Work Around the House

It is only Wednesday, but I think we have already done a good week's work around here! 

We decided to skip the large stair area and finish the rest of the railings on the lower deck fist.  It was a good stretch of over 80 uprights, and took most of Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

A rainstorm is predicted for tomorrow, so we put away the sanders for a few days and Craig has been working most of today (Wednesday) cleaning up leaves.  About 1/3 of the trees around our house are big maples and drop their leaves in autumn.  The rest are either redwoods, Douglas fir, pine, live oak, or bay laurel which do not.

We seem to be cleaning up leaves almost all year round, since some of the trees mentioned above drop their leaves gradually over the year, and the evergreens are always dropping needles!

Craig started up on the roof. 

Then did the back court area. 

And the upper drive where the Alfa is parked.

I didn't start working on sanding another of the railings today because I had to work on a new order for a couple of animal head sculptures. Business has been dreadfully slow this year, but I still get some work from time to time.  Just enough to keep the  studio room renovation for one of our last projects!

I also just have to tell you about a new sandwich that Craig tried this week.  He read about it in the New York Times.

Peanut Butter and Pickle sandwiches! 

He tried both sliced sweet pickles, and some pickle relish.  It was strangely delicious and may become a new favorite. The bread he used was my home made whole wheat bread. The reason it looks like someone took a small bite out of the face slice was because I didn't take the paddle out of the bread machine before it baked.

What is your favorite unusual food?

Medium

When I started to change my eating habits at the end of January I was tired of being fat and tired. 

When I started my BMI (body mass index) was 30, which is in the obese category.

At 5'7" I weighed 204 pounds on a good day, more on a bad. 

"This time" I was determined to lose weight in a healthy sustainable way.  

"This time" I knew I had to make changes that I could stick to for the rest of my life.  

My goal was to lose 45 pounds and get down to the normal range BMI of 25.  I reached that goal in September. It took eight months, but except for having to give up a few things, it really wasn't all that hard.

Once I reached my goal, I knew I had to continue eating in the same way I had been, and continue to do daily exercise.  The only real change I have made since reaching my goal, was to stop recording and analyzing every bit of food I consumed in a food journal.  

I weigh myself ever day, and if I start to gain, I will go back to the journaling.

I am determined to keep it off this time! 

In the month since I reached my goal I have lost an additional five pounds. An amazing total loss of 50 pounds! 

I weighed in at 154 pounds this morning.

My BMI is now 24.1 (Normal is 18 - 25)

I have lost 23% of my body weight, and feel great.

In this picture I am wearing a T-shirt my grandson tie-dyed for me as a Christmas gift two years ago. Although I liked it very much, it stayed in the closet because it was too small. I felt like my arms were stuffed into sausage skins. It fits now and is very comfortable.

I am not big on fashion. For years I have worn the same brand of black pants. I buy them at K-Mart. I had some from this time last year that were almost impossible to keep up. They were Extra Large. I bought some Large ones in spring, and they too have become very loose.  

Last week I ordered several pair from K-Mart online, and bravely selected Medium size. After ordering them I told Craig I wondered if they would fit. I expected to have to return them.

They arrived yesterday, and fit beautifully! For the fist time in years I am a Medium! I feel so good about it.

But, I remind myself of and old expression my mother used to say when any of us became too prideful.

"Don't hurt your arm patting yourself on the back."

I know that maintaining this weight loss is going to be a new challenge for me.  

Last week as I was going thru a stack of papers in the studio I came across a calendar from 2008. I had kept it because it had nice animal pictures, but it also serves as a reminder of how vulnerable I am. It is the record of one of my past weight loss efforts. Over a period of five months I recorded my weight each day.  I lost 30 pounds. As I recall it took less than five months to regain it!

Do any of you remember Oprah's weight loss in 1988? Remember how she pulled a little red wagon containing 67 pounds of fat onto the stage? 

