Bench cover

It must be spring because the projects are easier to begin. Or maybe my Vitamin D is back to a halfway normal level. Whatever the reason, a long-awaited project finally rose to the top of the list. Yes, the bench cover.  I forgot how much I enjoy projects like this. So here's where we started...a cut up old mattress cover for padding, green outdoor canvas, a zipper that I decided not to use, some Velcro that will only get used if the cover decides to habitually shift, a ruler, and a measuring tape. Let's GO!

Laying out the fabric. 

I love sewing corners😜

I also serged all the edges, but I'm sure your imagination can take care of that picture. 

Done!  Of course there was pressing seams and hems in there somewhere, staying up too late and indecision about the hem stitch, but it got finished. 

Speaking of the hem stitch, I decided to get a little fancy. It is a setting on my little inexpensive IKEA sewing machine. Got about halfway finished with the hem and realized that the stitch reminded me of an old lady tablecloth edge. Oh well,  

I also got some plants planted this weekend.  Started with some bulbs...lillies, gladiolus, and crocusmia (really tall with little red flowers) then moved to some things for the garden. We've got cucumber, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, and watermelon going so far. 

Then I ordered my birthday present...four columnar apple trees, a bunch of strawberries, and four blueberry plants. So excited for them all to come. The columnar apples are super cool and I'll plant them in big pots. They grow straight up on one branch and produce regular sized apples. So excited! Oh I said that already! 

Garden spot

I mentioned in the previous post that on the to do list was a garden spot. I used the 4 - 1x6's from the pallets and the cross pieces are 2x6 also from the pallets. 

And there you have it. 

Still deciding what to plant, but on the list are carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, watermelon, cucumbers, and green beans. Strawberries will go in rain gutter that I'm going to mount on the fence. Now we're just waiting for the average last frost day, so the planting can begin. Going to add a bunch of horse manure to the garden spot, and maybe even plant a couple of blueberries in pots. Getting excited for a bit of gardening!  Also on the to do list is a pergola for some outdoor living space. 

Scanning Project Rule #2, and a new project

Scanning project rule #2 is only make two piles titled "Scan" and "Chuck."  There is no need for a pile called "I'll look at this again later, or "maybe I'll need this someday." After an item goes through the scanner I also have piles called "Mike," Brian," "Ellen" and "Jeff". No, not random names from stories I loved as a child...names of family members who might like to walk down memory lane when they get a surprise little box in the mail one of these days. 

A new project...a Nellie fence. I started a full-time job a week and a half ago and I sure don't like leaving Nellie home all day.  I started on a Wednesday and had to call on my friend Robyn and her family to let Nellie out in the middle of the day because I didn't have a way to keep her from running free, although I'm sure she would have come home when she got hungry. So last weekend we built a little fence. Now Nellie has her very own yard. So here we go. 

I acquired some very large pallets from a friend who does custom countertops. Two 11 ft pallets were enough to complete the entire support system of the fence...well, minus three 2x4s. Lots of wood in those pallets. 

Here's 1 1/2 pallets. I cut the slats in half because I didn't want or need a 6 foot fence. 

Robyn, Pip, and Keith with the first run of fence. 

Another view. 

Turned the corner. 

Complete!

Put a self-closing hinge on the gate. 

So now Nellie can hang out in her yard or inside the house while I'm at work. Yay!

Humongous THANK YOU to Robyn, Keith, Bailee, Andy, and Gwen for your help with the fence and dinner!

I still have a bit of wood leftover from the pallets so planter boxes are the next outside project. We WILL have strawberries this year. 

Nellie sure loved that squeaker pig! Thanks Jason and Wendy!

More fence details if you are interested. The bottom support rail of the fence is 11ft 2x6 from the pallets. The top rail is 3 1/2 ft 2x4 from the pallets with a chunk of 2x4 screwed to the seams for support. 

I used metal fence posts for a couple of reasons, first because they are easy to put in the ground and second because we get strong winds here and the metal posts allow a little give so no snapping off at the ground in 70 mph wind. I did end up purchasing a couple of long 2x4s to finish the top rail of one side mostly because it was easy, and I knew I wouldn't have enough from the pallets to finish. 

