Trash Day

 

As many of you long time readers and followers know, once a year my neighborhood association and the city of Wichita get together to have a trash day.  It's a time when you can get rid of things you normally wouldn't.  Items that are too large, or that have gotten out of hand.

Usually we have a month to get our trash together.  This month, I got my newsletter last Saturday, which gave me seven days, since items need to be at the curb by 7:00 p.m. Friday night.

You might be asking what's in all these buckets.  Actually, I was asking the same question, too.  The bottom shelf holds three you can't see and I failed to photograph the top shelf.  

 

On the shelves are various other items that I have thrown there over the years.  It was time to go through these shelves, as well as the tubs that originally held litter until the company got smart and started using cardboard boxes to hold litter.   This is not going to be a quick or easy task.  It certainly wasn't for the faint of heart.

 

Fast forward to yesterday evening.  I am finally finished and very happy.  I have taken the last of the trash to the curb and am back to take an "after" shot.

 

One of the baskets on the shelves held shells.  I brought shells from other locations and placed them all in one spot.  I corralled all the spray paint and small containers of wall paint to specific locations.  There are now only two tubs and they are filled with rusty bits that I can use when I rust fabric.  They are even labeled!

 

   I threw away a TON of baby food jars I had saved to make assemblages like the ones above.

  I also threw away a ton of tin cans that linked back to when I created recycled art. 

The middle shelf holds my prized photos of The Arch in St. Louis, Missouri and one of the many times I visited the Veiled Prophet (VP) Faire in the 1980s and 1990s. 

 

Here is one final view of what I believe to be a job well done.  I'll see you at the clean-up. 

 

 

Friday Smiles 526: Neighborhood Clean up

 

It's Friday, which means it's time to join Friday Smiles, hosted by Annie (at A Stitch in Time).  I will not be able to join next Friday because I will be performing my co-administrative duties at Art Journal Journey where I, and the other admins. welcome a new host on the first of every month.

Let's visit Annie and the other wonderful ladies who also share their smiles each Friday.  I thought I would share the last of my garage clean up photos, even though most females aren't as enamored by tools as I am.

I realize I was supposed to be cleaning this place, but I needed to cut a piece of wood at a 45 degree angle for my neighbor.  Saved him using his hand saw.  And I would much prefer to play with my power tools than clean and organize (wouldn't we all?)

I was tempted to use my air compressor to clean up the excess sawdust, but realized it would make an even bigger mess if I did.

Speaking of my air compressor, these are the tools I use with it.  They are scattered among the long clamps.  I didn't take time to make this wall neat because I can find anything I need when I fire up the compressor.  Note I have stored some long boards back there because I have nowhere else to store them.  I may take them to the shed later, or I may cut them up to make little houses.

No matter how many times I try, I can never seem to keep my packages of sandpaper looking neat.  That second shelf is always a mess.  Automotive wax, deicer, and cleaning supplies are on the top shelf and the third and bottom shelves hold items like extra antifreeze, motor oil, transmission fluid, etc.   Looks like I've thrown some car wax on the third shelf, too!

My skill saw is starting to scare me. It needs a better, stronger holder.

Much better.  Not only is it important to treat your power tools with respect when you use them,

you need to treat them with respect when you store them, too.

I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get this corner in focus, when I really should have been sweeping that area!

Sweeping the concrete was easier than sweeping that piece of carpet, but I tried.

The wall that holds the door to the garage houses my starter fluid for my smoker and the attachments I can add to my outdoor hose.  There are also baskets of sprayers for Neem, as well as rose fertilizer and other fertilizers.  These are all things that will be used outside, except for my old school house pencil sharpener.  Sorry it's fuzzy.  Didn't realize how bad the photo was or I would have taken it again.

I was running out of time when I got to this wall.  I keep plumbing supplies in the cabinet you can barely see under the flowers.  I keep electrical in the cabinet below it, which you can't see in this photo.  What you can see are all my pots for potting seeds, etc.           

All I had time to do was take a few photos

of where I keep my paint rollers, screw drivers, ratchets, socket wrenches, punches,

metric wrenches, wire strippers/cutters, extra electrical wiring,

 

 

and various wood and drill bits.

This is my rather small work bench.  I use the ash tray to sort and corral errant screws, nuts, beads, etc.  Don't you just love the can on which I painted and drew tools (NOT)?

Now to show the fruits of my labors.

Or should I say trash of my labors.  Those cardboard boxes were filled with trash, too.

I was completely finished and ready to take the trash to the curb when the rain came.  The downpour that lasted over two hours.

I didn't take my camera to the clean up, but I was delighted to see when I got home that all my bags had been picked up.  Other than hurting my back, even though I lifted using my knees, the clean up went well.  You can see my surprise lilies (aka Naked Ladies) are nearly gone.  I forgot to take any photos of them in full bloom.

For those of you who are requesting the sun, we are and have been under an extreme heat warning until Sunday.  Temps expected to exceed 110 to 115 F (43.3 to 46.1 C) and that doesn't include the heat index, which could top 120 F (48.89 C)

Now a few funnies:

 

 

 

 I am sure that most of you will not care about my garage, but I put it out there, if for no other reason, than my own benefit. Thanks for dropping by today.  Enjoy your weekend. PLEASE visit Annie and don't forget to start your weekend with a smile.  And if you live in the midwest in the USA, stay inside, turn on your AC, and drink lots of fluids, please.

