Posts from the ‘Home Projects’ category

Island Paradise

Island Paradise??? (Friday morning…snowing)

Well at least there is sun, now. (Friday, late afternoon)

And FedEx brought 3 boxes, total weight a bit over 200 pounds.

I bought a Kitchen Island.

On Amazon.

Amazon Prime!

It came FedEx 2day … free. I have absolutely no problem with Amazon increasing the Prime membership to $99.00!!

The unpacking.

Each box had a list with the contents of the box.

Every single piece had a little sticker with an alpha character that corresponded to the content list.

Hoo…I say HOO-RAH!

There was no mystery about which piece was which.

The directions were explicit.

The top was all in one piece!

The good news is that I didn’t have to assemble drawers or drawer rails, etc.

The bad news is the top weighed a bit over 60 pounds.

Bear stayed out of the fray in the sunroom.

Auggie, naturally, was my supervisor-helper!

Working alone (no other human) required a bit of creative thinking in how to balance things so that all of the pegs and holes lined up as I went along. So, it took longer than if there were 2, but still manageable.

It helped greatly that everything fit perfectly!

I put Auggie in the sunroom with Bear so I didn’t have to worry about something heavy falling on him. He took it well and I heard no complaints.

This is about the 1 hour, 15 minute point. I decided to clean up some of the wrapping and regroup before the last push.

I was worrying a bit about getting that heavy top on and needed a little time to think.

Ironically, the part that I least suspected would have alignment problems…did. The holes for the hinge screws for the eating leaf were completely out of alignment for 1 hinge.

Power tool to the rescue. I drilled new holes and all was well.

Getting the top on top of the base actually was no problem. I set it against the length of the base, tipped it up and moved it into position.

Done.

My first glass of wine and a bowl of salad, feta and kalmata olives.

I’ve looked at islands since buying this house but everything I liked was VERY expensive.

I’ve tended to often eat my meals at my desk instead of the table…partly as I am looking at food blogs or the news and partly because the table is not that comfortable…low and a bit dark.

A couple of weeks ago, I thought…boy, I’d really like to sit higher and be looking out the window…

On a whim, I searched Kitchen Islands on Amazon….

I absolutely LOVE the island.

There is plenty of room around it.

I have some new storage area and new work space near the stove.

I have a bright spot to have my meals.

I might need another chair…

Island Paradise.

A DIY project: light box for photography

For something like 5 months I’ve been talking about making a light box to take better food photos. A friend here (Tina of ‘Montana: Unplugged’) bought the same camera and lens I have – 5 months ago. It came with a nifty brochure that talked about different ways to light things. She lent it to me and it got me interested in a way to light my food shots.

I don’t use a flash and sometimes finding a good spot of natural light is tough…gets much tougher this time of year.

Now, there are portable light box things on Amazon and they are not very spendy but I’d already looked at this Wiki-How to do anything post and I TOLD people I was going to make my own.

Time marched on…I didn’t have the right size box. I didn’t feel like messing with cardboard and tape. Etc. Etc.

Ha!

Tina also gave me a bag of this wood that is available from Plum Creek Timber Co. certain times of the year. She uses it for kindling in her wood stove. It works great! It is all mostly the same length so I decided to make my box with it. A little spindly but good enough for a first go.

I draped a white sheet around the box frame and used a light that was already on the table as well as one of the herb grow lights for a quick test.

All I can say is WOW! The little piggie figurine is about 3 x 3 inches. In the box, with the light diffused through the sheet, there is no glare, no shadows and all of the detail is visible.

…same with the owl that is about 5 inches tall.

Now for some food.

I was able to shoot in the light box at ISO 800 Shutter 1/60 vs ISO 3200 Shutter 1/8 for the same item in the kitchen. (- both at F5.6 )

I did not use a tripod for these unless you count that I had my elbows on the table – so I was fairly steadily braced vs standing. When I take food photos in the kitchen, I often have to get in an odd position to get an angle with the least glare, reflection or shadow. With the box, I can shoot comfortably as noted…with elbows on the table.

Dbl-click these and look full screen – still good although I’d probably go with a bit more light on the food next round.

So…a wood box frame, an old sheet, two lights = a lot of fun and food photos I’m much happier with.

About an hour later…

I thought I heard Bob come in but couldn’t find him???

“Thank you for the nice house!”

Let there be light

Currently, here in northwest Montana, sunrise is just after 8 a.m. and sunset is just before 7 p.m. And, we have two more months of days getting shorter.

The sun arcs very low over the south as well, so the limited sunlight is not strong sunlight.

I knew my herbs would probably not make it inside without a bit of artificial light…

I had thoughts of getting a couple racks with hanging UV lights and making some shelf tables, but after looking at these, decided that the option of moving them easily AND taking them in the motorhome made for a better first go.

Naturally, as soon as FedEx dropped them off, the sun was out.

I also bought a water meter on the advice of my folks. Bill uses one for their potted herbs and they have fresh herbs all year round. This is one of the coolest things I’ve bought in awhile – no batteries! The moisture generates enough electricity for the meter to pick it up. Amazing.

By the time I quite playing with the meter and got the lights assembled and positioned, it was stormy-dark again – it was a day of off and on squalls with brilliant sunshine and clear, crisp air in between.

I am VERY happy with these lights: easy to hang anywhere and here in the sunroom-office they create such a nice feeling along with the herbs.

The only other “problem” with the plants in my office is temperature. The nursery guy said they would like the room fairly warm. I like the room fairly cool.

This may be my winter “uniform”…

I told the herbs that they were Montana herbs and as such, they should be ok with slightly cooler conditions. I hope they took that to heart.

Last evening, the light show continued…outside.

