Hope for the Future

OK, so it's been a while since I posted. With two computers down, it's been a nightmare. I still can't download pix from my camera.

So, I'm happy to share someone else's picture! It's nice to know a 3-year-old girl who's already showing an interest in handywork! Now THIS is my kind of mudpie!

Don't Believe What You See On TV

I am one of those folks who could sit and watch HGTV and DIY channel forever. About the only shows on there that don't appeal to me are the home buying shows and the extreme homes. I love everything else--the designer challenges, gardening shows, makeovers, ready to sell redo's, etc.
The problem, however, is that I start to believe what I see. I begin to think that it only takes 30 minutes to redo a house, much less a room. And that's what gets me into trouble.

For instance, the other day, I wanted to accomplish a simple task--replace the plastic corner wall guard. The old one was cracked in several places and literally flapped every time you touched it. I found a new one at Home Depot and thought it would take about 10 minutes, tops, to replace. I looked at the old screws and got the correct screwdriver from the garage. But I soon found out that the screws only unscrew about 1/8 inch before you have to pry the rest out. (Apparently, that's how they're all made.) So I had to go back to the garage to get a flat-head screwdriver to use as leverage to pull the screws out. Then I had to get the stool, since I couldn't reach high enough for the top screws. The screws were in there very tightly, so it took even longer to get them out than I expected.

Once I got the old one off, I took it down to the garage where I prepared to cut the new one to match its length. Having been burned one too many times by cutting too short on wood, I was careful in my measurement and cut cautiously. Of course, when I went back upstairs, I realized that it was too long, so I traipsed back dowstairs to shave a bit more off.

Now that I finally had the thing cut to fit, I was ready to nail in the hammer screws. However, I realized that one reason the old guard had cracked was because at least two of the original holes (made by the previous homeowner) were too close to the edge of the guard. So I had to make new holes. That was accomplished easily enough with the screw and hammer, but I needed an extra pair of hands to hold the guard while I nailed. My teenaged daughter came to the rescue, and after several more minutes, I finally had the guard installed.

When I was done, I realized that the task had taken nearly 45 minutes instead of the 10 minutes I had anticipated. Plus, I was hot and sweaty from running up and down the stairs and sawing in the unairconditioned garage.

So the next time you see the everyday homeowner repair something on TV quickly and effortlessly, don't believe it. Just nod and say:

"Wow, that video editor did a great job!"

Stacked Runway

I heard a comment today on NPR that I will hang onto for some time. An author lamented the lack of time to write all the stories that she has in her head. She said her life is like a runway with a line of planes backed up, waiting to take off.

I liked that analogy! It fits me perfectly. All those projects I have yet to start, as well as those still in progress and those in limbo, are like planes waiting on the runway. The only problem is, there seems to be no air traffic controller on duty. Even if they all take off (which sometimes they do), they never seem to land. Too much busy-ness in the skies! Too many near collisions.

Next week, I turn a half century old. My life is more than half over. If I'm ever going to set and meet a goal, it's now. Will the second part of my life be as chaotic as the first? Will I ever finish the shelf project, get that book published, take that long road trip through Virginia to DC again?

Apparently, I have another new project--learn to be an air traffic controller.

To Louver or not to Louver, that is the question

We received an unexpected freebie recently that is already challenging my weak carpentry "skills." (I hestitate to use the word, "skill" when describing my feeble attempts at this craft.)

For reasons unknown, my husband's company was getting rid of several sets of perfectly good plantation shutters, so he was allowed to have them for free. Several years ago, we paid a handsome price to have plantation shutters crafted and installed for all our downstairs windows except the garage. (That is another story in itself. The price we paid was apparently not sufficient, because we have had repeated louver pin failures.)

We had hoped the shutters would fit our upstairs windows, since there would be just enough to do the windows on the front of the house and our daughter's room over the garage, whose windows also face the street. Alas, they are too tall. However, after some online searching, I discovered that you can feasibly trim up to 2" off the top and up to 1.5" off the bottom of plantation shutters. Even with that, though, we'd still have to install them outside the frame, rather than inside the window frame--which is my preferred method and how the downstairs ones are done.

Still, free plantation shutters will make you do strange things, so I'm now trying to figure out the best way to mount them where they will look nice. I haven't attempted the trimming yet, though we will probably do it on the table saw.

One of my favorite shows on HGTV is Decorating Sense, which has a segment called "trash to treasure." The host shows how a handy person has taken castoffs and garage sale finds and made them into something useful and pretty. A new show has a similar theme, though I haven't seen it. Junkyard Brothers or something like that? Anyway, these two guys pick up trash off the curb, fix it up, then return it to the owners.

That's how I view these shutters. It's not like we're making something different out of them, but we're going to make them fit no matter what! They're just too good, too expensive to waste, and the color matches our other shutters. Who can resist that?