Can't Get Any Wetter

What we thought was going to be a relaxing birthday weekend for the wife turned out to be just the opposite.

We made it to the resort Friday night and was looking forward to a free and fun filled weekend. Saturday morning after breakfast I hit the golf course, the wife and oldest girl went for their spa day.
Now, if you did not read my last post then I will will quickly recap. This was a free weekend full of free food and fun at a classy resort about thirty minutes from here. The only catch is I had to spend about forty five minutes listening to them trying to sell me a share.

I don't get to golf as much as I want. I wished I could do it every weekend but it gets a little pricy for me.

Plus, I never get the chance to play on a course like this one. Most of the times it's a low budget public course that is not taken care of. So I was really excited to have this opportunity.
I was put with a couple of guys because I was alone. I was really glad they played at my level because I really didn't want to look like more of a fool out there than I usually do.  



As luck would have it, at hole #6 it started a downpour.  It rained and it rained and it rained. I was soaked, my clubs were soaked, I already started getting swamp butt and by hole #9 I was ready to call it done. As my ball dropped in the cup and the rain poured off my hat down my back, I told the guys I had enough. The older of the two looked at me and said, "Why you quitting, you can't get any wetter."
He made a good argument there and I decided to man up, push through and finish the back 9. The rain stopped as we were putting on 18, go figure. I just had to laugh.

I had enough time to head back, shower and change then pick the girls up from the spa. They smelled good and their skin had a glow. Even though I was a new member of the soggy bottom boys, as long as they had a good time was enough for me.

We met the salesman and I was all ready to break his little heart when he did some reverse psychology stuff on me and through me off guard. He started off by saying, "It does not make me a difference if you buy or not. As a matter of fact, I don't care if you do or don't. You probably won't but, I still need to go through this anyway." 
This made me want to do it even more now, just to show him. I started asking questions and the wife started stomping my foot. I left feeling good and with a sore foot, I didn't buy nor did he care. I'm glad the wife was there though.

We could have stayed that night for free as well but we ended up getting bored and going home. Now, who goes to a resort like that and gets bored? Well, I guess we do, it's just not our lifestyle.

The oldest girl left back to college Sunday morning. Forty five minutes later the phone rang and I saw the panic in my wife's eyes. Without knowing what was going on, I automatically grabbed the keys and started heading for the truck, she was right behind me. A lady ran a red light and t-boned her car.
The daughter has some bumps and bruises and the car had to be towed off. We are so thankful she didn't get hurt. It was the best birthday present the wife could ask for. 

That's all I got for now. I did get a little project knocked out yesterday. I will post about it next time.
Until then and sorry for the rushed post,
MDR
   



 

The Little Things

 I just finished making the wife's outdoor serving trays.

Last weekend we were at the flea market and she came across some she wanted to buy. Eighteen bucks each for scrap wood nailed together was a little out of the price range for me and we passed.
So she said "You can make me some."

And that's what I did. She wanted three different sizes so they stack for easy storage. I decided to give them a burnt finish for that nice rustic look.

The wife put on the clear glossy finish to make them look professional and I think she did a great job.
The small one is big enough to hold a bottle of wine and two wine glasses for that romantic late evening out on the swing.

Now on to the next item on the list. 

My Cute Little Helper

I can say this about the wife, everyday she is out helping in one form or the other. More often then not I need a hand and it really makes a difference.
It's kinda funny, I will be looking at something trying to figure out how I am going to set up jigs or what not to hold a board when she pokes her head in and asks if I need anything. "Well as a matter of fact I do, hold this."

I only had a few hours on Sunday this past weekend to work on her giant bird house (Aviary). I was able to get the copula finished and got it in place along with the rafters of the structure. It looks kinda funny right now but imagine the roof all the way done and I think it will look pretty sharp. It almost reminds me of one of those carousels or something.

I will never build one again that is for sure. It is a pain in the butt. 

A little work will be done when I get home each night. I can only give it a few minutes each day, but at least it's something. I really need two more people so I don't have to climb up and down the ladder as much. Each roof board takes at least four trips.



Anyway, the wife came out to help me hold the rafters and I had to stop and take this picture to show just how cute my little helper was.

I was hoping the pink fingernails stood out more than they do in the picture, but you get the idea.

You see that eye ball looking me? That's the look. The look of "What the hell are you doing?"    

Not My Lights!!!!

