Raccoons - true little bandits !

Here is the project I have been working on for a while for our nephew's wedding next month.  After the wedding I will show you the full pic.  For now....just a tease.

I bought a youth bed from our neighbor - belonged to his dad who passed away 2 yrs. ago at 100 - so these are really old.  Manuel cut the foot board in half and welded it to the headboard and made a bench for me.  I cleaned it up - lightly sanded cause I wanted to keep the rusty antique look, then sprayed it with a clear acrylic to prevent any further rusting.  Really looked good after I finished.

Here is the finished bench.  I covered foam cushions and then I covered the plywood with batting and fabric to finish off the seat then made 3 pillows for the back. 

Here is the momma raccoon eating the kitty food I put out.

Momma is guarding the food!  Cause she is not sharing.  The 3 babies were out by the trees and I could not get their pics.

Well, I have now seen it all!  Miss Ethel was growling at the window so I looked out and the raccoons were back.  We havent seen them for several days.  There was a momma and 3 babies.  I went outside and sat on the porch.  They did not run away. They were to busy eating the bird seed that was on the ground.  Then I saw the momma climb up the tree, go out onto the branch, and procede to pull up the bird feeder by the cord and once she had it she tipped it over to pour out the seed onto the ground.  I could not believe my eyes.  I clapped my hands and told them no! and she finally came down.  I came in and got some cat food which she is eating, but she is NOT sharing it with her 3 babies....they are eating the bird seed.  Ken is sitting at the door watching them, better than TV.  Looks like now one of the babies is up eating the kitty food I put out for them.  They are such fun to watch, picking up food with their hands and being oh so dainty about it.  For those who live in Tx. the heat wave is not news but for our friends and family out of state - Sun. reached 112 in Austin and today a mere 109!  Ah, a cold front!!!!!!  I was out in my shop Sun. afternoon  and couldnt figure out why I was sweatin' but when I came in and heard it was 112 I figured out why my little window unit just couldnt keep up with the heat outside.  The news was saying tonite that this could go on for another 1-2 yrs.....so please pray for rain and some cooler temps for Texas.  We need it so bad.  The only advantage is that there are NO bugs outside.....zip, zero, nada.  We did get some rain Thurs - about 10 min. worth.  Not a lot but enough to keep the temp to double digits only......Yahoo.  The pics in the paper are pretty scary when you see lakes and streams dry, and cattle dying.  With not end in sight it really scares me.  Ken goes in Fri. for what we hope is his final fitting of new prothesis.  If it is, then he will leave the leg and they will put the "skin" covering on it to make it look more like a leg.  That process should take a week or 10 days.  During that time he will just wear his old leg.  We are so thrilled.  Will send photos when he gets the final leg.  Love to all our friends and family.  Hug those close....Ken and Glyda :)

Summer's winding down!!!!

Sunday I was out on the porch feeling down....just lots on my mind when I looked up and saw this beautiful rainbow....boy, does God know how to let us know he is there and is there to help us with our burdens - all we have to do is be willing to stop, look, listen and open our hearts.  Lord, thank you for the reminder.

For all of you who swear we don't have cats .... Tues. nite Lucy had stollen the straw out of Lily's drink and was playing with it.  So Lily got on the floor and she and Lucy were playing with it.  Boy is she coming a long way.  Course Ethel hid under the bed for 3 days!!!!  Didnt see her until today - Friday.

Lily is working on her quilt  - sewing the strips together

Here is Lily and her finished quilt.  Dont you just love the bright colors.  She did an absolutely awesome job.  She backed it with a solid hot pink material.

Here is a close up of Lily's fabric.  She picked it all out.  I did not give advice or help her choose.  All I did was write the check!!!  She has such a great eye for color.  She told me she wanted fabric with movement....now where does a 9 yr. old learn about fabric with "movement"?  She picked out the bold print and then picked out the other 3 to go with it. 

We also spent some time out in the shop playing with the Cricut.  We used the Sweet Treats cartridge and she made 2 sundaes.  Wish you could see them in real life so you could see all the sparkles and glitter.....looked good enough to eat.

