DIY. Dodgy but Done.

I am not a very handy person.  I have trouble holding the tools, I haven't much strength for anything, I can't do measurements, I'm short so find it hard to reach things without a step and I'm prone to fall off them...But we live in a tiny hovel of a house that needs lots of stuff done to it to bring it up to most peoples standard.  It needs a fair bit done before it reaches my standards and they are pretty low so that says a lot about how bad it is.  Husband is the handy person but his standards are lower than mine so since we have been living here not much  has been done inside the place.  There is talk of things getting done but nothing is planned for anytime soon.

But there are things that need doing, need fixing.  Like the towel rail in the bathroom.  It is was screwed into a non solid wall and the screws kept falling out and the towels would fall off the loosely hanging rail so I would push them back in and they would come out again so I'd wrap tape around them and push them back in.  At one stage I used blutac to hold it in.   None of that worked for long and finally it was starting to bug me.      I have more than a few handbags and a long time ago I was bothered by the way I stored them by shoving them into the overfilled shoe basket so asked husband to put something up behind the bedroom door so I could hang them up.  He did but he is taller than me and didn't realise how many I had so it never really worked.  The door wouldn't open properly and it hurt me to stretch up to reach the top hooks...

I wanted to make some garden signs, husband started to help me but it ended up that he made way more than me.   He was quicker, could use the tools better, could manage to hold the sander as well as the wood he was sanding...I couldn't even use sandpaper without having to stop too often.   We wanted the job finished so the tools and all my bits of wood could be cleared away but I got side-tracked and he ended up doing what was left...I still need to tidy away the tools and clean up the mess...which I will do sometime this week.  I hope.  

A lot of things that I do, or try to,  make me feel next to useless.  The fiasco with measuring and cutting a backing board for a dartboard showed how useless I am with measurements.   You know the saying *measure twice cut once*  I did that then measured again to make sure and was still 100mm too short.  How could that be!!   And  I haven't tried again since.   Having  the trouble making a few simple signs made me feel useless.  I mean, I know I have my limitations but I really didn't/don't like feeling so useless so often.  

But feeling useless is not being useless so a few days ago I decided to put all that behind me and try and fix/do a few things.  Simple things, things that even I could do.

The first was to put up a little rack near where husband sits when he is home.  Somewhere he could put the remote, his fags, other small things.   I found an old shower rack in the shed, it was dirty and had rusted bits and probably should have been binned long ago but maybe it was waiting for it's new purpose...I was going to cut the hooky bit off but couldn't turn the grinder on so had to use boltcutters instead.  That has left a sharp bit at the top but it's not too bad.  Turns out that the grinder I couldn't turn on was the wrong one anyway and the right one wasn't where it should have been.  Still isn't but next time I will know.  I sanded it, washed it, painted it then found a couple of screws and put it up on the cupboard next to his table and chair.  Dodgy but done, it does the job and husband thinks it's OK.


A long time ago we bought some hooks to put on the doors so they wouldn't blow shut when I wanted them open.   I put the first one on the back door.  I couldn't put a hook on the wall as it was panelling and there was nothing to screw to so I just cut a hole in the wall for the hook to hook into.  Dodgy but done and it keeps the door open. 



Next was the towel rail.  I needed a drill and I used to have one but have no idea where it is now so have to use husbands.  It is cordless and doesn't have a chuck key, I don't like it but it is what I had.   I took the rail down, the 2 screws that were in the wall were in properly and it took a bit to get them out.   I wanted to put the rail higher and it needed to be put into a stud so it was secure, that was the problem before.  Screwed to panelling not something solid.   I drilled a hole for the screws but it was too big and thicker screws wouldn't fit through the ending holes and I couldn't change the bit because it's a chuckless drill and I can't do it.  Called out to son, he changed it for me and I put some holes in.  Into jarrah studs so that was harder anyway but here's a tip...If it seems hard and you see smoke coming from the hole as you try to drill...it's not because it's jarrah it's because the drill is in reverse.  Change it over, it's much easier and there is no smoke!
The rail endings were finally up but the rail was 8 inches too short.  What to use to lengthen it...Hmmm, maybe an aluminium can cut and rolled...It worked but wasn't strong enough once the towels were hanging so I went searching and found an old rail in the trailer so I cut that down and used that as the extension.  Standing back to admire my handywork I notice the slant.  No matter, it's staying like it is.  Dodgy but it works.

