Has it really been a YEAR?

I blame the illness! ...the MCD!  I may be going in a lot of different directions simultaneously, making this piece of art, or that jewelry item, pet collar, recycled shopping bag, decorated cookie, construction project (like a greenhouse, no less!), garden bed.... etc., but apparently blogging about those bursts of creativity isn't one of my symptoms!  I have no excuses, but I'm in denial about there being any treatment for such procrastination.  Let's move on then, shall we?

I just learned a new term today.  It's the acronym 'NaBloPoMo' which stands for National Blog Posting Month.  The idea was developed some time ago, stating that somehow it was a good idea to challenge yourself and post a blog each and every day for the period of a whole month, namely November (though it could be any given month, at the blogger's discretion).  What kind of insanity is that?  I dismissed it as being some kind of ridiculousness that only people with NO LIVES would take on.  Then the more I got to thinking about it, I decided I should take a similar challenge, but attempt to enter a blog post at least once a week, rather than daily.  To me, that's challenging enough!  (To be honest, if I went back over the course of the past year and wrote about all the creative things I'd been working on, I could probably fill a month with daily entries!  But HEY, let's not get carried away.  Once a week is plenty.)

So how about some news of the most recent project?  Here's the story of that greenhouse!

One day this past fall, when my parents were visiting, we got the wild idea to build a small shed to store my garden tools in.  I was only half serious about it, but on a whim, I asked my neighbors if they had any bits and pieces of lumber left over from a project they recently finished of adding on a screened room to the back of their house.  They did, in fact, have a nice haul of things they didn't want anymore.  There was a platform of 2x8s (or maybe they were 2x10s) that supported their old hot tub and two sets of 'grids' that were part of an old deck, made of 2x6s.  There were also a set of wooden stairs and a bunch of short pieces of treated 2x6s as well.  So they were nice enough to deliver all the pieces over to our yard, and in short order, we had started a foundation to my garden shed.

That's the foundation in the back, and some of the free lumber in front.  I am building on a slight slope, so the right side is made from the larger 'hot tub foundation' and the left side was pieced together with the shallower lumber.  It was at this point that I got the bright idea to made one side a greenhouse, while the other side remained the original tool shed idea.  The project grew to be a bit more complicated than originally intended, but that's what I do!  Always complicating things more and more, so each change results in being more creative than the previous draft, IMHO.  Our free wood was soon used up, and the budget for the rest of the project also grew.  Thank God for parents who give you building materials as a Christmas gift!  

Soon I had the plywood floor in place, and one wall configuration built.  That's it, laying out on the floor, below.

The lower part will get covered in siding, and the large opening will get covered in corrugated greenhouse panels to let the light in.  I used this wall design on three sides of that end of the building.

Then the large window openings got divided into thirds, and the roof needed extra lumber to create a series of lips that the corrugated panels could attach to.

The greenhouse half of the shed has a clear roof, and the other side got a roof made of plywood, covered in shingles that match my other cute shed, that I built a couple of years ago.

  The rest of the walls were enclosed in siding.

The top of the solid roof extends slightly over the ridge, covering the top of the corrugated panels.

...then comes the window coverings...

 ...and trims galore...

...and a colored door!

A few special aesthetic touches were added...

I got the outside finished just in time to fill the shed with plants before the weather got colder, and even though the inside isn't quite done, the plants are happy to be there!

On cold nights, I can turn on a small heater or a light.  It's magical when the light is on!

And did I mention it has a loft?

This is me, sitting on the loft platform, pondering my next project.  I'll see y'all in about a week!

Lucky Chickens

We have quite a large pen for our chickens to run around in.  It's the next best thing to being able to free-range, but they are better protected from the hawks, owls, coyotes, our herd of cats, and our neighbor's 2 Great Pyrenees dogs.  The basic structure measures 16' wide and about 75 feet long, with a height of about 6', so I can just barely walk upright without bumping my head.  At the moment, we have 13 chickens, so there is plenty of room for expansion of the flock.  The perimeter started out with horse fencing completely enclosing it, and the roof is covered with 1/2" hardware cloth.  But I realized I needed to make some modifications.  

First, I added some corrugated panels on the roof so the chickens have some shade from the harsh Texas sun.  This picture shows it unfinished though.  It is deceiving, but the panels go one third of the way down the length of the run, and it has since been covered the rest of the way to the left side and along the near edge.   

