DIY Floating Cedar Shelf

DIY Floating Cedar Shelf-
We painted our master bedroom a few weeks ago. When I was at Home Depot after that I had seen something cedar colored up against something gray, and it reminded me of the bedroom. I had wanted to do something that wasn't just more pictures on the wall. I started doing a little bit of browsing online, came up with the idea of having Dave build a floating Cedar shelf in the empty bedroom space. There's a short wall on my side of the bed between the outside corner wall and the window. I thought it would be a perfect place to float a shelf and add some decorative items on it-

We bought a nicer quality finished cedar board (not fencing) with one side is very very smooth. One board was about $22, but since I found one that was split on the end they gave it to us for half price. Yeah! I wanted to make sure the wood we bought had one nice outside edge with no knots since that would be showing-

Dave bought a couple of 3/4" L brackets and small screws, found a studs and mounted the brackets-

Close up of bracket, brass, Dave used one on the top/one on the bottom-

Photo from Home Depot.com

After he put the shelf in place I could tell that it was a little bit too deep. I had Dave rip off  about 1" inch to make it narrower. Perfect size! I also asked Dave to round the corners of the board for safety purposes-

Then he did a little bit of sanding with his palm sander. Once he got it up and installed it it looked great! Then I added the decorative items and it looks even better! They all have sentimental value like the feathers I found, the lighthouse trivet I found which reminds me of all our trips to the coast. I added a little fake plant I bought at Hobby Lobby for some natural color-

  

  

Anya approved!

Total, about $13.00, including having leftover wood for other uses. I love it!

Apple Crisp w/Pecan Oatmeal Topping & Beef For Dinner, Chicken Recovery Success

 Apple Crisp w/Pecan Oatmeal Topping-
With a cold, snowy weekend it was a perfect time to bake! A furry friend even came up on the deck to score some cat food out for the neighbor's cat-

Saturday morning, cold and snowing-

I wanted to make an apple crisp, to use more of our home canned apples. Since I had a nice big bag of pecans in the freezer I added some to the mix. I used this doubled this basic recipe Martha Stewart Apple Crisp, added 1 cup raisins, nutmeg, then topped with about 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans. Baked up with a great crunch on top! After I took dessert out of the oven I made dinner, using one of the beef chuck roasts I bought on sale-

 I used this as a basic recipe Beef Pot Roast I added 4 large carrots, 2 small Yukon gold potatoes, 1 cup beef stock, with 2 Tsp Worcestershire sauce. Searing the meat FIRST is key! At the end I added 2 cups fresh mushrooms, then adjusted the seasoning before serving. I used my dutch oven enameled cast iron pot since I was home. Works great in a slow cooker as well!

Gwynne (Welsh for white)

Chicken Recovery Success-

After my favorite hen became really ill and I doctored her up last week, I'm happy to report she's back to normal! I transitioned her back to the coop gradually over the weekend. The coop was closed due to the snow and I turned on the heat lamp for extra warmth. She ran out today for treats, spinach and bread, looking alert and happy. I think this was a good experience as far as using observational skills. When your animals seem OFF pay attention! You get to know their patterns of behavior, eating, etc. With attention and some TLC you can save yourself a lot of grief. We even got 2 eggs today! She must be laying again.

Snow's melting

A Little Something About Photos Of Me

Me, in my previous life

A Little Something About Photos Of Me-
I wanted to address something since it just came up and I was pretty surprised, actually. Recent comment here-

Kate said...
I would love to follow you, but, and please don't take this as an insult, it bothers me that you won't put a photo of yourself on your blog/facebook. It's like you want to connect with us, your readers, but you don't *really* want to connect. If I follow you, you'll see *my* face, right? I guess I like to see the person that I'm following and reading. Just something to think about.

I've been blogging for 6 years, reached people all over the planet, and I've never had anyone complain that there wasn't a photo of me on my blog. Or on my new Facebook page. It's never been important to ME what people look like if I'm following their blog/Facebook. I'm there for content. I loved Mama Pea's old photo with a pot on her head and a mug of hot cocoa for instance! Having worked in technology for a very long time I tend to lean towards more privacy, but I know that's a novel concept for some people. I've addressed this before in this blog about why I don't post more photos of my adult children, grand children or other specifics. I know lots of other bloggers like that as well. I know there are a lot of people in the world who let it all hang out through social media and that's their choice. They post everything about everyone with no thought for whether it's appropriate, or permanent. Personally I abhor "tagging" and facial recognition. I mean who needs to know this stuff? Big brother?

There are people who job hunt, for instance, who don't like the data that shows that potential employers will search your Facebook or other social media accounts. Those wacky photos of drunk and disorderly people, body parts hanging out, or worse, may not get them hired and then they wonder why? I've never really posted a photo of myself on this blog for a variety of reasons, mostly because I hate having my photos taken and I am sensitive about my appearance. If someone wants to see photos of me with the expectation that I'm 20 years old and a size one, sorry, not going to happen. There are some people that only want to socialize with people who look like them. Maybe they're from a certain racial/ethnic background, and are only comfortable with people that look similar. Or are the same same size, financial status, wear the same clothes? I could go on.

Anyway if you want to know what I look like click on the Facebook tab on the right side bar ,go to my Facebook page and you will find out! And if you don't like it I guess you can just visualize and use your creative, right sided part of your brain. I do have blue eyes! And for laughs on hating having your photos taken read this hysterical article, all the way to the bottom! Buzzfeed.com Say Cheese
ENJOY!!!