My next fix was going to be the hooks for my bags.  I have too many bags and have removed a few but what is left I like, I use, they are staying.  Husband screwed on 1 length of timber, from top to bottom and put hooks in that and hooks across the top of the door.  It kinda worked but the top hooks were too high and bags were overlapping and the door wouldn't open all the way.  A bummer when it was crashed into in the night darkness...
I removed his very well screwed in screws and took the wood down, measured, cut then cut another 1/2 inch off so the door opened, HoHum...screwed them on and this time I remembered to check the level but the good spirit level was too long and the one that fitted is a bit dodgy so the levels aren't completely right.  BUT!  The door now opens right up and I put a hook on this one too so it doesn't blow shut with the Easterlies. 

This is the hole in the bedroom wall, not as neat as the other one and because I started to pull the panelling off in the bathroom it is now like a peak hole.   Definitely dodgy this one but it works.


And why did I pull the panelling off?  Because I had the grand idea of building a coat-rack into the wall behind the bathroom door but couldn't work out how to do it.  One day though I will.

It's a bit like the wall in the living room that I pulled off.  I want a wall of bookshelves here.   He said he needed to know what the wall was like inside to see if it could be done so I pulled the panels off.   We did measure up and have even bought the wood but it's been a long time since and I am still waiting.   He says he needs space in the shed so one day I will get all my stuff cleared and he will have room to work and I will have books to read.  

In all of the Dodgy DIY moments I am learning.  Learning what not to do, learning what I should have done, learning what tools work and what doesn't...I have learned that I want need my own drill and set of screwdrivers.  And a shorter spirit level that works.

 

My drill be a proper power one not a cordless battery operated one.  It will have a chuck key so I can change the bit myself.    It wont be as chunky as his are.  It will be mine and kept in my own little box of tools.   I used to have all this, many, many years ago when I was single, I didn't seem to be so useless, I knew I had to do the job so I did.  Over the years I have come to rely on, and expect, the husband doing things for me but now as I get older again I am reverting to wanting to be able to do them myself again.  And some things may turn out a bit dodgy but I'm sure that as I do more, learn more, practice more they will become less so.  

 

How about you?  Are you a dodgy do it yourselfer or are you one of the capable women people that I aspire to be?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wooden Garden Signs.

A long time ago I saved some old trellis from going to the tip.  I wanted it because I had/have grand plans to make a wooden bucket to go with the wishing well I was/am going to build.  Eventually, after 6-8 months husband got sick of asking me to do something with it and pulled it apart and stored what he thought I might need in the back of the shed.  The bits he thought I wouldn't need he put in the bin.  But!  I saw them there and pulled them out.  After-all, they were good for something.  Surely.

I hid put them away in the shed until I could think of a use.  'Cause they had a use.  Surely.  

Eventually, after another month or so, I thought I'd make some signs for the garden out of them.  I'd just cut them to length, cut a pointy bit on one end of the longer piece, nail the short bit to the long bit and write the name of the plant on it.  Easy. 

I cut them easy enough.  The third saw I tried worked best and I soon had 4 bits of wood cut and ready to put together.  But it was rough and I was concerned about splinters so went to get sandpaper.  Couldn't find it, inside to ask husband where it might be, back out for another look...Why stuff can't be put away after use I'll never know.  So rub rub rub, give up because it was hurting my hands and then a break of a couple of days because I forgot I was doing it.

