Improper supervision

This past weekend, DH decided to continue doing electrical work in our den.  He pulled a few wires and wired up a few switches and plugs.  He installed the overhead light fixtures we bought five years ago.  ;-) 

Annie was interested in what he was doing, but her interest quickly faded.  She is not a good supervisor as she often grows bored or distracted.  But she likes to be near DH and this proved to be a problem as she decided to play with a toy right at his feet.  DH is having to learn to look behind him before he moves when doing inside DIY tasks.  Goofy dog.

Wiring a switch

Playing with her Duckie behind DH.

LoneStar

A bluebonnet finish

I managed to have some uninterrupted stitching time on Saturday afternoon with an Annie-free lap, so I finished "Bluebonnet Blooms" by Redbird Designs.  It is stitched on 32 count raw natural linen with DMC.  I'll probably make it into a little pillow.

"Bluebonnet Blooms" by Redbird Designs

I've started stitching on another Halloween design, one from the 2013 JCS Halloween issue. Unfortunately, I haven't had an Annie-free lap much since Saturday, so I haven't made much progress on it.

The design (on page 64 of the magazine) uses Sullivans floss which I've never used.  I decided to stitch the project with Sullivans to give it a try instead of converting it to DMC.  My local Hobby Lobby has started carrying some of it and I was able to buy about half of the colors I needed there, the rest I ordered from 123Stitch.com.  The floss seems to have less of a sheen to it than DMC, but what of it I have used has been fine to stitch with - no excessive knotting or tangling.  The colors are bright and crisp. 

I wind my floss on bobbins and while doing so I noticed that a few of the labels were stuck to the floss as the glue used on them had leaked.  Not a huge problem, but I did have to take the time to get the glue off the floss.  Also, some of the labels were glued sloppily and the color numbers were partially covered.  Again, not a huge problem, but it shows a lack of attention to production detail.

I will stitch this project with the Sullivans, but I have no plans to acquire and collect the whole set of colors at this point.

LoneStar

What are you really saying?

DH and I were raised in homes where swear words or profanity were rarely - if ever - heard.  

However in today's society, if you watch television, listen to music, participate in a conversation, or read a book, you run across them constantly.  I've observed that most swear words are substitutes for a more formal or scientific word.  Would swear words sound as shocking or startling if the speaker used the formal word?

Take the F-bomb for instance.  How effective would it be to have a television actor shout, "Sexual intercourse you!" at an antagonist?  Or how about, "You're an absolute mothercoitusing idiot!"  Sounds pretty stupid, eh?

Then there's the word "sh*t" which can be a verb or a noun.  I can't remember having heard someone say, "I've got to go defecate."  And I've never heard a person say, "Holy bowel movement! Would you look at that!"  (Actually, if I heard someone say that, I'd die laughing.)

If you're really trying to shock or startle, then you shouldn't use a swear word all the time as it loses its effectiveness.  It becomes boring to the ear or eye.  I don't know how many free books I've deleted off my Kindle after reading a few pages because nearly every word out of a character's mouth is profanity.  Maybe the writer thinks that is defining for the character.  I think it's boring and shows a lack of imagination.

And I'm not saying that there are not times where the use of a swear word is justified.  I was recently describing a person and his despicable actions to my parents and the only word I could think of to accurately characterize him was to call him an a**hole.

Yeah, I have a weird brain and think about weird things.  Oh well.

LoneStar  

Friday WIP

I managed to frog all the wayward stitches on my WIP.  I finished stitching all the white swirls in the design and started on the bluebonnets.  I'm enjoying stitching this one (at least when I can keep Annie out of my lap long enough to stitch).

"Bluebonnet Blooms" 9-6-13

LoneStar
 

How was your Labor Day weekend?

DH and I traveled up to Dallas for part of the weekend to visit our relatives.  We greatly enjoyed visiting with my Mom and Dad.  We also visited with my DBro and DSisIL and our two ever-growing nephews.

The rest of the weekend was spent on finishing up the patch on the inside wall where the old air conditioner leaked.  Instead of cheap, thin paneling painted a gross khaki color, we now have a couple of scrounged pieces of OSB in that area.  It's temporary until we can renovate the entire wall sometime in the future.  

