My subtle version of Steampunk

Mark and I are going to be doing some remodeling on his house.  We are removing the carpet and putting in Pergo type 'wood'  floors. He's having new energy-efficient windows put in, and I'm going to do some painting, etc.  We both have some fun ideas for different rooms.  It will be a long slow process that may take a couple of years, but it will be fun working on it together.

I mentioned on Facebook that I wanted to do a Steampunk living room.  I could hear the groans and gasps from the fam.   And I have no idea why I feel the need to do this, ... some sort of weird approval thing I'm sure, ... but allow me to explain. 
Let me me start by rephrasing my Facebook comment a little.  I think I want to do a subtle Steampunk look in the living room.  

Since it is human nature to fear what we don't understand, let me show you what Steampunk is.

From Wikipedia:
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery.

Basically, Steampunk is a genre that is a combination of the Victorian era, the mechanical/steam age, and early sciences and exploration.  It's 'modern history'.  
(It's mostly reproductions of quite ornate and/or mechanical antiques, not a lot of genuine antiques.)


Like everything else in the world, there are 'varying degrees' of Steampunk.  

This is 'extreme' Steampunk:



  

I think it's COOL, but it IS 'extreme'.

Now I'll show you what I mean by 'subtle' Steampunk.  
But first!
I have several reasons for wanting to do a Steampunk theme. 
1. Because I love the flourish of the Victorian age, the parlors and the beautiful styles and fashions! And I'm fascinated by the music machines and animatronics and mechanical inventions of the era. 
2. Because I love science, experimentation, maps, and exploration.   
3. Because Mark likes antiques, machines, and aeronaughtical stuff.  
4. This is a cool way to combine our favorite things into one room.  
5. We already have a lot of the stuff to do it.



Subtle Steampunk:  A small amount of bulky industrial pieces like the tripod lamp, (I believe I have a tripod in Jodi's barn), and a victorian touch in the old map on the wall and the ornate shelves.  
Historical looking, and yet modern at the same time.  It's also rustic enough for men to feel comfortable. 

On this one, you have the industrial pulley lamp, the old hour glasses, and again, an old map on the wall.

  

This one has the industrial looking lamp, and even a dead animal on the wall!  Now what man is gonna turn his nose up at that!









Next are a few random pieces that are very Steampunk. They can be very expensive pieces to acquire. But as luck would have it, I just happen to have some of these things.  And they are not reproductions, they are the real deal.   

I just happen to have an elegant antique clock. Not as ornate as these, but that's okay, I'm toning it down a bit anyway.  

I wish I had a picture of my clock to put here, but I can't find one!  :o(  








Ornate organs and pianos like this one  are great steampunk pieces.












This beauty belonged to Mark's grandparents. It currently sits in the living room, looking completely out of place with everything else in there, but there is no other place for it to go, so it has to stay where it is.  But it will look lovely once it's cleaned up and tied in with other cool stuff. I have already removed a lot of 'junk' off of it.  It was such a 'catch all' that you could not tell it was an organ. 











Here are 3 cool Steampunk Lamps.  Gears and wheels are signature pieces of steampunk. 

I'm thinking of doing something 'similar' to those with the pipes I found.   I love the industrial cages and lightbulbs. 



















Ceiling fans from Airplane Propellers?  Mark loves these!  He also has some cool airplane parts that could be used in other ways.  

I don't think this is really groan/gasp worthy. But really, it doesn't matter, because we like it.

'Later than Mid' Life Crisis!!!

My face is looking so old I want to scream. 

I have an overwhelming need for a change.  Since I can't afford mass quantities of plastic surgery,  I'm wondering if it would help if I changed my hair color, and went with a shorter 'do'.  I used one of those 'makeover' sites, and for the most part, most of the options gave Lisa and I some good laughs.  But there were a couple that I thought might actually be an option.  Please take a look at these pics and tell me what you think.  My dark hair shows behind and below all these shorter cuts, so you just have to block that out and just look at the short do, from my ears up.

The way I see it,... if I can no longer pull off, "I still got it",...  maybe I can try, "I'm so classy I don't need it".

Kate! Jodi!  You guys Stop Laughing! 

Option #1

Option #2

Option #3

Option #4
This one is real similar to what I have.  But shorter.  (This is where you really have to block out my dark hair.)

Th, th, th, that's all folks!

Ok, I'm feeling better.

Yes, I was having a difficult time in January.
February was much better. 
March has been downright pleasant. 
And I am looking forward to April. 

I apologize for having 'verbally vomited' on my blog in January. 
But I'm doing super now!

Girls Weekend coming up!

