You can fool the fans - but not the players.... John Cage

10 days since my last post? Aggh! Water feature re-vamp

I wrote about the water feature way back in early spring. I've been so intrigued by it since we moved in - this is such a hot, dry place that the thought of water tinkling over rocks became extremely desirable.

So I took it out for a test run.

It was OK. The water had a pleasing sound, especially with the rocks arranged just right, but it had a leak somewhere and it just lacked... I don't know.... sparkle. The bottom of the pool was painted a tufa pink and it just didn't pick up the light. Desert-y, yes. Refreshing, not so much.

So this is it now.

Too bright? I struggle with this daily. We had to repaint it with pool paint and the only pool paint at Lowes was this, of course, pool blue. It comes with complicated directions, dries to a stretchy, elastic surface, and had to be cured for a week. I carefully painted around the water line and siliconed all the cracks before painting, swept the leaves and bugs out every day and impatiently waited to fill it.

Old:

New:

There are rocks hiding the pumps again and I'm letting a little algae grow on the surface... my routine is to take my first cup of coffee outside, scrub around the bottom and get the debris rising in the water, then I use a sieve to scoop up the big stuff like leaves and bugs and bird seed. Then I just let it run when I'm home and I love to walk outside and hear it splashing. There is still an issue with evaporation and so I turn it off when I leave and at night so as not to waste too much water.. it is an indulgence, I know.

Old:

New:

I still feel like it needs something but it hasn't quite come to me yet. We've talked about river rock instead of the pumice? Or perhaps some mosaic? Old glass? Any ideas out there?

Sierra Hot Springs

I met my work compadre earlier this week at Sierra Hot Springs in order to have a little time to talk about projects, goals, ideas, whatever. It was a great place to meet and a lovely, relaxing evening. My only complaint is that I ended up with ankles full of bites that itch like crazy... fleas? chiggers? no-see-ums? Whatever... next time I'm taking the repellent more seriously.

This is the view from the parking lot; looking northeast at the valley. I LOVE the Sierra Valley. It is a gem of a valley; all cows and hay and water.

This is the lodge. And see that door on the lower floor? I used to have a cafe through that door. Needless to say this visit (the first since I closed the cafe) was a trip down memory lane for me. Both good and bad. Relief and regret. Nostalgia and visceral flashbacks.

We rented a room in the lodge but there is camping available and also the Globe Hotel in Sierraville. Rooms are funky but charming and it is all European-style with shared restrooms and showers down the hall. We had a room at the south end of the 2nd story that looked out towards the campground and hills and overlooked the struggling vegetable garden (I think the soil is very alkaline and challenging to garden in). It was all done up with polka dot sheets and comforters; and the curtains were a patchwork riot of color and texture - I wish I'd taken a photo but I didn't. Very gypsy-esque.

We arrived in the late afternoon and immediately thought that these chairs were calling our name and we might sit outside with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc but nope - there is no alcohol allowed on site. Our chilled bottle of wine had to stay in the cooler and never got uncorked.

And the chairs remained empty.

We moved on to massage therapy and hot water.

While SS was having her massage I filled one of the private baths and enjoyed a tepid soak. The water in these Phoenix baths could have been hotter - but the privacy was nice and the view couldn't be beat.

We each enjoyed a wonderful half-hour massage with Joanna and then retreated to the lodge where we prepared a simple dinner in the shared kitchen - great resource with everything one needs- and ate outside. I'm thinking this is where the bites happened.

I didn't take any photos of the warm pool or the dome bath but this is where the real soaking is done (in my opinion). We walked up the hill, stored our clothes in the spacious, clean bathhouse and went into the Temple Dome. The dome has a circular pool with a sand bottom and is very, very HOT. It is delicious. If you are inclined towards shock therapy there are two bathtub-sized cold water tubs in the domes, but we elected to cool down by going outside to the large rectangular warm pool where we floated and star-gazed in the silky, slightly sulphury water.

Back inside the lodge there is a comfy sitting area and wifi. When we got back we found the lodge to be bustling with people (where did they come from?) and more than one person was hunched over a laptop pecking away.

This must be the goddess of the wifi.

Great retreat, despite the bug bites, and we left the next morning feeling rested and rejuvenated. There'll be a return visit, I'm sure, and eventually my memories of the cafe will be replaced with memories of hot water, massage, great views and good friends.

Lampshade Make-over

From Boring Southwest to Shabby Western

JC found this lamp at a yard sale some time ago and we just love it. Someone revamped it at some point and it must have had a bulb up top and some sort of glass shades (I'm guessing) - but we put a harp on it and then started looking for a lampshade that would cover the bulbs below but not be so huge as to overwhelm the whole lamp.

We had this very ugly and too short lampshade perched on it all winter - and every time I looked at it I cringed. The bulbs showed from the bottom of the shade and the southwest design stenciled on the shade was so not us.

It was time for a change.

I knew I wanted it to be western but not over the top western - if anything I was going to embellish it with crystals and rusty things; maybe some barb wire. To start with I spray painted the whole thing ivory the other day, which as it turned out just provided me with a blank canvas.

At the hardware store I spied this:

Now we were starting to get somewhere. I had already assembled this:

which consisted of three yards of microfiber fringe in a cream color and two yards of a braided trim in brown. My adhesive of choice for many projects is Aleene's tacky glue. I also bought some rusty stars for embellishment purposes (just in case).

Two coats of suede paint over the ivory yielded this - lookin' pretty good. Luckily I liked the color since they only had this and a blue color at the hardware store. Pretty plain, though and still too short.

First layer of fringe. Too skimpy. See that bulb showing there? But look at the beautiful cast iron base this lamp. I just love the combination of rusty iron and the glass on the base of this lamp.

Two layers of fringe is much better-but it looks a little unfinished to me.

Glued the trim on over the outer layer of fringe and:

Ta DA! A vast improvement. I wish I had a photo of the old shade... it would make this look even better. Hang on; let me go look.

Nope.. not a one. It is because I never liked it in the first place. So just imagine. White with quasi-southwest designs stenciled around the bottom. Too short. Bulbs hanging out. Believe me, this is better!

Ok, I'm fired up for projects now.... yesterday I also affixed small embroidered butterflies over holes in my lightweight wool wrap and used stitch witchery to hem the new yoga pants I haven't been able to wear yet because they were obviously made for a woman with legs up to her ears.

What makeovers will today bring?