I actually like the OSB better than the khaki-colored paneling.  I really dislike the khaki paint and the corresponding avocado green trim paint around the window trim that makes up the front and back walls of our den.  I have to remind myself that it is temporary, although with DIY projects, temporary can last a long time.  ;-)

DH did another thing that made him nearer and dearer to my heart this weekend.  While he was in the process of patching the wall, he decided to go up in the attic and pull wire for a couple of plugs for that wall as it had none.  My stitching lamp was powered by an extension cord that ran into the bedroom, and the window AC was powered by a heavy-duty extension cord that ran across the entire width of the den floor; we were constantly tripping over it.  Thanks to my handy-dandy DH, the extension cords are gone!

Annie weathered the trip to Dallas well and was glad to get home to sun herself in the yard.  For the first several weeks that we had her, we did not allow her to roam in the yard by herself as we took her out on a leash.  We wanted her to get attached to us and the house before we allowed her full freedom of the yard via the dog door.  She has now earned the privilege of full yard freedom and can come and go out the dog door as she wishes.

I didn't stitch much on "Bluebonnet Blooms" this weekend, and what I stitching I did manage, I had to frog, so no progress pictures, but one should be forthcoming soon.

LoneStar

The doughnut bone

Annie has several toys and she likes to play with all of them.  We find her unusual because she entertains herself with her toys.  All our previous dogs wouldn't play with a toy unless we played with it with them (with the exception of chew toys).

Annie likes to get one of her toys and gallop back and forth through the house with it tossing it around as she runs.  When she slides onto her target - a throw rug - she stops and gives the toy a hearty shaking while growling at it.  This never ceases to amuse her humans.  Well it mostly amuses me; I'm getting tired of putting the throw rugs back in their proper place.

Her funnest toy is the Intellibone.  Annie likes to grab one end of the bone and gallop around, shaking the whole thing.  Usually when she does this, one of the rings or doughnuts will fly off and she'll get distracted by it and play with it for awhile.  You have to keep an eye on where she is when she plays with this toy as I've gotten hit by a flying doughnut on occasion.  ;-)

When all the rings are off the bone, she'll stand at our feet wagging her tail furiously as we put the doughnuts back on it.  And then she's off again!

LoneStar

A weekend project

We seem to be cursed when it comes to appliances that use or generate water.  We have two window unit air conditioners. One is old and the other is very old.  We've been hoping that they would last until we get our central HVAC installed, but no such luck.

Recently, the very old one died and could not be repaired.  Well, it could have been repaired, but the cost of the repair would have been more than the unit was worth and more than the cost of a new one.  As it will remain summer here in south central Texas for several more months, we had to buy a new one or risk melting.  The new one is much quieter and more efficient than the old one.

As a by-product of its demise, the very old window unit leaked condensation down into the wall unseen by us for an unknown period of time until the water reached Niagara proportions and flooded the floor.  Water in walls equals potential mold, so DH had to tear out any of the wall below the window that looked or felt wet and replace it.  This wall in our den will be completely replaced and updated sometime in the future, so this was a patch repair.

DH tore out the inside wall with a little supervision from Annie.

Then he tore out the outside wall with a little supervision from Annie.

Here, let me lick that sweat off your face.

Next, he reframed under the window and patched the hole from the outside while Annie supervised.  (DH did not poop his pants, he sat on a muddy patch on the ground.)

The next afternoon, DH and I covered the outside patch with tar paper and shingles to seal it.
  

It looks a bit wonky, but then our whole house is a bit wonky-looking at this point.

It was a very hot afternoon, so DH came into the house for a cool drink and Annie took advantage of his lap, not minding that he was sweaty and dirty.  She is very relaxed when she sleeps.

Speaking of Annie, we sure wish we could get her to talk and tell us of her history.  She has a weirdness with DH wearing gloves where sometimes it will scare her and she runs from him.  Other times she doesn't mind the gloves and will play with DH or let him pet her while wearing them.  We wonder if she was traumatized by someone wearing gloves in her checkered past.  Goofy dog.

Playing with the "glove monster."

LoneStar