Hello friends and family - WOW - can you believe that school starts on Monday!  Where has the summer gone.  Wasn't school just out.  Lily came out this week for the final summer visit.  We sewed while she was here.  You saw the great quilt she did already.  I mean - OMG - didn't she do an awesome job.  And I so love her color combinations.  Now Kitty wants to make a dress....think I will start her on a skirt first.  As everyone in Texas we are oh so praying for rain.  It is so dry here and now it is so scary....when will the water run out.  Areas around us are already running dry as are counties all over Texas.  We all need to pray for rain and for the people who are now going without water.  The birds here are ravenous about food and water.  I fill the bird bath once a day and sometimes I fill it a 2nd time.  Our little raccoon is very crafty these days.  Last Fri. nite - late -  I put out 7 pounds of bird seed in 3 feeders and on Sat. morning they were all empty.  Guess it was the raccoon who tipped the feeders enough so they dumped out all the food.  Then Tues. morning I went out to the back porch to feed Miss Kitty and the raccoon had ripped open the bag of seed and ate it and the seeds were all over every where....looked like a war zone.  Took me 30 min. to clean it all up!  Today I went and got more food, filled up the feeders and before I came in tonite I put them up - hopefully out of the raccoon's reach!  Ken had his final check up on his right eye - cataract surgery was a huge success and he has healed great.  So now we are going to schedule his left eye for sometime in Oct.  Then both eyes will be good.  Love to all of you.  Hug those you love.   Ken and Glynda  :)

Happy Saturday

Ethel was found sound asleep on the floor.  Guess she was just tired out....from what....I don't know.  Now take a look at Lucy... these two must have been active all nite...cause they were dead to the world in the morning.

Doesn't Lucy look like she is just about to melt down the front of the sofa!  What it must be like to be oh so relaxed!  She has truly entered the next world.....

Hello friends and family:  WOW - where has summer gone!!!!!  When I broke my foot in Jan. knew that I would not be able to get yard clean up done so thought, no problem, I'll do it in the summer.  Ok, so who knew that it would be triple digits all summer!!!!!  Now I tell myself...will do it in the fall.  At this rate I will be saying "I'll do it in the spring" before to long.  Oh well, no one out here has any yard this year.  The drought is really hitting us hard.  I am having to fill the birdbath at least twice a day since the birds are draining it dry.  They are going through the water and food oh so fast.  My raccoon may have gotten into 2 of the feeders last nite.  2 of them hang a little low and I guess if they stand up on hind feet they can tip them over and pour out all the seeds.  This morning I found 2 of them completely empty and hanging to one side.  What seed not eaten was on the ground.  I guess that raccoons would eat bird seed??? Just dont know.  But since I filled all 3 feeders last nite and 2 were hanging over and empty they are the only critters I can think of that would do it.  I have one that comes up to the porch to eat Miss Kitty's food so I have to make sure not to leave it out there.  A couple of times the raccoon has scratched at the living room window to get my attention and I have taken a small cup of food out and poured it on the ground.  Yes I know, if you feed they will stay, but with this drought I feel sorry for them.  We are going to Tyler next week for 4 days so guess the coons will have a feast since I will be leaving out extra food for Miss Kitty.  We have lost most of our yard even thought I am watering....just toooooo darn hot.  Right now I am praying for a hurricane to form off  the coast just so we can get some rain!  Ken had his cataract surgery and after 2 post op visits is doing fine.  He feels he sees better now in his right eye.  He will still have to wear glasses due to his astigmatism and thats ok.  He will probably go in Oct-Dec and have his left eye done.  We go back to see Dr.Dai on the 19th and Ken will get a new prescription for the right eye lens in his glasses.  We are getting ready to take out big road trip in Sept.  I am so excited.  In the next few weeks we will sit down and plan out the route and where we want to stop.  Think we will take 4 days to get there so we can stop along the way and play tourist.  I bought an antique metal twin bed headboard and footboard from our neighbor.  The bed belonged to his dad who died several years ago so they are at least 90+ years old.  I wanted a bench made out of it, so Manuel cut the footboard in half and welded them to the headboard to make arms.  Then he put a plywood base in it for the seat.  I have gotten fabric to make pillows and cushions for the bench and then they it will go on the porch.  Manuel kept one of the beds and as soon as his wife saw mine she told him she wanted one to.  So last Sun. Manuel made 2 benches.  Ken got his new permanent leg last week and he will wear it for a couple of weeks then we go back for final review.  If no tweeking needs to be done, then the leg will have the permanent "skin" covering put over it so it will look more like a leg.  He will have to wear his original leg for about 2 wks. but thats okay.  School is about to start here Aug 22 so guess that means summer is almost over.  Got 1 week left to have the girls out and to enjoy the last week before school starts.  Cherry and the 3 girls are heading to Calif. Sun for a week.  So they will have lots to talk about when they get home.  Love to all,  Ken and Glynda :)