Then over the next year or so we watched her balloon back up. It was so discouraging. If she couldn't keep it off, how could I?

I'm hoping that by blogging about it I will be adding one more incentive to succeed. I want to be able to post that I have kept the weight off from time to time.  

But I won't hurt my arm.

For me, the hardest thing will be to continue  saying "no" to a glass or two of wine in the evening. But I know that would be like drinking poison for me. I know "once in a while" would slip into "just on weekends", would slide back to "everyday".  

Wish me luck. And keep posting good low calorie recipes. I love to experiment.

NEW Wine for Seniors

NEW Wine for Seniors

A single glass at night could mean a peaceful, uninterrupted nights sleep.

I kid you not...

California vintners in the Napa Valley area, 

which primarily produce Pinot Blanc, 

Pinot Noir, and Pinot Grigio wines, 

have developed a new hybrid grape

that acts as an anti-diuretic.

It is expected to reduce the number of trips

older people have to make to the 

bathroom during the night.

The new wine will be marketed as 

PINO MORE

I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE!!  

Progress

We are Sanding!

And Staining!

We have finished another section of the deck railings.  This area is along the back of the house, family room door and outside entry door to the laundry room. The six steps are not yet done, but will be.  At this point we are almost but not quite half way. 244 uprights complete, 272 to go.

This is the Next Area ...

When I counted the 516 uprights, I counted each of those on the stair well as two.  We will it break down into smaller sections.  In fact we worked on the upper deck, which is outside the kitchen door, yesterday and today.  It is ready for stain, but there is rain coming tonight so we just put a tarp over it to protect the newly sanded uprights.

This is the view from the deck side.  We have not done the floor in this area yet.

And the same place, but looking down another set of stairs that go to the area below the house. 

As I was snapping pictures this morning, I took this one looking down from the kitchen deck.  I thought the image is interesting.

This project is a big one, but it is not difficult. It was time to do it for the good of the wood.  I keep telling myself that part of it is so a future potential buyer will see the decks as a big positive and a wonderful space, not as a humongous job that will need to be done again in the future.  

It should still look pretty good next summer. 

Not all my time is spent on work around here.  I have also been planning our winter trip and have booked our first reservation using our new Passport America membership. 

We just do not have enough experience to just drive and stop wherever we end up.  I like having a plan, and like to know where we will be sleeping.

I hope all of you who have been affected by Sandy are OK.  As of Wednesday afternoon (when I'm writing this) I haven't seen any posts by the few people who I know are there.  I'm hoping it is just because the power is still out!

Sorting ...

Rain again today ...

Friday morning is our trash pick up. I pay for three cans a week, but often do not fill them. I recycle some things, but because we are on a small rural road our trash is all together.

This morning I filled two cans with debris from the studio.  Not hard to do.  I have been getting rid of stuff on and off for a couple of years, but there always seems to be more to toss.

Over a year ago I pulled several boxes out of our little attic that needed to be sorted. I tossed things that I considered "mine" and set Craig's aside in the upper hall. He needs to say: "save or toss" if it is something of his. He has not shown any inclination to deal with stuff, but he knows he will have to.  

Today he went thru the pile of boxes in less than a half hour.  Almost all of it went into the van for the next dump run.  His decisions prompted me to cull out a half closet of fabric scraps.  

Dare I add the skis?  I know I will never ski again and there doesn't seem to be anyone who wants them as a donation.  

Maybe tomorrow. The van is not full yet.

What was hardest for you to sort thru?

Rainy Day Pursuits

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were spent sanding and staining deck railings.  We have finished slightly more than one-fifth of them. 

Rain was predicted for the first half of the week, so we planned on a few days off.  

We woke Monday to a wet world and enjoyed a relaxed morning. 

Then we went to a matinee showing of the movie ARGO.  It was as good as the reviews said it was. It is definitely worth seeing, or if you are not a movie theater person, putting on your future DVD list.

