Art that speaks to you

I'm always in search of art work that "speaks" to me. I don't look for what will match my sofa or something  you would see in a staged home. I look for artwork that invokes that "feeling". One of the reasons when I'm down in Carmel I use to like walking into town at night with Annie and window shop at all the art galleries. Annie always hated walking into town and would walk as slow as she possible could without actually stopping. :) 

I really liked this oil painting at the last DGW auction this past weekend. It's interesting I liked the painting but I don't like San Francisco at all. I did bid on it but I was bidding against an art dealer from Carmel so I knew it was going to go to full retail. If I thought my kids would take it after I'm gone, I would have been a little more serious in the bidding.

Most of the artwork at this auction house are put into lots (groupings) but this one was hanging in the fancy room. Happy to see it went to someone who saw the value in it and hopefully find it a great home again some day.  

Bamboo project

For the past week I've be working every morning pulling out an over grown grove of bamboo that took over what I can only guess was a chicken coop in my backyard.  Yes, I took out the chicken coop because all the wood was rotted out. Before you freak out that I destroy something pretty, bamboo is very invasive and this one has been left unchecked for decades. I'm sure it came from the neighbor's yard next door. That home was the original property of a large plant nursery back in the day. The back yard is huge, 3X the size of all the other homes around here but the new owners have let it go wild = they do nothing to maintain it. I'm sure the bamboo just out grew it's original containers and did what it does best and spread. 

The plan is to rip all of it out and get the area cleaned up. As the bamboo comes back, because it will, I can manage it and have it grow where I want it to. I would like to have a water feature in the corner but it's too shady to solar which is really my only option. I know at some point I'll find something at one of the big auction houses to finish off the space. 

I have been saving all the bamboo poles I pulled out and now make trellis and teepees for my garden in the front so I did recycle what I could. 

Vintage wrapping paper for the win!

I founds some vintage (old) gift wrapping paper a few weeks ago when I was doing an estate clean out. It was interesting and thought it would great for my iris folding cards. I really do have to ask myself, will I use it or I'm I just collecting? I wish I could get a better photo of  how good the foil embossing paper looks. The hologram paper is interesting but not as impactful IMO.

I don't have a lot of flat space at my new place so I'm thinking maybe I'll go to the library and find a quiet corner to make my cards. Wonder if they allow people to work on craft projects there? Anyone know? 

Learned something new today

For many years I've sold these type of things but never really knew what it for. Maybe a fancy jam jar or food storage?

I saw one on WN for sale and she called it a coddler. I decided to look it up and I was very surprised to find out it was an English egg poaching thingy. I'm not a fan of poached eggs because it's a messy (at least for me) cooking method and it leaves a lot of water on your plate. I'm also not much of an egg person. 

After finding out what it was, I decided  to give it a try. Have to say it's not only easy to use but there isn't a whole lot of mess to clean up. Now I have to decided if I have space for it in my tiny kitchen. 

Will a decoy work?

I'm still not getting any birds in my garden so as I was process my auction items, I found this little blue bird. I thought maybe if I put a decoy out (thinking about ducks), it might attract someone. 

Did get two squirrels and they got really pissed when they found out that my bird seed is covered with hot sauce. They tried so many times and it was a crack up to watch their reaction when they got the whiff of the red peppers.  They did manage to knock one feeder to the ground so I will have to find a better way to secure it.  I think they also tossed my decoy out of the feeder too. 

Bird bath Upcycling Continues

I'm really have a great time making birds baths. I still have no birds coming into my yard but I'm hopeful!

There was a dead apricot tree right by my  front door when I first moved in. It had been dead for many years because during the heavy rains we had this winter, I was able to push it over. I knew the landlord would never pay to have it removed so it was up to me to do something with it. It was a slow process of going out when I could and sawing a small section of the tree at a time. Most of the tree went in the compost bin but as I was getting to the trunk (which take hours to hand saw through) I thought I would make it into a birdbath stand. Digging the hole wasn't that easy as the ground is rock hard but I'm slowly working on that too. The plan is once I get the stump level and secure, I'll plant something green around it. No idea what yet but something to make the birds feel a little more secure. 

I picked up the dish at the goodwill in Salina a few months ago for $1.87 knowing I would use it out in my garden. It may end up on the stump as feeder as it's a little to shallow for a bird bath. 

Upicycle Bird Bath 2023

I'm slowing getting my front garden into shape.  I bury my compost everyday directly into the soil to help bring it back to life. Since I don't own this place, I try to be as thrifty as I can. 