Getting together with childhood friends and fellow Junior High cheerleaders, Teri and Jewel this weekend.  It will be a very dignified and mature weekend, I'm sure.  Hopefully there will be no trips to the emergency room,...  but I am taking bail money.

I am the luckiest person I know....

I have a wonderful family.  My daughters and grandaughter, my Mom and my siblings, their offspring, and THEIR offspring, are all so fun, and cute, and weird, and wonderful. Very few people have as close a family as I do.     GROUP HUUUUGGGGG!!!!!

And,... I love my job.  At a time when most people are grateful to have ANY kind of job, I have one of the best jobs I've ever had. I'm getting paid to do what I love to do. What could be better?  It keeps me challenged, but not really stressed.  I love everybody I work with.  And my boss is such a sweetie.  (But I can't let him know that,... he thinks he's a bad azz.  Shhhhh... ) 

And, I have fantastic friends who are always there for me. Always ready to spend some time and provide a chuckle or two.  I've recently found some that I  haven't seen in many years. And yet we just seem to pick up where we left off.    

There are many more ways in which I have been blessed.

I am so lucky! 

Ah, piss on it. You knew I couldh't do it...

 OK, at no time did I ever say that was a picture of MY pie!  I said I'd made a pie.  And I wanted to put a picture of an apple pie in the post, so I used google images and found a fricken pie. Geez, ... I was lucky to have MADE the damn thing, let alone take pictures of it, and THEN download them onto the computer AND post it to my blog?  Hello?  It's me!  Lala!  Am I EVER that organized? 
- head shake of disbelief-
Oh!  And yes! I was proud that i had cooked something for,... um,... i'll just keep calling him The Harmonica Player.  He has cooked 3 big beautiful meals for me, so I wanted to cook him a pie. 

You know, only one other time in my whole life have I ever had a beau that made me want to go out of my way and do especially nice things for him. That one guy was unique. But The Harmonica Player makes me want to be a better person too.  I don't know if I'm  explaining this right, or what the heck it means, but I like the way it makes me feel. 
- thumbs in ears, tongue sticking out -

Did I miss anything?

Grrrrr!!!!

I've only been back to blogging for 1 day, and already,  I've screwed up my blog.  Now I remember why I quit blogging.  At least on Facebook, THEY screwed up everything FOR me!

My goodness, it's been so long since I've posted a blog, I'm not sure I remember how to do it!  But I, like so many others, am sick and tired of facebook.  So let's see how this works.  I don't have many subscribers, so feel free to subscribe.  (It just makes me feel good to think people are reading it.)

 

So much has happened in the past year,... 

I'm still working for the same garden center, but I started doing all the buying of trees and shrubs this last spring, and now I'm also the Asst. Manager.  Actually, I think my official title is "Junior Assisant Night Manager In Training".  :o)

 

I've recently gotten back into bluegrass music, with a special appreciation for harmonica.  (wink!)

 

And.... if you know me, you'll never believe this,... but I've been COOKING for said harmonica player.   Yes, REAL cooking, like in a kitchen, with a stove an' stuff!  I made him an apple pie last week, and now I'm roasting a chicken!  (I had to touch raw chicken!  Eeewww!)  Geez, what is happening to me that I want to cook for him?  Well, not to worry,  I'm sure it won't last long. 

 

 

 

My home on the island...

Maggie, checking out her new hood.

I've had a few people ask me about my crazy decision to buy an RV. I thought this response seemed like a good one to share on my blog.

I've been single for about 5 years now. I've had a couple of relationships, some family issues and job challenges, that have taken me from Boise to Portland, back to Boise again, up to Anacortes, WA, and now I'm back in Portland once more.

Frankly, I'm tired of packing and moving and un packing, and so I've decided that since I can't seem to land in one place,... I'm going to live in a portable house.

I found a wonderful place to park my RV. It's on an island at the confluence of the two large rivers. Almost half the island is preserved bird and wildlife habitate. I'm a bird nerd, they just facinate me, so I feel lucky to be here for peak migration time, too. I'm going to be surrounded by birds. ^_^

The best part about my new little home is that now, if I need to be where my children and grandchildren are, I can go. If I want to move to another town, I can go. If I want to park everything for a few months to travel, I can go. If I don't like my neighbors,... they can go!

Flexibility - that's what it's all about, baby! ;o)

My little sweat shop....

Wednesdays and Thursdays are my usual days off. On my days off, I try to work in the yard, take Maggie for walks or hikes, and enjoy some relaxation time. But my sewing business seems to be going a little too well, so I'm spending my days off sewing like crazy. The problem is, it's been hovering around 100 degrees, and there is no A/C in Popeye's house.
*** Oops, I better back up for a minute!*** Let me explain something... Because of a blogging 'run in' with a wealthy person with a fitting name, I now change names on my blog. So,the nice man that is letting me stay at his house will now be called Popeye, because he fancies himself a sailor, but never seems to be on a boat. (Ever notice that about Popeye? He's always on land! What's up with that???)

