A Positive Morning....

 It is a good start today with the promise of 46 degrees.  If feels warmer even though we haven't really warmed up much.

It did look a little more ominous when I first got up but it is good to see the sun. I would like to see some melting of the snow on my deck today. 

Chimneys are absurd on a birdhouse but I did figure out how to make one.  I am gluing things and finishing up on this one today.

Birdhouse city is on display yesterday afternoon. I will finish up on the green one today and then who knows what it next.  I am thinking that I may create something out of scraps only.

This is a cut paper design that came from Israel.  The artist does an original cut design and then computers and laser technology duplicates it. The blue is a layer below the design creating a great dimensional effect. Thanks for checking in today.

Progress....progresses.

 

 

It isn't finished but I can do that tomorrow.  I have things drying today so they can be glued to it tomorrow.  The design is my own so I can only create and add things to it until it looks complete. I have only one hole in this one for a wren. 

Saturday's a Go......

 I guess when the top of the bird is chopped off by me then I say it is a more natural and informal composition.  It does fit in with the feeling that he is trying to hide from me or blend in with the tree. It is so rare to see one on our property.   Friends in our area and north say they haven't seen many all summer or now in the winter.  We saw a female cardinal about a month ago drinking water from the puddles on the deck.

Now that I have figured out how to make this stand up straight  I am putting seed in it.  I think it might draw in cardinals and other winter birds other than sparrows.  If they land here, they might fly up to my deck feeder.

The tree is gone and the room is almost back to normal.  We have a village still set up in the other corner.  The plastic needles sucked up easily and the rug looked like new. 

My painting center stays pretty much messed up but it works for me.  I have the workbench for putting things together with nails and the drawing board lets me do glue jobs that require detailed placement of parts. 

A third house is still in progress and the second one is close to being done.  We warmed up to just above freezing today. I am not seeing any thawing.  I hear snow is on its way in a few days. We were glad to get out today to eat pancakes.  Afterward we had things to buy at Walmart and the grocery store. The pandemic has hit our Walmart badly.  Shelves empty in various area. A whole section of the store is still being used to pack and organize all the pick up items.  The store really shows that it is understaffed as most departments are just in a mess.  It is sad.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Friday's Report.....

 "Let's eat but the seed is pretty slim out here."  I need to go dump more of it on the tray to get them excited. At -1 degrees F.  I am not so anxious to go out there but I will.  It was a little bit warm so I could scrape off the ice on the deck to make a safe path for me. 

A new one in the making.  I am doing an original design of my own.  Waiting for paint to dry keeps me slowed down but it gives me time to think of creative things to do for the design. I am still working on the last house, finishing up the last design treatments and a chimney.

 

 I am really tired of all the cold temps.  I opened the door to take the shot but I didn't step out on the deck. We are getting some sunshine today that will warm us up to 23 degrees F.

Friday is here and I just keep creating.  I did get the sun room back in shape this morning.  The village out there is my wife's thing and she decides when that goes away. I have the boxes all ready and it will take a few trips to get them up for packing.  

Thanks for stopping by today.

Thursday's Few Things......

 In the old days one would put the real Christmas tree out on the curb and there would be ornaments still lost among the branches.  It is the same with artificial trees as ornaments show up as the branches are removed.  Some have fallen to the floor already and they aren't found until the tree has been removed.

The tree takes up a lot of space.  The plastic needles from the tree will clean up easily.  All the furniture that was shifted away from the corner will be returned. 

The broken large ornament was found inside of a box that I opened when looking for an empty box for Christmas lights.  I bet the ball was broken during the move.  There are five or six in the box that I use to display with garland.  This one has been busted. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Middle of the Week.....

 The morning sun caused it to shine. The tree is being taken down today. Four boxes of ornaments have now been taken off of it.  There are plenty left to be removed.  It will leave a hole in the sun room but we have things that can fill in that space.  It is the last to come down. 

 

 It still is not done.  I touched up paint mistakes this morning and am trying to find just the right las decoration to go on the front of it.  I also have not put in the screws in the bottom to hold it onto the house. I have started a new one that is of my own original design.  I use up old wood that works fine for a bird house.  I had to scrub down some of the wood as it had been outside used as a dirt/grass guard. 

The earth keeps tilting back.  I can now see the sun from the far window and it isn't behind the neighbor's house. 

It is cold all over and we will have a warm up tomorrow before it plunges down again.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Tuesday's Things...

 This is a permanent ice and snow sculpture on the deck.  We are never going to warm up again for weeks so this is it. 

A happy duck sits on the table where I am working downstairs. I enjoy the work on this duck even though it isn't realistic. 

The roof is on now.  It almost fit but required some modifications to cover up one gap between the roof and white gable. One roof piece was a little warped and the white gable probably wasn't aligned strait with the one on the opposite end. I was ready to go cut another piece and start over but I did figure out to fill the crack with glue and sawdust.

Decorative strips of red have been applied on both sides.  I had to learn how to put them on the side without splitting the wood.  I also had to look high and low to find some small nails to use.  I found some out in the very cold garage in a far top shelf.  

It is cold everywhere.  We got up this morning with it being -6 F. and we are sitting at 6 degrees F. right now at noontime.  Our high today will be 8 degrees F. by this afternoon and then it starts to drop again.  There is nt getting use to this cold.  I will walk out to get the mail this afternoon and that is the extent of my venturing out.  

Thanks for checking in today.

Monday Night.....So Cold!