I've planted rosemary seedlings which I got from a friend's garden and someday  they will form a nice hedge. Still working on sawing up the big dead trees I took down when I first moved here. Working on getting them into small enough pieces to throw in the green bins. There is one stump I'm not able to dig out, so I turned it into a planter. 

I've debated for awhile now if I should start feeding the birds. There hasn't been a whole lot of active in my yard. I made some bird bath this weekend out of all the fancy platters and ikebana vases I haven't be able to sell. I think it's better to use them for something instead of them being packed away in a box. Went to the bird store today and picked up some good bird seed and a suet cage. Now just have to see if I get any takers!

Off to do 15 more minutes of sawing at the tree!

Mother's Day 2023

There aren't too many pictures of my daughter with her boys. This Mother's Day they went to the beach where their grandparents are camping. From the after the beach photo, everyone had a great time!

I spent the day prepping for my upcoming WhatNot auctions. I hope to get back into the swing of things as it's been a few weeks of being offline. WN makes changes almost everyday now, so it's like starting all over again!

 My goal is to finally get into the boxes I have stacked everywhere. It's a slow process but if I can't sell it online or at the store, it's getting donated away. 

I set up some birdbaths in my yard (will post pic later) and I'm still debating if I want to start feeding the birds. I made the birdbaths with vintage plant stands and some fancy platters which back in the day cost a lot! 

Gluten free Hawaiian macaroni salad for Mother's Day

I don't shop at Safeway very often but when I do, I always pick up a few boxes of my favorite gluten free pasta. I normally get rotini but a few weeks ago I thought I should try and make a macaroni salad. GF pasta doesn't hold up well like regular pasta so I usually only make what I can eat. Today I thought I should make Hawaiian macaroni salad (never made it before) as I was driving by all the Asian markets. I'm not sure if it will turn out as it has to sit over night to soak all the favors. Since I had most of the ingredients already at home I didn't have to buy too much. 

I didn't really measure anything, so I ended up with a huge bowl, like 16 cups of salad!  So good or bad I'll be eating pasta for several days!

I have to say the mayo dressing is delicious!

Saying goodbye

It was a very bitter sweet day yesterday as I sold two printer's cabinets. It's pretty amazing that I sold two in one day. 

The first one sold was for a friend and it was a small one (sorry no picture) that I had at Cottage Crafts. A young gal who makes jewelry was buying it to store all her beads. I told her about my full size one that is on display at the "Stitch It Up" needlepoint store down in Morgan Hill. I called the store to let them know someone was going to be popping in to take a look at the cabinet. The store has been using it as a display piece and it does look very nice there.  When the owner found out I was going to sell it, she made me an offer. I'm much happier it staying at the store, at least I can visit it once in while. :)

I have a lot of fond memories of that cabinet and it served me well for almost 30 years. I think back on all the late nights I would be crafting and just be able to turn around and grab whatever I needed out of the many drawers. How my cat Mr Purrcy would love to sit under the lights on top of the cabinet while I worked.  

I've known for many years I would have to let it go. I could have gutted it and sold each drawer separately but I just couldn't bring myself to do that. I hope it continues to have a very long life intact. 

Beef jerky

I have a really big dehydrator (gift from my kids years ago) that I used all the time making Annie's favorite snacks. The only down side are the trays, which are very large. It's hard to wash everything if you don't have a big open sink. 

The Buzz's house is very large (plenty of counter space) and has one of those farm style sinks so washing up everything is very quick and easy. I made beef jerky yesterday because it only takes a few hours to dry and Buzz just loves them.  I tried a new marinade recipe on found online, which was just ok.  I was looking for a recipe that wasn't as salty as the bottled teriyaki one I used before but this recipe lacked favor. Buzz of course doesn't care, he just likes snacks! I also used a different cut of meat the recipe suggested (not as $$$ as flank steak) and overall you can't really tell the difference, so that was a win.  I just have to get better at cutting the meat into nice thin slices. I did like the thicker ones better so if it was just for me, that is how I would make them but for Buzz, thinner is better.

I'm still on the hunt for a good flavorful, not salty beef jerky marinade. 

Working in the garden

I spent the whole weekend cleaning up my front garden area. I filled two green recycle bins (the big ones) with weeds and yes there are still more that have to be pulled! For the past 6 months I've not here that much so it's taking a very long time tackling all that has to be done. I know being outside and playing in the dirt is helping with my depression. Early on I trimmed back all the trees and took out the ones that died from lack of care. I cut back two huge geranium bushes which I'm sure have been housing rats.  

