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!

Watching the Neighbors

Bunnies, Bunnies, Bunnies! Sitting at my desk I can see 4, no wait, 5 bunnies. They really enjoy the short native grass that has sprouted under the two Palo Verde trees in front of our bedroom. They nibble a bit, then pause to listen, then nibble some more. Sometimes, they all pause at once, then scatter in different directions. I usually can't tell what has frightened them. Yesterday, I did see the hawk fly down really close to one. In fact, I initially thought he had caught it, but the little bunny had dove under the agave for safety. I know they get eaten, I just don't wish to witness the process.

The entire front wall of the bedroom is glass, with no covering of any sort. There is a sun shade on an electric roller which can be lowered in the summer, but it isn't needed now. I wasn't sure about living in a "glass house" when we first moved in, although now I wouldn't have it any other way. Any time I look out, there is something new to see. We have hung a feeder on the eucalyptus which has attracted two different kinds of hummingbirds already. Late one evening, just at dusk, a pack of coyotes strolled by. If I awaken in the night, I can look at the stars before I roll over to go back to sleep. It is very peaceful.

March 2010 Update

The house sit in Northern Ireland is a GO! We have purchased our plane tickets, leaving Tucson on 9 June and returning on 16 November. We will fly in/out of Dublin, since it was more economical with better connections. Then we factored in all the frequent flyer miles it will add to our accounts, and there was no other option but American.

I don't understand how airlines do their pricing,though. There doesn't seem to be any logic to it. One day, it was best to go on 10 June through 15 November, then it changed to 9 June - 16 November, then it was totally unaffordable to go at all, then back to 9 June - 16 November, for the lowest price ever. It would be easier if everyone priced like Southwest, where there are low prices for the early buyers, then when those seats gone, they go to the next level of pricing. It would certainly help my stress level when buying tickets!

I did our Monday evening walk in downtown Tucson yesterday for the first time in 5 weeks. Hurt my knee while we were moving. Didn't do a big "OUCH", it just got progressively more painful to walk. By the time we finished hauling everything over, I was a real gimp. While I still move slowly and take lots of Advil, I can at least walk 2 miles in 45 minutes. (I was doing 3.4 in 55 minutes.)

Today we will work in the yard and garage, as well as price having the concrete floors stained and polished. Should be a fun day.

A Home of Our Own

What a busy month we have had! The house sale finally closed, amid much nail biting, and we have moved. It is glorious to finally have a home of our own. We have unpacked the boxes to find some surprises that we did not realize had survived, as well as finding a few things that should have been thrown away in New Orleans. I've been painting and hanging pictures. Bill has worked getting the garage and workshop organizied. We will soon start on enclosing the carport area so there is one big garage, where, hopefully, we can keep the critters out.

And there are lots of critters! So far we have seen cottontail rabbits, pack rats, a bobcat, coyotes, including one which was not very healthy, hawks, hundreds of birds, a couple of scorpions, and evidence of javelina, who ate the purple wandering jew, including the roots!

The views from the house are spectacular! The Rincons to the east, the Santa Catalinas to the north and the after the beautiful sunsets, followed by the Tucson city lights, to the west. Who ever built this house did a supurb job of siteing. It is on a rise which gives views over the top of the neighbors houses. Then they made the back, north side, of the house nearly all glass.

This will be a very good place to live. And since, after this move, I've decided I'm never moving again, that is a good thing!

We're Going to Northern Ireland!

We applied for a house sit in Northern Ireland over a month ago. We renewed our application after they renewed their ad on Housecarer.com. I sent it twice, without hearing anything back. Then last Tuesday, when we had given up, an email arrived asking if we were still interested! We don't know the exact start date, late May to early June, as their current sitters are stuck in Washington DC in the tremendous snowstorms of the past 10 days. When they are finally able to make it to Derry and thaw out, we will find out the particulars for our arrival.

This house sit, for 5 1/2 months, will involve the care of two Irish Wolfhounds. Since we live with 3 Great Danes; Loki, Clyde and Andre, taking care of giant breed dogs will not be a problem, more of a joy!

We are looking forward to Ireland, which my sister described as the "greenest place on earth". It will also allow us to miss the heat of summer in the Sonoran Desert.

The Way Foreward

After 3 years, I'm back. I found I could not continue writing about New Orleans and our experience walking out. Suffice it to say, we made it. We made it back 6 weeks later to clean out our house, (5 weeks), gut the insides ( 1 day with the services of 2 brothers and their crew), and sell it to a friend. By January we were packed into a trailer, which we had to off load into a truck cause our pickup would not safely pull it, and headed to Pennsylvania. From there, we spent 6 months in Penn Yan, New York on the edge of Kuika Lake at some new friends cottage. Visited back in Pennsylvania with our daughter and son in law. Spent another 6 months house sitting in Virginia.

Now we are house sitting a couple of times a year, when we find somewhere interesting to go. So far we have been to Hillsborough, NC, twice, Ashville, NC, Webster, NY, Tesse Froulay, Normandy, France, Tucson, AZ. and Launceston, Cornwall, England.

We spent last winter in Amarillo, TX, remodeling a bathroom for a Bill's sister. From there, we moved to Tucson AZ, where we are buying a house with our daughter and son in law. This will give us the freedom to travel without having to worry about our home, and give them the freedom to go while we watch their 3 Great Danes.

We have tried to put Katrina behind us, but even so, she crops up when one of us will ask, "Did ??? survive?" At this point the bulk of our belongings have been in boxes for over 4 years. Although I made a good list when we were cleaning out, it's still been a long time since we have seen things. We are looking forward to moving into a new home and unpacking.