A Sort Of Cynic - Kind Of . . .

Photo - late afternoon sun shining through the clouds.

Life is filled with ups and down and no one ever said it would be easy or fair . . . this I've learned after many years of wishful thinking. 

I'm sure that some time in every one's life they've been duped or mislead.  And, come on admit it,  at one time we all believed in Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. 

There is nothing wrong with having a bit of fantasy in our lives so I certainly understand those who strongly believe in aliens from outer space, ghosts, vampires, werewolves and even mermaids.  Imagination is a wonderful thing as long as it isn't carried to extremes, it gives us a respite from the mundane tediousness of everyday life.

photo- dark afternoon clouds part enough for brilliant sun to shine through like a beacon.

I recall a friend of my mother's, mom always said that Eleanor was off her rocker. Eleanor believed wholeheartedly in aliens and that she herself was a descendant of them.  Was I one to scoff and try to burst her fantasy bubble?  No way.  The woman was in her early 80's let her have her fantasies, as long as they made her happy and didn't hurt anyone.

As for myself, I'm afraid I'm a bit of a cynic.  I've gotten to the point that if I don't see it with my own eyes I tend to dismiss it.  However I always leave just a tiny space for doubt. 

UFOs ?  Never saw one . . . though I have seen airplanes, helicopters , balloons and even those paper sacks with a candle under them called "Sky Lanterns" (often used for ethnic celebrations like Cinco de Mayo or a Quinceañera) .  Yet I cannot believe that we are alone and unique in this vast, infinate space that we know as our universe.

 I also have not seen ghosts . . . though I have heard our house ominously creak, crack, snap and pop late at night (could the spirits be trying to tell me something?).  As for a world of magic and make-believe?  Well, there I'm like Fox Mulder;  I Want To Believe . . . but...

Photo - Every cloud has a silver lining.

May all your fantasies be pleasant and happy ones.  Dream on my dear friends, dream on. :)

UFO No More...

At long last my UFO (UnFinished Overhead cabinet) project is completed, hallelujah, pour the champagne! John and I are both quite happy with the results. Our UFO is now officially a coffee table.

photo below - No this isn't the finished piece ! This is what it started out as. Note the UFO scrawled on the cabinet's side? Never fully understood just what it meant, perhaps Upper Fridge Overhead cabinet ?



Some of you may recall the initial project; an overhead wall cabinet that had been salvaged from a kitchen remodeling job. Of the 6 sides, only 2 were finished, the front with its 2 doors and the bottom, with a plain white melamine finish.

photo below shows unit after 4 sides were covered with a plywood skin. The original doors are attractive but very Red Oak with its heavy pronounced grain.



I've taken a number of photos along the way and am posting a few recaps of the procedure so any interested party can get up to speed on what has been accomplished.

Photo below - We chose chubby apple feet to support the cabinet off the floor.



Photo below - Gee they look pretty good on the soon-to-be coffee table.


below - Feet in place. Now measuring the top plywood skin.



below - Painting begins.


below - One of the faux finishes being applied.


below - Oops or "Oh S_ _ t!" 2nd faux finish was a disaster. Top looks like it has some type of contagious disease. Not pretty. No, not pretty at all. The funny thing is it actually looks better in the photo than in reality !

below - What to do ? How about peel-and-stick, slate look vinyl floor tiles ?


below - I'm pleased with the faux finish on the doors.




below - Just one small piece to cut and stick, then the top will be complete.


below - Yea it's down! Now to put the doors back on...where did we put those hinges ?



below - Uh, honey, do you remember how these things went on ?

below - Hinges on and doors in place.


Below - Simple black knobs, like that little black dress...a classic.


Below - Complete...completo...finished...finito...done...terminado !

below - And lots of storage room for stuff !

Now that the project is complete we've been able to put the saw horses, tools, paint cans, brushes, sand paper etc. back in the garage where they belong.

Ciao Bello Italo, one of Italy's 349 most handsome men. We have a garage that you could help us clean up...maybe a small lizard or two but no mice.

Jenn of Random Lunacy - should have taken your advice regarding the faux finish, instead I tried what Valspar's representative suggested. What a mess ! John brought out the electric sander and sanded the top for me, to be honest it looked much better once it was sanded smooth but it still was not the look I was striving for. Somehow I didn't envision a coffee table with acute eczema. Oh well that disease has now been cured.

In One Word....YUCK !

