Rainy weather

Weather is a great metaphor for life — sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, and there’s nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella or choose to dance in the rain! ~Terri Guillemets

The sound of the rain needs 
no translation. ~Alan Watts


Don't forget to click on a
picture to enlarge

Open space because we finally took down the ratty fence
 We woke this morning to1½ inches in   the rain gauge!!

It is hard to believe it is nearly the end of January.  For the most part, it has been cold, blustery and sometimes wet.  No snow and very little ice.  The main thing is rain!!
I didn't get this finished so will update and post.

On cable TV they have a weather channel — 24 hours of weather. We had something like that where I grew up. We called it a window. ~Dan Spencer

Since Christmas I have run into reminders of my age.  Things are becoming more of a challenge to finish independently.  Being an independent person, this rankles.  Thank goodness hubby has stepped in to help.
That can be a challenge in itself.  His schedule is not anywhere near mine.  I want to keep going before I run out of steam or excitement of finishing a project. Not so with the better half.  I just look for something else to work on or a book to read while waiting for him.  We laugh a lot about our differences in keeping at the task.

Just to mention a few delayed ideas that I could have completed by myself before:

1. Hanging shelves in the garage to store Christmas things.  (I don't want to climb that little drop down ladder with boxes in my hands anymore)
Between the cold and the mess in the garage, there were days I could not work out there. To get to the wall involved moving the accumulated Christmas storage boxes.
Then aches and pains slowed me down.  Hubby finally stepped in  finished hanging the strips for the shelf brackets.
Oh yeah, he did remind me of a great tool he gave me. It works like a charm and works with my Skill screw driver.  He found this drill adaption at a flea market.  What a great idea!! This drill bit was welded to a hex shank by a clever person.  I found manufactured ones on the Internet.
The studs in the garage have become very hard to screw into.  30 years of heat and cold I guess.

2. Shelves for said new wall space. Hubby is going to cut.  Still waiting.
January 30.  Update on shelving.  It is finally finished.  7 days later.  Started and stopped until I was concerned it wouldn't be done.  Not professional by any means.  We used scrap plywood from other projects. A little warped, but not a problem

The thing is, I DON'T HAVE TO CLIMB THAT LITTLE LADDER ANYMORE!!

 

3. A clever idea of hanging an old 3 panel screen.  Simple idea? You bet. Getting it hung? Not so much.
First of all, that sucker is heavy!  Never used to be slowed down by that minor detail.  Second, the panels were hinged, which means flopping..
Even my daughter got into the idea.  Unfortunately, we ran out of time and she had to return to Chicago and family.
The waiting began again.  A lot of talk and deciding and delays with aches and pains.  Seems hubby hears something different than I say................................ So, now it is only 2 panels instead of 3.  This involves rethinking and re cutting the braces I want to use to keep the screen together.

 
Maybe today, since it is supposed to rain all day.............................maybe?  More later.

Update:  this morning we finally got the panels hung!  No small feat.  Normal for my projects no matter how much I plan, the execution of plans go awry.  After breakfast, both in our pj's, we spent a lot of hours and consternation and confusion and fun.  After 57 years we still have silly fun. 
It was "only" 2 panels after all. How hard could that be?  Hard, frustrating, hilarious, and voilá!  

It is level, secured to 3 studs and won't keep bouncing against the wall when I toss and turn.  I am so pleased to have this long awaited headboard done!!  The brown?  This was a picture screen.  Just got the thing hung and will deal with that later 

 Today, Sunday, I decided on the pictures.  I am so pleased with the result.

4. An old wooden windows project.
This project started over a year ago and is still unfinished. First summer heat, a baffling illness for a month and lack of energy to try again.  While our daughter was here this past week she wanted to see if we could finish putting the mini conservatory together.
Hours later, the kitchen table and every other flat place in my tiny kitchen covered with tools. We did get 3 of the windows hinged together.  The resulting product is so heavy 3 people had to waggle it out to the patio.
Who'd a thunk??
The new glass panes make the whole thing very heavy.  No one woman task there.

5. A found small 3 drawer piece that was part of a vanity.  The plan is to clean it, sand it, paint with chalk paint.
So far, just the cleaning and sanding.

None of these ideas are all that difficult.  Well, maybe the windows project.  AND I AM GOING TO FINISH ALL OF THEM THIS YEAR!
Three down, one to go.  I am certain the windows will be showing off in the garden by summer.
 

Happy New Year!!

We welcomed 2015 with a wintery, icy morning.  We live in the country so our temperature is always a bit cooler than town.  Things are dripping now. It was an odd start for a new year.  Drizzle that became ice that clung to trees, branches, anything off the ground.
I dressed, found my camera and headed outside.
It was too cold to stay out long as the camera is sensitive to cold.  Caught what I could.

 I love digital cameras in that I can see what I have now.  This is a picture of a dessert willow that keeps on surprising us.  This tree was hit with a freak wind years ago and I wanted to take it out then. Hubby cannot stand to "kill" a tree that still has green leaves.
Thus, at least 10 years later, this tree is still green (sort of).  With the drought, the roots have come up out of the ground and it is leaning precariously. If it weren't for the fence that is gone now, it probably  would be history.  Last summer it still gave lovely lavender, orchid shaped blossoms. They attract bees and humming birds.

And than, there are the pine trees.  They are survivors as well.  They go through a period every fall where they look like they are dying. The needles turn brown for months and then, the green needles become the star all over again.

Even the grasses are covered in ice

The yaupons are thriving in the cold.  The berries sparkle red against the green and covered in ice.

The simplicity of winter has a deep moral. The return of Nature, after such a career of splendor and prodigality, to habits so simple and austere, is not lost either upon the head or the heart. It is the philosopher coming back from the banquet and the wine to a cup of water and a crust of bread. ~John Burroughs, "The Snow-Walkers," 1866

I am writing this in the late afternoon.  The ice is all melted, streets clear and a few cars venturing out. 

We have had nearly an inch of rain, before that, ice, before that fog, before that shoppers frantically gathering food for the siege.  An interesting 12 to 24 hours to start the year.

The best thing?  The birds were here all day visiting the water bath and feeders.  Tiny goldfinches, house finches, a junco, a titmouse pair, chickadees, sparrows, many cardinals.   They are welcome.