 I don't have the patience to wait on paint to dry.  I did a second painting session after supper tonight so that I can maybe start to assemble this thing. The enamel does dry in 12 hours so by morning, late maybe it will be dry enough to work with for assembling.  

My lighting at the basement table isn't the best. I have an overhead light and then this antique light.  I have to shift things into the best light to paint.  If I do more of this I do have work lights that could be placed there.

This birdhouse design has many different accent colors on it to make it look good. It requires me to pay attention closely to be sure everything is painted correctly and I repaint one area after another when I paint to far on the wrong spot.

While working I have this doll keeping me company.  It is waiting for me to get it back into its box and tomorrow it may happen.  We are still working at taking down Christmas things.  

I was late blogging today but better now than never.  Our temps are taking a deep dive again. Take care.

The Sun Shines....

 Presently the sun comes up behind my neighbor's house. The good thing is I can still see the shine glow on all the rows of houses. They neighbor kids were out this morning walking on top of the frozen snow. They would walk on the snow and their boots would sink in on the crusty top leaving holes.

 If I walk to the far side of the sun room I can see the sun. I have to take the photo through a screen. I could go out on the deck and lean way over but the snow is so icy and it would be easy to fall down.

My newly acquired and refinished chest of drawers made a perfect Christmas tree platform.  It actually looks kind of bare and lacking with just lower items with very little height. 

I finally picked up my one grandson's collection up off the chest of drawers and took them to the lego bin. He was so happy that he could put them together and display them under the Christmas tree with all the antique toys. 

 

Closing off with a photo of a part of the quilt that we have on our bed.  My mom mad it and gave it to us as a wedding present back in 1984.  We really had not used it until we moved to the new place. We have a bed spread that covers it at times and sometimes it is just easier to just let the quilt be the cover of the oak bed. 

I can't keep track of the temperature changes that we keep having.  We did get up the 37 degrees F. in the evening and then the wind started blowing.  We are at 11 degrees F. right now and we are to get down to -5 tonight.  It all feels very cold and the tire pressures sure do decline when it is so cold.  I had to fill three of my four tires with air yesterday. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sat Stuff.....

 

I made a return visit today to the hardware to pick up a cap for a tire's valve stem. I found some other things to buy though.  I made the commitment to repot some of my violets. I bought paints for a birdhouse.  I realized the paint really isn't intended for wood but it is going to work.  Two coats of rust oleum on wood will work and I read later a primer applied first would have been a better idea. They did not have paint in small cans for wood creations.

I painted on all the various parts that belong to the birdhouse and I again am waiting for the first coat to dry. I did not get to the violets as they can wait until I am in the mood.  Moving slow again today.  Thanks for stopping by today.  I do like the product above but I am not getting any payment for sharing the photo.

Frigid and Frozen......

 

Snow doesn't melt when it is -10 in the night.  The female fake goose does have some of the white on its head now showing.  I guess the snow can just settle even when it isn't meltng.

 

 My cactus is blooming again in a different section of the plant.  It started blooming first back in November and another section bloomed in December.  Now I get to see it again.  It is a new definition of ever blooming Thanksgiving plant. 

This creation is a difficult one.  It has many colors used in the final design.  I was at Ace and got three different colors and they are nothing like the colors that was suggested in the plan. A choice of four or five colors plus black and white was a poor selection.  I guess I went to the wrong store. More watching paint dry for this birdhouse project. 

I am having a slow day and it is too cold for sure.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Watching Paint Dry......

 The doves like the new seed.  They are hanging around and share the feeder peacefully.  It is a very cold day and they need to eat to keep themselves warm.

I moved a spare drawing table into my workshop area.  I can now sit down and work the dimensions on boards and figure out directions.  It is a mess but it means I am busy with another birdhouse. 

I am close to a stand still as I don't have enough different colors of paint for this one. I will venture out maybe tomorrow if it warms a little. I see we will warm up to 20 degrees F. tomorrow. 

The front pieces on this one gave me a difficult time.  I had to cut them twice with the second try actually working.  The pattern says do one thing and then I have to redefine the directions to match with the kind of saws that I have.  

I am having reactions today to my change in diabetic med doses.  It is easy for a doctor to change things but they aren't there to see what it really does do to the patient. I won't see her for a couple of months.  I am sure it will all average out and I will feel better but I don't like feeling what I am feeling today.  I certainly will not do any sky diving today or work with heavy machinery.  I guess I should just take a nap and walk away from the disturbing birdhouse difficulties with all of its parts.  Painting parts and letting them dry takes a lot of patience for me.  Painting two coats usually is necessary meaning more waiting and watching paint dry.  

Thanks for checking in today.

Cold Birds......

 It is too cold to take the photo but I did lean out the door and took a quick snap.  I liked seeing the jet vapor trail in the top right.  As the earth tilts back we will start seeing that sun again from behind Gary's house.

My full moon shot the night before had a focus problem.  Last nights shot was interrupted by clouds.  I did get a clearer shot but this one was interesting to see.

It isn't Halloween but a witch on a broomstick would help this photo a bit.  It was already very cold out there and I didn't get my deck scooped.  Maybe today when it warms up to 8 degrees F. I could do it, maybe.

I have a pile of new seed out there this morning but there is not a bird in sight.  I guess it is too cold or they found green pastures somewhere else.

I am starting another bird house today.  I get grumpy with it as cutting the wood just doesn't always work out.  I like them to fit together perfectly and that is not happening.  I guess there are not any bird inspectors out there checking it.   Thanks for stopping by today.