This N' That

What wild weather we had today - sunshine and mild, to cold and snowing like crazy all within a few hours. I took this video at about 2:40 when it had been snowing for about 15 minutes.
Some flowering trees are already budding and my day lilies are up about 6 inches or so already.
I got a lot of sleep this weekend hoping I don't get the bug that is going around. I blew my afternoon Saturday with a long nap, I'm not getting enough done around the house!
I've been following the GOP Presidential Primaries, and Rick Santorum is downright scary. Romney is an arrogant jerk who's motivations are clearly not to help the average American. This election is going to be a nail biter. After the comments Santorum has made these last few days, all I can think is that he is the white-bread equivalent of a Middle Eastern dictator. He wants to enforce his religious views on all of America and keep people uneducated. If he wins, any progress we made as a country over the last 20 years would be wiped out in no time at all...

The Secretary Desk - Part 1

 I got this desk from my friend Steve Stimson when he used to have his antique shop downtown called The Lone Wolf. It was my sixth refinishing project that took me the whole summer of 2007 to complete.
It was kind of bittersweet to strip it, because it had a really cool gold stencil on the drawers and the lower frame. But the paint was really in bad shape in a lot of spots and somewhere along the way someone had spilled some white paint on the side. So I decided to tackle it.
It turned out to be made of beautiful Tiger Maple, and I used a simple finish to let the grain of the wood stand out. It was worth all the work.
I put new casters on it, and it rolls around much easier (and quieter) than before. The cool thing about refinishing a piece like this, is that it is not going to be perfect when you're done, because it has it's own unique character.

 I had never noticed when it was painted black that the drawer pulls were not evenly placed on the drawers. And not only that, but not all of the pulls matched; one was clearly homemade. It originally had those half-dome style pulls, but I had to go with the round so that it didn't look totally weird when I was done.
The other desk I got from Steve, is an old Army desk (possibly from Fort Ebey on Whidbey Island) and is something I hope to finish this summer. I started on it in the summer of 2009 I think, and got the drawers and the top all stripped and refinished. But circumstances have prevented me from finishing all of the base, and I really want to get that back together.
I don't have any pictures of that project yet, so that will be for another post, at another time...

Bits & Pieces

It makes me smile that Munchkin has not changed since he was a kitten - he loves to eat with Woody. And he is the only one that the others will tolerate sitting and eating right next to them, but Woody is his favorite.









Tomcat looks so peaceful when he is sleeping. I took this photo of him the other day in his bed, and he didn't move a muscle when I stood over him and snapped his picture.
It finally seems to be making that subtle turn where the temperature feels milder, and he wants to go out again during the day while I am at work. But the funny thing is he has chosen the wettest days to want to go out!
I finally feel caught up on my sleep this weekend. I like that there is more daylight, it helps me get more done. I am still not getting on the computer during the week and posting as often as I intended. I was working on a little movie related to work, and put in a lot of time on it, but it was so much fun.

Tonight is the finale of Downton Abbey Series II and I'll miss it. Time to bake some cookies and get ready for the show!

Bits & Pieces

Thursday night after I finished watching Doc Martin, I went in to the bedroom and laughed at what I saw - poor Pauline had her donut bed taken over by Munchkin.
I didn't hear any hissing or fuss, she just decided to make the best of it. But it really surprised me when she curled up even closer to him.
I think she puts up with him because he is so young. They all went out today, I think it got to around 50 degrees again. Munchkin had a good time sniffing around and investigating everywhere that I prefer he not be, but I can't blame him, it had been weeks since they all went out like that.

I was in a spring cleaning mode today, catching up on a lot that I didn't get done in the last week and a half. And getting caught up on the internet. The sunshine can be so energizing. I've got a lot to do tomorrow too! I can't believe it's February already.....

The Daily Show

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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I'm catching up on two weeks worth of The Daily Show today, and this one I had to share....