OH! By the way - I did not have a stalker. I found out that - uh,.. I'll call him "Peter Richy" now -was the REAL thing. Silly me! I really did think he was some bored internet creep that was bugging me. But nope! He was the real thing.

Ok, back to sewing,... because there is no A/C in Popeye's house, and it's 100 degrees outside, and my sewing room is upstairs, facing due west, it's 100 degrees in my sewing room. But I have 4 jobs that need done, so escaping the heat is not an option. So I'm literally working in a sweat shop. But,... or should I say, BUTT, ... I turned on a fan, and I'm sewing in the BUFF!!!
EEEwwww! Just TRY to get that visual out of your head!!!

Bwaaa ha ha ha ha!!!!

At least I'm not including pics with this post! But there is that visual that your own mind will make, and it's probably far worse than photos!!! LMAO!!!

Anybody care to play darts?

Note to Peter and the public at large: This is not a picture of anyone in particular, it's just a random photo I found on the internet. I just needed something to use to practice my dart game, (big tournament coming up.). This photo looked as good as any other, and I'm sure if this person has done anything REALLY stupid in the past day or so, it's merely coincidence.

Actually, I could practice my accuracy by throwing tar balls at it,...yeahhh,...

UH OH.... Somebody's is pissed....

MONROE, Ohio – A six-story-tall statue of Jesus Christ with his arms raised was struck by lightning in a thunderstorm Monday night and burned to the ground, police said.


Man, that's scary, when Jesus is getting hit by lightening! That means NOBODY is safe!

Makes me wonder if Mother Nature just needed to send a little message saying... "I'm still the one calling the shots around here, and don't forget it!"

Why I changed my blog to 'private'....

For those that don’t know, I had a cyber stalker.
He's some guy from Massachusettes that is pretending to be Peter Richy, the rich guy I wrote about on the Sailing Quest blog. He had the big blue boat that ran into all the little boats during the night.

Well this guy started out just commenting on the Sailing Quest blog saying "This is Peter Richy, and I don't think you should use my name and my boat in your blog." Then he started emailing me. He acted real tough at first, like he was trying to scare me because I blogged about him. But when I didn't respond, he started trying to make friends, saying he's my most avid reader. Then I notice he’d started reading this Hooty Hoot blog. Then he started telling me he wants to be friends and pen pals. So I finally responded, telling him that I knew he was not Peter Richy, but just a bored guy from Lexington, Massachusettes. (I could tell from my site meters, and he was on my blogs ALOT!) He responded with "Good catch!" But I'm still not going away until that post goes away."

The final straw was when I got a call from Sid. He sent Sid a registered letter! Again saying he was Peter Richy and that he wanted his name removed from that particular post. He told Sid that the post could stay, but to just change the names and then we could be friends. Sid was not happy. I told him that I was sure it was not Peter Richy, but I also assured him that I would not only get rid of the post, but the whole blog. I then decided to make all my blogs by invite only.

Seriously, if a rich guy like Peter Richy was really upset about the blog, I would have gotten a letter from his attorney not him!

He would certainly not start with a comment on my blog, then,... send a nasty email, and when I don’t respond, send a nice email trying to be ‘friends’.

And why would a rich guy with 100 foot Italian yacht want to be my 'pen pal'? Yes, he said he wanted to be pen pals!

Just CREEEEPY!

privacy in blogging...

You know, in the past couple of days, I've had two great subjects to blog about. But it's funny, since I made my blog private, it's just no fun.

Part of the fun of blogging, is putting your thoughts 'out there' for the whole world to see. But with it made private, heck why not just send an email?

So with the beautiful beach art that is what I did, I just sent an email instead of blogging.
- yawn-

And the second subject, one that really gets my dander up:

Abby Sunderland -The 16 year old girl that was trying to sail solo around the world to break the "youngest solo circumnatigation" record.

I was really going to do some serious blogging about the whole fiasco of sending a little girl out on a 40 foot sailboat alone! For gosh sake, that is the size of Quest! That's a big boat, with huge sails. There is a lot of strength required to sail a vessel like that, even if everything on it is electric, it's still a lot for a little girl alone! Sid and I had our hands full a couple of times in some weird weather, and that was still a cake walk considering what was expected of Abby.

Oh and then there is the expense of her rescue, (and who will pay for it?). Will Daddy get the bill???

But the best part,...the fact that her father has stated that "the family will not be elaborating on the problems that lead to the emergency." Gee! REALLY??? That's a shocker! WHY???

