Removing Old Deck...

 Here is our wooden deck that is upstairs and right off the kitchen and great room.  We use this deck all the time.  Unfortunately the extreme weather elements are very harsh on this wood and time has taken its toll.  With furniture, bbq, tea cart, family and friends this deck sometimes feels too small.  Right now this deck feels huge!  We have maintained this deck with wood sealers and re-stained it with the best products available but it is time to replace the old redwood.

 This post is photo heavy and I shall try not to bore you with mindless exhausting details of the work involved.  Lets just let the photos show  the story.

 This is a result of time and weather.  Bright sun to frozen snow that have given this deck a well deserved burial.

 Removing anything someone else built is always a challenge.  Screws of all the wrong type...toe-nailed with medium and huge nails...spacing wonky...etcetera.  Some of the nails were big enough a person could pole dance on them.  I told that to the custom order desk at the local building store and the guys just roared!

 Mr. C who works endlessly and ever so diligently.  Once he starts he doesn't stop until the job is done.

 Because the railing was obviously installed after the floorboards there is no way to get to the screws.  So plan B cut the boards and then remove the short pieces from the ladder on the outside of the deck.

 Mr. C running out of working space.  I must say these boards are very long and very heavy.  Rusty nails and screws and nasty dirty splinters.  Mr. C still has a very large nasty splinter under his middle fingernail.  OUCH!!!

Constant clean up from all the falling debris and bits of wood.  Even poor "Harry" the dustpan got smashed by a falling board.  Good old duct tape and it is good to go.   I hope duct tape can put me back together after this project.

 Here are two piles of brand new 2 x 6 cedar.  We have a local mill that cut it and delivered it to us.  We already had to turn all the pieces and re-stack them.  We also had to tarp them for a tiny little rain shower we had.

Here is our debris pile of the old lumber.  Some of it is good so we shall see what we will recycle and possibly make.  At this point Mr. C doesn't want to even think about any more wood projects.  He merely wants to finish this deck.  Our helper wasn't able to make it and help so we are doing this with just the two of us.  I can honestly say I am not the best or strongest helper.  I really feel badly for Mr. C.  We have tried to hire helpers.  Funny how no one really wants to work!
Enough of this deck project for now.  I will post when I have something new to show you.  We are hoping to be done in a couple of weeks.  We have had to custom order some large joists and some special wood sealer, filler and preservative so a few delays have slowed us down.  Probably a good thing so we don't collapse in a heap.  We do miss being able to access the deck and backyard directly without going downstairs to go upstairs.
May you have a summer weekend full of your favorite joys...

Grandpa, Mining & Memories...

This past weekend Mr. C and I had a rare opportunity to visit some private mining collections and displays.  I have no photos of the first property we visited as I had no idea what I was in for and did not bring my camera.  In my visits I got to reminiscing about my Grandpa.  I found a few black and white photos of him and scanned them into my computer.  I loved and still love my Grandpa.  He was a kind and loving man who worked very hard all of his life.  The reason I have included him in this post is that at the age of 14 years old he had to quit school and go to work in the coal mines in his home state of Alabama.  Now that I live in the Gold Mining belt of California and all of its history I can much more appreciate what he gave up to help support his mama and siblings.  Coal is very dirty and nasty.  In my Grandpa's final years he was very ill and finally properly diagnosed with Black Lung disease.  He died shortly thereafter and there was no restitution ever paid him as should have been.  The life of a miner is not an easy one and I admire their fortitude.

 Here are photos of the private collection I got to visit.  All of this was for gold mining here in Northern California.  This is a working two stamp mill.  The ground actually shakes with just two and most mines had numerous stamp mills pounding 24/7.

 I just adore all things old and drenched in character with so many stories entrenched into the pieces.  This cabin is a real one that a miner lived in.  No McMansion here...this is about 10'x10' and very basic!

 This amazing collection is a wealth of history with many stories attached to it.  One man and his wife lovingly search out and acquire bits and pieces and then carefully display them.  The key pieces actually work and show us flat-landers just what it was really like back in the days.

 Every place your eye could look was something amazing and historic and fabulous.

Even this mine entrance looks authentic because it really is!
How very generous of this wonderful couple to not only save and preserve such irreplaceable bits of history but to actually host an open house for visitors.  No admittance charge and no donations were allowed.  I thanked them in person but I will also send them a note of gratitude.
I am linking to Donna of Brynwood Needleworks for Memory Lane Monday.  Thank you Donna for letting me share.

Stitching Thread Catchers...

When I find something I like...I really like it.  I make some and then I make some more.  I shared about these little fabric thread catchers on this post.  These are quite easy to make and are perfect for mailing.
Here I was in a red mood and selected fabrics that I felt coordinated in pairs.  I cut out a "6 pack".

Here are the six red ones each stitched together.  

 I also decided to make a few pink ones so here are the fabrics I selected and cut out.  An equilateral triangle which is 9 1/2" on each side.  Two triangles for each thread catcher.

 Then I wanted to select my adornments for them.  I thought a little sewing pin would be super cute.  This is my selection.  It is so nice to have them sorted and labeled and ready for use.  (Thank you Miss Lorraine.)

I might choose some beads for use on the pins.  Here is a nice assortment for selecting just the right ones.

Oh and my signature heart buttons I adorn most everything with.  

Here are my selections ready for adorning the thread catchers.  And of course my ribbon labels for the finishing touch.

