Ikea hack

Well, it took a lot longer than I planned, but I'm finally finished with my latest project. It's made out of reconfigured "Lack" components from Ikea.

I started by ripping two tops of side tables in half.

I also purchased five small coffee tables. I'll be using their tops and shelves.

I've got 14 legs left over. Wonder what I can use those for...?

Then I painted the undersides of the tabletops to match.

I assembled the ripped side tabletops and two of the coffee tabletops into a sort of bench using dowels. I love my new dowel jig! It's so simple and fun.

I almost left it just like this. But instead...

I added an upper section with the three remaining coffee tabletops. This area will hold a TV and a couple shelves. To quote my nephew Linc N sitting on his brother's brand new car seat: "Look, Mom! I fit!"

My last step was to install shelves and place the TV. The shelves were trickier than I planned. The shelves are shallower than the depth of the cabinet, and the middle of the cabinet is just cardboard honeycomb (see first photo). Consequently, I had to make rails that stretched from front to back so they could be screwed into solid wood. After that I could just lay the shelves across them.

Violà!

My next project may be to get a bunch of picture frames or something to dress up the shelves.

Drip, drip

I noticed a couple weeks ago that I was getting a drip under my kitchen sink. I didn't think much about it because I've always had a problem with the hose from the sprayer. Each time I used it, a few drops of water would travel down the hose from above. I kept a pan underneath, and it was dry most of the time. But this was different. I hadn't used the sprayer in a while. And the drip was getting worse. I finally decided to do something after one load in my dishwasher produced an inch of water in the pan.

My investigation did not take long. I merely touched the drain pipe, and it crumbled like wet tissue paper.

Metal drain pipes disintegrate over time, from the inside out. Pinholes develop and the pipe starts leaking like a sieve.

My biggest challenge was removing it. There wasn't much metal left to grab onto. The only part that hadn't disintegrated was located inside the bigger pipe (downstream, so to speak). As you can see, it wasn't much fun getting it out.

All fixed!

Sugar plums and figgy pudding

I wouldn't have the first clue how to make sugar plums or figgy pudding. So...

For Christmas dessert, I made myself a pumpkin pie. Mmmm!

It was only by sheer will that I didn't eat the whole thing. At least not yet.

Hams

My nephews have had lots of experience posing for Sarah's camera. They're such little hams!

Family Christmas

Our family Christmas was held at my brother's house on Sunday. It also happened to be his birthday.

Their basement is now finished. It's really bright and cheerful down there. And the floor made a great surface for the boys' new Matchbox cars.

Linc got a drum set.

Nash got Legos.

Very young children often find the cardboard box more entertaining than the toy it held. My nephews are well past that age now. So this contraption is both a cardboard box and a toy. (It's technically Linc's house, but I think the boys will have a lot of fun in it together.)

There's always one who ruins the picture... Hey, birthday boy! Straighten up back there!

That's better.

Merry Christmas!

*****

Packers 13-1. Sniffle.

Cookies!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is decorating cookies with my mother.

This year, we did one batch of white and one batch of gingerbread. That's a lot of cookies! Each cookie is unique. (Okay, so after nearly three decades of decorating cookies together, we get a few duplicates. So what?)

The cookies have to dry, sometimes overnight, before they can be stacked in containers.

Naturally, there are a few that turn out (unexpectedly) great. Which is your favorite?
(Unlike most years, Ma and I both agreed that the Santa was the gold medalist.)

Did I mention we also made chocolate chip cookies and spritz?

Bon apetit!

Deer season

I headed north last weekend for my annual fall ritual. It's Deer Season once again.

Everyone gathered at Dan & Deb's cabin on Friday night. Katie wouldn't arrive until after midnight, but her son Mason had plenty of aunts and uncles and cousins to keep him entertained. He's such a happy little guy. I'm sure that DJ feeding him beer helped to keep him jolly. (Just kidding, Katie!)

The opening morning hunt is a wonderful tradition, and this was Trevor's first. He sat in Norm's stand.

I spent the morning in the Breakfast stand. Sadly, I didn't see any deer.

In the afternoon, I took off on a solo hike through the woods. There were deer signs everywhere. For the uninitiated, this photo ain't no Easter basket. That's moss covered with a few kernels of deer scat.

There are some very cool mushrooms growing out there.

I headed for the ground blind along the fence line. It had seen better days. The logs that had been concealing the chairs had collapsed upon them. I took it upon myself to make a few repairs.

How do you like my handiwork? Most of the logs were rotted through and couldn't be reused, so mostly I dragged new ones from nearby fallen trees.

It had started to snow by this point. The forest got very quiet and peaceful. I saw two deer. (Unfortunately, they were just passing through, and I wasn't quick enough to get my camera out before they were gone.) Overall, it was an awesome afternoon.

After dark we headed for Dan & Deb's cabin again. We celebrated an early Thanksgiving. None of the guys got any deer, so we were sans tenderloins for our feast. Still, we had a great meal of baked ham, cabbage rolls, cheese pirogis, root vegetables, and chicken soup. Yum!
The loft offered a great view of the dining room.

Those who didn't fit in the dining room were hanging out in the living room.

Troy brought a friend along this year. Her name is Christina. We've often said if you can manage to spend the night at the Farm, you pass the family's inspection. Well, Christina did it with flying colors. That's her playing with Mason and chatting with Troy.

Ma and booze? Nuh uh.

Well, we weren't very successful at killing deer this year, but we always have a good time. And great food!

See you all next year!