday to pick it up.  After giving it some thought, I decided I'd unload everything out of my car this morning and drive back today to see if they could fit it in.  If not, I'd know that I'd have to rent a truck tomorrow.  I had decided that if I did have to rent a truck I would take advantage of the opportunity to try to get someone to help me load this black Naugahyde hide-a-bed into the truck for the return trip where I would drop it off at the Goodwill in Boulder.

I had discovered Friday when I did laundry that Dixie had thrown up in the car as well as throwing up in the cabin.  I'm sure she got too hot Thursday morning while she was curled up in the back seat where she loves to rest.  I had opened both back doors, but the wind had blown the west door shut.  To access the east door she had to clamber over my dirty laundry with just one hind leg.  She'd managed, but not before she got so overheated that she vomited in the car and then, after drinking a lot of water, again in the cabin.  I felt horrible for not paying more attention.  With temperatures rising I will have to start putting something in the west car doors to prevent them from blowing shut or just stop allowing her to rest there.  I have no shade.

I had purchased some upholstery cleaner yesterday so I could clean off the back seat.  The combination of unloading everything from the car, which I use as a second room, and shampooing the back seat, got me started and I decided to clean out the car, which I hadn't done in, well, too long.  I kind of use my car as a pickup truck.  I'd hauled kindling in it and just living here had left enough gravel on the floor on my side for a dish garden.  I don't have a vacuum and will take advantage of a car wash vacuum one of these days.  In the meantime, I used a whisk broom on the floors and seats and a damp cloth on the dash and other vinyl parts.  Couldn't let those guys in the back room at Goodwill see what a mess I'd let my car get in!  

I knew it was supposed to rain...

..so I just left my floor mats under the eave to wash while I was gone...

...outfitted with rocks to keep them from blowing away in case the wind came up.  Then I hopped in the car and drove to Longmont.  Thank goodness, Dixie had not shown up because I knew there wouldn't be room the car for anything but this secretary if they could even fit it in.


The man working the back room at Goodwill was able to fit the base in the back seat.  While he was wrangling the top into the front seat I asked, "What do you think?"  He said, "I try not to."  Back room humor.  He managed it.  I could just barely change gears.  I couldn't see anything but furniture in my rear view mirror and my right side mirror was obscured as well, but I made it back to Boulder from Longmont and up the canyon to the cabin without incident.  

Here are some pictures I took of the two pieces still in the car.  I'm not sure I can get them out by myself, and since it's rainy, this is the best place for them right now. 


This is the base.  It's on its side and the the legs are on the left.  Some kind of laminate.  Based on that hardware, would you say 1960s, 1970s?  Keep in mind, $7.50 for this piece and I get three big drawers for towels and sheets so I don't  have to unload everything off the top of the trunk every time I want something out of it.  No, the damage to the headliner on the car did not occur during this excursion.  That's left over from trying to get an unwieldy piece of metal lawn furniture into my car in Phoenix and that's not the worst of it.  Like I said, pickup truck.

Here's the rest of the base and what makes it a secretary...

 

...the hinges are on the left, pull the knob to let the desk down and it has the requisite cubbies inside.  It's apparent this got a lot of use based on the wear around the knob.

Now this is what originally caught my eye. I thought it was a separate piece for which I was willing to pay $15...

 ...a glass-front cabinet with two shelves, glass intact, that sets atop the other piece.  Not much character at this point, but I think I can give it some and it will provide more space to display porcelain.

So, now the fun part.  I plan on painting it and think, since I went whole hog with the dark charcoal brown paint on everything else intentionally to make it disappear, I need to paint this another color.  So there will be paint swatches to peruse and then, of course, there's new hardware. I think I'll even be surprised about how cute this may turn out.

Animal update.  Fox feeding is ongoing at least twice a day.  Vixen actually came inside the cabin briefly this morning to grab a piece of chicken out of her bowl that I had set just inside the door.  I think that girl telepathizes.  I'll get the "itch" to check to see if she's out there and, sure enough, she's lying in the yard.  I notice that there's a U-Haul at the cabin where Apollo's owners live.  Maybe we won't have to contend with him for too much longer.  That would certainly take some stress out of everyday living.

That's my Sunday.  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