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Monday, September 10, 2012

Restoration Therapy

2 arm-chairs

 When I visited Eileen in March, she told me about a Facebook local yard sale site. Since their little community doesn't have a Craigslist, Eileen and a few others started up a Facebook site to buy, sell, and  occasionally post community happenings. It is an online community, and I was added as a guest resident. When I returned home to Hesperia, I checked into it, and sure enough, there's a Facebook "High Desert Yard Sale" site. I have sold some items, bought some items, and then I found a treasure!!
2 without arms
Needle-nose pliers.

       Last week I saw these chairs listed for $20.00 for all four chairs. I went over to look at them, and bought them. I visited with the man selling them, and I mentioned these look like Scandinavian style. He told me they were his mother's, and she is from Denmark.
Thread from previous fabric.

 I started right away in refinishing the wood. Something about steel-wool, sandpaper, mineral spirits and a straight-edged razor blade is very calming to me.
All 4 had 2 layers of fabric and one of Naugahyde.


I wonder how many families sat here?

Tools of the trade...
Finished product! 3 more to go!
 Everyday I work a little on the chairs. The fabric I'm covering them with is a garage-sale find from last May when Fern and I went to Wrightwood. It coordinates with the table-cloth she made me. Now, if only this hobby could pay as well as my job. LOL! 
     I have seen the man I bought these from at the school picking up his little ones when I was picking up a boy I've been babysitting once a week. I can't wait to show him his old chairs!!
 



Saturday, September 8, 2012

Umbrella

 Troy was five years old when Gramma-Weese gave him this umbrella. There was a short window of time when my little boy used it. It rarely rains here, but when it does, look out! The rain comes down in sheets for only a few minutes, and the streets get flooded with desert dirt and debris. Main Street's traffic is backed up for miles, because everyone drives in the middle of the road due to the lanes being flooded. I came across this umbrella whilst cleaning out the garage. It was one of those items which caused me inner turmoil. Keep it? Toss it? Pass it on? A few of the spokes are missing the protective ends, and the fabric is coming off. It is a wonderful memory of Troy's childhood, and especially because it was a gift from Gramma-Weese, it was a difficult decision.
 That's when it occurred to me, I can keep a digital keepsake, and toss the umbrella. Crisis averted! Like my mom (Gramma-Weese) always said, "I can't have a crisis this week--my schedule doesn't allow for it!" This umbrella made me think of protection, and representation of care and love. Here's the umbrella hanging from my Mimosa tree in my front yard, which is like an umbrella. The tree provides wonderful shade and we enjoy sitting under it. But so do the ants! The tree trunk is covered with a four-lane highway of ants going hither and yon! Even the outside kitty, Sneak, likes to climb up and nestle in the the branches. Mark's mom and dad planted this tree around the same time Troy got this umbrella. The grandma's give different gifts, but both symbolize protection, shade, and care.









This verse came to mind while I was thinking about Troy's umbrella: Solomon's Song chapter 2 verse 4:"He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love." This entire chapter is beautiful, and so meaningful to me this week. Verse 2 says "As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters." Recently I heard about an old pine tree that had to be removed, and it housed a large family of woodpeckers. Sometimes when the shade or protection is removed, the inhabitants have to find other housing. In this case it was the neighboring home, and the woodpeckers damaged the eaves of the home, drilling holes through the 8" wood beams. I need to protect my protection, and make sure to upkeep that respite, that place under God's wings, so that I can know his love and care.  At Glenda's funeral a year and a half ago Rob Newman spoke about how Glenda provided spiritual shade, and place for souls to rest and find respite, the branches of her life extending to others, reaching out. I don't have my notes handy, but this verse describes Rob's message: 
"In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell."

Friday, September 7, 2012

Call Me Grace...

 I've been working in the garage lately. Last Friday I spent all morning there, cleaning and organizing. I get such satisfaction in throwing out stuff! I think of it as paying mortgage on real estate which is only filled up with stuff we don't need, haven't used, and most likely will never use!
     There's one large item in the garage which needed to be attended to, and that is the solar pool cover for the in-ground pool. It is a 16' x 24' piece of blue bubble-wrap but much sturdier than regular bubble-wrap. Along with the large piece is a 6' round piece, for the jacuzzi. Previously I had loosely wrapped it in a black piece of plastic and stored it in the rafters of the garage. Recently it had come 'un-done' and each time I pulled the car into the garage, the blue bubble-wrap and the black plastic would inch down from the rafters and hit the top of the van.

     I managed to pull everything down from the rafters without the use of the ladder (see top photo). I re-rolled the blue bubble-wrap tightly, wrapped the black plastic around it, and taped it (see photo at right). And then things got tricky. How do I get this beast back up to the rafters? Oh, I know! I will climb on the ladder and muscle this thing up there! Why not?  No problemo! I asked Steve to help, since he was outside anyway, changing the tire on his car. I climbed the ladder, Steve held the beast, I took one end and attempted to put it up. And that's when the ladder fell out from under me, I grabbed the rafters with my right hand, and my life flashed before my eyes. My past, present and future in 10 seconds on fast-forward played out in my head. In my head I heard my Tae-Kwon-Do instructor say, "If you are going to fall, make yourself as small as possible." I held onto the rafters as long as I could (a few seconds), then made sure the ladder was settled. I glanced at Steve, and decided he would not be able to catch me. Then I let go. Eight and a half feet I dropped, and I did not land on my feet. That proves I am not a cat. I did, however, land on the most padded part of my body. I did not bounce like a rubber ball. Thud, on my bottom on the concrete floor! My left arm hit the leg of the ladder. I remember tucking my head and neck towards my torso to make certain I would not hit the other leg of the ladder. And the bruise on my right thigh indicates I hit the ladder there. "Don't hit your head, save the neck!" kept running through my mind. "Stay out of the hospital, don't call 911!" was foremost in my thoughts! Steve was nearly in shock, and did his best to help. He got an ice-pack from the freezer for my wrist, which immediately got a goose-egg bump, a bruise, and broke the skin. It could have been so much worse! I'm O.K! I'm O.K! Shaken-up a bit, but A-O-K! And by now (one week later) the bruises are yellow and really ugly. I went to chiro Wednesday, and I'm going back right now for more shock-wave heat treatment for my tailbone. Yay for chiro! Yay for Epsom Salt baths! And for landing on my bottom! ~ and now you have...the rest of the story! Good Day!