Ultimate recycling...

Stumbled across this today...

In Dead Earnest

If I should die before I wake
All my bone and sinew take
Put them in the compost pile
To decompose a little while
Sun, rain and worms will have their way
Reducing me to common clay
All that I am will feed the trees
And little fishes in the seas
When corn and radishes you munch
You may be having me for lunch
Then excrete me with a grin
Chortling, There goes Lee again
'Twill be my happiest destiny
To die and live eternally

Lee Hays, 1981

Floor~part the second

I gave up trying to make the floors perfect and slapped several coats of KILL’s on it…

of course; this was while the exterminator was at the house to deal with my carpenter ant problem. Funny guy, he told me what I need is another project…I did sign up for a service, so I can keep up with the darn ants and not have to deal with the issue any more. If I am not having problems, they won’t come out, but if I do…I am covered. And I only pay for what I actually use. Nice! And they are a green company, so go me!


I put down a coat of green floor paint…I wish I had time for 2 coats, but you do what you can. I can see small spots where it hadn’t set totally and got bunged up, but I am pretty happy with it so far.


It looks good with the throw rugs and I have a living room again!



It will end up looking different as I finish the hall floor and the office area, since I will be moving furniture around again…but it looks more like a home than a demolition area…

Floor, part the first...

You can see what the floor looked like before we started on it...I was still working on the trim and ceiling at this point. I had decided to forgo the bamboo flooring and go with a painted floor and some throw rugs.



My eldest is trying his hand with the barrel sanders we rented. We had to pay for the ruined barrel...we are not sure what they put on this floor, we are guessing a latex paint. After trying the commercial sander, we tried hand sanders...melting...stripping...sigh.


You see how much luck we had...so what was going to be a weekend job turned into several weekends...and I was working on a deadline. My folks had some furniture for me...I had to be ready for it.

Ceiling

After finishing the walls and as I started to put the trim back up, I wanted to touch up the ceiling where we had pulled paint and the like away. Trusty little brush in hand and a gallon of white ceiling paint in the other, I proceeded to dab away at the offending areas. Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that the ceiling wasn't indeed, white.

So now I have spent 3 extra days just painting the ceiling.

Chickens~First Eggs!

One of my gals has started laying...the eggs are small and I tossed the first couple as we had a spate of VERY hot weather and I wasn't real sure how long they had been there (I hadn't started checking for eggs). I know it is only one hen as the eggs are all the same color...they will each lay their own color of eggs...these are a yellowish green. They have access to under the coop and I don't want them laying them under there where I can't reach easily so I placed a couple of wooden eggs in the coop. I had a 'nest' in there and it kept being pushed around, so I went and bought a mini bale of hay and just placed some of it in the corner of the coop where the hatch door is. They have created a nice nest out of it and that is where the last egg was laid.


Here is hoping that the other gals get the hint as they should start laying soon also.

Locavore

Locavore - One who tries to eat only locally grown foods.

I have fallen in love with this word…even though I can’t feed myself with totally local foods…yet. I am finding a whole lot of local businesses that produce fresh and organic foods…I may not be able to eat a 100 mile diet…but I am betting I can do a Pacific NW diet.

I have been looking and planning all kinds of things for my yard now that my living room is getting closer to being finished. I will spend the winter drawing plots and plans and figuring out soil needs and varieties good for my micro climate…all those fun research jobs that can intimidate and drive you mad…long before you start to garden.

I do plan on doing some prep this fall and do not expect it to happen all in one season…hence the planning. I have a 4’ x 4’ bed already in the back near the chicken coop…I am planning on making it a pyramid for strawberries, which could be rotated with potatoes every few years. I also want to prep the fence line for putting in a hedge of Sloes, Elderberries and Hazel nuts (this between me and my neighbors) and a mix of blueberry and something else for the front fence line. And I am reading up on espaliering an apple or two.

Odds & Ends~

I have been working steadily around the old homestead…nothing major, caulking around the door, window and ceiling trim. Seems when you texture, they don’t lay flat…so, a little caulk and a little paint…makes it look more professional.

I did get the texturing done on the main wall in the front room. It is now ready for primer and two coats of paint. The final wall, I did not texture…I did get two coats of paint on this last week end…it is going to eventually have a glass door in it leading out to a sunroom/deck thing. So, no texture, but I have some great rub on vines I am going to put along the top of the wall.

After much measuring and serious thought…I have decided to keep the closet the same size. It would take way too much work to cut it down and to mask the area that was cut down. So now, I have to redo the end and texture it…I am still deciding how I am going to arrange the insides to hold my crafty stuff plus vacuum, ironing board and iron. I am thinking of putting hanging beads in the doorway…easy access to everything, but will hide it otherwise…and carry out the natural theme.

I am still deciding on the flooring…I have really wanted to put down bamboo flooring, but it must be dog proof. I removed the cheap carpet that had been put down, revealing a wood floor underneath that had been painted in spots. I am considering just sanding it down and painting and sealing it, then putting down a few area rugs. I have many doggy beds to throw in the corners to keep the pups happy.

We had a tie-day party a couple of weeks back and besides tie-dying Gilbert a doggy shirt…I had a pack of bandanas that I had everyone help me dye. I am going to turn them into quilt blocks and make a wall quilt to hang over the mirrors I want to put up on the main wall for belly dancing and Tai Chi. A friend suggested using mirrored closet doors as they are cheaper and larger. More on this as I get to that part of the make over.