Eventually get back into it and I soon have 3 signs ready to write on.   Ummm, with what do I write with dear Henry...I had a doctors appointment over in Pinjarra so afterwards went to Mitre 10 to buy *something*   I didn't know what I wanted but knew I wanted to burn the words into the wood and after explaining myself not too clearly they decided that I needed a wood engraver and they didn't sell them.  Swearword!   I needed something though or they would never get finished.  I spied a thing that looked interesting, it carved wood and glass and ceramics...I could have fun with that.  But it was over $100 and I decided not to spend that much.   Home and more thinking.

Yesterday husband is home, just for 1 day before he goes back to work and with nothing planned he is at a bit of a loose end.   He asks about my signs and I tell him about how I can't do much before I give up, how I didn't know what to use to write on them with now that I didn't have anything that would burn the letters in.  He says they used to use wire, bend it over and heat it up and write.  Heat, write, heat, write...He finds a pointy ended tool and shows me what he means.  We make a GARLIC sign.    The board is light timber and the burnt in letters are thin and black.  It looks OK.

But he had to go into town so he would go to the hardware shop and see if they had what I think I wanted as it would be quicker.

He comes home, I am busy with other things but soon I go into the shed where he is and he is working on my signs.  He is carving into the wood with the thing that I didn't buy because I thought it was too expensive.  He didn't think it was too expensive even though the one he bought in our town cost more than the one I didn't buy in Pinjarra.   Hmmm.   I should just buy things because at least I give some thought to how much they cost and look in bigger shops that are lower priced than our town ones.  This is the tool that he bought.  It did the job and will be used for other projects so I wont whinge too much about how much he paid.

Here he is showing me how to hold it, we have to write freehand and his letters are much neater than mine so I let him do most of the writing.  He ends up going over the GARLIC sign. makes the letters thicker and deeper in the wood.

We make a few more, trying different things to see which way I like best.  Some are just carved, some are carved then burned.  I decide that I like the letters lighter and the wood burned so we change the ones that aren't that way.

I have a few out there now, a couple still need to be finished and I do still need to make more.   Not this week though.

And despite my whinging about husbands buying expensive tools him doing that and his teaching allowed me to make the sign to put up with the tree I planted for the granddaughter.  You can see that it isn't very neat and all the words I wanted on there couldn't fit due to my sizing but I like the rusticness of it.  I may have to seal it, and the others, but I think they look OK.  I like them.

So I now have the skills to make as many signs as I want.   When I want.  It wont happen this week but when I'm ready, there could be a sign for everything.  Eventually they may look good enough to sell on our market stall.  That in itself is a good reason to make lots more as I'm sure the more I make the better I will get at it.  And faster too, at the moment it takes me a long time to make one but with more signs being made I am sure to get quicker, neater, faster, stronger...

Do you have signs in your garden?  Tell me why.  Is it to identify the plants?  Point the way to somewhere?  Housename?

River's Orange.

Daughter L asked people to plant a tree this week and dedicate it to her daughter who turned 1 on Monday.    I'm glad she did because a couple of weeks ago husband and I bought 64 small native trees and 1 Seedless Valencia Orange tree.  We spent a couple of days getting the small ones planted but this one has been sitting out there since, with me unsure where to put it.   I see this ask, husband is home, we discuss where it could go and tada! it is in.  

Husband had been showing me ways to make wooden garden signs during the morning so I found a spare bit of wood and put my newly learned skills to the test.

It's not quite how it was supposed to be and Husband says people will think it's some new breed of tree and I should change it but I like it and people can ask and learn.  I had written River's Orange Tree in pencil first, thinking it would be easy to then just trace over them but the carving isn't the same size as a pencil line so the letters are bigger and *tree* couldn't fit.  Still, I think it looks OK.   I then used the gas bottle to give it a burnt look and make the letters stand out more, hammered it into the ground near the tree and another put off job is completed.

Oranges and Lemons...And Bananas This Time.

We are still picking Oranges, Lemons and Mandarins.  This Orange was a part of this mornings breakfast.

And for morning rea I had 2 of our Bananas.  Had to have two as they aren't very big.  What they lack in size though they more than make up for in taste.  So sweet and bananaey.  Hmmm, if there is such a word I'm not sure how to spell it!  If you can't tell, our 2 are the ones in front.  The back ones were bought last week.

