Hair raising experience

Christina and I attended the Bakken Holiday Evening Out recently. The Bakken, also known as The Bakken: A Library and Museum of Electricity in Life is on the west end of Lake Calhoun. We played some jedi mind control games AKA Mindball, watched a Frankenstein animatronic show, drank some wine, ate some food, and had our photo taken while Christina held on to the static creating ball.

Thrift store mania continues... I found this little gem (before below) last week and saw it's potential. I covered the original (faded) bird image with a piece of scrap cloth I had laying around and spray painted the frame. Done. Unfortunately both steve and I have fallen ill with the stomach flu this week, thus a couple of the other projects have yet to be finished. Perhaps I can muster up the energy to finish one of them tonight and post tomorrow. No promises though.

Steve jokes that he likes the before better. do you?

Trash to Treasure part 2This dresser is Steve's from childhood. It was in desperate need of some updating and since it is in the guest room i just gave it a coat of the same paint from the headboard. Then shellacked it and put on some updated hardware. Not too tough.

The before. Not so cute.

My new hobnail milk lamp collection is now up to 3. I found two more for $2 each last week and this is one of them. Someone else had the same idea of painting the wood on this one, but it looked beat up and the color wasn't going to work.

After a matcher to our other bedside lamp.

A few more items to come including pistol artwork (i know, intriguing right?) from our friend's grandma's house and also a free desk from craigslist we have rehabbed.

Two moreReally keeping you on your toes here. Only two more pictures of the house this week. At this rate it will be months before all rooms are posted. The kitchen will inevitably look this way for the entire time we live here, so 40 years, but will eventually paint the walls.

Here is my studio/craft room on the 3rd floor. It needs a bit more work unpacking/organizing, but for right now it is serving me well. It really isn't a very practical space for much else because of the low ceilings in parts. although my 12 year old cousin said he would like to live up there. (note the 3rd milk glass lamp on the desk, a real find, but i think that's enough for a while).

A little ledge on the way up to the craft room to put my kitschware.

Cold weather commute

Since we moved I've made it a goal to avoid driving to work. The bike ride is a tad over one mile. Above is a photo of the Greenway before I get on at the community garden plot a few blocks north of our house. It was around 15 degrees today and there was snow/ice on the ground for the first time. Warmth wasn't an issue. Traction was. Biking in November required a few accessories.


Hat.
Helmet.
Gloves.
All weather pants.
My pannier bag.
My Trek.
Front & back fenders.
Front & back lights.
Leg strap.
My beard.

Wish me luck.

Update: truth be told I stopped biking about two weeks later. The five minute drive via Jeep won out against the snow, ice, and dark paths. As soon as it is still light out until 5:30 or so I'll be back on the bike.

Have you been holding your breath?

The big reveal of the coffee table. And yes, that's a little owl. I mean, why not?

LINK OF THE MONTH

There is a lot going on these days. A lot. The world clock is keeping track here.