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Another GREAT idea for you craftsmen out there .... calling Dinty
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Feb 12, 2012 8:39 am
124 Views
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This was a gift to me - actually TWO gifts to me - from people who knew I love 'the old, restored and reusable in new form' ....
A dear friend of mine who has since died of cancer rewarded me with this wall piece from her antique shop. It's an old 'delicate fabric' washboard made to serve as a cupboard door and attached by hinges to a small homemade shelving unit. I hung it on my kitchen wall, and I keep my vitamins and such in this piece. I love it for its uniqueness and present it here as another great idea for old washboard uses. I think it was a GRAND and very creative idea.
The other item on my wall is an antique match box. It's just there because it looks pretty and hangs in its original form. When I lived in WY, a gal I came to know intimately as a very lovely friend, had it hanging on her wall. She had inherited it from her mother, and her mother's mother before her. I admired it as a lovely piece. At Christmas time, she wrapped it and presented it to me as a Christmas gift. I cried!! I thought that was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for me.
ENJOY ...........
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16
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I have to share this creation .... you'll love it.
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Feb 11, 2012 12:52 pm
138 Views
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I have a brother-in-law who is a master at crafting wood and especially creative in restoring something old into something new and wonderful. He never ceases to amaze me.
This guy was career Air Force and stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Vegas for 17 years. As a sideline activity, he restored old furniture. Upon his retirement from the U.S. Air Force, he was hired by the City of Las Vegas as a carpenter where he continued to work for another twenty years enabling him to collect a second pension. In addition, he constructed many a set for the casinos in Vegas. He possesses a portfolio that doesn't quit. It's mind-boggling. This guy is a democrat, and like me, he has worked his a$$ off all his life.  ( Had to throw that in there. )
My sister sent me this picture of a patio bench he crafted for my niece from an old twin bed frame he recovered from someones discarded trash right near his home in Casa Grande, AZ. I think it's absolutely lovely and something that represents what can be restored from someone else's 'junk'.
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22
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Foto Friday - Hearts & Flowers???
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Feb 10, 2012 6:24 am
140 Views
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This is not the kind of guy who brings me flowers ... other than those planted in the ground that return again in spring. Nope. He's not a flower child, even growing up in that era. He's more likely to bring me fertilizer.
Would he come to my door bearing a heart-shaped box of chocolates? Not on your life. He's more likely to cook me up his catch of the day - like a rabbit stew, squirrel, even - or dip into his freezer and grab a mule deer roast and call it an 'occasion' after standing over the stove all day to please me. 
When he does give me a gift, I can count on it being wrapped in newspaper and without an accompanying card. He thinks cards are a waste of money. ( Oddly enough, I do give him cards, and he never throws them away! Go figure. )
I call him Mr. Practical. He gives of his talents and will remark, "What do you need? Make a list." And he doesn't mean a Wish List like my kids do; he means a Honey-Do-List. 
Here he is bailing me out of my recent disaster wherein I had to have my lower half bath torn up. He's on the final touches of sinking nails in the trim ... after having torn out and re-installing the paintable wainscoting, resetting the toilet bowl, and all else involved in recreating normalcy for me.
I don't know ................ which would you rather have? Hearts & flowers or a toilet that flushes? Think about it. Frankly, I'd like both, but after five years I'm wise enough to know I'm never going to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!
Psssssssst .... I carry this to extremes here. LOL He IS taking me out for din on Valentine's Day. He does have many saving graces. LOL
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17
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Sup's on. Come and get it.
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Feb 8, 2012 5:06 pm
252 Views
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Here. Try a plate of MsEducator's shepherd's pie. I made enough for all, so dig in.
Wait! Wait, wait!! Let me light a candle. I like candlelight when peeps dine at my table.
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32
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Calling all dream interpreters ........
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Feb 7, 2012 10:20 am
297 Views
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Noteasy posted a blog piece this morning about a dream that prompted this recall of my own.
I awoke this morning dreaming that my bf was on my kitchen counter-top stomping on tiny little ants that were running for their lives. My bf's feet were extremely large in this dream, so large that as he stomped those ants he left indentations in my counter-top.
Help me out here. Is there a sexual connotation to this dream? LOL Freud always made dreams sexual. I can't fathom what it could be. LOL
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36
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Putting the pieces back together again ........
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Feb 4, 2012 12:37 pm
305 Views
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In another few days, I'll have a semblance of order around here again after my flooding ordeal.  It will be two weeks tomorrow.
Jim got the paintable wainscoting back on this afternoon, and it's been salvaged with minimal damage, nothing that can't be 'filled' and touched up with paint nicely enough. Here he is putting the baseboard back in place, cursing a bit and asking how many times he has to do this again.  He just re-did that bath for me two years ago, and he's not real happy with a repeat performance. He has to cut a new piece of the trim board that goes between the wainscoting and the wallpaper, though. It got snapped in the tearing out process. (My fault .... in a hurry.) Fortunately, I have some left and stored from doing that bath the first time around. Good to go. And I almost got rid of it thinking I'd find no further use for it.
We have a retired plumber friend and, with Jim's help, he will come in and reset the toilet stool for me on Tuesday. Hopefully, that will all go smoothly. I'm tired of running steps to pee! LOL
I have recovered all but about $400.00 of the costs for the entire episode, and that was due to my insurance company depreciating the value of the furnace I lost in this disaster. Total expenses ran a bit over $3500.00, so I consider that $400.00 out of pocket dirt cheap for a brand new furnace. The one I had was sixteen years old.
There!!! I'm pretty well finished whining now, and it's time to get out of here tonight and again tomorrow for a good ole Super Bowl Sunday .... even though we've no longer had a stake it in once the Packers went down.
Life is good!! 