Photo above : UFO-coffee table-to-be is getting its base coat of latex paint. Unfortunately I used eggshell finish instead of satin finish. Now I know there is a difference and that difference, well it really makes a difference.

Does anybody know of a Voodoo witchdoctor that can remove a curse ? Not sure when it happened but suddenly I realized that everything I do turns out wrong. Now if this was just something that began recently I would tend to let it slide, but this has been plaguing me for awhile...oh like the past ten years or so.

At this stage I'm truly contemplating a curse removal or ritual cleansing. Have someone adept at the mumbo jumbo arts, rattle some snake fangs and dog's teeth over my head, blow smoke in my face and chase the bugaboos right out of my life.

above photo: base coat down on sides and have streaked a glaze to resemble a wood grain, of sorts, kind of, maybe, perhaps !
Photo below: more of the same but pretty blue tape has been removed.

Have been fighting with the faux finish that I wanted to put on the top of my coffee table project(aka UFO). When I first applied the crackle finish nothing happened. Twenty-four hours later it still hadn't crackled so I emailed Valspar paints to find out what to do. Seems I used the wrong paint finish, bought eggshell and should have purchased satin paint. Valspar said to go ahead and lightly sand the glaze and then apply a coat of latex satin paint and once dry go ahead with the glazing technique. Wasn't exactly what I wanted to do for the next couple of days but, okay I'd give it shot...after all it's only time.

Well, I won't go into long drawn out details, just suffice it to say I followed their recommendation but didn't get the results I had envisioned. In a nutshell...it's a mess. John, my hubby, was being very diplomatic. "Ah, yes, it's cracking this time. That's good." But once I had rubbed the darker glaze into the crackled surface I told John; "I'm not loving it !"
Photo above: the type of crackle I had anticipated and desired.

Photo below: Uneven crackling, some very tiny.


Photo below: Don't worry it's not contagious ! This is not at all the look I was striving for.
The pattern of the crackling is very sporadic, and I made every effort to apply it evenly and thickly. At this moment it looks more like it is suffering from a bad case of mange than sporting a fine faux finish.
Guess I'll go ahead and apply the clear protector coat and then go look for some nice ceramic tiles to cover the top with !

Fractured, Photoless Friday

For 2 years now I've been fidgeting with our TV, seems every few months the reception goes wonky and certain stations start to break up. It usually starts off with slight pixelations and a few minutes later the whole screen looks like an electronic jigsaw puzzle. Shortly afterwards the sound begins to cut out. Interesting effect though very difficult to understand what's being said, but since I can't tell what the picture is anyway guess it doesn't matter. Have called out the cable company a couple of times over this issue, the latest being this past week. A qualified technician came out, checked things over and said our signal was so low he was surprised we were able to receive any picture at all. Strange that when the cable was installed no one else was able to see this apparently glaring flaw. Guess I expect too much.
The cable tech said we needed some type of booster but naturally he didn't have one with him so had to schedule another appointment, which was sometime Thursday. Odd how they can never tell you exactly when they'll be out. Oh sometime between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., unless something happens and then we'll call and reschedule for another day.

addendum: Cable tech showed up Thursday, late morning at just the precise same instance that the skies decided to burst forth a torrential down pour, emphatically accentuated by crashes of nearby thunder. He called us on his cell phone and said he'd return later in the day. Today is now Friday and still no call from him !

Talk about calls. I had to schedule a bone density scan, hadn't had one in years. The first radiology lab that was on our insurance provider's approved list, was no longer available. They had merged with another health care facility which was not on the "approved" list. Okay scratch that one.
Called the next one on the list and, well they didn't do bone density scans but they had another location that did.
Third phone call, yes they did bone density scans, were on the approved list but they needed to know "why" my doctor wanted me to have a bone scan. Uh gee, I just thought this was common preventative medicine ? Didn't realize I had to have a specific reason or aliment to have this done. "Okay" the girl on the other end of the phone intones dubiously, "let's give your doctor a call." I'm beginning to feel they think I'm some sort of creep who just wants to go into clinics to have my bones scanned for the fun of it, then realize maybe this is why I haven't had a scan done in all these years !

Granddaughter's birthday is coming up. Our little Haley is not your typical Barbie doll baby and I can't even imagine her playing with something like My Pink Pony. She has a strong tomboy streak in her, loves race cars, would prefer to play with her brother's toys and can't get enough of baseball. She is on a little league softball team and is quite an exceptional player. Think the best present would be a gift card to one of her favorite stores...Target !

