Sneaky Peeky

 Santa's Replacement

(Sneaky Peeky)

I'm not sure if I've shared this with you,

but I "LOVE" Christmas, and I "LOVE" Santas.

So much so that I find it nearly impossible

to take my ever most favorite Santa down each year.

In fact, here he still hangs.

In August.

Also, just in case I haven't shared this with you,

I am a big fan of Immediate Gratification.

As in, once I've decided what I want to paint,

I have to make a pattern immediately.

Once my pattern is made,

I am ready to paint, and I don't want to

stop painting until I am finished;

thereby putting as few road-blocks as possible

between my design idea and my finished

product ... which gives me the feeling

of Immediate Gratification,

even if it takes hours and hours to complete.

Here's a pic of my canvas,

after applying several colors of paint:

(I will be posting step-by-step pics later)

Sometimes Doc interferes with my

Immediate Gratification process.

I was at this point in my design

when he called out it was almost time to

leave ... (and I assured him he could

go on home without me and come back

later to pick me up.  Like 2am) ...

Other times he interferes with

my creative process by insisting I have

to eat, and dragging me away

from my studio kicking and screaming.

This scenario played itself out

last night, so I had to leave my design

before I'd gotten anywhere close to

Immediate Gratification.

Here's where I left my beloved project:

There it is.

Hanging in Limbo.

Practically begging me to complete it.

Do you hear that??

It's calling me.  Come back!!

Come paint!!  I will give you a sense

of satisfaction if only you will heed my call ...

Okay, maybe that's not exactly what it's saying.

I'm off to finish it anyway!

And, I'm taking frozen burritos to stuff

in my barn refrigerator.

Just to ward off any more possible

interferences ... ... ... 

Peace and Bean Burritos

The Refrigerator - Part II

When we decided to build a barn

out in the middle of nowhere,

I knew we would need a room for

storing snacks and beverages and possibly

for cooking light meals.

Some people refer to this as their

"kitchen"

I like to think of this as my

"probably wouldn't need it if it were just me,

but since I have a hundred kids

and they're always hungry and thirsty,

and if I'm serious about getting some actual

crafty-work done in my new studio,

we'd better put in a room for storing snacks

and beverages and possibly for cooking

light meals" room.

Ya know what?  Maybe I will just

call it a "kitchen"

Anyway, I didn't want to dedicate a whole

room to this "kitchen area"

so I dedicated a wall on the outside

of our build-out, on the inside

of our barn.

When you open those big garage doors,

you see this:

Now we get to the part where I talk about the

"probably wouldn't need it if it were just me,

but since I have a hundred kids

and they're always hungry and thirsty,

and if I'm serious about getting some actual

crafty-work done in my new studio,

we'd better put in a thing for storing snacks

and keeping beverages cold

and popcicles frozen"

... or refrigerator, as some would call it.

By now you've surely determined that

this will be no ordinary refrigerator.

But of course,

I had to start with an ordinary refrigerator,

which you can read about here.

Now, I personally wanted to have the fridge

sprayed a shade of barn red;

(after all, we have a paint sprayer for

just this very type of project)

however,

Some One wanted it painted with a roller.

Since I personally wasn't doing the painting,

Some One else was doing the painting,

so he got his way.

I pick my battles.

Here's why I thought spraying would be better:

Yikes!!!

Here is where Some One tells me that

it will need more than one coat.

(umm ... AGREE)

And here is also where I personally

share my sudden recollection

that red paint usually needs an orange base coat.

Well, we are miles away

from the nearest paint store,

and so we will press on.

Without the orange base coat.

Ta daa!!!

 But it isn't finished yet!

I thought we'd add a little white trim

- to make it seem more barn-like.

And special.

On a side note,

oooh!  I got a new saw and I have

sooo many project ideas

that will require me to use this delicious

piece of toolery!!!

I'm not sure if toolery is a word ...

it sounds like jewelry, which is a word,

and I like them both so much!

Badda

 Bing

Badda

Boom!!!

Now, we ran into a little hiccup

when it came to the handles.

When I initially dreamed up a barn fridge,

I had pictured in my mind our 

old upright freezer-on-top fridge-on-bottom

in a lovely shade of goldenrod yellow.

When I went to the Grove house to

clean my fridge, I discovered this strange and

unusual white side-by-side

in the goldenrod fridge's space.

I then remembered we

must have given away goldenrod fridge

and purchased this 

strange, white side-by-side

many years ago.

Funny how I forget stuff.

(Actually, it's not that funny, but I digress)

So, the handles I had pictured for this

barn fridge wouldn't work

since we now had this ice maker and 

the narrower doors to work with.

For the larger door,

(and this was Doc's idea)

(See - I give credit where credit is due)

(when I remember to)

we used a rail from a decorative window packet.

Don't know exactly what it's called,

and the packaging is still out at the barn.

For the smaller door,

I'm going through my hook and knob

collection to see if I can

find any really rustic-looking handles.

Until I find the right one,

no popcicles.

Just kidding.

I'm sure they'll figure out a way

to access the popcicles.

They're resourceful like that.

Hungry buggers.

Peace and Toolery