This is the first of 4 bunches that we have out there at the moment.  I cut this one down though as some of the fruit is starting to split and getting bugs in it.  The others are still a few weeks away from being ripe enough so we better get a move on with the banana eating.  I could freeze them but already have a few bags in there that are being complained about.    I think some of these will need to be added to that lot though.

 No fruit will need to be bought this month but in saying that I do have 1/2 a bought watermelon in the fridge, leftover from the party yesterday.  I can feel some flavoured Kefir coming on.

Rainbow Party Pictures

Here are a few more photos of the day for those that are interested.  It was mentioned on the invitation that it was rainbow themed and to wear something rainbowy but not many did.

I wasn't as organised as I should have been but did make myself a rainbow hat with long hair and had a matching rainbow front sewed on to my shirt.  Daughter thought I needed coloured hair though so the hat came off and the spray went on. 




Being sprayed was awful, smelly and so cold and it felt horrible to touch once on but it was rainbowy.  Grandaughter had hers done too and though we offered the treatment to others there only 1 kid wanted his done too.

The mothers and the party kids.  One is 1 tomorrow and the other will be 7 next week. 
So many presents but people were good and I don't think there was anything plastic.   Lots of wooden toys for the young one.

Mum and daughter wore matching rainbow dresses. 

 

You can do anything when you are nearly 7 and when wearing a rainbow dress.

This is the rope frame that I want to get to the top of.  I tried again yesterday but still couldn't make it.  Maybe next time.

Rainbow Birthday Cake.

 

This is the cake that T made for her daughters party today.  She didn't want to take it as she thought it was too munted but I thought it was pretty good so convinced her to take it anyway and nobody minded how munted it looked..  There were a few comments when it was cut and the inside was seen.

 

 

It was very rainbowy inside and I think she was happy with how the cut cake looked. 

 It was tall though so one piece was still big.

 

                                                                        

Most people were full after eating lunch so most of the cake was taken home by T so her partner could see what a great job she did.  When we left the park she drove another car to a shop and I was to pick her up from there, I only had to drive around the corner and across a road with the cake on the back seat.   It still looked good when she put it in the car (it still looked like a cake!)  and she did tell me to drive careful and not let anything happen to it.   Oops, must have took the corner a tad fast and she wasn't happy when she got back into the car and saw what had happened to it.  Not quite as impressive looking now!  And the rainbow pavlova that we didn't serve as there was so  much other stuff...that somehow ended up on the floor and looked a bit worse for wear too.  At least it was plain and didn't have any cream added to it yet.   Sorry T, lucky you took photos.

And bonus points because it tasted good too.  You did a great job.

 

 

 

 

Still Not Ready.

It's 10.00pm and I m only now nearly ready for the Rainbow party tomorrow.   I have the presents wrapped and in a bag ready to go and most of the food that I was responsible for is ready to be packed tomorrow.  I still need to find 6 or 7 mugs for the coffee drinkers and...oops, just remembered I haven't got the tea and coffee packed.  Off to do that now...Done. 
I also braved the dark and went out to the shed to get the camping mugs to take.   I had a torch but even though they give you light they also make shadows which make you  me jump.

I don't know why we I always leave everything to the last week, day, hour, minute...A lot of what I am doing tonight could have been done days ago, maybe not some of the food but the car should have been cleaned out before this afternoon.  The coffee and tea bag could have been packed, everything except the food could have should have wasn't done before tonight.   HoHum and it is now bed time.  Hopefully I wont sleep in 'cause there is still a bit to do and I want to be ready to leave here by 8 in the morning.  Might be another morning without coffee and I don't want that happening too often.

I have the batteries on charging so hopefully  used the right charger and they work tomorrow.  I think the camera is in the box of stuff to go...

Read And yellow And Pink And Blue

Purple and Orange and Green, I need to wear a rainbow, wear a rainbow, wear a rainbow soon.