Also want to get over to my own house of worship this week, say a few prayers and hope that maybe He will take mercy upon me and guide a few customers to my Etsy or Artfire shops...yeah a sale or two would really be nice. Dream on ! You would think that after this amount of time and my life's experiences I would have learned to appreciate and understand the meaning of the phrase; "Starving Artist" ! Well a prayer or two certainly can't hurt, in my case maybe I should do the whole rosary?

addendum: Went to my church of choice to meditate and offer up prayers. The church is closed on Fridays for the summer. Hmmm, wonder what the Lord thinks about that ?

You may recall my UFO, coffee table project. It is still a work in progress...or is that process? Yes there has been some procrastination on my part. I can't say as I detest painting, painting is fine, it's all the prep work I lose patience with. The sanding, the taping, the constant clean up of everything within ten feet of me, the clean up of brushes, rollers, trays and, ultimately, myself. In all honesty I almost had it finished. Had decided to do a porcelain crackle finish on the top of the table, seemed an easy enough project. I even took the time to study several books on the procedure and talked with a number of employees that worked in the paint department of Lowe's and Home Depot. Thought I had followed every step, every little nuance of creating a crackle finish but the crackle didn't crackle ! Guess what ? Eggshell finish is not acceptable, you need a satin finish base coat or your crackle won't crack ! What next ?
Valspar's hot line told me to lightly sand the crackle glaze finish and put down a coat of satin paint and then go ahead with the crackling steps. I'll get back with you on that one, as soon as I :

1. Get a can of satin finish paint (color: New Penny)
2. A new foam roller
3. Another roll of painter's tape
4. Sand down the crackle finish
5. Remove all dust with a tack cloth 6. Tape off edges ..................

Hubby just informed me that the laundry basket is starting to overflow. Subtle hint that he is getting low on basics, like under shorts. Hopefully today I can throw a load into the wash, otherwise he will be going commando this week end.

UFO...Hadn't A Leg To Stand On

When I first envisioned the conversion of the UFO cabinet (Upper 'frigerator Overhead cabinets ?) into a coffee or cocktail table, I pictured it with chunky bun feet. John and I were able to locate some bun feet but at $25 each (not including shipping and handling charges) it seemed rather pricey. Fortunately John found a website that had simple "apple" feet at $5 each (again not including S&H charges) Well that was certainly a no brainer, $25 plus S&H for just one foot or four feet for $20 plus S&H. Hard decision to make ? Not really !


above photos: deciding on the placement.
below : all four feet installed...looking good !

Yes! At last progress is being made and the strange UFO in our home is starting to look more and more like a piece of furniture...or at least more like something one would find in front of the family room sofa.

above photo shows the ample storage room, a perfect retreat for all my clutter !

The next phase will be to cover the white melamine top with a sheet of thin plywood. Hope John studies that Adhesive Technology manual. Ah well, at lest we can no longer say that our UFO hasn't a leg to stand on. ; )

Another Step in the UFO saga

Some of you may have noticed that my Blog Banner has changed, no photo of my triple strand rose quartz and pearl necklace. It no longer proclaims "Almost Precious", which is the name of my handcrafted jewelry business and my etsy shop. In the beginning I tried to make some connection between my etsy jewelry shop and my Blog, so chose the Blog name of ABeader'sBlog. A mistake of course as with time my path wandered far off course...and you know what ?...I enjoyed the diversion, it was fun. It was nice to get away from etsy, etsy, etsy !
For the past 5 months I've felt like I did little else other that fret and work trying to get my shop off the ground, that was like trying to make a kite out of bricks...it just wouldn't fly !
Haven't talked about my craft or my shop in a while and perhaps that's exactly how it should be; "So long shop...so long etsy" ? Oh well...c'est la vie !


A couple of days ago John glued down another skin on our notorious UFO cabinet, only things didn't go quite the way he wanted. For some reason two small sections at the ends of this 3rd skin did not adhere to the cabinet.
I had wondered about this latest glue job as his pressure, weight system was completely off. The hardware section was minus the paint can...what hardware store doesn't have a paint section ? Not only that but there was no mayo on the grocery aisle.


above : 3rd skin going down, but something's amiss...where's the paint and the mayo?

below : this will be the front of the coffee table, it has two doors...look at all that interior space for "STUFF" !!!


