%@$# Dollhouse!

Well, I have to make confession. I have cussed more in the last 5 days than I have in the last 10 years.

I thought I'd share some important lessons I've learned about building a dollhouse.

#1. It is not necessary to paint the tabs. Yes, they will show through when you assemble it, however, the paint makes it so dad gum thick you can't fit it through the notch. Therefore, you will end up sanding off the paint you applied and touching it up after you assemble and glue. Fiddlesticks!



#2. Just be prepared to splinter a few pieces, and have to wood glue them back together and fill holes with wood paste filler. In my case it has been the dad gum large bay window sill. I was seriously doubting the necessity of this particular piece as I tried to wedge it into the super snug slot... After repairing it 3 times, finally getting the window complete (minus trim and "glass") I'm still not sure it's necessary. As a matter of fact, I'm thinkin' the window would have looked just fine without it! Shoot!



#3. Papering the walls before assembling is recommended. Just be prepared to repair the torn paper after your window supports and trim tear it as you attempt to slide into the insanely tight fitting notches without marring the lovely yellow paint on the exterior. Crud.



#4. Sanding all notches an additional 2 inches wider will make this whole stinking process a lot easier. Yes, you may have some gaps, but at least your wood won't be splintered, paper won't be torn, and you won't be praying for forgiveness after letting the "d" word fly for the 43rd time that day. Besides, there is this wonderful thing called silicone. I happen to know they sell it in tubes, and I think it would be ideal for filling in all of the little gaps... Blast!

Well, my brain is tired and my shoulders are tense, and my lower back aches. So, even though I'm dead positive there is more nuggets of wisdom I need to share with you, I'm stopping there.

I also painted one side of most of the remaining trim. After I paint the other side I will be able to glue it fairly quickly up, (famous last words) and assemble the porch roof and door. Of course, then I will still need to shingle and build furniture....Phew!

One last thing before I sign off on this post: Studmuffin ran the sweeper and folded a load of clothes and put it away today. I think that's more than he's done in one day in the house without me nagging him for the first time in a really long time. It turns out he can do more chores one handed than he can normally do with two perfectly good arms! Just goes to show there is something to be said for cabin fever!

Dollhouse Update

Okay, so many of you are easily guilted. I'm much better today, and in wonderful spirits despite the tenor of the previous post. No, I don't expect calls from everyone. I'm terrible at remembering birthdays. Birthday cards are a waste of trees unless you are sending me money, in which case they are an essential....

But now on to the dollhouse. My niece Sarah spent the night with us, so I bullied her into helping me with it. After all, if she's going to give me zero sympathy about the detail work, and deadline aspect of it, the least she can do is pony up and help paint trim...


She actually saved my life by painting the roof trim and attic window sills that are right next to yellow paint, that I was scared to death of messing up. Thank you, Sarah. If you want to come back tonight and help me again tomorrow that would be lovely.


Guess what? I didn't actually have turquoise paint. However, I had several little jars of paint from an acrylic paint kit that I combined to create turquoise. It looked like so much paint...


Until I realized that it's nowhere near enough. Therefore, I will be going to Home Depot this evening to get a color match done. Dang....


If it doesn't match completely I will simply paint over the pieces I've already done. After all, sanding and priming is the hardest part.


Did you notice I'm even papering the walls? My sisters gave me the idea of using scrapbook paper (that would be when they were leaving me virtual birthday wishes in the form of comments on my blog or mentioning me in their blogs, or leaving me voicemails... But not calling. Just clarifying that....Oh, I'm wicked, wicked, wicked I know. I just couldn't resist.) I didn't have any turquoise except in plaid, or faux water. I didn't really feel that was Victorian era, so I went with the ones you see. Now my husband is nagging me because I don't plan to stain the floors.

Good grief.

Some people are never happy.

Ohmygosh!!! I just noticed the stack of prescription bottles in one of the pictures. All I can say is 4 of them are Studmuffins, 3 of which relate to his surgery, and one is for the dog. Jeez. We look like a bunch of blue hairs with all of those pill bottles sitting out!

My Birthday

Well, yesterday I turned the big Three-Four. Woo. Hoo.... Yes, that was sarcasm. You know, I have not cried that much on any given day in years. Much less on my BIRTHDAY!!!