I moved dozens of foundation bricks (the big ones) to build raise beds around what I hope some day to be a vegetable garden and made some pathways. I'm still working on getting the soil back in shape after years of neglect so I don't think the soil will be ready to have a full blow garden this year. There are still two tree trunks that I have cutting up with just a small saw. My plan of attack is to saw for about 30 minutes every time I'm out in the garden.  At  some point I'll get the trees into small enough sections to either get them into the compost bins or  use as boarders. It's times like this I wish I had a chain saw! 

I did spot a bird on my feeder, which was exciting. Yes, just one bird but it's a start! I'm still debating is I should set up full time feeding stations, as there are times I can go for weeks and not be here. Plus the expense of the bird seed is  something I have to consider. 

For the birds

One bird sighting this week!

I've always like putting out bird feeders. When I was living in the Cupertino Hills with Annie, I didn't need to as the birds just had a field day in my gardens. With Annie there the little birds felt safe so they were alway around. 

A good friend sent me this feeder for my birthday and it took a few months to get it out into my yard. First we had all those heavy rain storms and then I was gone for several weeks dog sitting. When I did finally get it out into my yard, I didn't know how long it would take for the birds to find it. Of course my front yard isn't very bird friendly yet, squirrel happy yes but no birds.  I'm slowly (very slowly) getting things cleaned up and hopefully looking like a place where birds will want to hang out. First I have to tackle pulling all the weeds while the ground is still semi moist. I pull weeds until I fill out the recycle bin, which this week only took an hour - that's a lot of weeds!  I've planted some rosemary seedlings which the gardener weed whacked down while I was gone, so I'm working on finding a better way to protect them. I'm slowly adding to my garden tools collection so that is helping. Still in search of a good shovel after I broke the handle of the old one I found on the property. 

profile pic

This is the profile photo I use on my WhatNot page while I'm loading (adding photos) to my up coming auctions. I do change it after my done loading everything but I think it's funny and very Californian. :)

It's been a very busy month for me doing an estate clean out and dog sitting all at the same time. My place is once again a hot mess. The front garden area is full of weeds and the really bad kind  too - foxtails. It's a debate what do I tackle first, weeding or getting my studio back to a livable state. I did barter for a big gas BBQ and patio table so I got that set up this morning in my little backyard space. Starting to look like good! There is a huge bamboo plant growing wild in the corner and if you know anything about bamboo, that is not a good thing. I think there is a dog house under all the bamboo, but that's another project I'll tackle down the road. The fence blew over a few months ago in my part of the backyard and that finally got fixed! A lot of fences blew over during all the storms we had.  The neighbors don't ever use their backyard (very nice backyard) and have no dogs so it wasn't a priority to get it done. 

I'm off now to do a few hours of weeding - my cardio for the day!

Busy crazy life

I have to say this is one tough squirrel!  The bird seed is coated with hot sauce that is really hot!  Not sure if this squirrel has lost its sense of taste but it's have a really good time at the feeders!  We're not sure why but there aren't many birds coming to the feeders now. There was a hawk hanging around one day but it has moved on so I know that's not the reason.  Even the hummingbirds aren't coming by as often. The crows and doves of course always stop by. 

It's been a busy week cleaning out an estate and I thought I was done but a couple of things have popped up I have to take care of.  I've been gone from my place for weeks now, so it's a hot mess. Boxes again everywhere! The garden is full of weeds (the dangerous foxtail type) that I have to pull up. As I find things for my garden I've just drop everything off which has made my garden area a hot mess.  Just when I think I'll have time to get things done, another job pops up. Maybe if I don't try and plan to get things cleaned up I'll actually be able to get to it. :) 

Auction week was a bust

It was auction week and sadly there was nothing to bid on that I could resell. Lots of interesting things but nothing that I could buy and flip. 

This whole set of Talevara pottery dinner set was very cool! If I still had my big French farm table, I would so buy this. Love the color and how festive it would be! I was then thinking I couldn't serve anything that would require a sharp knife for fear of scratching the plates!  

There were a few clear glass lots, but when I used my UV light on them none of them glowed. There was one lot that only had bowl glow green. Very good example in why checking all the pieces is important! It was a busy weekend anyways with the last of the estate clean out I'm doing going to the dump. Most of it was junk from the garage and didn't take the team long to load it all up but still was a dusty and dirty job.