The doldrums of spring fever

Anyone who thinks home/virtual school with the kids is easy is a complete fool! We have hit spring fever around here so getting the kids to do anything school related is a giant pain. (And I blame the constant headache on the weather?) Gareth wants an exact number of assignment that he has to do and either doesnt complete them, does them incorrectly because he is rushing or fights me every step of the way. Rhiannon has been spending way more time in chat and on facebook than on her work so we have had to put a stop to her working in her room.

As if the last 2 weeks havent been enough to make me scream, my very pregnant het albino snake came down with a severe respiratory infection literally over night. That meant vet bills, close observation, medication and isolation. We thought at day 4 she was doing better but 24hrs later she had taken a bad turn and we were back at Dr Woods. By that point she was so congested she couldnt breathe, had one siezure here at home and another in the vets office so we made the choice to end her suffering. It was really frustrating to loose a good animal as well as a clutch of potentially full albino eggs that she was carrying. It was really depressing for me, I had put in a ton of work trying to get her well again only to have mother nature decide otherwise. Topping that off yet again I was left to feel like the grim reaper since I was once again the person taking a family pet to be put down.
    The one consolation I got out of it is I finally found a male german shepherd puppy. 

This is the Ash monster! He was born Christmas eve via an accidental breeding(the guy we got him from said his male missed the memo on not breeding this year)and while not papered is a full blood GSD. We picked him up Saturday and he has nearly doubled in size in less than a week. The basset duo cant decide if they love or hate him, mostly that depends on what they are doing and how hard he bites while playing.

   With the weather being utter crap, Donovan getting ready to leave for 2 week annual training and my general mood, I havent got a whole lot done on the furniture upcycling projects I have. The purple kids chair was a free one I picked up that was kinda gross. I cleaned it up, primed and painted then washed it with a silver glaze before giving it to Nami. She adores it of course...lol

The dresser was from the same give away, and nearly as gross. Rhiannon needed the extra drawer space though so it got a very simple red gloss paint job and the handles being black just really made it pop.

One of the really fun projects I had came across is using ornate old frames(which are dirt cheap), painting them varied colors and then using thin wood to create a chalkboard for kids rooms, kitchen etc. Simular stuff sells at hobby lobby for 50-75 bucks. I nearly fell over when I saw that. Compared to the $2 for the frame(which the picture was on wood so we just turned it around), $4 for krylon bondable spray paint that we still have 3/4 to use for other projects, $6 for glitter paint that still has tons for other stuff, and $8 for spray chalkboard paint that 2 coats took less than half a can. Even taking the full value of what I spent I only have 20 bucks in it. I have a green peg board version that will be for jewlery etc that I am working on and several other ideas. I have a thrift store/antiques shop that I buy frames from that is interested in selling some in the shop for me. 

Once the weather warms a bit today I plan on taking this buffet apart and starting on it. I plan to leave the main body  a gloss white and add color to the doors (possibly the top too)

More adventures in upcycling

I really should have got a picture of this little table before I started painting. I picked it up cheap because it has similar carvings to the buffet I plan to use in our room and I wanted to play with some ideas I have. Plus I wanted to play with the metallic glazes I  had picked up at Home depot.(bad, evil, and wrong place that it is)

  I started out with a coat of Gliddens gripper grey primer, I LOVE this stuff due to the fact I don't have to worry about sanding.  Then I decided to go with a paint labeled red hot I had picked up off the sale/oops rack at Walmart.(All stores have an area set aside for stuff like that and you can find some great scores) As you can see it was much more pink than I personally care for but I decided since I was glazing it with a dark color I could deal with it. I did change plans though and decided to paint the top black for contrast.

The glaze I used on the red/pink is from Martha Stewart and is a metallic coffee. The Black got a glaze of silver halo just so I could see what it came out like.

It sure did make a difference in how it looked!  For something I got basically to learn on it was much less disappointing when done than I had expected...lol. As a matter of fact I decided to hold on to it for now because ....

it makes a great supply cabinet!

ITS DONE!!!!!!!!

The weather has finally been on my side the last few days so I have been able to finish up the pantry unit.