Scanning Project Rule #1

Scanning project

Rule #1. Don't second guess the contents of the garbage bag. You've already looked at it and made the decision to 86 it. Don't dive back into the bag and start taking things out.  In my case, there is probably a duplicate copy of whatever it is, so I'll see it again anyway and have to make the "chuck it" decision repeatedly.  

Next subject:  Propane

While I've been refilling my propane tank that feeds my heater on a regular basis, the tank that feeds the stove and hot water heater just ran out this morning (Feb 20) for the first time. That makes 4 months to go through a 20 lb propane tank. Not bad.  And when it isn't winter any longer that will be the only propane I'm filling.  We've been having spring-like weather so I'm only running the heater for a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening, so we're beginning to use less already, which is nice on the budget.  During the full-on winter months I was using about $60/month of propane.  Nice to be able to budget for next winter.

Next subject: Making things happen vs. allowing things to happen

If you aren't into the "deep thoughts" posts, you can stop reading now.  So, I've always been the type of person who makes things happen.  I decide what I want and I figure out how to do it, get it, build it, learn it, apply it, or drive it.  Usually once I've settled my mind on one of those things and taken a few steps in the right direction, things just begin falling into place.  If I'm going the wrong way, I figure that out too pretty quickly.  Really good example you already know if you follow the blog is the Grantsville move.  I felt really compelled to be in St George, I started down a path to parking the Bungalow there, which didn't work out, but my friend Robyn happened to be in St George at the same time (I hadn't seen her in 20 years) and staying 5 minutes from where I was camping.  There was some serious orchestration by the heavens to make that all happen!  Moving here to Grantsville has been FANTASTIC! And quite a blessing!  As I sit here in the sun on a lovely spring-like day I could stay here forever.  A couple of weeks ago in the midst of a winter inversion where the cold air and smog gets trapped between the mountain ranges and anyone living in the valley wants to flee for clean warm air, I was moving tomorrow to Florida.  I also realized that I was Vitamin D deficient...no wonder I was wanting to make my escape to the Sunshine State.  Now that my Vitamin D is back to normal-ish, and the weather is changing for the warmer (although we're not out of the wintry woods yet), I'm not feeling that "get-me-outta-here" quite so strongly.  I'm also beginning to wonder if the push-push-push to get things done and get a job and move somewhere else, needs to be re-organized into an allow-allow-allow attitude that will get me where I need to go, to build, to learn, apply, and drive in good enough time.  Funny...as I write this I'm feeling calmer already.  Think I'll go put on my shorts and sit in the sun a while longer with Nellie (who, incidentally, is sunning in the driveway instead of on her comfy pillow which is next to me).

Just stuff

Last time I wrote about installing the cabinet over the closet.  In the process of clearing the wall space for the cabinet, I took down some mirror squares.  I put the mirror squares back on the wall on the other side of the window and now they are like a full-length mirror of sorts.  The funny thing is that they freak me out sometimes because I think it is a window and I don't have the blinds down.  I know it is just a weird illusion, but I think I'll need a few days to get used to it.  

Poor Nellie, I have trained her terribly!  The smell of bacon makes her cower.  Yes, it is all my fault.  I was cooking bacon for my bacon, cheese, lettuce wrap this evening and couldn't figure out why Nellie wasn't standing at my side begging for a tiny morsel of a bacon treat.  I looked outside and she was standing about 20 feet from the front door with her tail between her legs looking at me like she was in trouble.  I called her and she wouldn't come, but continued to stare at me.  All of the sudden it hit me...she has associated the smell of bacon with the smoke alarm singing...and with good reason.  Today, I had the windows and doors open because the weather was so nice, so the smoke alarm didn't go off.  Poor puppy.  I really need to be more careful about that.  

I haven't done a lot with the house this last couple of weeks because I've been doing a giant math review.  I've started my own tutoring business and I figured I'd better brush up.  I have one client so far and a couple of other people who showed interest.  So I guess we'll see. 

I did buy the fabric for the tv stand cover/cushion.  I'm excited to get that started and I'm still going to make a cover for the bean bag because Nellie really likes to sleep on it.  So I have a couple of sewing projects to do.  Those are both on my to-do list for this week.  Yippee!  PS.  Nellie likes to sit on the new bench and look out the window.  I love that she has a place to see out.  

