shelves - the idea

Have I yet mentioned that there will be 8, yes, I said EIGHT, women sharing the 1, yes, I said ONE, bathroom?  And at one point, there will be 10, yes, I said TEN, women sharing that ONE bathroom.  

Let me show you the bathroom.

Please note the lack of storage space.  

You see this big open space above the toilet?  

That's what we, in the business, like to call wasted space.  Especially with that many women in one bathroom. 

Necessity breeds invention.

I decided we needed a cabinet in there, but something much larger (and cheaper) than what you can buy.  There's plenty of scrap wood around the ranch, so I decided to make one.

Oh yeah, by the way, I've NEVER made anything before.  Well, except for a jewelry rack for the Seester in jr. high, but I'm pretty sure I had boys do most of the work.  

Saws scare me.  

Anyhow, my dad can build most anything.  And he can tell you how to build most anything.  So I emailed him about it and he suggested I BUY a shelf.  You see?  I've never built anything.  And I suppose after plumbing with me on Skype for hours on end, he wasn't looking forward to my little project.  

My mother intercepted the email and suggested I get some sort of boxes for the shelves rather than create doors.  Brilliant!  Not only do I not have to deal with hinges, etc., each girl gets her own box!

I picked up 8 mini-milk crates from Wal-Mart for a buck a piece, then created my shelves around them.

Because I'm so dadgum proud of myself, I'm going to show you how I did it.  So, if you have AB-SO-lute-ly no interest in how to make shelves, you don't have to stop by tomorrow.  If you have only a slight interest, you may scroll through the pictures.  And if you really don't believe I did this, you can read and look at the pictures.  

Here's to hoping I'll see you tomorrow!

Yours truly,

The Shelf Wrangler

trailer backing

So I don't have any pictures to go with this.  Or video.  I'm sure you're all wishing I did.

I have needed to learn to back a trailer for about 10 years now.  Somehow, this came up in conversation with Dan.  Probably, when I asked if he wanted me to load the flatbed with wood.  He said, "Ok, that's what we're doing this afternoon."  Backing the trailer, that is, not loading wood.

Now, you know you have a pretty cool boss, when he says, "Well, now that you have your boss in the truck with you, you're probably going to kill it a million times," referring to the manual transmission truck.  Fortunately, I did not.  At least not a million times.  

Then he had me back up to the trailer.  And said, "It's probably going to take you at least 6 tries.  But I'm going to get out, so you can do it without me staring at you," which was awesome. I did it in 2, thank you very much.  Oh, and he didn't freak out when I went 6 inches too far...into the trailer hitch.  

Once we got the trailer connected, he had me try backing on the road.  

"You know what?  Having me sit here is not helping you at all.  Why don't you take the truck and trailer to the West Pasture and have fun.  Go!  Have fun!"

So, I did.  

About 45 minutes later, I finally had it.  I'm not proclaiming to be a backing pro, but I've got the gist of it.

10 years.  10 years I've been waiting for a trailer, a big pasture, and some time, oh yeah, and a cool boss to give me the leeway to do it.  

I finally got it.  

mid-weekend

I had Tuesday and Wednesday off.  And I'm pretty darn sure that if it weren't for winter, I'd be moving back to Colorado RIGHTNOW.  But then again, I knew that was a hazard of coming out here.  

And may I also tell you that, you guys are slowing me down!  I mean, when I drive into town and stop to take pictures every couple of miles, it really takes a long time to get there!

But it's ok.  I don't mind.  I want you to share the beautiful views that I'm enjoying.

As I was saying about my mid-weekend...

Tuesday, I pretty much just took it easy, doing some of my favorite summertime activities.

Like hanging my clothes on the line.  I really do like that.  Really, really.  

Even if I didn't get to watch the neighbor's dog, Tar, while I was doing it, I'd still like to hang my clothes. 

Then I spent the afternoon lounging in the porch swing, reading.  

By the way, I really, really love porch swings.  I really, really want one.  And as it turns out, Unca Jimmy and Aunt Beep have two!  Sometimes, life can be so unfair, I swear.  

And if you're cursing me for the picture above...here's another.

I know, I know.  I took pictures of dandelions.  I know they're a weed.  But, well...they were per-ity.  And, um, we don't have them in Jacksonville.  Excuse me while I quietly give thanks.  Besides, Unca Jimmy admitted he kind of thought they were pretty, too.  So there.  

And just for your enjoyment, 

here's a close-up.

I hope you can still enjoy your end-weekend, even with all these weeds.  Happy Friday!