Here is the roof from the inside.  I didn't bother to take off the hardware cloth.  I started to, and after spending 20 minutes on one small section, I decided those staples were going to stay in place!

The size of the horse fencing around the perimeter proved to be too large for the best security, so I started covering it with more hardware cloth.  Sheesh, that ran into some money!  But since we do have a snake problem, it seemed necessary.

It was also important to fortify the bottom of the fencing better by going down into the ground

about 10 inches and burying the bottom piece of hardware cloth in an 'L' shape, to deter any

digging predators there might be. 

Now for the accommodations.  I decided not to build a completely enclosed coop, but rather just to shield a corner from the elements by tacking up some cedar fence boards.

Then I built three levels, connected by a circular stairway.

Even as it is, I'm pleased with the shelter it provides, but ultimately I plan to close in the two short sides, build some cubicles on a couple of the levels, and then install some cute cosmetic touches.  The weather has turned rainy and colder, and combined with the holidays, this project is on the back burner.  But the chickens seem to like it just as it is.

The important things

A week ago Sunday, I was jarred out of my interior design trance ('oooh, I want one of THESE in my newly remodeled kitchen', and 'I hate this house, I hate this house') by a frantic knock on the door and a man yelling 'Everybody get out!!!! You gotta leave now, mandatory evacuation order RIGHT NOW!!! Drive out Cardinal and turn left on 21 as fast as you can, NOW, NOW, NOW!!!' 

Well, heck, I was just settling in with some hand drawn house plans, a great cup of French Press coffee, and some fresh fruit... and now I have to hustle? That's not what Sunday mornings are all about!

So when I looked out our front window, this is the view I saw:

We decided to ignore the evac order and stay as long as possible, knowing our way out (through a neighbor's pasture) would come in handy since we were at the very back of a long dead end road.  We packed our cars full of pet carriers and belonging and carted them to the parents' house on the other side of the property.  The sky turned to this:

And then this:

We got the majority of our favorite things transferred, and begun to hose down our property, the roof of our house and shed, and filled 55 gallon barrels with water to tip over at the last minute if necessary.  The strong winds were in our favor, blowing the fire to the west of us all through the day, night, and the following day.  This was the view of my father-in-law's windmill during the first night of the fire:

I have no photographs from  Day 2.  At some point, I just had to put down the camera and get to work.  We were fighting off the fire around the perimeter of our property.  My father-in-law filled a tank of water on his tractor and he and my husband went around spraying fires in the back woods.  By early evening, the fire had encircled our neighbor's property directly behind us.  They breed and raise chickens and birds of all kinds.  We knew they had evacuated, so we felt we had to open all the cages so the birds didn't all fry in their pens.  As we did so, the fire had engulfed a couple of their sheds and was closing off the lane at the curve.  This was our way out, so we had to hustle.  My husband and his father worked through the night with the tractor and water tank.  By noon the next day, most of the fires they could see were under control, but they weren't aware of another nasty fire creeping closer to our other neighbor's house.  All of a sudden, it started exploding repeatedly.  Some other neighbors had just snuck back home via the secret back entrance, so they came running.  All of us were out there with garden hoses, which felt like little squirt guns aimed at such a big fire.  Right then, when it looked like this had gotten bigger than we could manage, the cavalry arrived.  Several fire trucks came down our culdesac.  Even THEY had to call in more help.  The next thing we knew, these angels from Heaven were coming to our aid:

These Chinooks were scooping water from my father-in-law's pond to dump on our neighbor's home.  Then  they left and Blackhawks took their place and continued scooping and dumping.  It was very noisy and exciting on our street!

FINALLY, the worst of the fires were over in our area.  Latest word (as of 9-13) is that the fire is only 60% contained as a whole.  But since we were at the 'beginning' end of it, the areas still burning are more downwind of us.

Our neighbors had set up a temporary animal rescue operation, since their daughter-in-law was a vet.  She was able to take in hurt, displaced, or scared animals and stabilize them, soothe them, feed them, whatever was necessary, while matching them up with their owners.  I believe it was also coordinated and approved by FEMA, so they had ways to monitor where animals were, who they were to be turned over to, etc.  One particularly sad pony came through who's owner had obviously neglected him and failed to keep his hooves trimmed.  This sweet little guy hobbled along much slower than the other ponies they found in his same group.