Its almost a shame that it wouldn't work for the space in Rhiannons room. Its got such a great look and pop of color. Alas it wasn't to be so on Craigslist it went and the first person with 150 bucks and a truck can take it away.

up cycling furniture

As usual I havent updated this because between turning 40 in September  school with the kids and the million other things we have had going on even before the holidays I barely have time to breathe some days.


Now on to my latest adventure....


This all started with rhiannon needing a new dresser. It had to be long enough to put her TV an other electronics so we had to shop around for a bit to find one to meet our need and price range(In other words cheap...lol) What we found was this bizzare 70's tacky monster. So rather than use the dark thing as was Rhiannon decided to make it an up cycled artistic piece. I really wish I would have thought to get pictures before we started.

As you can see with paint what had been started to take on new life. She decided to make all the drawers different to go for a completely funky look

This is as the drawers were drying
We used rustolium painters touch in lime green to cover the main body of the dresser. The stuff is great, it bonds with any surface and coats really nicely.(and much cheaper than krylon with no need to sand or prime)

This is the finished product. She loves it and it is quite the art piece

We had so much fun we decided to try our hand at a few more pieces. Our next purchase was a 1960's end table with Formica top. To compensate for that we used Gliddens gripper primer which will stick to even shiny finishes.(This stuff is my new best friend) We chose a nice teal color for the top and black for the legs.

The start piece, nice and sturdy, well built and cost a whopping 10 bucks at goodwill.

First coat of teal

adding the black

The finished piece, it got a double clear coat for durability.

Having finished that I rescued our old coffee table from the garage and began in on it so they could become a matching set.

I didn't get a chance to grab a final photo because a friend bought them off me as soon as it was finished!

We have been looking for a cabinet for Rhiannons room to curtail some of the general clutter and I found this china hutch that the glass was out of so they were selling dirt cheap.

I nabbed it but once it was here we found out it is to large for the space we needed it to fit in(never let the teenager measure) So I decided to rehab it into a kitchen pantry style cabinet. The main body is getting a coating in a stormy grey blue color, the drawers and doors to add a splash of happy color is a light grassy green. Instead on putting glass back in I am putting in blackboards.

Here it is getting the first coat

blue done, as you can see from the garage door its a tall piece.

   This was 3 days ago, the drawers are now painted and the whole thing has the first coat of clear on it. I will  get some pictures of what is done with it put together tomorrow. All I have left to finish is the doors the the boards to back them, thankfully if the weather changes to rain like they claim I can work on those inside the house while the kids do school.

one of THOSE weeks

Okay so its more than just THIS week but this is the week the one that has ended up with my ulcer finally having me curled up in a ball, puking and is horrid pain. Its stress and I know it. Not just the usual crap, mostly its working on 1208 and now add in having to get our car fixed because I lent it to some one who didn't take care of it. Of course this has Donovan and I both edged out because we didnt need to add an allignment to all of our other expenses. Its rather depressing to have someone you view as a friend treat your things with no respect and then not even show the least gratitude for it. Whole thing is just sad and I guess should be just put up to a ;ife lesson but doesnt make it any easier.(Donovan is just pissed)

Rhiannon finally did it, she bought herself a moped! She cant get her license for a few months but it gives her some learning time as well as study for the test time, January will come soon enough.(she is gonna scream I got what pictures I have lol, she didnt want anyone else watching her practice)

We spent all afternoon today hunting for a helmet and eye protection, with zero luck. If it was affordable they didnt have her size, if they had her size the price was outragous! So amazon to the rescue! We found this one, DOT approved, and the WW2 style she wanted, for 30 bucks complete with goggles. Of course she had to add her own flair so she found an obnoxious pair of steampunk style goggles

She would have liked another color but neon pink had to do. She got 1 others but I didnt get pictures of them, she said they were big and bug eyed. I can already see a large goggle collection as well as at least a black version of the helmet in the coming months(she inherited my addiction for eye ware)

Epic cool stuff

Okay so most people who know me know that virtual education is something I strongly beleave in and support(we did help sue the state of OK to help secure our rights to a better education option) Our charter school is awesome and we have the BEST teacher on earth(hand picked by yours truly and Rose)! Today she and I came up with the idea to hold a parents info meeting and recruitment night. She is so totally on the ball, she has the room at the library secured, the PSA going up on our cable info channel, and has contacted the news, radio and paper. I plan to go drop flyers around town for the next few days so we can get the word out even better. Then we figure we will bring in some of the kids computers that the school provides and put them on the samples of the curriculum, some of the books and such we have got with learning funds and then have parents and a few kids there to answer questions along with the teacher.

