I am so far behind on this blogging thing, it's debatable whether I should even bother  anymore....

I have been busy putting together an armoire cabinet for out on the deck to store Robts over alls and muddy boots in rather than stare at them in thier usual heap while we dine al fresco.....It has become some what of a challenge to build this thing...5 1/2 ft tall and 5 ft long, shelves on one side, hangers on the other with two doors, completely out of barn wood..with no raw edges showing.

I have a whole new appreciation for those furniture makers and crafty folks who do barn wood creations with no cut edges showing...geesh...it's not as easy as it looks.
Very stressful actually, to get it all right the first time, no wrong cuts because there is only so much of this wood around.

Any way I'm nearly done and will post pictures of course when it is finished... In the mean time, because we all know I can't just sit still and take it easy, I whipped up a couple of more stools, the first one I made (white) was lonely. so now he has companions....these things are so strong...I can sit on the and wiggle around and there is no moaning, groaning or creaking....I am impressed with the design.  I made the seats a wee bit bigger than was in the plan because I wanted both my butt cheeks to have something to rest on....hahahaha   Robt uses one as a side table while sitting in the recliner and the seat is big enough that it's just the right size for a table top....hahahahah what does that say about my ass....hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah   that cracks me up....

The AYLA cabinet

Well I finally finished the little cabinet I was making. Both R and I are more than happy with the way it turned out, we are especially enamoured of the colour I eventually settled on, and it only took the purchase of three seperate litres of paint to find the right colour. Due to my chickening out at the last minute...but I would have been money ahead had I just sticked with my gut and gone with the original colour that caught my eye on the paint card.

Called  STILL WATERS, we are thinking of painting a few walls this colour too, maybe our whole bedroom.

You might notice that there are no fancy legs on this cabinet like I mentions origially, we bought them but were not happy with the flimsy way they attached to the outside rib of the cabinet, and when stood on the legs the weight of the cabinet made it seem very wobbly  and precarious. So for the time being we turned it into a floor model and I like it very much... Inside the double doors are two shelves, where I store my Wii attachments, photo albums and binoculours.  LOVE IT, LOVE it...love it....heee heee heee...  50+ yrs old and still able to surprise myself...not bad for an old brawd....

I am quickly whipping up a pair of stools to turn my single one into a trio... and then I will begin cutting planks for the outdoor armoir I want for storing rain coats and winter boots in on the deck...

Incase I didn't post a completed picture of my awesome X Bench here it is, all polyurethaned and sanded it feels like glass and is great to sit on...

Wholely Hell

It's snowing here again, our brief taste of spring lasted two whole days... and boy was it nice, shirt sleeves and runners, yes it had dried up that much.  But now, it is back to parkas, lined gloves and insulated rubber boots because it is MUDDY ! !

I trudge my way up to the small heated room in our barn where I assemble all my projects...my latest is a small dresser/cabinet called  THE AYLA CABINET, no kidding that really is its name, so of course I just had to build it.

Originally the lady built it to house her daughters doll house and furniture...but I added an extra shelf and it will be home to I don't know what yet...

It has certainly been challenging, using plywood for some of the sides and such, I had a heart attack when I went to buy the plywood...I went there wanting to get sanded both sides pine but it was nearly  $ 90. so I cheaped out, much to Robts relief and bought just construction grade....I regret that now, it is put together, it would have looked so much more fine with good plywood...I can sand some of the divots out and fill some others but in the end it looks a bit rough.  Oh well, it's just peasant furniture after all...
It was made to add fancy turned legs on the end of the 2 x 2 corner pieces but I had trouble finding any with a 2 x 2 square top  so we settled for round and I am not liking the transition...too late now, since I have glued and doweled them on....  I committed my myself to a colour too....a light sea foam/ turquoise that I thought looked kind of retro-ish.... I will of course distress the edges and what have you and I splurged on something I have wanted for years and years....small fancy glass pulls for the two doors and the drawer...they are lovely...and so girly...Robt was surprised I didn't go for some old antique looking brass monstrosity...but I envisioned this cabinet being very feminine... so if I can improve the look of the leg transition from square to round...I will be very excited about how it turned out...in spite of nearly pulling my hair out installing the damned drawer sliders...there has to be a simple trick to that, that I just wasn't seeing...but I prevailed in the end...stubbornness pays off at last.

I hope to have all the doors hung by end of tomorrow and will take an unfinished picture, before beginning the priming and painting stage... so stay tuned...

Poor Robt goes for his age 55+ routine colonoscopy on Thursday. He has never had surgery or any procedure of any kind done and if he acts the way he does when forced to go to the dentist I may drug him up myself and wear a disguise...he is abrupt and uncommunicative to the point of rudeness.  so I plan to have lots to do up in the barn after I drive him home and he can whimper and gripe all he wants after the ordeal... like he does to me...

Moan and Groan

I gots a sick tummy.

The new med. I just started is making me feel bad.  I will endure, because I think the benefits at this point out weigh the negatives..so far anyway. hahaha

The weather man was threatening another huge winter storm for Alberta and our area appeared to big smack dab in the middle of the worst of it.  But we woke this morning to a light snow and brisk winds but so far nothing, now they are saying that the snow will stop in early afternoon and Robert is a happy man...He hates the snow.. understandably, since it causes him much more work when it snows..but we both generally dislike the muck and grim and wet mess of it.

Robert made a quick trip into town yesterday and chose to stay home...I worked in my wood shed, assembling two more simple benches that I had cut the pieces for a few days ago...I have to leave them in the barn to dry out a bit before I paint them, since the wood was damp from the last snow we had a few days ago....that is the downfall of this being a new hobby, I haven't quite got the logistics worked out....and I am reluctant to make to many commitments because it is just a hobby, who knows , this time next month I could be into rock polishing...or jewellery making...hahahah not likely but you get my drift...

