10.11.2005

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Don says

Being self employed has been interesting.   Our income level has dropped considerably but we have more time for a social life, aren't feeling quite so physically beat up as we were while working in the convenience store/restaurant.   We also have a better per-hour return for the work we do even if there isn't as much of it.   So far we've cleaned some houses, fixed a lawn mower, painted a roof, washed the windows in a sun-room, wired an office for telephone, fax and TV cable, helped move a house full of furniture, installed kitchen and bathroom sinks, transplanted several small trees, and wired a shed for electricity.   We've applied to the state of Texas for license as Apprentice Electricians because we were promised some work (by a licensed Master Electrician) if we'd get licensed.

A couple of weeks ago, when we replaced a bathroom sink, Lisa wanted me to make a planter with the old sink.   We talked about leaving the hardware on it but decided that would be a little too hokey.   I ripped cedar pickets into strips, on the table saw, to make a very simple supporting frame for it.

I bought the cedar pickets to make some rustic picture frames for a friend of ours.   I'm using the word "rustic" as a euphemism for "poorly made by someone who has no idea what he's doing" because I'm a poor carpenter at best and I certainly have no idea how to make a picture frame.   My sister happened to be visiting when I brought home the pickets and, when she found out what I intended, she insisted that I also make a frame for a piece of our mother's crewel work.   Since I set out to make a picture frame in the first place I figured that I could use mom's frame for practice.

Now, doesn't this look "rustic"?   By the way, the digital photos on our site are taken with Lisa's little Vivitar model 3345 which cost us $50 at Walmart and can be found at pricewatch.com for even less.   We've learned to remove the batteries when she's not using it, because they really don't last long, but even then, batteries are far less costly than film and developing costs.   That little camera turned out to be a really good investment.

Lisa says

Texas in the Fall is wonderful.   I'm recently from Florida (just one year) and there I'd have still been less than inspired by the still-hot weather.   Since we have more time and a lot more energy I've been allowing what I call "Fall Fever" full rein.   Plants are my passion and now I can care for them so my friends have inundated me with cuttings and full grown plants that they have in multiples.   Plant people are special.   Yesterday I came home from across the street with a little wagonload of plants and Don asked how many plants I was going to acquire this year.   He was remembering his offer to build a cold frame for the winter months.   Maybe I could slow down a bit... ahem.   But my friend Frances called and told me where I could get some Formosan Rain Trees if we would like to dig them out of her friend's rose garden.....