 

WOYWW 738: Organizing postcards

 

It's Wednesday, which means it's time to join my dear friend and head desker Julia at Stamping Ground for the latest edition of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, or as most know, WOYWW for short.    

Some of you saw last week, the T Tuesday group I host, had an anniversary.  The big ten oh.  Some of the lovely ladies sent me gifts, which I was not expecting, but for which I was truly grateful.  I received several postcards.  In fact, I received at least one postcard from the packages I have opened.  Yes, I have unopened packages waiting for me to get to them.  Since I don't want these to get out of hand, I decided to deal with my postcards right away.  This postcard book is so large, it takes up most of my table.

I had planned to share my newest rocking horse today, but there was no room for it on my table.  Instead, I am sharing one that was broken when I received it.

The nice thing about opening gifts and taking photos at the same time proved valuable when the person who sent this to me (who was the seller, not the person who paid for it) had to replace it because I had proof it was broken when I received it.  I turned it into a medallion and now have an unbroken and a mixed media blown glass rocking horse.

Last week Cindy asked me where I keep them all.  I keep them in every room in my house.  I've shared a few places before, but I will do that again one of these days.  I'm trying to keep this short again this week.  I hope to see what each of you has on your desk, floor, or table this week.  Please join me at Julia's, where you will meet the kindest, most generous bloggers in the world.

 

This week's ICADs are here.

WOYWW 730

 

It's time to join our head desker and all around understanding and caring host, Julia at Stamping Ground for the latest edition of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  

But first, I must tell you, I have been trying to find a new refrigerator/freezer today (Tuesday) because mine quit working this morning sometime after my first coffee of the day and my eggs I was cooking for a very late lunch.  I think I found one, but they can't deliver it until next Wednesday or Thursday.  Seems all the big box stores are booked on delivery because of all the sales made over the Memorial Day weekend, which I completely forgot about!  It may be the weekend before I visit, but I will try to reach as many as I can Wednesday morning until my right hand gives out.  Then I must do something about the food that is in my fridge and freezer and put my computer time aside.  I hope you understand.

I always love when people give me things I can use as storage.  That is the case of my foodie friend Sally who gave me this 6 tier bath container.  The index card on my table is hiding a project I'm currently working on.  That's why the storage unit is on my table today.

 

Each container is marked telling what is inside.  Inside this tier you'll find colored flower petals.

This tier holds pen nibs.  Not the desirable pointy kind, but calligraphy nibs.  You can see the silicone mat my friend gifted me that I ruined when I heat set embossing powder.  I misunderstood thinking it was the same as the mats Tim Holtz sells.  I guess you see the rocking horse of the week, too.

Certainly not my smallest, but I like that it is on rollers, which qualifies in my world as a rocking horse.

Now let's head over to Julia's and snoop, enable, exchange storage tips, and share in the friendship that only WOYWW can provide.

BTW, is anyone creating ICADs this year?  It will be my 11th year, but because I am not on Facebook or Instagram, this is the only place you will find mine.

Friday Smiles 485: Back online

 

It's Friday and time to join Friday Smiles which is hosted by Annie (at A Stitch in Time).   Let's visit her and the other wonderful ladies who also share their smiles each Friday.  

I had planned to share this last week, but I wasn't able to access my computer.  I had a problem with it freezing and Scott had to buy a part that I needed to "unfreeze" it.

I know some of you have asked about the outcome of the special election we had on Tuesday, August 2.  I voted early so I was sure my vote would be counted.  Let me explain my state.  We are conservative and that means we are a RED (i.e. Republican dominated) state.  Normally Kansas would vote conservative and as my friend Scott said, the No vote didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of passing.  However, the NO vote carried with ease.  

A few statistics are in order.  Over $12 million US dollars were spent on tv ads alone, about half of which were from both sides of the issue.  The only time Kansas has turned out to vote higher than August 2, was in the general election for President Obama in 2008.  In 2016 only about 220,000 people voted in the primary, and in 2018 about 320,000 people voted in the primary.  On August 2, close to 935,000 people voted and the vote was 59% No and 41% Yes.  I personally believe this was a test case.  Now instead of talking about inflation and cost of living, candidates on both sides of the aisle can talk about freedom of choice.  Remember this is a very conservative state.  For example, in Wallace County in the far western part of the state, only 17% of the county voted No.

But we are actually here for smiles this week, so here is what I have to offer.

I knew I had a mess in my storage shed, but I had no idea I would find what I found as I was cleaning it.  I was so shocked, I ran inside, got my camera, and returned to find the little critter hadn't moved.  Can't see it?

Maybe this will help.  S/he has created quite a mess.  Not sure how long this little possum has been living here, but it is causing lots of problems.   I knew I had to clean out the shed, but I had NO idea I was going to need to remove everything.

These were the last of the boxes that needed to be sorted, but rain was headed our way, so I had to get them back into the shed before they were rained on.

That's my big adventure this week, so I will add a few funnies to the mix.

 

Thanks for visiting and spending a bit of time with Bleubeard and me this Friday.  Now PLEASE visit Annie and don't forget to start your weekend with a smile.