The truth is, I am S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D. The dogs had a HUGE fight the other day. They have never fought before, and the vet said they are probably trying to reestablish who is dominant now that one dog is weaker. I am trying to let Kelsey finish healing before I let them alone again. Holly is growling at her every time they are together, and she raises her hackles. However, I don't know who started the fight, she may just be so scared that she wants to be bigger and tougher every time they are together.

I'm stressing about the dollhouse. I'll post an update on that later today. I looked for dollhouse dolls at Hobby Lobby yesterday, and they were the ugliest things I've ever seen, especially for $28. The doll pram Popcorn wanted is out of stock, so now I'm trying to find one similar online somewhere else for a reasonable price.

I'm functioning on very little sleep because when I try to sleep I start worrying about the dogs, or money, or if the girls will like their Christmas. I wake up every time he repositions or makes a noise in his sleep. When I do fall asleep, Studmuffin wakes up and I have to help him get his ice machine disconnected and give him pain pills or whatever. Then, it takes me forever to fall back asleep. I think I've averaged about 4 hours of sleep per night since his surgery last Thursday.

But enough whining, this is about my birthday!

The birthday that Studmuffin failed to acknowledge, because he didn't have time to go get me anything because of his surgery, and he's been too busy before that. Let's not mention the hunting and fishing trips he took every weekend for the last 2 months. Apparently, my birthday is a very rare occasion, and it doesn't come every year at the same time, so he has no idea when to expect it.

Last night he felt guilty and decided to go get his prescription filled by himself. He ran into Walmart and grabbed a cake. Red velvet, to be exact. I acted excited and pretended to love it. However, if you were to list my favorite desserts from most to least, red velvet would be at the bottom right next to lemon cakes. I will eat it when offered it, but would never choose it for myself. But, seriously, don't tell him that. He rarely reads this blog, so he will probably never see this paragraph...

But, on the upside of the whole deal, my brother called me. Yep. My selfish, spoiled brat brother called me on my birthday.

My sisters didn't call, but my brother did.

I think I fell into some parallel universe or something. Granted, I have forgotten to call my sisters many times. I'm just inconsiderate that way. However, the fact that my BROTHER called is shocking, especially next to my sisters not calling. How strange is that? Here's a glimpse of our conversation...

David: Happy birthday Sis!

Me: Thanks!

David: How are you?

Me: Great!

D: What did you get?

Me: Nothing. I guess I've been "nuttin' but bad." (I let out a weak laugh.)

*Crickets chirping*


D: Gee, I'm sorry.

Me: That's okay. I guess Kelsey's doctor bills were my birthday present. (Trying to laugh in an upbeat, I have no worries way.)

D: (very relieved at the topic change) So, how is Kelsey? Is she stupid now?


So, there you go.

My brother called me. We had a conversation typical of him.

But not my sisters.

My husband forgot my birthday, but ran to the store to get a cake and cards, that he didn't bother to sign.

My grandmama meant to call, but got busy and forgot.

My youngest daughter thought my birthday was today, and when she realized she was off a day, cheerfully sang me "Happy Birthday" with all the enthusiasm a 7 year old can muster and played a game of charades with me as a present, plus I got to be President of The Day in her club. A very high honor indeed!

Bookworm said she was going to make me a present because homemade presents are the best...Then she started playing and forgot to finish it.

It seems that I'm surrounded by people who are as inconsiderate as I am. I'm guessing they learned it from me, who forgets just about everyone's birthday but my own...

But, seriously keep your eyes open for an update on the Non-Crafters dollouse!

I'm not crafty

Bookworm has read all of the Doll People books. She loves them. So do I. You can learn more about them here.

As soon as she felt it wouldn't be obvious, my mother in law had me go to her room with her, where she reached under her bed, and pulled out this!



I was so excited! I knew I had a wonderful mother-in-law, who is a keeper of all things and crafter extraordinaire, but to learn that she has this doll house kit, and she was so eager to whip up a doll house for Bookworm was so touching.....

Until I realized she expected me to make the doll house.

