Sunrise

Ahhhhhhh.

My Caulk-y Post

No one told me how hard it would be.

I thought it would be easy.

A little scraping, a little picking and it would be ready to go.

Not so, my friends, not so.

Re-caulking a bathroom is tedious.  At least if you have tile.

I started at 10:30 pm to remove the existing caulk.  I really thought it would mostly just peel off.  I had a razor/scraper just in case, but figured I'd just use it to get me started.  My thumb was numb and yet in pain by 11:00 pm when I finished one small area.  Oh my.  It didn't get me excited for my Monday off.

I slept in, had my 3 cups of coffee, then decided to put my "big-girl" pants on and tackle this project.  I looked all over the shop and the house for a utility knife and just when I was giving up, I found it in a random place.  I didn't care.  My thumb needed a break as it still hurt from the night before.  I decided to reward myself with lunch only after I had succeeded in removing all but one line of caulk.  That's 5 out of 6 for those who need the count.  Not knowing exactly how tile should be applied, I found it odd that it was done up the corners as opposed to grout, but I was not going to redo the entire bathroom.  On I scraped and peeled.  After getting the bulk of it off, I had to go back over it all and re-scrape to get the slivers of caulk left behind.  I also took my hair dryer and dried it all down inside the cracks, just in case, and then vacuumed it all out to finish.  Oh, and of course I had to do a bit of cleaning in-between all of that.

This all took me to 5:00 pm.  Sad, I know.  In my defense, I did still have to walk my dogs for at least 45 minutes, eat breakfast & lunch, and probably check my email or something.

I finally ended up with the prep work done and the ready project:

The actual caulking took very little time and I have to say; I did a pretty nice job.  I did mention to Pat that he neglected to inform me of the level of difficulty involved in this project and he simply stated that he meant to do it!  Ah, well.

Now I just need to go find the person(s) responsible for inventing tile and thus grout.  I hate them.  I really do.  I want to subject them to the ever daunting task of keeping mine unstained, constantly re-sealed, and pretty.  I'm thinking of caulking all the grout lines...

Twin Cities

O.K., so maybe not exactly, but they do sometimes refer to Kenai & Soldotna as such.  

We've had a moose cow and twins frequent the area for quite some time now.  They are the cutest little buggers!  They start off pretty small, relatively speaking of course, and grow so fast!  Pat ran out the other day to get some shots of them as they passed through our yard and over the road.  You can see our garage in the background!

After Pat's close encounters, I spotted them across our lake feasting on the grasses by the water.  A couple of days ago we bumped into them on our walk about a mile away, and then this morning they were in our neighbors yard and we had to wait in the road for them to cross in front of us.  We were careful to give them plenty of space.  Moose momma's are not especially social!  

Pablo's Our Inspiration!

A while back, we discovered that some friends of ours who are adopting, have a son who was doing something special.  He was 4 years old when he decided that he wanted to do something to help bring his brother/sister home.  He decided to make cards with his own fabulous style!  He named it Pablo Candy-Finger's Cards!  We were hooked.

We simply could not resist the very sweet drawings of a boy who was using his talents for Kingdom purposes.  He is now 5 and has some really diverse offerings.  I'd have shown more, but I already sent some!   We were still partial to the aliens.  Don't they just make you want to smile?!

His desire to act and do whatever he could to help has inspired us.  Pat is especially drawn to him, being an artist himself, and couldn't resist using his metal art to encourage young Pablo!  After receiving our order of Pablo Candy-Finger's Cards, Pat chose one of his favorites and went out to the shop.

Seriously - Isn't that alien just the cutest guy?!  (the one in the middle in case you couldn't tell!))

We love the inspiration that Pablo Candy-Fingers has given us to do whatever God has enabled us to do for His glory.  If a 4 year old can help orphans, so can you.  If you would like to see more of Pablo's work, check out his mom's blog.  I would encourage you to support Pablo Candy-Fingers as long as he is working and help them bring home the next member(s) of their family!

Randomness in Pictures

A couple weeks ago, Pat and I took a little overnighter to Homer.  We wanted to take a little time away and we always have such good talks when we drive!  It was a nice trip and we were able to visit a garage sale and pick up some pex tubing for our future house project!  It was evidently a great place to curl up for a nap!

Last weekend, Pat and I worked in the shop together.  He, being a gifted teacher, has been working with me on my welding.  I worked myself up to TIG welding, and I have to say I like it.  It is very clean, quiet and pretty. My only gaff was that I got the fire a bit too close to my pinky and shrunk my glove with a burn!  Oops!  I have a way to go to master it, but I'm getting the feel.

We decided we needed a couple more plant hangers for the front of the house.  We drew them out, torched them out, ground them down and had them up in no time!  It was a great project for me to practice some of the steps.  I've done some torch work on more of the Alaska to Africa crosses, and now I can grind a bit.  With my welding, I'm about set to do my own projects!  I must admit, it's kinda fun.  Plus, it's a fun way to spend time together.

Viola!

Pat's working on another project that we'll be presenting in a couple more days...this was a fun one!

These yolks were from a client who brought them from Africa.  They were teak oxen yolks that we made into plant hangers.  I'll have better pictures soon, but they are too cool not to share!  These provided the income to purchase a much needed air compressor (and more)!

I've not had a moose shot in a while!  These guys have been seen in the neighborhood quite a bit.  Cute little bugger!  I'm just not sure who it was who ate my snap peas and Ashleaf Spirea, but if it was this little cutie, I guess I can't be too mad.