We have a Rainbow themed birthday party coming up this Sat and today I need to get an outfit organised.  Something rainbowing...I have been on the hunt for rainbow colours over the last couple of weeks and now have a few things to work with but need to actually sit down and think about how to put something together.  If I slack off and don't do anything I do have some colour accessories to wear but I think making something too will add to the fun.

What would you wear to a rainbow themed party?  It must be cheap and easy to make.  I was going to take a photo and put it here so you could all see what I have to work with but both lots of camera batteries are flat so I must find the charger and get them recharged for the day.  I remember looking for this charger last week but couldn't find it so will need to have a proper look today.

The party is at a park an hour away from here so I also need to get a box packed up with everything we need to take.  Plates and cups, and cooking utensils...It's going to be a morning tea then sausage sizzle lunch but we are taking a salad plate as well as a few other dishes. 

I have the unorganised box of party gear here but will need to go through it and make sure we have everything we might need.  And I must not forget the gas stove and coffee making stuff as that will be expected by a few people there.  And I myself might want one while there so a separate box with tea, coffee, sugar, mugs will be needed....

I need to clear the market stuff out of the car so there is room for the party stuff to go in...

I will need to get a plan together on the food that I will be cooking and taking...

I need to turn this thing off and actually get up and start on things...

Coffee first then into it all.

Back Results Are Back.

I finally got in to see the doctor about the results from the scan and x-rays that I was whinging about a while back.  I have been trying to get into the local office but couldn't 'til the end of this week but managed an appointment over in Pinjarra for this morning.   So after being $300 out of pocket and whinging about that I have something worth whinging about.  It took awhile but I knew eventually I'd have good cause. 

They now know what is wrong but *apparently* it is not fixable and will continue to get worse.  Keep taking the painkillers and the Anti-inflammatory tablets, don't lift anything, work on better posture,  don't do this, don't do that...See a physio if I want to, he may have some ideas on exercises that might help with controlling the pain and improving posture...

I am going to get Reiki done on a more regular basis, I've been told that meditation might help so will look into that a bit more.   I went to a session last week and will go again this week but the woman doing it is not qualified, it is just a get together of like minded people I think but there are people there that are really into it.  One in particular does other alternative healings so I will talk to her a bit more if she is there next time.

And yes, in amongst it all I will eat better, move more, do (when I can be bothered) all that we all should be doing to be healthy...Blah blah blah.  Because really, I've said it all before and saying it again now wont make it actually happen.  I know I should, I know it would help, I know I know I know...

I went shopping after the doctor, tried to lift a watermelon into the trolley.  Hmmm, that hurt.  Lifting the 10kilo bag of onions hurt.  Getting home and putting it all into a cart to make it easier to get to the front door was a good idea but pulling the cart hurt.     Emptying the catcher on the rode-on lawnmower hurt.  Getting the firewood tomorrow will hurt.   HoHum, I am going to have to sort something out soon.  OR!  And this is probably what I will do.  I could do nothing and whinge about the extra hurting to anyone silly enough to listen.  Hmmm again, not the best plan I've had today.  I will give it some thought and try and come up with one that might actually help.

While talking to the doctor I asked about the wobbliness and bumping into things that has been happening lately.  The fall I had last week hurt and though I ended up with a pretty impressive bruise it is not something that I'd want too many repeats of.  He said to keep a record and if I keep falling for no reason then he will send me off for more tests.  The bumping into things and not walking straight isn't new but does seem to be happening more often. 

I had a Reiki session last month, anything to help the back, and afterwards the woman said that my Ethereal/etheric  body was out of line with my physical body and to be careful as I might get dizzy and have trouble with balance.  She didn't know about the fall or the wobbling so it did make me think that there might be something in it.   It didn't help the back though she said I had some hotspots in my knees and feet.   I've always had dicky knees and my feet are not as good as they should be so she may know something.  I'm going to talk to some people about alternative ways to live a healthy life and see if I can understand more on why I wont look after myself better.  They say that the mind is a powerful thing and I think I need to use mine a bit more, the sooner the better too I think, before I fall apart completely and give up all together.