Cabinet...finally!

The cabinet above the closet finally came to the top of the list. So here we go...

Before

Very messy and difficult to get into and out of the closet. 

During

Almost a cabinet. 

Moved the stuff, and now to take the mirrors down. 

Ready to hang the cabinet. 

After

Cabinet is up. Whew!

Much better! Less messy! And I can get into the closet much more easily. 

I'm now debating about the cabinet door.  I kinda like it without the door.  On the other hand, a door would make for a cleaner look.  I'll have to think about that.  I need to go to IKEA anyway and get a couple more of the green boxes.  I really like them.  One is holding Nellie's toys, treats, coat, and sweatshirt.  The other is currently holding printer paper and scratch paper from all the scanning I've been doing.  So one day soon I'll have to make a choice about a door.  

I also need to re-do the lights under the storage loft.  I suppose I could have left them just like they were, but oh well. Could be exciting to see what I come up with.  We'll see!

Heated floors and another seating solution

Lots of people have asked me if I'm staying warm in my little house.  The answer is YES!  A couple of weeks ago I plugged in the radiant heat floor and that has helped quite a bit.  Here's an example. This morning I got up and my thermostat said that the ambient air was 56 degrees F.  Now that might seem a bit cold, but my bare feet were standing on a floor that was 71 degrees F.  I was wearing fuzzy pajama pants and a short-sleeved t-shirt and I didn't feel all that cold, maybe just chilly enough to put on a sweater.  That warm floor makes ALL the difference.  My suggestion to anyone building a house, no matter what size, put in a heated floor.  Even if it is just in your bathroom or kitchen.  It is lovely to have warm feet, and when your feet are warm, the rest of you feels a little warmer.  

I purchased a "kill-a-watt" electricity monitor.  It measures a lot of electrical things, but the reason I bought it was for the kilowatt-hour measuring capability.   I wanted to see how much electricity I truly use so I can actually have an appropriately sized solar system.  The first 24 hours it was plugged in I used about 2 kilowatt hours of electricity. Which means I actually need another panel and 6 more batteries.  Solar goals!  When I was originally sizing my solar system, I had difficulty imagining how much power I would actually use because I lived in a 1200 sq ft home with big appliances, different heating solutions, more lighting requirements.  I couldn't estimate how many hours my ceiling fan/light would need to be on.  I realized the other day that I only turn on lights in the house after sunset.  Even on the cloudiest days I don't need lights on in the house, just the right amount of windows, I guess.  Since I have never had radiant heat floors before I didn't know how they would cycle on and off.  My thermostat actually tells me if the floor is using 100%, 75%, 50% or 25% of the rated electricity to maintain the set temperature of the floor.  Sounds fancy, but it really isn't...well, maybe it is just a little.  So while I could estimate the full capacity use of the floor and everything else electric, it is nice to have an actual measurement.   

I went to IKEA aka The Danger Zone and got a cabinet to put above the trunk.  I think it will be really nice to have a little extra storage space.  The size I got also allows for a 5-6 inch closet rod between the cabinet and the wall so I can still hang my coat in basically the same place. I'll post a picture when the cabinet is hung, as it is currently still in the box.  As I was eating breakfast this morning contemplating putting the cabinet together, I realized that I didn't buy the cabinet door.  I got the hinges, but the door comes separately.  I guess I'll just have to go back...such a travesty!  Sigh! 

Then, I'm finding that I'm still not 100% pleased with my seating arrangement.  Yes, Nellie is 150% pleased because she LOVES the big green pillow and has adopted it as her own, which leaves me curling up on her dog bed to read.  Well, maybe not quite that extreme, but almost.  So while at The Danger Zone I looked at benches with underneath storage, couches, futons,... Then I came across TV stands. The one I got is the right height, the right width, storage underneath and all I need to do is make a cushion.  Shucks, that means I'll have to go to the fabric store...what a pity. I think when the weather gets warmer it will get a coat of paint or two though, the dark color just doesn't quite work, but it didn't come in any other color.

Then again maybe I'll make a cover for the whole thing and incorporate a cushion...instant transformation. Hmmm, the wheels are turning.