I didn’t mean to do it seriously, just wanted to use old table which the previous owner left when we moved in. It had been sitting at the corner of living room, the legs were chewed up. I always thought it could be “reborn”. Then one day it just hit me, “BETTER DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT or TRASH!”

So took everything apart, realized that it can’t be fixed the way I intended(simply sand it and repaint). It had a veneer laminated particle board top with broken corners. In order to use the top board, I either take off whole veneer or just ignore those spots. I started with legs by using iron to melt the glue, took me days. (I had serious pain in my wrist at the moment.) I couldn’t come up the idea of doing it for the big top, I changed my mind to make my own top. For those legs, I cut them to be coffee table legs.

These pics were taken in the progress.

Cleaned glue off and sanding the legs for days, decided how I am going to build also took days. Then I got the measurement, and put the top on, and leveled at ONCE!

I wanted to put stones, took me days to find what I wanted, how I needed to frame up, or what type of wood I needed to use. I mean, “Literally” hard to work on the project I never have done or thought of. When I was laid in bed at night, I recalled all of items I looked that day and assembled them in my head… I had hard time to sleep, but quite enjoyable to imagine how it would be….

The circular saw we owned is battery-generated, and the battery hasn’t replaced ever, it dies quick. So mostly I cut them by hand. I wished I had a table saw or I was stronger. Then whole price would go down and took me quicker to finish. Also I had hard time to balance it with one hand while pushing the saw straight with the other hand, the cuts weren’t straight, I spent lot of time sanding. (And again, I had bad bad wrist pain…)

Find/decide the color took me days AGAIN, picked up the color stain and sand days. Then Tada~~ From the day I took this legs off of the other table to the last coat of polyurethane sealer, I made a coffee table from Scratch! I DID it!!

Total cost was about $100, stones cost more than half. I know it could be a lot cheaper if I had a table saw, but Chris kept said “no”. I know it’s silly to buy it to use only few times, so we will see. I will buy new batteries or corded saw though.

Making a coffee table wasn’t that easy, but, but! I learned a lot. I have so many building simple furniture, can’t wait to start those project!

Then next, this is a key hanger. It was made to give as wedding gift to our friends. It could be done sooner, somehow I was dreaded to start… I would say the idea didn’t come.. Friends said they liked it, so I am glad, that’s all.

I looked thru the pic of what I have done in the summer, I couldn’t see much. I was working whole summer redoing my lawn, it looks a lot healthier, never been this pretty!!

Ah, in the middle of September, I got a cast to rest my wrist for a month, so I couldn’t do much anyway. I started cross-stitch to give myself something to do couple days later I got a cast, it’s almost done. When it’s done, I am going to sell online. (FYI, it’s the Christmas Stocking.)

The next pics are the Project Chris leaded.

“Once upon a time”, Chris promised me that he would expand our patio. We had this cement slab, which is tiny and had a crack all the way across. We loved having fire in winter, but it gets really crowded with friends. Chris was going to finish it early spring, but weather didn’t help, and in summer he had surgery, spent about 2 months for recovery. Finally he was fully recovered and the weather was super nice in October, he decided to DO it.

Although it was a big and hard project to do alone, Chris didn’t want any help from others, and rejected the idea to pay someone else. Besides I couldn’t lift as much as he expected me to do, my hand couldn’t handle it either. Chris called a friend help few times for few hours work before, the day he decided to lay bricks down Chris’s brother came to help him.

The pic below is the bricks laying on the top of cement patio.

Look nice huh?

Check the whole patio below! Your jaw must have dropped, right??? XD

The patio is expanded about 4 time bigger, the pic below was taken when they were about half way done. They worked super hard, exhausted every day, finished it in 2.5days. Chris got the gravels in early summer and set up the frames already though.

I still had a cast, couldn’t help but be Gatorade supplier. Or come out to see how they did time to time.

It is very nice to have a big big patio, we are so happy of the result. It’s big enough to buy a big table for when family comes or having a group of friends over, AND have a room for a big big fire pit!

So, as soon as the patio was done, I bought a big dining table set. It was quite expensive, but I am not planning to buy it again in the future, I would rather have a bit nicer & sturdy set to keep it forever. I will take a pic of whole thing when we get the right fire pit. We are using our old small fire pit for now, have been looking for “IT”. Still thinking of all this makes me happy because “I have a BIG patio!!”

I got a cast off Monday, now time to start cook a lot since we had been eating all I had saved, do all the projects I had put off like putting peg board up in the garage. Also I had missed baking, even thinking to take cake decor classes. A month I wasn’t able to do all this was NOT fun, I have to make up for that!!! Chop chop!!