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Foto Friday - Odds and Ends
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Feb 3, 2012 11:03 am
356 Views
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This is the best of about a dozen lousy pics I snapped in attempting to get a clear and distinct shot. 
These charms represent a 'collection' that is reminiscent of my travels:
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THIS is unfathomable! Just one more obstruction of justice.
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Feb 1, 2012 6:32 pm
348 Views
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Weds, Feb. 1, 2011 - Common Dreams:
'Gasland' Film Director Arrested at US Capitol Hearing -Republicans Bar Filming of Fracking Hearing
STATEMENT ISSUED BY JOSH FOX FEBRUARY 1, 2012
I was arrested today for exercising my First Amendment rights to freedom of the press on Capitol Hill. I was not expecting to be arrested for practicing journalism. Today's hearing in the House Energy and Environment subcommittee was called to examine EPAs findings that hydraulic fracturing fluids had contaminated groundwater in the town of Pavillion, Wyoming. I have a long history with the town of Pavillion and its residents who have maintained since 2008 that fracking has contaminated their water supply. I featured the stories of residents John Fenton, Louis Meeks and Jeff Locker in GASLAND and I have continued to document the catastrophic water contamination in Pavillion for the upcoming sequel GASLAND 2. It would seem that the Republican leadership was using this hearing to attack the three year Region 8 EPA investigation involving hundreds of samples and extensive water testing which ruled that Pavillion's groundwater was a health hazard, contaminated by benzene at 50x the safe level and numerous other contaminants associated with gas drilling. Most importantly, EPA stated in this case that fracking was the likely cause.
As a filmmaker and journalist I have covered hundreds of public hearings, including Congressional hearings. It is my understanding that public speech is allowed to be filmed. Congress should be no exception. No one on Capitol Hill should regard themselves exempt from the Constitution. The First Amendment to the Constitution states explicitly "Congress shall make no law...that infringes on the Freedom of the Press". Which means that no subcommittee rule or regulation should prohibit a respectful journalist or citizen from recording a public hearing.
This was an act of civil disobedience -- yes done in an impromptu fashion -- but at the moment when they told me to turn off the cameras, I could not. I know my rights and I felt it was imperative to exercise them.
When I was led out of the hearing room in handcuffs, John Boehner's pledge of transparency in Congress was taken out with me.
The people of Pavillion deserve better. The thousands across the US who have documented cases of water contamination in fracking areas deserve their own hearing on Capitol hill. They deserve the chance to testify in before Congress. The truth that fracking contaminates groundwater is out, and no amount of intimidation tactics --either outright challenges to science or the arrest of journalists --will put the genie back in the bottle. Such a brazen attempt to discredit and silence the EPA, the citizens of Pavillion and documentary filmmaking will ultimately fail and it is an affront to the health and integrity of Americans.
Lastly, in defense of my profession, I will state that many, many Americans get their news from independent documentaries. The Hill should immediately move to make hearings and meetings accessible to independent journalists and not further obstruct the truth from being reported in the vivid and in-depth manner that is only achievable through long-form documentary filmmaking.
I will be thinking on this event further and will post further thoughts and developments.
I have been charged with "unlawful entry" and my court date is February 15.
Josh Fox
Washington D.C.
2/1/12
Read it and justifiably weep!!
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The next stage in my process of recovery ..........
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Jan 30, 2012 8:51 am
418 Views
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My last three posts have been concerned with the dilemma I've faced for the past week due to a frozen & busted water pipe in a neighboring condo unit which sits vacant ... a busted pipe that spewed water into MY unit for hours on end until Water Works was able to shut down a main valve that services six units of my condo complex. By the time the vacant unit could be accessed and Water Works was able to enter, that laminate kitchen floor was floating and water spilled out the back door onto the porch .... not to mention the water damage done to the bathroom where the pipe had actually broken, nor the flooding of the living room carpet. I don't even know the extent of the water level in THAT basement .... I did not see it, but Water Works had to call in a special unit to get to the electrical box to turn off the electricity.
Since early Monday morning of last week, I've had a professional restoration unit in MY place to clear my basement of standing water and dehumidify to prevent mold.
My half bath, upstairs and adjacent to my neighbor's bath, is yet a work in progress. After a solid week of dehumidifying and as if this morning, the professional restoration's meters are STILL reading moisture! Off came the wainscoting on the walls. MORE dehumidifying! God only knows what comes next.
MEANWHILE, I have no assurance that the owners of the flooded unit have done a solitary thing to professionally dry things on their side! I've inquired of my team, what good does it do for me to go through all these motions if THEY are not tending to THEIR responsibility and the potential, on-going destruction it can reek on MY place as well as their own, primarily MOLD??? To my knowledge, it's a week in the delay, even as MY insurance agent advised I act IMMEDIATELY.
Rather than do the RESPONSIBLE thing, my neighbors have hired an attorney to offset the possibility of liability. He's flipping me and our condo attorney the bird. Anyway .... at this moment in time, just this morning, out came the toilet stool in attempt to dry moisture below the surface and salvage my flooring and underlayment.
Here's my toilet sitting in my kitchen. If this doesn't work - with further dehumidification, next will come the flooring. HELP!! I'll get back to ya.
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28
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Foto Friday - 'S'
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Jan 27, 2012 7:56 am
453 Views
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High STRESS!
My saviors were here on Monday to salvage me from further saturation the morning after the worst snowstorm of the season. These are the Water Works guys shutting down the main valve. NOW, no one in the six-unit section of my condo complex had water.
My last two posts explained the situation I found myself in when a water pipe froze and busted in my neighboring condo. I was under siege of water then, and I'm still dealing with the aftermath. 
Hey Mike .... I think I've got 'S' covered ....
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