My artistic license is at stake.

Dear “Anonymous”-

When I was employed as a writer and my husband was still a touring musician, I felt the freedom to be weird. I wore weird clothes, I listened to weird music, and I decorated my house with my weird style.

Sure, I received some flack from the “normals”, but I was surrounded by more weirdos than normals.

Biceps and I were often hired by others to build out of the ordinary things, due to the fact that our artistic license accompanied our meticulous building skillz. Case in point, an artist hired us to build her this pretty, but functional shed that we deemed the “Big Girl Playhouse“.

I’ve been proud of the unorthodox things that I have built. I realize that not everyone is a weirdo like me and won’t like my style. That’s cool. I can handle it.

But, as a blogger, I am critiqued for my artistic license way more than the average bear. I try to take it all in stride. Heck, I understand why someone on the west coast doesn’t appreciate my deer hoof coat rack. They’re worried about their patchouli and plugs. I track with why Mr. Modern Guy may not like my barn wood dining room table. I understand it’s all chrome and glass for you. And sure, purple master bedrooms may not be your thing. I know you have a hankering for realtor beige. It’s cool.

I’m not normal, so my stuff isn’t normal. I get it. I friggin’ get it.

When I build something that’s for me, and I take the time to photograph each step, edit those photographs, write out an informative tutorial on exactly how to do it, how much it costs, where to buy the material…why is it ok for the internet kingdom to rip me a new one and tell me how ugly/stupid/dumb my project was?

Not to be creepy, but I know who you are: I know your IP address, where you logged in from, how you found my blog, what city you live in, what pages of mine you visited and for how long.

So, even if you are wussy enough to call yourself “anonymous”, you aren’t. Just let me be a weirdo over here in my little world. And, I’ll allow you the same.

Love-Weirdo Rebekah

It is Finished!-The Big Girl Playhouse

For the past month, Biceps and I have been slaving away in the lovely Okie summer heat, building a ‘shed’
for some friends of ours.
Today, we completed the shed, packed up our tools, said goodbye to the dogs and headed home.
It was satisfying to complete the project, but also a little sad.

If you have ever completed a chapter in your life and had to walk away from it, I am sure you know what I mean.
I won’t miss the sweaty days, the sore muscles, the dog poop I have stepped in on countless occasions…but I will miss seeing my friends on a daily basis and becoming so close that I don’t knock anymore.

This is where I left you in week one. We had dug the holes and sunk the posts into the earth three feet deep. Then we had added the stringers, the headers and the beams.
Then we applied Arnica gel for several days and complained to each other about our sore bodies.

Week two we had built the rafters and put on the roof.
I hung from the rafters on several occasions pretending to be a monkey. The heat does strange things to me….

By the end of week three we had installed the windows and finished the roof. We began siding the ‘shed’ with 6” cedar planks. In between late nights of Hubby playing out with his band, the extreme Tulsa heat and my general ditziness, the cedar took way too long to install by my standards.

But today, it was all worth it. The ‘shed’ was finished. I cracked open a can of orange Diet Rite to commemorate the occasion.

The windows have to be my favorite part. Except when you are trying to nail something precariously close to said window and the nail happens to break said windows’ glass.

This view is from inside of the ‘shed’ looking out. It feels so dang good to be in here. Now that I know my friends gate code, I may just throw up a hammock and set up camp when they are out of town.

These doors were from a church in Tulsa. They felt rather blessed while we were hanging them, although Biceps did say ‘crap’ a few times while we were doing this….

I am rather curious if our friends will actually move their tools in here, or decide the space is better suited for fancy dinner parties.

Goodbye, dear ‘shed’. Know that I love you. And although I poured out my life, sweat and tears into you for the last month, know that I am happy you are done and that I can move on.
The Big Girl Playhouse has been deemed ‘completed’. Amen.
If you would like to read more about The Big Girl Playhouse, here’s Part One, Part Two and Part Three.

The Big Girl Playhouse-Part Three

The last couple of weeks, Biceps and I have been building a fancy schmancy ‘shed’ for some good friends of ours that we have begun calling ‘The Big Girl Playhouse’.
The picture below is where I left you in Part Two.
(If you would like to read from the beginning, here’s Part One.)

The roof is up, the stringers are on and our backs are sore.
And throughout the entire process, we have been tormented by the ridiculously cute dogs the homeowners own.
Or is it the other way around?

The next step in building the Big Girl Playhouse was to install the windows and nail up the siding.
We found eight diamond pattern windows at a recycled materials store and snatched them up.

Ohhh! Pretty blue paint. Rebekah likey. The windows were transformed with this lovely shade of blue.

Our army of blue windows were ready for action.

The Big Girl Playhouse front is almost entirely made of glass.

We found cedar siding at another recycled materials store in a quaint little town outside of Tulsa. And the best part was that we found it for a third of what the big box stores wanted to charge us.
Boo yeah.

Once the cedar siding was up, not only did the shed look stinkin’ awesome, it smelled stinkin’ awesome.
Much, much better than we did.

Close your eyes and pretend you are somewhere deep in the Colorado forest. Place your nose near your computer screen and…take a big whiff-I bet you can smell the cedar.
Or maybe not. I think the 96 degree weather is warping my brain.
Next step-we’ll be installing the doors and finishing the rest of the siding.
Stay tuned and pray for my sanity…

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.