The Sacrificial Moth

*if you have an attachment to moths and their well-being, maybe you shouldn’t be reading this….

Cowboy is quite proud of himself if he ever catches anything.
Devoid of claws and the basic hunting skills most kitties were taught by their momma’s; he has a lot working against him.

Ooh, what’s this fluttering around in the grass?

Sniff, sniff?

One heavily sniffed moth was transferred from grass to patio.

More sniffing was involved after the transfer, until the moth decided it was time for him to escape the gigantic furry creature.

An intense game of ‘Cat and Moth’ began. It looked like the moth was winning.

The heavy paw of justice informed me that I had spoken too soon.

Hit ‘em with the right!

Uppercut!

Eyes are locked, whiskers twitching, he’s coming in for the kill.

One last sniff, oh give me one last sniff….

Crunch. Chomp. Crunch.

Goodbye, Mr. Moth. You fought the good fight. But Cowboy needs to win one every so often. Thank you for your sacrifice.

The Big Girl Playhouse-Part Two

A mystical structure is being formed while you are walking around like nothing is happening, drinking your latte, (light on the syrup), and reading the paper. Perhaps you have read Part One of this fanciful Playhouse.
Perhaps Not. Mayhaps you should.

This is where I left you in Part One. The posts were in the ground, the stringers were up and the beams were set across the top of the posts.
Now, let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

What you see here, pardners, are the rafters that will hold up the roof. We built them on the ground, assembly-line style, using pressure treated wood.

We placed each rafter 24” apart, screwing them into the beams with exterior screws.
I am apparently very happy about this.

We designed the roof to be a little modern, a little cool, a little awesome. You will see the roof shape later, my dears.
Just know that you will love it.
Notice that we have two ladders on the job site and yet, I decide to stand on a rickety old fence? I have issues….

Kids, don’t try this at home. Also, don’t let your hubby take pictures of you when there is obviously way too much sweat going on.

Next came the ‘purlins’. With a ‘pole barn’ structure, the purlins lay on top of the rafters and provide the backing you need to nail in your roof.
They also add strength to the entire structure, cinching it together.
Oh, and also they are invaluable for hitting your head on. If you are into that sort of thing.

We roofed the top of the Big Girl Playhouse with corrugated Onduro-which is basically indestructible.
The roofing material smelled like licorice. It was weird.

And then there was this weird monkey that kept hanging from the rafters, saying stuff like, ‘Look at how strong I am. Aren’t I cool?’.
That was weird also.
Next up-windows and siding. Brace yourself chicks. This could get interesting.
If you would like to catch up, read The Big Girl Playhouse, Part One.

Vintage Paint by Numbers

Many times when Biceps and I are out on tour, milling about in some thrift store, I see them. They call to me.
They tell me they need a home, that they are sweet and colorful and lonely.
But, like my retro refrigerator dishes, I have been banned from buying anymore Paint by Numbers.

So my obsession currently stops with these below.

This was my first paint by numbers. My virgin purchase, if you will. I fell in love with this forlorn puppy, and for $12 it was mine.

He resides in our guest bedroom, and if you ever visit, he will watch over all of your goodies and not let Cowboy sit on them.

I bought this at what was advertised as an ‘Estate Sale’.
‘Estate’ it was not. The house was weird, stinky and had an entire notebook filled with the lives and deaths of numerous bunny rabbits the owner apparently kept.

I disinfected Jesus properly as soon as I got home.

Grandma Greiman painted the next three you will feast your eyes upon.
This one was never framed or displayed in her home. I am excited to exhibit it in my home as soon as I can convince Biceps it fits into our decor.

Notice Grandma’s take on the colors on this painting versus the one above I bought at stinky rabbit house?
We recently found out that Grandma is color blind. How cute is that? She has never known this all these years!

This paint by numbers, I believe, is the creme de la creme. I slept many a night under the watchful eye of Jesus at the farmhouse in Iowa. This was my one request when she decided to move to town.

I needed Jesus. And Jesus was given to me.
Isn’t that just typical of Him?

The Concrete Pour of 2010…well, one of the many.

I described my lovely Memorial Day a few days ago. You may know that I have spent most of my week basking in the sun–lakeside while being served dainty drinks and fed luscious morsels.

And when I say ‘lakeside’, I mean in my neighbor’s front yard.
And the ‘dainty drinks’ were more of hurried gulps out of the cooler that leaks water all down your front.
And the ‘luscious morsels’ were protein bars. But they were s’more’s flavored, so I guess that’s pretty close….
At any rate, we were ready to pour the sucker you see above.
And this was pretty close to a day at the lake.
(See how we got to this point over Memorial Day.)

The concrete truck arrived at 8am sharp, ready to unleash its mix.

Biceps was in charge of the wheel barrow and I was in charge of raking the concrete once it had been poured into the form.
Three words: Impromptu Shoulder Workout.

This my dears, was just the beginning.
Lots of raking, sloshing of concrete onto my skin, falling into the dirt hole around the forms, etc., was happening for an undocumented couple of hours. It was better left undocumented.

The pour is now complete-now on to the finishing!
After banging the sides of the forms with a hammer to remove the air bubbles, we lightly troweled the top to bring up the cream (the smooth watery part of concrete). Then we had a soda and let the steps set up while whining about our sore muscles. Superb marital bonding time.

This little edging tool was the next step. We went around the perimeter of the forms with the edger, bringing a nice sharp line to our steps.

More troweling, then edging, then troweling, then edging….You get the idea.
(That’s Bicep’s hairy forearm, not mine, mind you.)

After we were satisfied with our edging and troweling, the moment of truth came as we removed the forms.
Drumroll, please.
Will the steps mush out everywhere and become a soupy mess?
Or are they going to be rock hard and unable to be finished?
Are you as nervous as I was at this moment?
Doubt it.

No soupy mess! And not rock hard! Just perfect.
We filled all of the holes with our excess concrete, troweling everything until it was smooth like glass…and somewhere during this process, both of my arms fell off.
I had to do the rest of the work using a trowel held in my teeth.

Finally, we ‘broom-finished’ the steps and the platform to prevent people from slipping on the concrete when it rained. Aren’t we considerate?

And TAH-DAH! Aren’t these steps exciting?
Can’t you just picture yourself running up and down them, time after time?
Yelling at people from the top step while they are on the bottom step?
Or sitting on the steps enjoying another soda during a dream sequence?
Yep, me too.