Workchairs of the Future

SurfChair & G-Tech Neber Chair

My Sweet Tarts

Another Halloween has come and gone. The boys had fun and my daughter had a great time just dressing up and hanging out with the family. She was a 1940's girl and the boys were Scooby Doo. After my little monkeys went to sleep (too much candy I think) I relaxed and watched a movie. I suppose now it's time for my beauty rest. I hope everyone had a fabulous day. I know I did! SWEET TART DREAMS!

She was SO pretty tonight

Channeling her favorite actress Ginger Rogers

My little monkeys as Scooby Doo

Distracted by Poppy

This is Cabana's pal and fellow puppy-in-training, Poppy. Poppy is just a couple weeks older than Cabana, and Poppy's puppy raiser is our puppy group leader.

This morning, Poppy and her raisers came over to give us instruction on food protocol for Cabana's raging dog distraction. Basically, we had Cabana sit on the sidewalk in front of our house, while Poppy sat several yards away. Every time Cabana looked away from Poppy, she got a treat. Eventually, Poppy got closer and closer, while I kept marking Cabana's positive behavior with "nice" and a piece of kibble.

Next step was to have Poppy walk toward Cabana, with Cabana stationary, while still encouraging Cabana to pay attention to me as her handler and ignore Poppy. Finally, we progressed to both Cabana and Poppy walking past each other. Normally, Cabana would have been pulling and going bonkers, wanting to play with Poppy. But thanks to all the positive reinforcement, Cabana was able to walk past Poppy with barely a glance. Miraculous!

Of course, the real test will come when we go for a regular walk and pass some big fluffy German shepherds or huskies (Cabana likes fluffy big dogs best). But I felt like we made a lot of progress today. The challenge for me will be to take it slow. I think I have a tendency to expect too much, too soon.

After the training session, we let Cabana and Poppy play--and boy, did they ever play! They were so happy to run around with each other, cavorting and nipping and jumping. They're so similar in size that it was sometimes hard to tell them apart.

Here they are drinking water after their romp session. Cabana is darker and redder, pictured in the back.

I think Poppy's raiser had called Poppy to come to her and was rewarding Poppy with a piece of kibble. But it looks like Cabana was horning in, even though she'd already received plenty of kibble earlier.

Tonight, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to teach some good manners when someone comes to the door. We don't get many visitors at our house, so when the doorbell rings, Cabana becomes overly excited. This evening, when trick-or-treaters ring our doorbell, I'm going to give the "go to bed" command while someone else in my family hands out the candy. So hopefully, in the future, Cabana will know that's what I want her to do when someone really is coming over, instead of running to the door to jump all over the person who enters.

Happy Halloween to everyone!! Don't eat too much candy! Well, go ahead if you want to--it's once a year, after all!

Brass Buckles Redux

Here is my latest and best technique for aging brass. I thought that putting the buckles into a rock tumbler might be a good way to remove the lacquer and soften the look. It's slower than sandblasting (see previous post), but less harsh and more uniform.


I went to Amazon and bought this three pound capacity rock tumbler by Thumlers. It came with polishing grits, but I judged them to be too fine for what I was wanting to accomplish. I just tossed in some sand and some rocks along with the buckles, added water, and tumbled it for 20 hours. It worked beautifully.


To make the buckles look a bit beat up, I took a ball peen hammer to them (on a steel plate), giving them flat spots and dents and dings.


Next, to darken the soft gold color, and to add a little green patina, I gave the buckles a vinegar bath which just speeds up their natural oxidation. I dunked them three times, allowing them to dry in between. Each time they developed more color.


And here is the result. On the left is the original buckle as I bought it from Tandy's Leather. Next is after tumbling. The third one is after hammering. And on the right is the final look, after the vinegar bath.


Here, side by side, I present the buckle transformation showing the before and after.

Pink Saturday

Happy Pink Saturday Everyone!

Many thanks to Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com for having this wonderful day to celebrate our Pink Goodies.


Rachel Ashwell Store Pink PillowsI found these pretty pillows at the Shabby Chic store in Austin Texas one day. They were the last two left and the girl told me they were going to be discountinued so I grabbed them. They sit nicely on my bed each and every day with my other pink pillows and blankets.

My Pink Beaded Purse I saw this beauty at an Antique Mall and fell in love. The only problem..it was pretty pricey. So I put it back and never really stopped thinking about it. When I went back about a month later I was so excited to see that everything in her booth was 50 percent off and the purse was still there. I grabbed it so fast and it came home with me. I hang it in my room along side my other beaded purse that I will share another time.

