Jimmy's Snail

Jimmy brought home some Play-Doh yesterday and proceeded to make his "go to" animal.  

A snail.

It was pretty cute.

First you roll it out.

Then you make the shell.

Make the eyes.

And done.

Snail friend.

Some other cute stuff that happens at our house on our couch.

Hi.

Oh, you want to smell the inside of my mouth, don't you?

Here you go.

That face kills me.

Oblivious

Tired face.

My kids love nap time.

Much Cuteness

More Vegetables

I watched a documentary called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead."  It really made me want to eat more vegetables and go on a juice fast.  So I made Jim watch it, and Guy watched it, too, and both of them said they want to do the juice fast with me.

http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/

So I bought a juicer, which still isn't here, and Jim suggested that we stop eating meat until the juicer arrives.  I think it's been three days.  Vegetarian is something I've never been, but I feel like I'm coming up against common problems that they face.  We're trying to not eat bread and pasta with every meal but it's like some subconscious need to eat carbs if you know you aren't eating meat.  Jim is finding veg choices out and about when he needs to eat lunch at work very limited, or fried and unhealthy.

I keep thinking we need to grow more vegetables in our backyard.  I kind of want a couple chickens for eggs.

Anyway.  This is not forever.  I am not turning vegetarian for good.  I love meat and I think humans were meant to eat it, but maybe not as much as we have been.  So hopefully, this juicer shows up, we can do our 10 day all juice fast and then go back to eating meat, just less frequently.

Much Vegetables

Texture

I just spent three days up at my parent's cabin helping my dad texture the walls in the downstairs apartment.  And the ceiling.  We got in on Wednesday and went on a walk with the puppies.

Move Sadie

That's the other 10 acres on the right

These berry bushes are everywhere.  Very invasive.  Not ripe yet.

Surveying his domain

There was this pretty little pool surrounded by berry bushes and right before I could take a picture, Lily decided she was hot and needed to cool off.

Aqua Dog

Sans Lily

Pine cone pictures never turn out like I want them to.

Then we relaxed on the deck.

Lily, relaxing.

Full Moon

The next morning the dogs got Dad up a little before 5am and he took them out on a walk, because he's crazy and he spoils those dogs like no one else.  I went back to sleep.

There's something in that wood pile.

So this is how the walls look before we went at them.  

Before

We started in the bathroom.  The purple drywall is mold resistant (if you care).  The first technique we tried was putting joint compound (or mud) on a paint roller and trying to roll it onto the ceiling and going after it with a trowel and knock it down and make the texture that was all Dad's idea.

First Technique

But we knew right away that that was not going to work.  The compound was too thick and wouldn't go on the roller and we didn't feel like cutting it with water so Dad just started to slap it on with the trowel  and trying to make the texture with that alone.  

Second Technique

After doing that for an hour, Dad figured out that when he dabbed some mud on in a random pattern and then went over it with a trowel it was easier to get the semi-pro texture look we wanted.  So we did that and finished the bathroom and then had lunch and a nap.

Bathroom Ceiling

Three hours later we were back at it.  The compound came in these bags in a box and weighed at least 60 pounds.  We decided to squeeze the compound out of the bag and just use the box as our container for the compound.  That was a pretty messy job and Dad got mud all over his hands.  So after all the mud was in the box he patted it on the wall and when he went over it with the trowel it looked like professional texturing.  

Ah ha!  So I started putting compound on the wall with my hands and Dad would come in after and knock it down.  It was so much easier and looked so good that we were super proud of ourselves.  We then proceeded to texture around the room and up on the ceiling until we were almost done but we were tired and wanted our dinner so we stopped for the night.

Where we left off the first day.

Kitchen area

Three boxes down

Dinner time

Of course we had steaks, and of course they were fantastic.  Dad knows his meat.  It's hard to beat a beer on a deck in the mountains watching hummingbirds fight over territory with dogs at your feet after a great meal.

The Explorer

The Homebody

Hummingbird Perch

Talking to his honey.

The Winner
 (for the moment).

The next day was finishing up the texturing left on the ceiling and sanding the dry.  I hate sanding.  It's hard to wear a mask and glasses because they always fog up and you can't see what you're doing.  But I struggled through.

Checking out his new sanding tool.

Hi Lily

So this is how texturing application should be done if you are going to be using your hands.  Gloves are good to have on your hands for protection.  

Step One: Put some mud on your hands.

Step Two: Dab it on the surface of your choice.

Repeat

Flotsam 

After

After sanding

This is what the dogs were doing 90% of the time.

Dad was extremely happy with our progress, we both were.  It's a common occurrence when working on a project dealing with a procedure you've never done before to take a lot longer than you expect it to.  But Dad ended up primed and painted on the bathroom and stopped only because he ran out of both because he didn't think we would get that far.  It's nice when things work out.

Priming

Happy Kent

I left a lot of mud on the ladder where I picked it up to constantly re-position it.

The third day my beautiful mother showed up to spend the weekend with her honey.  I got to drive her car back home to spend the weekend with my honey.

Cute

What hicks...

So that's it.  I learned something new.  I spent some time with my Pops.  I got out of Bakersfield for a couple days.  I breathed the mountain air.  I kept looking over my shoulder for bears.  It was fun.  

Much Texture