Although it didn't rain on Tuesday, it was a bit too cold and damp to return to the sanding project.  Instead we did a few things around the Alfa including running the generator and the engine.  Craig also installed some hooks and eyes in  the table and the wall to help keep the table from tipping over when we are driving.

Pendleton Blanket on the Alfa couch

I have been looking for some fleece fabric with an Indian print ever since we bought the Pendleton blanket at Crater Lake.

They say when you are decorating a room you should start with an "inspiration" piece. This is mine. Anything I bring in will either echo the colors, the pattern, or the spirit of the blanket. 

Last week I finally found the type of fleece I was looking for. The colors are a little different, but it reflects the spirit of the blanket.

Several years ago, when I was having back pain, Craig bought me a vibrating, heating, chair-pad.  I have used it often and it was kept on a chair in our family room.  It is black, which was fine for a room with two black leather couches and two black leather recliners, but not compatible with the Alfa decor. 

Sunday, while Craig worked on his part of the sanding, I made a cover for the chair pad using the new fleece fabric.

I have also been looking for a new back support pillow to use in the Alfa when I want to read or watch the TV. For years, I have used the type of pillow that has arm rests, but feel that since the bed in the Alfa is only a queen size, the arm-rests would take up an unnecessary amount of space.  So I wanted a different kind of reading pillow.

Of course, I couldn't find exactly what I wanted.  So I had to create it. 

I bought a foam rubber "bed wedge" pillow at Bed Bath and Beyond. I cut it in half, and combined the two halves to make a fatter wedge. I added a rolled piece of "egg crate type" foam mattress pad, along the top edge. And then I covered it with my new fleece fabric. 

I wish the background color of the fleece had been a dark brown instead of black, but you can't have everything!

I have also replaced the original light colored throw rugs I bought last fall with some dark brown ones.  The light ones just got too dirty too fast, and really shed a lot of lint in the dryer each time they were washed.

The rain forecasted for tomorrow has been cancelled. So it will be back to work on the railings once again. 

I'd rather be making things for the Alfa! 

Pants-Eating Sander

I think everyone loves to get new tools. Men seem to really like them if they are bigger and more powerful!

After working with his old, smaller belt sander. Craig decided he needed a new bigger one to sand the 28 steps involved in the deck refinishing project. 

He bought a 4 X 24-inch Variable Speed Craftsman belt sander at Sears. He has not had a chance to use it on the steps yet, but he did try it out on the top board of the railings.

More Power!

[From Craig] This new belt sander is one of the finest tools I've used. It includes a speed control that keeps the belt speed constant, regardless of how hard or how lightly it's pressed onto the work. Its 11 HP motor enables such pressure-independent speed control, and at 8.8 pounds it's much lighter than Makita's competing 11 HP sander (16.6 lbs). The speed with which it handled today's work on the top boards of deck railings was very satisfying! (Just don't let it near your clothing! See below :-)

But then he got in trouble! I had just walked up to him as he was working, when he suddenly started shouting: "Turn it off! Turn it off!" As far as I could see, nothing was on, and then I realized the sander had stopped and was jammed in some way. I grabbed the cord and unplugged it.

He was lucky this time. It only got his jeans. 

I don't think Sears will want this picture for an ad campaign. 

He took his pants off and tried to get them out of the sander without damaging it. He had to take it apart a bit and use pliers to get the jeans out.

The sander is fine, Craig is fine, but the jeans are beyond repair.

Craig has had other power tool accidents in the past. He cut his leg with a chain saw, his finger with a table saw, and scuffed his knee with his disc sander. Three trips to the ER in almost fifty years is not bad.

I'm very glad he was not hurt this time, and that we can laugh about it. As I took the pictures above, he said: "I sense a blog post coming." He was right.

Accidents: I almost always cut myself with a new knife or after one is sharpened. I have burned myself more times than I can count both in the kitchen and with hot glue in the studio. I bought an electric scissors once and it cut more than the fabric I was working with.

What about you?