PINK ROSE TRAYEven though this tray is blue, it has some beautiful pink roses on it. I just adore it so much! I found it at a really cute Shabby Chic store in California when I was visiting for Christmas. One of my favorites!

I just love these. I hope you have enjoyed them too. Have a great day!!

Brrrrrrrrrrrr

Of course the hot water heater and the boiler picked the same day to crap out.

The hot water heater is dead, but the boiler is repairable. Leaky pump or something.

I was under the (erroneous it seems) impression that a hot water tank should last longer than 12 years. Goodbye giant jiffy pop:



I can has hot water please?



50 gallons and set to 120° Just about boiled myself with the first shower.

It was the red thing near the topish left that died on the boiler. Something widget garble thingly sprocket derbble technical stuff. Translation from Hubster. "Booster pump fucked":



The Hubster has it covered:



Soon, soon, soon there will be heat again.

But in the interim; Usually a freezer. Today a workbench:



FYI, I'm currently in long ski undergarments. What? TMI?

Well thbbbt to that.

Random Love, My Favorite Places

This post is called Random Love. Just a glimpse into some of my favorite places I like to visit. A variety of pictures I have taken of sites that make me happy.


Beautiful MT Lassen, California
Growing up we would visit here every summer. Those are some of my fondest memories of being with my Grandma. My Grandpa owned a lot and we would camp, fish, swim, rides bikes and just play. Oh those were the days...

Beautiful Lake at MT Lassen, California


Monterey, California
I miss California so much. It's the home to some of the most beautiful beaches. I believe this would be number one on my list.

Williams Tower, Houston Texas
My favorite building in Houston Texas. It was very helpful to me when I first moved here. If I got lost I would look towards this beauty and know what way home was. This is also one of my favorite pictures I have taken of it.

Howarths Park, CaliforniaI love this park! It was SO pretty. One of my favorites in my old neighborhood. Every morning early I would take the 3 mile walk up and down hills, woods and the beautiful lakes. So magical!

Howarths Park, California
Family of ducks! Watching them was amazing!

Kemah Boardwalk, Texas
This place is a lot of fun. Located about an hour from me. After hurricane IKE came through it was under water and damaged. I was devestated to see this, but they have bounced back and it looks better then ever. Kemah is a fun boardwalk with rides and food. You can eat at a fabulous place called The Aquarium. Kemah sits right on the water front as well so it's great to just walk around and look at the beautiful scenery of boats. During the evenings they have live music and my favorite time of the year is around Christmas. You can sit there and listen to music while drinking hot cocoa. Nothing better then that!

Kemah at night

Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Store, Austin Texas
Of course one of my favorite places to visit while in Austin. I would like to have one of everything..please..

Terms of Endearment; Aurora's House, Houston Texas
This movie is one of my favorites of all time. This house was Aurora's played by Shirley MacLaine. Located not too far from me, it was a great find. Also in the movie scene where Aurora and Garrett (played by Jack Nicholson) went to lunch was located in Houston Texas. Sadly it burned down during Hurricane IKE. I wish I could have visited and taken a picture there as well.

Chanel Boutique, Galleria Houston, Texas
Talk about a dreamy place. I love Chanel. This store is beautiful. I love looking at all the purses, fabulous clothing, jewelry. I would like one of everything here as well..please..
:-)

Tiffany's, Galleria Houston, Texas
Reminds me of one of my favorite movies Breakfast At Tiffany's. It would be nice to have the prices now they had back then. Don't you think? This store is beautiful. I love the jewelry. So classy! One of my daughters favorites as well.

Minute Maid Park, Houston Texas
Baseball anyone? Home of the Astros. I grew up a San Francisco Giants fan, but the Astros come in a second favorite. It's a really nice stadium to go relax and watch a game. Here is a picture of my two little monkeys and their first baseball game. Astros lost, but the memories were made!

Camilles, Spring Texas
Spring Texas is home to many antique stores. Me and my daughter just love to visit and shop. A lot of history! Even some stories of haunted buildings. A quaint and beautiful town! This is my favorite Antique store.

My favorite place to eat...they say it's haunted and the employees have seen ghosts
:-)

Home Sweet Home, Northern California
A view from my Grandma's house. My Mom now lives there and it's so beautiful. Out in the country surrounded by orchards. I grew up here and have so many memories. If I was not picking apples I was climbing the trees. I wish sometimes I could go back to those days because they were the best ever!!!