What alternative health practices do you follow?  Are they working for you?  Anything you'd like to try but haven't yet?   Any recommended reading material you can suggest? 

Do I? Don't I? Do I? Don't I? Do I? Yes!!

Markets that is.  Our town markets were on on Sunday, I knew about them for weeks and were kinda gunna go...if it wasn't going to rain.  Or be too cold.  If I was organised.  If, if, if.   I have been a bit busier than usual but still have done a lot of time wasting, I could have been organised at least.  I couldn't control the weather but could have booked an indoor stall.    Could have, should have, didn't.

Saturday we planted more trees and I was like, Should I?  Husband just says "do what you want"  That wasn't much help as I didn't know what I wanted.  I kinda thought I wanted a stall if only to support the local markets like I tell people they should...In the end it was OK, I will.  But was pretty sore and tired after Friday and Saturday tree planting jobs and I didn't know where our market signs were, I couldn't find the cloths we cover the tables with...Did I even know where the float from the last one was...It was all too hard and at 9pm Sat night decided that NO, I wouldn't bother as I hadn't done anything to be ready.

I wake up at 6.30 Sunday morning and decide that seeing it was going to be a nice day weather wise then I would.  I would only take honey, fruit and fishfood so should be able to be ready in time.  These markets open to the public at 8am so I had plenty of time....No time for coffee or breakfast though as I needed to empty the car so I could put the tables in.

I jump out of bed and it isn't quite light yet so the dog that I am dog-sitting was still asleep so I go out the back door and sneak into the shed.  I knew if I woke him he would start barking and wanting to get out and as he is a bit of a nuisance sometimes I wanted him away from what I was doing.   I put the tables in the car.  Had to empty one of them first as I had been using it for something else, something that should have been finished and packed away a week ago HoHum... Get the tables in the car, where are the signs, go inside and print out a couple of signs...Where is the honey, Oops that's right, I needed to label some jars, get the labels, hunt around for some scissors to take and put them in the car.  I had excess Oranges and Mandarins but they were still on the trees so had to go inside and get some bags to put them in.  By this time the dog was awake and barking so I let him out.  The trees are in the chookpen and they're waking up too so come running out looking for food and trying to trip me over.  Again.   The stupid dog is carrying on trying to get the chooks, I think he would be a chook killing given half a chance so I stop what I am doing and lock him up again.  If he barks and wakes up the husband then so be it. I pick Lemons, Oranges and Mandies.  Put them in a box and grab some bags to put them in.  Get the fish food box down, at least I know where that one is.   So I have fishfood, honey, fruit...that will do as it's getting on and I still needed to get changed and get there to set up. 

By the time I do get there I have 15 min before official opening time, someone is in the spot we usually have but I set up in the sunshine, probably a better spot anyway as it turned out.  It is windy and cold but I manage to get the cloths on and the produce set out,  Stick the price signs onto the table and then start bagging up some fruit to sell.  I then cut out some labels and stick them on the jars that need them.  And start selling.      All the Mandarins went quite quickly, then the Oranges.  I could have sold twice the amount if I had of taken the time to pick more.  Sold enough honey to make it worthwhile and a few bags of the fishfood. 

All up it was worth going down, I made a bit of money, I supported the markets, talked to the woman next to me so helped out Vinnies too.

The woman next to me said they were moving so she had a clean-out, she had so much stuff.  She was saying that she didn't want to take any of it home so was hoping it would all sell.  I mentioned that Vinnies was across the road, I could get the key, if she really didn't want what she didn't sell then they would take it.  She seemed pleased with that and at the end of the markets I opened the doors and helped her unload a heap of stuff.   I spend most of yesterday sorting through it and putting it on our shelves so win win there.

All in all it was a successful day.  Cold though, I was going to grab a jumper but forgot so was thankful that I had a sunny spot.  It was still cold though.     I need to get organised and ready for the next one, yes I do.  Will I though.  Or won't I...