Feel Like Complaining

Would you enter this door into your new house? My mom has been making small fairy doors so I thought I would try a larger one to hang outside on our Oak tree. I started with a chunk of wood maybe 6x8 in size; should have taken a before picture. Faith always reminds me when I'm almost finished. I got the wood at a dog sitting job (remember the muddy feet at a construction site?) I threw some paint on, then sanded, painted again until I finally got the color I wanted. Using little pine sticks I got from my mom's house, I bordered the wood until I got an arched door look to it. We also had a few driftwood pieces and they fit in nicely. Moss is a requirement for a fairy door; it draws them in. It's the little embellishments that make them truly unique. A larger stick makes a nice tree and I added glass pieces for lovely flowers. On the porch you will find a glass toadstool, pile of rocks and a red glass bush. When she looks out through the window in the door she...

Our resident squirrel loves his new playground and knows we placed all those logs specifically for him to have easy access to the bird feeder....that he thinks is his. If he's not jumping up from this log, he climbs the tree then shimmies down the hanger to the feeder. Faith and I are working hard on the path, having processed 8 60# bags of cement. Some have dirt and tiny plants in the spaces already. I'd say we're about half way done but I won't take another picture until we're finished. Something we discovered while digging around is that the cardboard is totally gone! We found grass roots but no actual living grass. Worms are abundant, which is what you want for the composting process. We saw a few good sized ones, about 6-8 inches long. Although sheet composting is a long and sometimes hard process I just think it's so cool to use things that will eventually become a garden, and most of it free. And this is what happens when I work too hard...

It seems all I have to talk about lately is our yard but without dogs, we are sure able to move things along faster. Starting last weekend we hauled in 15 more bags of dirt and spread it out where needed. Then it was wood time! Say what, wood? Yes, wood of all kinds; driftwood and small chunks of logs. I had quite a bit already, picked up here and there but I ended up raiding the back yard too except for 3 pieces. I had to leave Tony something to look at. We placed a total of 28 pieces around the Oak tree. It doesn't look like enough to me but with all the plants we've ordered, I think it will work. Plus I can always put in more later if I find any. I am hesitant to show you pictures though because it looks different and maybe odd. People walk by and stop to stare. I probably would too, but I would think it was cool....I'm weird like that. So let me introduce to you our stumpery, but first a little history. The first stumpery was built in 1856 in England and remained po...

I guess that's the new reality these days; if you are trying to stay healthy it can get a bit boring. We take walks when the weather's good. Washing hands. I'm cooking.....and eating a lot. We watch one movie a day and lots of other TV. Washing hands. Laundry, laundry, laundry. Fighting with the family. Painting rocks. Cleaning out and selling a few things on FB Marketplace. Washing hands. Ordering more dirt and lots-o-plants. Weather has been typical for Spring; this happened all in one day. Faith and I were in the living room and Tony was in the kitchen and just turned the vacuum cleaner on. I had this big dizzy spell hit me and I thought I was having an anxiety attack. I closed my eyes until it passed. When I opened them, I looked at Faith and she was looking at me. I looked around and things that hang in the house were swinging. We were just sitting there saying "whoa!" Tony didn't feel a thing. The daughter of one of my Facebook friends has a hom...

All of our sitting jobs have been cancelled through April and most of May. A few people rescheduled but my upcoming paydays are looking very bleak. With no dogs to talk about I guess I'll just show you some pictures. This is the African mask my Mom made with corrugated cardboard. She made a template for all the pieces, then cut them out. That was the hard part because the cardboard was thick, so I helped a little. Then she painted the pieces and finally glued them together. I think it looks pretty cool but I'm pretty sure it will be the last thing she makes with cardboard. I'm trying some different paintings. I copied this one from an artist I follow on Instagram. I shared it to her page and she was flattered. I just loved it and and actually sold it on FB Marketplace. It wasn't my intention, I was just listing some things around the house and that was the first to go. Mine Hers This one is another hot glue piece; inspired by Pinterest. I sketched t...

Last fall we decided to not pick up fallen leaves; instead I painstakingly raked them where I wanted them so they could mulch over the winter. Did I assume they would all stay in their assigned place until the snow fell to weigh them down? Of course I did. Did they? Of course not. The winds came in and blew them one way, then the snow fell. After the snow left, the leaves were as dry as when they fell. I found their hiding spot against the fence and around the other side of the house and put them back where they belonged. Again, Miss Windy had her own idea and blew them all the other way to never be seen again. Late February the weather was decent enough to lay down some top soil/compost. Having a couple of yards delivered was out of the question, so to start with I bought 10 bags. It was easy enough to dump and spread, but thinking ahead to the other side of the yard I knew it would not work. I belong to Nextdoor and found a guy with a truck who would deliver a yard of tops...

I really wasn't sure what I wanted to write about this week but the Virus would not have been my first choice. So far Spokane does not have any confirmed cases, but it will in time. Oops, spoke too soon. My hands are raw from washing. I used to rub my eyes constantly due to allergies, but no more. I have to be extra diligent with cleanliness at my Mom's. My pet sitting business is suffering because of it. Trips are cancelled so no one needs my services. We had Chico over the weekend but don't have anything booked until mid next month and then the end of the month. I don't have high hopes that they won't be cancelled too. There is not one section of business, or any person that won't suffer through this in some capacity. Large companies won't be as hurt as the little guy. They can just raise prices and pass that along to the little guy. The little guy has nowhere to go for help. I know it won't last forever and things will get better. People will o...