The yellowed hair on his back is where he got singed.

And more animal news... many of the chickens/guineas/swans, etc. that we turned loose have stayed around their home, and with much effort, we stopped the fires from finishing off the place.  I have gone there twice daily to refill food and water.  We managed to catch quite a few chicken and relocate them to our large pen until the owners can come back to their house.  We will help them catch the rest of the birds as best we can and get them in their repective pens.

I keep having to chase their guinea hens home.  They are quite comical!

A stray horse was found:

I took a drive through our neighborhood.  Where there used to be hundreds of homes up and down our street to the west, now there are maybe 6!  Our little cluster of neighbors fared well, for the most part. That's may be due to the fact that we stayed and fought the fire and didn't let the back-burning creep too far in our direction.  Well, two of our immediate neighbors lost homes, unfortunately.  We had no idea when our new neighbor Robert's place burned down.  We were likely working on the other side of the farm when that happened.  He had just moved in and we really hadn't gotten to know him yet, but now, through this ordeal, we are very glad he will rebuild and join our community.  We also learned what most of our other neighbors are made of.  We love our little neighborhood family!  Now, here are some sad pictures of the homes on down the street, of neighbors we didn't know.

And this is (WAS) our neighbor's house:

Now the bulldozing and cleanup begins:

We have adopted this little sweet kitten who's owner has not come home for days and his house is all burned up.  He and his brother are safe and sound at our house.  We have named them Ashley and Agent Smolder.

You can barely see the kitten hiding in the lower part of the picture.  This next picture is what is left of his owner's yard and workshop:

Now that this disastrous ordeal is mostly over for us, I am so much more thankful for the house I originally hated.  I am in less of a hurry to demolish it and rebuild another one, and I am grateful for blessings everyday!

Creativity Melts!

I just discovered that creativity has a melting point! When it reaches a hundred degrees, it starts dripping and oozing, and once it leaks out, you can't possibly put it back in before it evaporates! I'm pretty sure that's what has happened to me this summer. It's been consistently a hundred degrees (or more) for something like 70 consecutive days in a row now!

I'm probably just using this as an excuse for my poor progress on several outdoor projects.

The project list:

Reinforce the chicken pen

Finish the electrical wiring in the shed

Finish the shed!

Build the gazebo

Build the greenhouse

And oh, don't even ask me about the state of what used to be my garden!

Now, first of all, tell me..... do any of those projects sound creative? Barely, right? That factor, in and of itself, is enough to make me disinterested. And since those projects are out of the question, anyway, at these temperatures, I've resorted to participating in a few indoor sports, like cooking, sewing, and jewelry making... things with a higher degree of creative involvement. That's assuming, of course, that I have any unevaporated creativity left.

Lately I finished a tedious little beading project that I entered in a contest. What appears at first glance to be a twist of many strands of beads is actually many separate beaded circles intertwined to create a chain. Each circle is finished off independently from the rest, allowing a fluidity and slinkiness to the piece that is very chain-line.

I first started playing around with circles of beads, tying each one off with three or four knots, then working the two tails of thread back through the circle of beads in opposite directions, creating a clean beaded circular 'link'.

After linking up a few circles in a simple chain pattern, I knew I could improve on the look by complicating it MUCH more than that! So I doubled up some of the links.

That still wasn't complicated enough. With a double set of circles in each link section, I entertwined them to create a spiral by having each link pass through four previous links (two sets), as they are attached. Then the next links also are added through, ending up with each link connecting through eight others. I love how it closes up the space between the links and produces a solid snake-like effect.

Pictured above is a section done in a lighter gold Charlotte bead, with an occasional 22k matte gold Delica bead thrown in. Each set of links in this piece is done in triplicate. This definitely isn't for the impatient to attempt! I'm unsure how to incorporate this bulkier section into a necklace exactly. I would like to add other strands of beads and include chain, dangling charms, etc., resulting in quite a complex piece. It's a work in progress and I'm confident it will evolve in the right way if I don't rush it. Here are a few monochromatic materials I've rounded up to possibly work with.

But back to the contest entry. I finally made a section of links long enough to work into a bracelet, and then made matching earrings. This last photo shows what I entered into the contest, and I will find out at the end of the week how it fared.