Fish Basket/Candle Finally Made It Home

     It has been a busy summer around our place, so we have not made it down to the cabin much. I was delighted to finally make it down this past weekend.  I love our little place in the woods near the lake. It is so peaceful and relaxing. I was most excited, this trip, to take the fish basket/candle where I thought it would fit in just right.

I found an old aqua Mason jar that worked just right to hold a tea-light. It's taller than what I thought I would like, but it was a little windy and the taller jar kept my candle burning until it was exhausted. It really adds to the atmosphere and looks so cool after dark. I added three colorful fishing lures and am on the lookout for more. I like it with just the three, but it's big enough that it could take a few more, just for the daylight sparkle. I have actually found two more of these collapsible fish baskets, am collecting river rocks and looking for more lures to finish them off.

Faded to Fresh

I picked-up this little metal and glass lantern at an estate sale the other day for a quarter.

The glass is all in tact and the metal looks good, except for the color, of course, but no rust.

Originally it looks to have been a tangerine or orange sherbert color...maybe.

Now it's just a faded, dirty peach color...yuck!

My hubby said, "Throw that piece of junk away".

My reply, "I don't think so".

I think there could be a few more outdoor gatherings in the future

of this seemingly used-up little lantern.... 

 

I thought it would be a bit tricky to get the glass pieces out. Not only were they held in with metal tabs, but also double-sided sticky foam. I just sat it out in the Oklahoma sun for a couple of hours and the once hard, foam tape was soft and pliable and easily detached from the metal frame.

The next step was a good cleaning in preparation for a fresh coat of paint (or two). I just filled the kitchen sink with warm soapy water and went to work with my "project" toothbrush (great size for getting into little nooks and crannies). The little lantern then went back into the sun for a couple hours of drying time and was soon ready for this lovely "Blue Ocean Breeze" color.

I was very pleased with how the little lantern turned out...

I think it's good for another season or two.

I take all my plastic, paper, cans, glass and cardboard, etc.. to the recycle center.

However, this is my favorite kind of recycling!

What do you think?

 

Dog + Skunk = Ewww and Yuk!

 Our pooch, Shadow, learned a new lesson this morning (we hope) -

"Hmmm.....those furry black and white critters that kinda look like the cat I play with sometimes, really, really stink... and then you get a fizzy bath (or six) that smells almost as bad."

I opened my eyes about 5:30 this morning and was immediately aware of the foul stench of skunk that seemed to permeate our house - eeewww! As if that wasn't bad enough...when I opened the back door and pooch came running...it was quite obvious that Shadow had an encounter with  a skunk in the back yard. I just thought the smell inside was bad...the dog smelled ten times worse than the odor in the house -yuk!

I have always heard that baking soda and vinegar would work to neutralize skunk oil and we tested that hypothesis before the sun came up this morning. First, we soaked the dog with water, then we applied the baking soda, really working it into her fur coat and down to her skin (being careful to avoid her eyes). Now its time for the vinegar.  Either white or apple cider vinegar works for this application, and yes, there is definitely a "fizzing" effect.

Let me just say there's nothing quite like a skunky, vinegar smelling, fizzy dog first thing in the morning.

We worked the fizzy lather all over her, again, being careful not to get any in her eyes, and repeated the process six times before we used the dog shampoo. Definitely did not smell very good during the process, but the end result was a success! Hope that silly dog learned something as this is not a process I would want to do again, anytime soon! Oh - the joy of pets!! Good to know it does work though!