With out the paint can and the jar of mayo was it any wonder that there's an "adhesion technicality" ? Now John had no recourse but to be very mundane and totally uncool ...

above: John resorts to the use of a clamp...so unimaginative ! On this side, since it is the open side which will someday have its doors back on, it was easy to attach a clamping tool. The other side however took a little more ingenuity.
Below: John combined two pipes to extend his pipe clamp...what a tool !

Might not be much of a coffee table yet, but sitting in the middle of our family room it is certainly a conversation piece !

John's Quick Stop Mini Mart...

Tuesday I got side tracked with my blog award and managed to get little else accomplished. Well yes, it’s not like an academy award but to me it’s a big deal and hey it is my very first award, I think I should be allowed to revel in it. Phoned everyone in my family to inform them, sent out e-mail announcements...odd though that the newspaper declined to do an article about it...perhaps they didn’t have the column space...or maybe they thought I said I got a Log Award?

John is making progress on the UFO cabinet...either that or he’s going to open a micro mini hardware/grocery store. He needed weight to keep the plywood skins in place until the adhesive cured.

If Wal Mart can do it on a colossal scale, maybe we can do it
on a microscopic one ?


Mmmmm, stick to your ribs spaghetti sauce and nuts and bolts...yum !


above: hardware and paint section


above: what can you make with mayo, spaghetti sauce and rock salt...tomato-mayo ice cream?

Here we have spaghetti sauce on aisle one, plumbing and paint on the end aisle and mayo on aisle two...I’ll be fine unless the loud speakers blare "Clean up on aisle one !"

First skin is down and dry.

above : one skin down three to go...then add feet...sand...attach doors...paint or maybe stain...

Another skin going down and a new configuration for John’s Quick Stop Mini Mart.


above - sales have been slow, anybody care to buy a box of rock salt ?


Don't need rock salt ? How about a jar of metal pipe parts ?


Groceries to the right...hardware to the left...sort of artistic, no ?

UFO cabinet...

We have in our possession a unique piece of "Trash" or "Treasure", depending upon one’s view point. It’s a remnant left over from a past kitchen renovation.


In our last home we had gone through the mayhem of remodeling our kitchen. We wanted to keep as much of the existing cabinetry as possible so there were only a couple of cabinets that absolutely had to be removed and replaced with new units to fit the new configuration. One was an over the fridge cabinet, those shallow units that fill the space above the refrigerator.
Somehow during this remolding the removed cabinets were stashed in our family room, guess the garage was too full of "stuff"...that reads all our junk, plus the materials and equipment needed for the construction. However when the dust settled and we removed the plastic traps covering everything I noticed the fridge cabinet sitting on the floor in front of our family room sofa. It looked rather nice there, in a strange sort of way. Sure it was a little low at 12" but if you added some chunky legs to it...oh yes then there's the 3 unfinished sides...well that could be covered with something. The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea. Think of all the storage space inside that cabinet ! What a great space to hide magazines, books, games, toys, endless possibilities. So it was salvaged.

Not too far down the time line, we sold our home, that was before the real estate market crashed. The strange cabinet came with us and spent time in our rental house while we looked at homes in our area. I did place a couple of wood, plant dollies under it to raise it to a more suitable height but its sides were still unfinished and, well there’s no way to be nice, the unit was homely, unattractive...no, it was ugly ! Two of its sides had been marked with installation information. Written in black grease pencil and basically irremovable were the large letters "UFO" doubt that stands for unidentified flying object, maybe unfinished overhead cabinets ? Doesn’t quite fit does it ? Upper Fridge something or other? Also the numbers 92 , 28 x 64 were scrawled on both sides of the cabinet...unique but can’t say it adds to the cabinet’s charm.

Photo below shows work in process: cabinet is front side down on floor, the front is the side that has the doors, only here the doors have been removed. John had been trying to fit a 1/4" skin of plywood to one side so the yet to be attached skin is sitting on the cabinet along with his drawings, calculations and tape measure.

At one time we consulted a carpenter/cabinet maker to see about having it made into a coffee table, seemed like an easy enough task as it was already a box and had 2 nice, solid wood doors. All it needed was to finish the 3 sides and put some squat little bun legs on it, however the shop wanted $400...we could buy a brand new coffee table for that and have change left over ! So ugly Betty returned home and sat around for another couple of years.
Now John has decided he’s going to tackle this heirloom, finish off the sides, add some legs and paint or stain it for me. Should have taken a "before" photo but just didn’t think about it soon enough. Right now he has removed the doors and the unit is sitting on its front side (the side where the doors go). I will try to chronicle its progress. Wish it luck !