I would love to take up welding....hard to do since we only have an antique welder that cost a fortune to just turn it on...the new ones run on oxygen...and cut like a laser....  I would do metal sculpture if I could...I have this vision in my head of a beautiful tree with all its limbs and twigs..and bark...and I would use it to hang my twinkle lights...and it would never rot, fall over or break...

Robert bought me  a pair of wood clamps the other day...they were on sale and he surprised me with them....Oh My God, where have they been all my life... I have only ever had the old, screw clamps that are ancient and are hard to turn the threaded cog...with arthritic fingers...so these new clamps are heaven...you just pull the trigger like a water pistol and voila it tightens up and holds like a hot damn... I'm in love ...with Robert of course but there are two new men in my life as well... twins, left and right  Pro-grade Clamp....

Wow, I'm wood working in this century finally...hahahahaha  I have to be careful what I ooh and awe over because Robert wants to buy it for me and I'm weak and will let him, when I know we can't afford it...so now I walk into the hardware store, get what I went for and walk out...after paying of course...I have to appear indifferent...and it's soooooooo hard.

The best one so far... says Robert

Robert likes this bench so much he asked me the day I finished it, to build another one ... a wedding gift for a niece this spring. 

I want to make one and try to sell it.... but have no idea what price to set for it. Any ideas ?




before I stained it




after I stained it




here's proof I actually made it


This bench was pretty easy to make too...of course I probably shouldn't tell you that...Robt says it is because I am getting better at doing them that it is getting easier...or seems like it is. 

We vaccinated the cows yesterday, to keep them and their babies healthy for the summer...the cow gets the vaccine, she builds antibodies in her blood and milk and passes the antibodies on to the calf...

The whole process of working the cattle is a misery this time of the year...rarely is it ever dry enough to wear regular shoes...yesterday, we needed hip waders... after disturbing the ground last fall with our corral re-construction it was very soft, add to that a foot of snow melting on it and a hundred + cows churning it up and by the half way point it had gone from mud to muck to eventually soup...and that's the point at which I belly flopped (nearly) in the deepest hole...and then a cow came after me....before Robt could intervene...I was plastered up against the metal panel with my right foot up and between the rest of me and the cows head...apparently she took exception to my using her fecal matter as a bath product hahahahaha

She chickened out before she did too much damage...and by the time Robt got close ..I was pretty livid...I put up my hand in the STOP motion and told him to not say a word....that if he could drag me out here to do this crappy (pun intended) work again (I did get a few years reprieve when I was told I was ill) then I was going to do all the work like I used to ..not just the fluff stuff...

we tried leaving all the work on his shoulders and he couldn't keep up, it takes more than two but two is all we have so, so be it...but two of us WILL be doing the work and if he doesn't like it he knows what he can do about....call a truck to haul the cattle to auction...it would alleviate 60 % of our work load...and free up the winter months...

We have to work the cattle in the mud again in 10 days to sort them for breeding groups...certain cows go to certain bulls sort of thing...then again in May we have to separate the babies and run them through the barn for their vaccinations... and then they all get walked up the road to our other land in early June...and then.......drum roll please...we get 2 months of nearly cow free time...all we have to do is take salt and make sure the batteries of the solar waterers are charged...and move them to new pasture every couple of weeks...which means opening a gate or two... 

I love this time of year....    I got a rash and itch from spending a few hours with all that manure and mud seeping through my clothes while we finished the cattle work...and the sun block I decided to put on after getting a bit of a burn on my face two days before while hoof trimming the cows...gave me an allergic reaction and by 8 pm last night when I got to come in and shower...I had welts on my face and it was on fire....I vaguely remember there was a reason I don't wear sunblock ......but I remember now... NO Sunblock.  this stuff was the stuff made for kids with allergies...too...so so much for that...theory.

Another Challenge Met

So, here is the little stool I mentioned the other day.  Stained, painted and Polyurethaned to within an inch of its little life...smooth like glass to the touch, with just that little touch of distress to make it looked used and loved.

This so far is Roberts favorite thing I've made. he has already used it twice the first day to sit at the kitchen counter and listen to the weather on the radio...you have to sit close because the signal is weak...

It is 24 inches tall in total and as solidly built as a tank...I sit on it and wiggle around, it doesn't creak, groan or squeek.

I hope to build more of these...I have a couple of people in need of a good stool, whom I like enough to gift them with one....Roberts looking at me funny when I write that part...geez...he wants me to sell everything no more giving things away for free...  Well I'll leave it up to him to find some smuck to pay $75. for a stool...that's what he thinks its worth....Oh God, I've created a monster....

Any way here it is and I like it....

Shyte !!!

It's snowing here like there's no tomorrow....started yesterday afternoon while we were in the city for my mam/bone density appointment...we chose to cut the day short (which means no shopping) and head home...I did manage to finaggle a quick stop at a Home Depot store for a few pieces of planed lumber to build a couple more stools but other than that it was straight home...the roads were bad and here  at home we had about 6 inches on the ground already. 

It continued to snow all night and this morning when we went up to the barn I was shovelling at least 8-10 inches off the sidewalk and it's STILL snowing.

We are going to brave the roads once more though and take some trash to the dump and pick up  two parcels at the post office... and some oil for the tractor...

Hope the snow stops soon... and am glad to hear that Ayla is having a grand time in Mexico...inspite of having to pee in the bath tub..hahahahaha