Ummm, excuse me? Scotty? I'm not crafty. I hate attempting any craft that lasts over an hour or so, and that is really pushing it. I love to cook, after all, I can eat that. But crafting? Applying myself to something, and doing it well so that it lasts forever? ESPECIALLY if there is even a remote possibility that my mother in law or husband will be examining it. Yikes! They are both very creative and meticulous with their endeavors. Unlike I am. I prefer to tape, wire, or glue things haphazardly together. If it doesn't move and it should WD40 it. If it moves and it shouldn't it, duct tape it. These are really the only 2 tools you need.




I attempted to whine and complain to my niece Sarah last weekend. She had zero sympathy, because apparently art majors have lots of crafty projects to get done on a deadline and they are graded....Well. That explains why I'm not an art major!

You can see in the above picture where I was at as of noon today. Minus the floor and corner brace. In other words, I had a whopping 3 pieces put together.

I had a dollhouse my mom made me when I was nine. It is beautiful. Unfortunately, the wrap around porch was destroyed by some pillows being thrown on it. The posts are too splintered to salvage, but I think I can use the scraps from this kit to replace them. Of course, we were unable to sneak a 3 story dollhouse here at Thanksgiving, due to the dogs, one of which was sick, and our luggage. So. I can't use it as her gift. Dang.



So, after 2 hours of work, this is where I'm at. I'm feeling a little more hopeful that I can finish this before Christmas. Of course, it will be nowhere near as cool as mine was. Mom papered the walls and carpeted the floors. This one is one room with an attic. I plan to stain the floors and paint the walls turquoise. That's Bookworm's favorite color. I thought of making the exterior that color, but Studmuffin and I decided that yellow with white trim will be cuter outside.

So, maybe, maybe, maybe I can finish this before Christmas. Part of the problem is I'm afraid to work on it at night because I'm afraid she'll get up and see it. It's too bloody cold to work on it in the shop, so I'm limited to working on it while the girls are in school. This means I need Studmuffin to stay on his pain pills at least the rest of this week so I can finish it.

Wait! Did I ever tell you Studmuffin had reconstructive shoulder surgery last Thursday? Translation: He is unable to move his right shoulder for 5 weeks, and it will be SIX MONTHS before he can have full use of it. Translation of translation: The man is pretty useless in helping with the dollhouse...

Typical.

Greenhorns

Well, we got a new kid saddle for the kids to use on Sugar. She and Appy got lots of experience over Thanksgiving weekend. They were both rode for about 3 solid hours over Thanksgiving weekend. Believe me. Those two aren't used to that much activity...


Neither was my nephew. Of course, he is an adult sized 11 year old. In a kid saddle. He hasn't quite mastered moving with the horse. Consequently, he moved, well, err....I think the picture speaks for itself. At this point of the ride, he was getting, ummm, well...

Hmmm....How do I say this?

Sore? Yeah. Let's go with that. He was getting sore. So, he was trying new positions to relieve some....Shall we say "pressure?"


Now, these two goof balls got their fair share of riding too. Of course, neither one of them are capable of inactivity for more than 8 seconds, so they spent their "down time" on the hay bales.


After we were finished catering to the kids, Dad & I went for a little ride. Did I mention it was Thanksgiving? That means deer season. I'm pretty sure we were taking our lives in our hands by riding at this time of year. And, we didn't even have on blaze orange so we could be easily spotted. Do you see the deer in the distance in this photo? We scared them up while riding. You can barely see them because my camera was zipped in my pocket, and by the time I dug it out, they were nearly gone... My dad said there are more deer than rabbits now. Sure enough, we saw 4 deer and only 1 rabbit in all of that time riding. Weird. Maybe it's due to the mountain lions. Or coyotes. I don't know, but it sure is weird to not see rabbits. However, we did see one armadillo. That reminded me of my grandma, Shootsmanyarmadillos. Go read about her here.

After all their hard work, it was time for the horses to get a treat for reward. My dad tried to stay out of the picture, but I'm quick. See the horse in the front? That's Appy. Believe it or not, he used to be nearly as dark as Sugar. With lots of speckles, of course.

Anyway, as you can see we had a great day. Sugar is fulfilling her purpose in helping the next generation learn to ride a horse on a trusty mount.....

Hey, funny story here. Dad asked me early in the day if I was brave enough to try riding Sugar double later on. "Sure. Why?"

"Well, I just want to see how she does with two riders." This statement mystified me, and I failed to ask for more details.