Last weekend I was head down and right in the middle of the wife's giant bird house project when she walks in and says that I needed to build her some miniature goat feeders.
Of course I fired off my default answer that you should know by now if you have been reading MDR, "It's not on the list!"
She went on to tell me how fast I could get this done and how I should go ahead and stop what I was doing to complete the newest task she had for me. I requested a detailed diagram thinking that would buy me a day or two. Five seconds later I was a handed a scribbled something or another on a piece of paper.
Looking at the paper that did not resemble anything like a goat feeder I struggled to find another excuse as to why I could not stop and build this thing.

"I don't have any materials for this." I said knowing this statement would end our discussion, but I was wrong.    

"I am sure you have something down in all those piles at the barn." Okay, she was right, I am sure there was something down there in my "organized" junk piles I could use, but I did not have the time to fool with it. So I told her to go take a look and see what she can find. 

Back to work again I kept one eye on the barn to see what she would be dragging back to the shop.  I figured this would either change her mind or at least put this off a few more days.

"NOT MY LIGHTS!" She found my lights that I scavenged off the job. These lights are used to illuminate the large signs you see on the highways. They run about $800.00 dollars new and these were being thrown away so I grabbed them. Just the bulbs are $40.00, I had already hung and wired up two of the eight, but I have not found a place for the rest.

"They would be perfect" she said batting her little eyes. "All you have to do is gut them."

"Gut them? Absolutely not, they are hard to find and cost way too much. Plus I have plans for them."

 So there you have it. A gutted and very expensive former light turned into a goat feeder. Not one, but two were made.

She was right, they are perfect little goat feeders and what the hell, I still have five lights left and now I have a bunch of replacement parts if I need them.   

She Can't Say No

The Wife: "Hey, do you remember that lady I worked with up at the store awhile back?"

Me: "Yup"

The Wife: "You remember she lives out near your dad's, way off back there?"

Me: "Yup"

The Wife: "The funny thing is, I saw on her facebook where someone had dumped a really sweet pot belly pig at her place and she can't feed it."

Me: "Oh God NO!!!!!", "Please tell me you didn't."

The Wife: "............"

Me: "You did didn't you?"

The Wife: "Yup"

Me: "................"

The wife: "Her name is Lady Bug"

Woman Crafting Stuff And Well You Know......

The wife has finally gone through all the books she got last week and picked out the ones she is keeping. The save pile was about half. That means thirty boxes of books were kept on the notion she is going to read them, one day.


Every wall in the sitting room is lined with book shelves. I told her we could not go buy any more shelves so she decided to rummage through my scrap wood pile and found an old ladder looking thing I have no idea why I kept in the first place.
And there you have it, a instant book shelf. I guess I kinda like it too. 

  

She is also being frugal and inventive at the same time by making her own lip balm. We all go through tons of Chapstick a year so this might just be the solution to it, and it's Strawberry flavored.




On another note, storms are suppose to be coming in Late Thursday afternoon and stay for a day or two. There might not be much work being done here because of it all. I'm just saying.
Y'all have a good night and I wanted to give the wife a big "You Go Girl"  

For All You Book Lovers Out There

"Ring, Ring, "Ring, Ring" my cell phone was going off. I picked it up and saw the wife was calling. Nothing out of the norm because she calls me several times a day.

I hit the answer button and said "Hey babe, what's up?"

A frantic voice was on the other end and it said, "I need forty dollars right now!"

Without blinking an eye I said, "Okay"

"Really!" Now her voice sounded like a kid who was just given a piece of candy.

"Sure, I will work it in the budget somehow." I said back being the supportive husband that I am.

"Do you even want to know what it is for?" She asked.

"Nope, I trust you and if you need it that bad you didn't even need to ask." I wanted to keep the best husband thing going for as long as I could and if forty bucks bought me a your the best attitude then I will gladly pay.

She ended the conversation with, "Well okay, I will see you when you get home."

This is what $40.00 bought.

 60 boxes of books. Each box has around 25 books in it. That is around 1500 books.
Some are classic first additions from 1907 and some are those kind of books you would not know who in the world would ever buy.
 

The wife is going to go through and catalog each book.
My thought is to take them to the half price book store and make a deal at fifty cents a book takes the whole thing.
Until then, my living room is filled with boxes and boxes of books.

This Way And That

All I can say is, "Wow what a weekend." I was all over the place.

I crammed in so many things in such a short amount of time this weekend even I am amazed. I won't go into everything because you will just get bored, but I will hit the highlights.

