Salvaging a Flood Damaged Headboard, Part Two

C'est Belle!

Dancing Naked on the Tables

A comment from my friend Catherine, who I worked for in New Orleans, brought back a funny memory. After Hurricane Katrina, Catherine knew she could no longer run her business, The Basket Case. I met her to inventory and pack up the store. There were only a few people in the huge building, so the second day, Catherine brought Puppy with her, so he wouldn't be left alone.

The security guard saw Catherine coming in with the dog and went ballistic. "You can't have a dog here." "You have to remove the dog." Catherine was really upset. We were inside our shop, where the guard has no power. I tried to reason with her, but to no avail. She just kept repeating her mantra of "You can't have a dog here." Well, I finally laughed at her and said, "Ma'am, we have this space leased. We could lock the door, dance on the tables naked in front of the big windows and there's not a damn thing you could do about it. So go back to your desk and leave us alone!"

Catherine burst into laughter. The guard went back to her desk and called the building manager. I locked the front door, with Puppy safe inside.

A few minutes later, the building manager showed up at our door. After I let him in, he gave us both a hug. He was so very relieved to see we were ok. And, he never said a word about Puppy being in the shop.

Our Hummingbird

A hummingbird has decided to raise her family in the tree in the raised planter under our front entryway. She is not very pleased that we still use the front door. The nest is built on the bottom of one left from last year. She added a entire new top. There are two tiny eggs in the nest. (We peeked!) The orange egg looking thing in the picture is a tangelo.

Salvaging a Flood Damaged Headboard

One of the items that we have had in storage since leaving New Orleans is an oak headboard. It was purchased by Alice Willmon, Bill's mom, in the 60's, but was made in the mid 1800's. There was a matching wash stand and chest, both with beautiful mirrors, a foot board and rails. None of these were salvageable, but we thought the head board might be. In New Orleans, we removed the bottom two decorative sections of board, pulled it together with straps, removed the decorative pieces for packing, and used a pair of ruined purple sweatpants to wrap the fancy top piece in.

Between holding boards for Bill, who was working on the studs for the garage wall, I started dismanteling the headboard. Two boards at the bottom had to be removed, one is a solid wood trim piece, the other is veneered tiger oak. The veneer had come loose and warped, from all the water and humidity. So I cut it down, glued the edges, edged the back so it would fit in the solid trim piece, and now have it fitted together. I put it back in the headboard frame and added a couple of tiny nails to hold it in place.

The entire headboard needed to be shortened, since we removed part of the boards, as well as the legs look awful from being under water. We used the chop saw to remove 12 inches. I held it up, Bill chopped. Doing this, we discovered that one side is slightly warped. Oh, well, at 150+ years old, I guess it's entitled.

Since there are many dings, scratches and a dullness to the finish, I think from being in too much humidity, I rubbed new stain over the entire piece and all the decorative pieces that still need to be attached. After this has dried good, Bill will help me put all the parts back on, a two person job.

Hello There!

I needed some mint from our front garden. When I walked out the door, what was on the walkway? A very long King Snake! I yelled for the others to come. He didn't have good traction on the bricks, so we had a good look at him. When he hit the dirt area, he could really move. Bill and Dan were trying to take pictures, but I think he was camera shy.....

There is an abundance of wildlife on our property. We are starting to keep a list of what we see, birds, mammals, and reptiles. Oh and can't forget about the arachnides! I have been amazed at the birds. I didn't realise so many enjoyed living in the Sonoran Desert. Maybe that is where the term snowbird was first used? There do seem to be more in the winter.

Scorpion Hunting

Scorpions Beware! The past two nights we have been on a scorpion hunt. The proper tools are a black light flashlight, because scorpions glow this weird green color which jumps out at you in the dark, and something to smash them with. The first night we used an Arizona flyswatter, aka, a hammer. Last night, between the four of us, we had a rock hammer, a tack hammer, a long handled screw driver and a hockey stick. What can I say, he's a Flyers fan!

The first night we found two, but last night, maybe because it was Saturday and they were partying, we killed 7 and saw 2 which were out of reach. All of these were outside the house. We found none in the house, which is very good.

Now you may ask why do we hunt them down? The scorpions which live here are Bark Scorpions. One of the most venemous types. Plus they are very small, beige in color so they blend into the sand and bark, and even if you don't have an allergic reaction, their sting hurts like Hell! If you do have an allergic reaction, you go into anafalactic shock, not something anyone wished to experience. Since Dan is allergic to bees, we don't wish to take a chance. So, a hunting we did go!