Fast forward to my cousin Beth showing up with her kids. Her son Sawyer was afraid to ride alone. My niece Sarah was on Appy, and I tried to assure him that Sugar would just go where Appy went, but he was not sure. His brother Seth, who I think is a Senior, volunteered to ride with him. Initially Seth was going to sit up front, but obviously he couldn't fit the kid saddle, and I didn't want to change gear. I completely forgot my earlier conversation with Dad and though Seth tried to balk, I bullied him into riding behind his brother.

Fast forward to about 4pm. Dad said, "So, are you game for trying to ride Sugar double?"

"Yeah. Why do you want to see how she does with 2 adults?"

"It's not two adults. I want to see how she reacts to the weight and legs dangling down her back. Remember when we bought her they said she pitched with saddle bags."

*Crickets chirping*

"OOOOoooh....Well, I'm not really worried about that any more." I said, laughing.

"How come?" I explained that I hadn't paid close enough attention to what he was trying to say earlier that day, and she did just fine with Seth and Sawyer. Sawyer knew absolutely nothing about riding, and Seth has maybe ridden 3 or 4 times before that day.

Dad just laughed and decided he wasn't going to worry about that any more.

That's what I'm here for Dad. Got a worry? I'll blithely blaze through life, never even considering what might happen. I had a friend in South Texas who told her parents that any time she was afraid to let her kids try something, all she had to do was send them to my house, and I'd have them do it without even thinking about it...

Mail

So. I got this lovely package in the mail the other day....

It happened to have my water bill in it. The important part (amount due) was torn off. Luckily, I live in a small town, so I just drove to City Hall and found out the correct amount...

Kinda makes you wonder what will happen to your Christmas cards this year.

But hey! At least I know they care!!!

Comfort Food

Some time ago, I posted about my family's love of egg sandwiches. If you don't remember that post, please take a moment to go and refresh your memory. It is sure to help you understand the depth of feeling my family has for these sandwiches......

Egg sandwiches epitomize all that's good and right with the world. You see, the egg represents a new joy and happiness...The toast represents ... Well, never mind that, I have no idea where to go from here...

Okay that's a bunch of hooey, and I just made that up on the fly, which is why it was really lame...

But seriously, a good egg sandwich is just, well plain ole GOOD!!!

When I posted previously about egg sandwiches I told myself that someday I would post pictures and directions for them. You see, egg sandwiches are a staple in a house where we are frequently rushed through supper, but there is very little cash left in the dining envelope.

Another great thing about egg sandwiches is the versatility. No yolk wanted? (My girls prefer I ditch the yolk) Simply separate the egg before cooking. The yolk can be broken to spread the flavor all over, the yolk can be runny if that floats your boat, or you can scramble the eggs if you happen to have a person that explodes with horrendous toxic fumes (also known as flatulence in the medical world.)

So, without further ado, let's begin, shall we?

First you need a good cast iron skillet.

Get it hot, then melt up a few tablespoons of butter in it. I've been using EVOO lately since Studmuffin has been careful with his cholesterol. I don't really notice any difference in flavor.


Drop your egg in and scramble, fry or whatever you want. Bookworm preferred an egg in a basket the day I took these photos, so you can see it cooking too.

What is an egg in a basket? Simply take a piece of bread and tear a hole in the middle. Place it in a skillet with melted butter and drop an egg in the middle. Wait a few minutes and flip it. Top with S&P to taste and serve it up hot!


But, returning to egg sandwiches : If you want, you can fry up some lunch meat if you happen to have any in the fridge. Place the egg on a slice of toast, then a slice of cheese if you want. Again, Studmuffin is foregoing cheese a lot lately too. His life isn't very exciting lately. Next place your ham or turkey, or if you're really a rebel you can put some bacon on it. I accept no responsibility for your cholesterol levels if you choose the latter. Top it with a second piece of toast.

Studmuffin and Popcorn always add mustard to their sandwiches. I'm not so crazy about that, but again, the beauty of this is you can make it to please yourself!


So, go! Make yourself some comfort food! Enjoy a delicious home cooked meal that's ready in minutes! We like to eat ours with a glass of milk and a bunch of grapes or some other fruit. Of course, potato chips are a good side too, but the extra salt is probably not your friend.