1. Could it be because a little girl shouldn't be out there in the first place?

2. Or that she didn't have the strenth to cut away the sails from the broken mast, to keep it from pulling her over or pulling her down?

3. Or that she was out in one of the worst areas on the planet, at the worst time of year, because waiting for a better weather window would have made her miss the 'youngest' record?

4...

5....

6......

GRRRRR!!!

I could go on and on, but I'm not going to... because it's just no fun when I can't share my opions with the world.

It just isn't the same at all. Ol' 'Pete' has taken the fun outta blogging.

Maybe I'll wait a few weeks, give 'Peter' a chance to get bored... and then put it back to public view.... -yawn-

Maggie and Jeri

Maggie loves Bob's old chocolate lab, Jeri.
She wants to be wherever Jeri is.
Fortunately, Jeri is VERY patient with this obnoxious little squirt.

Hanging out with Aunt Jeri, in the back yard.

Playin' Tug o' War with Aunt Jeri!

(Look at the big brown eyeball pleading for help...)

Sewing Projects

I have been getting some great sewing jobs.

I am currently working on putting all new isinglass into a boat dodger. (Putting new plastic window material into the canvas windshield and sides.) It's a large job. It's a full enclosure with 4 large pieces that contain 7 'windows'.

This has been a very challenging project. But I'd really like to reach a point to where I can specialize in marine sewing, so this is a fantastic.

You can see the old window material is badly discolored, and also cracked and breaking apart. Removing the old material, while maintaining the correct size and shape of the canvas frame was the most difficult part of the entire project, but I figured out a great trick and it has worked beautifully.

This is the old windshield... you can really see the discoloration on the right side of the picture.

This is the new windshield. Much better!

Old...

New!

I'm not completely finished, but I will get it wrapped up on my day off this week. :o)

These are some cushions and a table cloth that I made for a lady that has an antique patio set which is painted pale blue. She said she also has red flower pots and accents in the area. She asked me to help pick out fabric that would look good, as well as do the sewing. Here's what we did!

She said she'd send me a photo of the cushions ON the set, but I haven't received that yet. (Too wet to put the cushions outside!)

After finishing the boat dodger, I'll be putting a backing on a quilt and making matching pillow shams.

We had a nice day today!

We had good weather today! It was still overcast, but it was not raining!
So Maggie and I went hiking along Dairy Creek.

We had a great time! It was sooo nice to get OUT! Maggie loved exploring under all the shrubs and through the buttercups, and over the logs. She stayed very close to me the whole time. She's not one to wander too far from safety. That's a good thing. Of course, that may change when she gets older.

When we were done with all of our errands, it was still nice, and we just weren't ready to go home, so we also went for a run in the park too!

What a great day!

I need my Vitamin K & D!

I am one of those people that needs sunshine. I don't care if I wrinkle up to look like a raisen, I want to get out in the sunshine.

Maggie and I were going to go out to do some hiking today, but it's not just raining, it is POURING. I was also supposed to go out this morning and fertilize and treat for weeds for a customer from the nursery, and that is going to have to wait, too. Curse this rain!!!

Time to put on my grass skirt, get out the incense and the body paint and do my sun dance!!!



But not all is lost,...
I do have this one little ray of sunshine still following me around.















Maggie is growing so fast. She is such fun! I just love her.
I'm thinking that I'm going to have to arm wrestle Bob for her when the time comes to move out. She kind of likes him. But you know ornery ol' Bob, he just hates puppy breath, puppy kisses and those beady little eyes! You can just see the grimace on his face, as he talks to her.

busy, busy...

Wow, I have so much to write about, and so little time to do it...

The time up in Victoria with my friend Dan, the photograher, was great. I learned a lot, far more than I expected. I'll get some photos up and talk about it soon. It rained the entire time, but it was still great.

It was wonderful to see my friends in Anacortes again. I stayed at Rob and Apryls house on the way up. It was so good to see Rob & Apryl. Apryl gave me a haircut and fixed the mess that other lady made of my hair. I miss Apryl. I saw Sid and Bo too. I wish I could have seen Bill and Gig and the Olsens too. But there just wasn't time. Maybe next time.

My custom sewing is doing well. I have 3 jobs sitting here waiting to be sewn. I'll take photos of those too. (for a portfolio if nothing else.)

Maggie is adorable and fun. I'll get some photos of her up too.

Oh my, now I'm off to work at the nursery. It's been the 2nd wettest May in Portland history. Oh lucky me!!! Looks like June is starting off pretty soggy too! SUNSHINE! I need SUNSHINE!!!

I have to say, I get tired of this one...

Because, for someone who 'refuses' to put his hand on his heart,
he certainly seems to do it alot.

There are lots more. Shall I post more?