So if anyone wants to join us or knows anyone who may have kids who will benefit from the program we will be at the the Lawton public library on Wednesday Aug. 7th at 6:30 to 9. (If I get really industrious there may be cookies.....lol)

Zombie Lessons part 2

LESSON 2- Travel, morality and survival

The decision has been made as to where we plan to go.  In our case this is our Uncles farm which is 165 miles from our current location by normal travel however to avoid major areas and interstates we mapped out a path that while it adds 75 miles is safer. (we mapped out on a physical map the route we would take then used google earth to look at each small town along the way to gage an idea of amenities and safe routes in case of problems)

My Uncle agrees to our family coming to stay there. He says he has room for 4 more able bodied families if they don’t mind living in the barn/outbuildings while the land is worked and property fortified.

Questions-

   Who do you decide to quietly invite on the trip?

 How do you justify your choices?

   What supplies and amenities do you expect those that you chose to provide for themselves?

Knowing what is available at the farm our first priorities are fuel to get there, food for the coming months, any possible canning/food storage supplies and any and all medical supplies we can find.

The RV has a 55 gallon tank and gets 12 miles to the gallon average, how much gas will we need to insure that the RV will make the trip?

(a minimum of 20 gallons but should try to keep it filled and gather any possible extra for generators etc that we can get)How do you justify your choices?

   What supplies and amenities do you expect those that you chose to provide for themselves?

What food supplies do you feel would be important? Why?

My examples are-

Dried beans- they are shelf stable for long period of time and provide excellent nutrician

Dehydrated herbs and spices-they add flavor and help to keep up the immune system as well as moral

Canned fruits and veggies-shelf stable and needed for nitrician

Canned milk-safe for 2-3 years

Dry pasta-shelf stable carbs

Dehydrated meats/jerky- preserved meats can be used for stews easily

Flour

Cornmeal

Oats

Sugar

Honey

Peanut butter

Grits

Cocoa

Coffee

Cooking oil

baking soda/powder

Corn starch

Farina

Dry milk

Rum/vodka/whiskey-serves both medical and non medical needs

Yeast-full on starter will need to be maintained whenever possible also can be used for small beer to make drinking water safe

What medical supplies would you see as needed?

Cold and allergy meds

Ulcer/acid reflux meds

Rubbing alchohol

Peroxide

Pain/headache meds

Vasoline

Soap

Silk thread/needles

Sheets for bandages

Antibiotics if possible

Feminine hygene needs

Bleach

borax

washing soda

quart and pint jars-sterile storage as well as canning needs to possibly come

tooth paste

hemmeroid cream

duct tape(yes it is sterile and VERY multi-purpose)

Packing the van needs to have any supplies immediately needed going in last, people will have to do their best to fit in around the supplies. With the extra people and needs do you feel a second vehicle would be needed or would it be better to try to stay together? If we are taking extra vehicles we can possibly gather more supplies, however its makes defense and logistics change....is it worth it? Security of our people and supplies is the most important thing so after weighing the possibilities what is better, multiple vehicles or a single larger carrier?

After figuring out the moral questions of who and why we chose to take certain people we have to  decide if the needs of our group surpass the need to maintain civil morality by not stealing the things we may need? Would you feel okay taking the neighbors propane tank? What about taking food or fuel? Raiding a vets office for medical supplies? What are your arguments for or against?

Travel will be slow no matter how many vehicles we are taking. The overload of vehicle weights, the need to travel rural roads, and security means travel will be at 35 to 45 mph turning it into a 5-6 hr trip. Slower speed does allow for a spotter and shooter to be on the RV for safety. The decision does need to be made ahead of time what we will do should we encounter other travelers. If they act peacefully do we simply pass without suspect? If they are stranded do we stop and offer help from our own meger supplies? How do we assess the risk of stopping? What if we encounter hostile non infected people? Are people in our party comfortable with deadly force? Shooting an infected will be VASTLY different than shooting a hostile but normal human even if they are bent on doing you harm.