I wanted to show how I clip Amber’s claws, and it happens every night. If I miss a night, next day her claws start making tracks on my skin. For 2 days, my skin starts bleeding from it. Imagine that how sharp the wild squirrels’ claws would be…

I asked Chris to record it couple days ago, Amber is pretty good getting her claws clipped. She knows that she doesn’t have a choice, besides she gets a NUT afterwards. XD

The thing still amazes me is that, when I pick a callus off her paws which might be hurtful, she doesn’t attack me back. You can tell that she doesn’t like me picking at it from the video. She knows I wouldn’t hurt her, I know she wouldn’t hurt me, that’s the trust between me and her.

Check it out for yourself!

+ She squeaks when I clip the sensitive ones. Literally twice I had made her bled, and it got sensitive since.

I am still here.

= )

Filed under: Lovers Tagged: a squirrel, Amber, Busy these days ]]> http://shykj.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/howdy/feed/ 1 shykj 0516-13 copy http://shykj.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/the-day-arya-and-jackie-went-to-see-vet/ http://shykj.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/the-day-arya-and-jackie-went-to-see-vet/#comments Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:39:10 +0000 shykj http://shykj.wordpress.com/?p=2697 ]]> Last year, I had decided to take cats to the vet every year. It’s not because they aren’t healthy, I just wanted to concern them as much as we concern Amber, I don’t want my cats feel like neglected. Also they are getting older(Arya is 5.5 years old, Jackie is about to be 4 years old in couple months), I want them to be happy healthy cats.

Anyway, since they are indoor cats, it’s rare to be outside. I think they are scared to death to be outside of the house. Both cry like…. they are dying…?? But it is so, so funny to watch them. Especially Arya acts like a kitten every time. Even the people at the vet asked me if it is a kitten. I told them it’s 5.5 years old (mid-aged?? ^^) cat, then all had “NO WAY” faces.

I took this video while waiting a vet.

Arya’s ears turned very very red, even her face(not showing well in the video). As you see, Jackie is frozen in the very back of the carrier, being TERRIFIED.

While Aray went away to check her body weight, I got Jackie out and put her down. Oh, she went right back to carrier. But in the 30secs, I got this pic of Jackie. Isn’t she gorgeous?

Arya was done first. In a sec, she got out of the exam table, jumped in to the sink and sat there like she is safe only there. LOL What a funny kitty!

+ This is usual morning picture in the bedroom. They used to wake up with me, these days they don’t. Every morning they are sleeping there till sun goes to the other side of house.

Yep, every morning.

Although I make her food every month, there’s lots of crumbs left by the end of the month. I don’t like to waste all, normally I let Amber eat it off the bowl. She doesn’t mind to stick her head in the bowl, sometimes, I think, she seems to think it’s very convenient since I SERVE her. LOL

Gotta go.

Also, the SPRING is here, yet bit chill outside, which is great to work on the garden cuz I wouldn’t get too hot. I had planted these Tulip bulbs last years, they were shooting out. This is 1st time ever to grow Tulip, I am so happy to see those flowers. My only complaint is that THEY ARE SO SHORT! I don’t know why. I know for sure I didn’t buy SHORT kind! WHY! WHY! (Chris teases me, saying it’s because a short Asian is growing them. COME ON!!!)

I will try to come back more often like old time. Chris got iPad2 for his birthday, I use it while he is gone to work. I must admit iPad is very neat and convenient, especially when I have Amber out. It is small, has no cord, I don’t get anxious to bring it to the play room. So from now on, I will try to write while having Amber out.

Have a Good One!

The wall at the stairs were painted dark blue before(not even painted right, just laid on wall randomly). I love blue. I absolutely love blue on anything, sometimes way too much. The problem was the light, the incandescence light on the ceiling. With it, the dark navy blue wall looks…… not pretty. I was even thinking the light to fluorescent, but it’s way high up. So I decided to give up the blue, paint something else.

This is the first coat, I wanted to see if it looks okay with the samples of paint I had at home.

At this point, I decided to go with them.

This is second coat. See the high ceiling? because of that, I couldn’t reach all of wall even with the extension pole.

I don’t have picture in between two -one above & one below, but one below is how I was done with it.

I gotta admit that it isn’t that great, it’s not how I wanted to be,but by the time hands hurt so bad(from scraping color with comb), and I didn’t want to waste time I spent on it. The colors should be blended smoother, I will do better for the other side. Hoping when I put the rail up, the rail should over that flaw. (Without the light on, it’s not that noticeable.)

And this is now. Yesterday I put up the rail which Chris hasn’t noticed. LOL As I hoped, the railing(or a shadow of it) is sitting right over the border of two colors, the wall doesn’t look too bad, I think.

I don’t know why I can’t stop for a while. I love working with a drill or a saw or a sander or…. XP I am taking break from painting the other side though, can’t guarantee how long. Scraping paint is lots of work, but I will finish as soon as possible. I will.

I want to paint Amber’s room too, it will be so funny to see her running around with the wall I have painted as I am picturing in my head. I can’t tell you how I am going to do yet, also hope I can get it(Amber’s room) done before family comes over(I don’t know when, but it’s about the time, we haven’t seen them for months!!!).