Yesterday the "Junkin" did not go as planned. Fist off I did not have any money to do anything too serious even if I wanted to. I did find a old wire vegetable holder for a dollar I hung up in the bathhouse for the soaps and shampoos.

I also finished decorating around the sink area. The one thing I was looking for yesterday was antique signs that promoted bathroom products. I did not find even one. I never do find what I am looking for when I am looking for it. I am not worried, I will run across some one of these days.

After all the running around we ended up over a guy's house that thinks along the same lines as I do. I got to tour his facilities taking many notes and pictures. I do not want to say too much about it because I am going to do a piece solely about what he is doing but I will say this is some really cool stuff. 
We spent the remainder of Saturday night visiting friends that we have not seen in a while and enjoying good company. It was fun.

Today did not look like is was going to turn out with drizzling rain, high winds and cold temps. As a matter of fact I almost turned around and went back in the house saying just to heck with it, but was met at the door by the youngest. She said before I got busy she needed me for an hour in the rabbit area, so that is just what I did. She has some rabbits fixin to have babies and we had to move some around and hang more cages. I took the opportunity to reorganize the area and do some cleaning. I could not pass it up.

The sun finally broke out and then it was the wife's turn. I got the youngest started on the bathhouse signs and helped the wife plant all the onions.
"It is good to finally see some green out there", she said smiling at me.
We planted enough onions to do several cases of salsa this year. I also got her herb beds ready for planting in March.
After I was done with the herb beds I told her, "See what a little smile will do"

I stuck my foot in my mouth because she reminded me a promise is a promise while still smiling so I got busy on her screen door. It is not pretty but it's up.
The sliding door still shuts and now during the day she can open it and leave the screen door closed keeping the flies out.
This is the door I got from a Lowe's sidewalk sale a few months back. It was listed for I think $80.00 but I am not sure (I can't remember) and I got it for $7.00
While I worked on the door, I got the youngest started on the art work for the North side of the bath house. I ain't gunna show it till she is done, but it is really looking good so far.
I picked up the lumber for her from a friend of mine last night who was just storing it and not using it. He said he did not need it but did not want it going to waste. I told him I had the perfect project for it.

There are many more little details I could add but you would just get bored so I will save you from having to make that face and the signing sound as you hit the little X in the upper corner just to shut me up.  
         

Weekend Adventures

Come to think of it, I can't remember when it was 80 degrees in January. I know Texas weather has it's own mind but wow. I am thinking on turning the AC on tonight, how crazy is that. 

The good thing about all this sun is I am having some really good FREE showers at night.
Come on, be honest. I bet you have never read a blog where anyone else tells you when they shower. I'm just saying, there is something special about it when it's free.
It seams like the water is better, the heat soothes these sore muscles better, the oil lamp lighting is better, it makes me in a better mood and I can't stop grinning the whole time I am lathering up. I know it is all in my head but I'm telling ya, there might be something to this.  

Another busy weekend is in store for the next two days. I have to find time for the kids, the animals, the projects and the wife, with all four being very demanding.

Tomorrow morning me and the wife are doing "Junkin". That is where we hit salvage places, antique malls and every place else that might look like they are willing to deal. I also have to stop by the lumber store for a couple of things for Sunday.
After our running around most of the day we are scheduled to meet with a guy who I will do a post on in the near future. I kinda invited myself to his place to take a tour and interview him and his projects. I think y'all will enjoy it.

Sunday is of course church and then that leaves only six hours left in the weekend for everything else.
While the youngest and middle girls are working on the bathhouse signs, I will be hanging the screen door. Normally just hanging the door is not at all hard, but this one needs to be framed in and installed over the sliding glass door. It will take some engineering to get this right.

I might not post till Sunday night, so y'all have a great weekend and be safe out there.

I wonder how hot my water is right now.  

Proud Owner

I was impressed with the wife a couple of days ago when she sent me this picture and simply asked,
"You want it"

Well you bet I did but from my research they are going between 60 and 100 bucks. So I asked how much.

She text back "$20.00"

The next question from me was obvious, "Does it work"

"Yup, it sure does"

"Then git it"

I am the proud owner of a clothes wringer, finally. I have been looking for one of these things for several years now.  

Night Off

I pulled fourteen hours at work yesterday and today I got off with only nine so I am going to take the night off.
I walked in and the wife asked if I wanted a cold beer. She has a turkey in the oven and is standing at the stove making the stuffing.
The house is spotless and smells really good.
Hmmm.... Something is up. I wonder what she is wanting? This is unusual.

Ya'll have a good night.