Even more random things

I have lots to say about nothing.....nothing earthshattering, anyway! In the past few days, there has been soup-making going on..... I took formerly frozen leftover carcasses of rotisseried chickens and simmered them into a rich broth which after straining, and chilling to remove the fat (ick), eventually became my chicken tortilla soup (yum!).

See what I mean about nothing earthshattering to say? (Although my family was fairly enthusiastic about the soup.)
















And there was the acquisition of a certain fish named Jack! I had missed having a goldfish, and Michael made it a point to get me to a store that had fish! We picked out one that I liked and when the clerk packaged her up, she told me that I could have her for free, as she would be an adoption case, because she was "defective". Apparently she has only got one good eye. We decided:

1. She fits in just fine in this house of found puppies, pound puppies, abused and mistreated puppies, etc.

2. Immediate transgendering took place, as I decided the one-eye thing sort of lent itself to a pirate theme, and named her Jack Sparrow.

So Jack has settled into his/her place of honor on the island in the kitchen, and by day three, decided we were okay folks, perked up, started eating regularly and seems well adjusted.

Given that my work load is reduced for several hours daily, I put the time to good use quilting daily! took the plunge and started refinishing some kitchen cabinetry. The stairway/banister project continues also, but we wanted to try one cabinet in the kitchen to see if this was a good idea.

If it works, and I can save us the huge cost of replacing the cabinets, or even refacing them, for that matter, it more than makes up for my having a reduced work load for a very long while!

Of course, this required actually looking at the cabinets closely.....and as Michael jokingly said, "we have been living in squalor!" It's just one of those things ..... you wade through the dinner dishes and collapse after a day of work.....and just don't look any further than the food preparation surface. If that's clean - there are days when that's just good enough, thank you!

(go ahead, click and see just how icky they are!!)




































First I sanded the tarnation out of drawer facings and the cabinet body itself (which was not fine wood to begin with - portions were just plywood, I think!) and then I began applying the same tinted polyurethane that I was using on the banister of the staircase.




















Not much is going to help this end cabinet.....it's just not a good piece of wood. But if we can get it better, and the rest of the kitchen is okay....I can live with it. It's very sun damaged and dried, but maybe it will blend in with the rest of the kitchen when its all refinished.
































The drawers are found in odd places over the last few days, drying in the bathroom on the counter, or on the hearth....whatever works. (Ignore the Christmas balls and greenery left in the fireplace on the candle holder!)

Today I put one drawer (three coats improved) back into the cabinet (two coats and one more to go) and Yahoo! I think we have a possibility here.




















(Yes, the drawer is crooked - which will be corrected as soon as I locate a thingie to hold up the drawer on the right side as it slides.....I know what I'm talking about, but can't convey it very well.)

Next step will be the cabinet above. For that, I have the citrus stripper that Home Depot swears is the cure for difficult grooves, etc.....Tomorrow is another day.

But wait......here's your picture of the day of a portion of the Animal Kingdom.....(snicker!)















And oh my, what's this????















(possible quilt for a fellow courier's wife Michael knows at FedEx.....undergoing chemo.)

FABRIC! Karene and I snuck away today to M&L Fabric in Anaheim. Oh my. Sensory overload. Fabric packed from floor to over my head, far and wide. It's a huge, HUGE store. In the front by the door, is fabric on bolts, as we might normally find it. (with prices we might normally find at say, Joanne's or on sale at our LQS.)

But in the back, my friends, is the end of the rainbow! Imagine taking the cardboard forms out of the bolts of fabric, and then just flattening them. And stack them, from floor, to over my head. And only show the narrow ends! Aisle after aisle after (grocery store length) aisle of fabric. Flannel fabric, garment fabric, seersucker, linen, muslin, minkie, fake furs, and .....
















(possible fabric for a quilt in my den.....or to have on hand for a future chemo quilt for a woman, since the colors and hearts are a little "feminine".)

QUILTING FABRIC!! 100% cotton fabric from name brands I recognize from, cough, ahem, our local quilt shops. Only......all for $1.69-$1.98 a yard. I'm proud to say, I made it out 24 yards later, having gotten a dollar back from my $50.00 I had saved for this very adventure. Yay!















(possible chemo quilt for my neighbor's son who was just diagnosed with brain tumor and underwent surgery a few days ago......these chemo quilts and also some Project Linus quilts and Quilt of Valor quilts are likely to be the focus of my Red Hat Society Chapter, the Red Hot Sew 'n Sews....I was trying for a little more masculine here, so picked a print that could use more manly coordinating colors, such as tans, browns, greens.....I can't recall now, which tan Karene and I picked to go with this one....so just threw them all in the picture....maybe something simple like a Rail Fence would work well?)

I got enough for three definite quilts, and extras to boot. I came home and showed them to daughter Karen and we agreed....."it would be really swell if we didn't have to work at all, sew we could sew all day!"

There now. I'm all done blathering!

Oh, and Jack says the view from his new swimming hole (during the reconstruction) "ain't great!















;)