Dark to the east, clear to the west and the setting sun lit the tree tops.

And later still, as the temperature dropped…a cozy fire in the woodstove.

Just call me ‘Stinky’ aka stay away from those black and white striped ‘squirrels’!!

Yep…Bear got skunked!

This story starts on Monday morning. I was awake early and Bear and I took a mini-loop walk about 6:00 a.m. …much earlier than usual but with sunrise 5:30 ish it was full light.

Walking along the driveway of the adjacent property, a skunk appeared out of the tall grass, looked at me, turned and walked north on the driveway…tail in the air. Bear was to my south, nose to the ground and did not notice.

I hastened toward Bear and grabbed him by the collar before he noticed the skunk. But he did see it and wanted to go after it and we had an uncomfortable walk/drag by the collar home. I told Bear that he would be very unhappy to get sprayed but mostly Bear was annoyed with me for collaring him.

So Tuesday walks were uneventful and I made sure that we did not go where we’d seen the skunk until 8:30-9:00 a.m. ish. This worked Tuesday.

This morning, Wednesday, Bear and I had a quick outing down the driveway (mine) and back about 7:00 a.m. Then at 9:45 we headed out for a loop walk. The sun had been up for hours.

Nearly completing the loop and 20 yards from our own property line…skunk! I was another 20 yards behind Bear. I didn’t see the skunk until the last moment. Bear took a hit of spray and immediately turned 180 pawing at his face. He ran to me and I could see the yellow of the spray on his head, jaw and chest. I told him ‘Home’! and he turned for home. As we went he tried to use the tall grass to get rid of the spray.

Once home, I retrieved the SkunkOff I keep and went to work. Skunk spray is a kind of petroleum compound. You cannot wash it off. The best you can do is chemically neutralize it and the SkunkOff product does that. Spritzing the product on the sprayed areas, rubbing it in and then letting it dry – it does fairly well for all but up close and personal. Time takes care of that.

Bear was so patient and stood quietly while I worked on him. He wanted inside but I opened the Jeep to him and that was 2nd best. He jumped right in. After he was situated in the Jeep, I moved it into the yard, right outside my window. With the Jeep windows and back open, he could see and hear me while I worked and vice versa. He settled down for the morning.

Meanwhile…Purnell, the plumber arrived to work on the water heater. Good news is that my water heater is back in normal business – yea! (heater drained and cleaned, bottom element and thermostat replaced)

After Purnell left, I went out with Bear and we took a short walk in our own woods. Bear badly wanted inside. He seemed upset. He’d taken some of the spray in one eye and the hit on his jaw…he probably got some in his mouth. He’d been drooling. I fixed the bed with some extra sheets, fed him some yogurt and a charcoal biscuit and let him in. He went straight to bed.

He ate a second helping of yogurt and his kibble and went back to bed but has also barked at deer – mostly normal behavior…but kind of a tough day for the Bear boy!

…this week’s wine abstaining plan has been abandoned. We’ll try that again next week.

***about Skunks: they are typically out at dawn and dusk but the females, if they have kits, will go out daytime to get them food and/or train them. There is a kind of “old wives tale” that a skunk out in daylight is rabid, but that is not true. I’m guessing this is a female…with kits…they have their babies in May. Skunks eat a LOT of things that are bad for us…bugs, some of the poisonous spiders…like bats, they are one of nature’s natural pest “repellents”. They are not aggressive with their spray and typically warn with a whole stomping routine before spraying, but a barking, charging dog…well. Bottom line, I am happy to co-exist. I think Bear may give another skunk a wide berth – I hope so. Karl was sprayed once a year for 3 years running and then he remembered :)!

Mr. Beam

Mr. Beam is the manufacturer of various kinds of lights…mostly motion sensor kind of lights.

I recently purchased a couple or several…for the driveway…for Hailley…or maybe for me.

They are powered by batteries.

After testing with the “stakes” they come with and thinking about snow… I decided to mount them midway up a few trees. I had some roofing material so made them them their own roofs :)!

We’ll see how they hold up.

But, so far, I am sold! They are inexpensive, easy to mount, they work!

Meanwhile…

Bob and Bear progress….

Some d’accord!!!… there is tail wagging out of the range of photo.

And sometimes some nose touching…

When we return…maybe….!

But meantime…Bob is not in favor of all of the commotion that is involved in leave-taking…

A lovely week

The week was as lovely and varied as this photo taken this afternoon on the way back from Bigfork.

The week…mostly ups, just a few downs.

A productive work week as we push to finish the current version of software.

Up and down for Bob…we’re changing his food to hopefully help get his blood sugar more stable and it caused some fits with his digestion but minor and mostly he was his normal curmudgeonly self and my nighttime snuggle buddy!

Bear continues to do well off leash with the exception of some critter last night and early this morning. I really can’t blame him. I’m thinking it was the raccoon that passes through. He alerted last night and we did the dark o’clock last walk on leash. The night was quiet so I thought whatever had moved on, but no…and this morning in the dark, he treed whatever and wouldn’t “leave it” until I got the Jeep out. Peril of the long nights that will get longer before they get shorter. All in all, though, he is doing so very well – even the few times when I’ve been distracted by phone or this week, the guy here to work on my range…on his own outside, he stayed on the property and came when called.

But, the range…fixable and should be done next week. AND, it is only the lower oven not working so I am hardly bereft for that :)!

Motorhome, back from the shop and though nothing definitive on the battery failure, it is currently holding its charge and all seems normal…tentatively planning a next weekend, close to home, shakedown of motorhome, Bear travelling and Bob staying home with a new house/cat sitter.

And in honor of Friday: Pumpkin Carrot cupcakes with Pumpkin cream frosting.

A lovely end to a lovely week.