Home Sweet Home, The Vineyards California


San Francisco, California
About a hour's drive from where I grew up, San Francisco was a great place to visit. I love the houses and shops. Fisherman's Warf was one of my favorites. The weather was great and the Golden Gate Bridge beautiful.

Some of the favorite places in my heart. What are yours?

Aw...Snap!

Celeste is our CFR (community field representative). She is in charge of Guide Dogs' puppies in this territory--you might think of her as one of GDB's dog whisperers!

I knew that Celeste was there to evaluate Cabana at our puppy meeting a couple nights ago. In the back of my mind, I wondered if that was going to be Cabana's last night as a guide dog puppy in training! But, wisely, Celeste said she'd put off an actual evaluation until Cabana has gone into season (ha, whenever that happens).

Celeste took Cabana with her flat collar for a little stroll and assessment--and I was glad to see Cabana on her best behavior. She walked calmly, looked at Celeste solicitously (I could see her mind going, "What does this person want from me?"), and followed all her commands, with the exception of laying over on her back (Cabana hates to be rolled over). But overall--hooray, good girl, Cabana! There's hope for her yet.

We were given a handy new collar called a snap or snap-around collar (pictured above). Because it's clipped on, rather than having to go on over the head like the usual training collar, it has a much closer fit. Effective corrections can be given with the slightest tug, rather than a big yank with accompanying zipper sound to take up the slack as with a training/chain collar.

This snap collar has definitely made Cabana more likely to mind her p's and q's. Does it make her perfect? Alas, NOOO! But to her credit, that's mostly because I am far from the perfect puppy raiser/walker. Cabana has been pulling for all these months, and she's pretty bound and determined to keep pulling, even at discomfort to herself.

The first day after we got the snap collar, Cabana was a little dreamgirl on our walk. If I had written this post yesterday, I might have titled it "Magic Collar". But today, with the novelty worn off, Cabana got a bit ornery. Celeste had warned me that this would happen, though, so I should have been more mentally prepared for the hard hit of reality. Tomorrow, Cabana and I are going to shake it off, go for a shorter walk, but keep expectations high.

Proud to Be a Raiser

This is another new pup in our group, Tulani. She is 4 months old and was transferred from another group. Our fabulous CFR, Celeste, was at our puppy group last night, and she spent some time with Cabana. I have so much to tell about that, but I will post about it tomorrow.

For today, I wanted to mention R's blog In the Center of the Roof, though I know many other puppy raisers have found her wonderfully written blog already. R became blind about a year and a half ago and is going through the steep learning curve of learning to navigate life without the sight she'd had for the previous 29 years of her life. She is currently in the application process with Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Recently, R learned about puppy raisers, and the gratitude and amazement she shares in her post is so heartwarming. Her anticipation to get a guide dog someday and have it become her eyes so touched me, and I was reminded about how important puppy raising is.

I'm keeping this post bookmarked so I can easily find it on days when I need a little attitude pick-me-up.

R's post about puppy raisers can be found here.

Aging a Brass Buckle

The film director has requested that all gas mask hardware be aged. Here is my technique for aging a solid brass buckle. Before on the left; after on the right.


1) Sandblast the buckle to remove the lacquer that is keeping it shiny.
2) Hammer it with a ball peen hammer so it looks well worn.
3) Antique it with dark stain.

Spring in Brenham

This past Spring I visited one of my favorite places Brenham Texas (Home of the yummy Bluebell Ice Cream). It's a small quaint little Texas town approximately an hour 1/2 away from me. Not far from the beautiful Antique Rose Emporium featured earlier on my blog. Now this is the best time to visit so you can see the Bluebonnets in full bloom. It has some great antique shops and vintage places to eat.


On the way back home there are some amazing sites like old abandoned buildings and windmills. I always try and imagine what it all looked like when those parts were alive and kicking.
There are also plenty of antiques to shop around for which is always fun.And my personal favorite, an old Drive Inn Movie Theatre, what fun it would have been to be there!!!And finally, if you have time stop in and see a picture perfect piece of history Chappell Hill. Still looks amazing with lots of original houses and some great shops.



Also, every Spring they have the Bluebonnet Festival which is really fun. You get to sample some great food and shop in some fabulous booths. On this day though it was quiet and peaceful. A perfect Spring Saturday!