 The pink themed thread catchers all completed.  (I apologize for the bad photo.)

The red themed thread catchers all completed.
Most of these have all flown away across the miles.  I sent them as little Thank You surprises to some of my faithful followers.  I have said before that I haven't done a blog give-away as that seems to bring lots of non-followers seeking prizes.  (I only enter other blog give-aways if I have been and am a faithful follower.)  I would much rather send little surprises from time to time to my followers who are with me through thick and thin.  I truly appreciate each of you so very much.
One of my thread catcher recipients does not sew and instead told me she put her glue bottle inside as a holder and enjoys it every day sitting on her workspace.  Now the ideas are flowing aren't they?
Our weather is terribly cool last night and today.  May be some sort of storm brewing.  I would welcome rain however our deck wood is all laid out drying in preparation of cutting and staining.  Trust me it is a huge job to dismantle this old deck.  Mr. C is a trooper and has done all of the hideous dirty and dangerous work.  I have been his helper but I really am not much of a help when it comes to the heavy or difficult stuff.  This morning I was able to weed while waiting to "catch" boards to haul to the debris pile.  We are a really good team and have always been able to work together...whether office, home or whatever else project it is.  I feel fortunate that we work well together.
May you each have a glorious weekend and enjoy Summer which will be all too short.
Blissful Creating...

Bind-It All...

Thank you Jan of Papercraft Pleasures!  I am thrilled to win this amazing little machine.  I really hadn't seen or heard of this until Jan posted a give-away.  A very GENEROUS give-away on her blog.  I Googled it and decided that it would be fun to have one so I entered.   Nothing to do but be a follower and leave a comment.  It is easy to follow Jan and comment on her wonderful creative talents.  I have followed her for a long time because I like what she does.  I never thought I would win but I am super happy!
So my little machine arrives and I am ecstatic.  I check out You Tube for some ideas.  Overwhelmed I set it aside for a few days while company was here.

I thought I needed to start with the basic simple notebook.  So four hours later...yes!  I gathered supplies and began cutting.  My covers are made of high quality mat-board.  The dimension is very standard.  Now to cut the interior pages.  What was I thinking?  I had gathered lots of different fun papers including ledger, graph, plain, legal pad, sketching paper and scrapbook papers.  With ruler and paper cutting rotary blade I begin.  Really?  What size am I cutting?  3 and 13/16"?  My ruler doesn't even show that size.  What on earth was I thinking?!!  Very slow cutting and several pages that were too small...oops.   Another project another time I suppose.
This is totally why it took me four hours to make this one little notebook.  Next time I will use a much friendlier size for cutting.  

 I added some embellishments but kept it simple and easy to open and lay flat.

The inside under the cover.  I punched a card I liked that said thank you.  Jan Dear...Thank You so very much for this super generous gift you sent me.  I will be using it for many projects as my mind is in hyper-active mode thinking of the wonderful items I will be able to spiral bind now.
I will be playing in my studio a lot more now.
I continue to be amazed here in blogland that I adore so much.
Thank you to my new followers for visiting and linking.  Thank you to my faithful followers for staying with me and leaving me comments that I always enjoy reading.  I cannot express how grateful I truly am.
May you each have a wonderful week of creative bliss...

Roses, ATCs & Tags...

 Mr. C has his rose garden in full bloom now that the deer are fenced out.  Please do not worry as they still have the entire front and side yards of fully stocked buffet to enjoy eating.  This rose bush is not only stunning it is the perfect fragrance that heirloom roses are known for.  I will post outdoor photos soon I hope.

Here are my ATCs I received in the artJOYstuff swap of "Sew Many Flowers".  Each one makes me smile. Kimberly did it again and wowed me with her clever packaging.  She mailed them in a pattern envelope!  And she included a lovely little tag with beautiful lace and a thank you mini tag.  So thoughtful and appreciated my dear.

This ATC is from my dear blog friend Daniella of Layers of Creativity.  She knows how I adore and collect mice so this ATC is just for me!  Thank you dear.  I treasure your thoughtfulness.  These must be Munchkin Mice.  Super cute ATC.

Back to Kimberly of artJOYstuff blog and her recent generous giveaway.  I won!  She sent me these amazing little Bingo cards that she embellished and made into tags.  They were wrapped in pattern instructions with a lace tie.  Included is her very artsy postcard.

These tags have great dimension from the swimming gals and seashells and flowers and fibers. Fabulous!  Thank you  very much Kimberly.  You are so creative and I feel fortunate to be blog friends.
It has been quite busy here at Createology.  I shall have lots more to share with you in the upcoming posts.
For now Happy Father's Day to all and enjoy your celebrations.  Stay cool as the weather in most areas is quite hot...103 degrees in Sacramento and the valley.  Here it is a balmy 86 degrees which is just right for me.  Mr. C and I got up super early to work on the deck we must replace.  There must be 1000 screws that need to be dug out and removed.  Years of yuck and paint and sealer have really taken a toll on the rusted screw heads...not to mention the boards that are completely degraded (rotten).  This will be a huge project and will take us most of the summer.  I will probably take some photos along the way.
I am off to play in my studio...hooray!   Uh-oh...not yet as it is time for me to fix lunch.  Hmmm...maybe some nice freshly made chicken salad with red grapes.  Does this sound good?  And peach iced tea!