Tofino, BC and deep sea fishing

We have 9 days 18 hours 57 minutes and 49 seconds left until we leave for the ocean. This is one of my favorite times of the year. After going to the Bahamas last summer we didn't make our trip to Tofino for fishing and we have run out of all of our yummy fish. Fortunately we did VERY well two years ago and it lasted till now. We have to replenish the freezer.
Mark and our friend Alan have been preparing the boat, m/v Cool Change, a 27ft Bayliner. They have taken out the toilet and the STINKY holding tank. We will use the composting toilet that we bought for New Girl and mount it in there for the 3 weeks. (it is handy that they are interchangeable). Alan made a double aluminum arch that goes over the cockpit and installed fishing rod holders on it as well as a holder for the net. After that we put it in the water for a test run, it hasn't been in for 2 years, and it didn't run! Dang. So after Mark got out his tools, opened the engine compartment and did all the things that he does, I won't pretend I know what that is, it is running well. He says in fact that it purrs!
My job now is clean up and putting all of the cushions back in. Then is the task of stocking the boat for a 3 week trip, staying on the water the entire time.
It is about 17 hours of driving and 2.5 hour ferry ride. We also have to stop in Nanaimo, BC to pick up our fishing licenses. Then onto Tofino to splash the boat into the water and we are off. I am looking forward to the time away and being on the water. We sure do like sailing better but we will compromise for the fish! Grin!!!
I will post some pictures upon our return but until then you can check out the pictures from our last trips. Cheers all!

 The BC Ferries are beautiful boats.

 Cool Change before the arches got put on. I will add that picture later.

 Mmmm, these are fun to catch. Rock fish. Limit is 24 for all of us.

 Fishing off of the back of the boat. Jigging for rock fish and halibut. We use the down riggers for the big salmon.

 Oh, the beauty! Can you understand why we love fishing here?

 A great catch! The fish and my husband!

I am just one of the guys on this trip!

 

Refinishing an old French Provincial dresser

 Five years ago I lived in Bozeman, Montana. I lived in an apartment a couple of blocks from work. It was very convenient. I had been divorced for a year and a half and I met Mark online. After dating for a year back and forth we finally decided to make a change. I decided that I would move to Kalispell and find a place of my own. It was less than a week till we moved me. My neighbor girl was moving out as well. After she left I saw that she had left behind a dresser in her living room. It was painted a horrible shiny gold to look antiqued, like the do to picture frames. No wonder she had left it! The dresser shape itself was beautiful. It had great curves. I found it to be a sexy piece of furniture. So, I moved it in to my apartment to be moved again with me in a week.

I took a picture of the dresser the way that I found it. But after 5 years I can't find the pictures. Dang!


I started the project by researching what to need to do. I needs to get off the horribly ugly paint. This called for a paint stripper, rubber gloves, stripping pads, a plastic scraper with brush and a spray bottle to apply the stripper. I started the project in Mark's basement. It was hard work, I had to strip a few layers. Then I used the random orbital sander and got it down to the wood. I got all of the drawers done and the side of the dresser. I got sick of this project really quick and it got put on the back burner. It was on that burner in fact for 4 years.

Well, I came across the dresser again a couple of weeks ago and decided I should really get 'er done. I put it in the garage instead of the basement. I have something about basements. I just don't like working down there. I feel very lonely there. In the garage I had a lot more light and warm weather that made me want to be out there. I finished stripping it and sanded it all down. The drawers had some wood detailing on the front that was set into a groove. Some of them were broken and irreparable so I dug them all out and filled the grooves with wood filler in a walnut color. It took 2 tubes to fill them all and then sand them down even with the other surface.

 

 

My original idea was to stain the whole dresser. The wood however still had a lot of paint on it that I just couldn't remove. I decided to paint everything but the top and the lip in the middle. That I would stain with Minwax espresso stain and a Polycrylic varnish. The hardware for the drawers I decided were kind of cool looking so I sprayed them with Rustoleum hammered. It was a mettalic looking brown.

 

 

 

 

 

I painted the drawers with two coats of an interior latex paint in a satin finish. I got the color sample size that they sell in Lowes making them only $3. Summertime bloom and teal zeal.

The drawers I lined with a brown paper gift wrap paper that I found in the dollar store. I got a variety of print. I used Mod Podge matte and put an even coat on the inside bottom of the drawer. Then I put the paper in slowly starting in a corner and laying it down pressing out the wrinkles. I did not get them all out but as it dries they lessen. After a couple of hours I then put another coat of mod podge on the top of the paper evenly and they are all ready to go. I love how girly and interesting it makes the dresser. It adds character.

I LOVE the way that it turned out. What do you think? What have you refurbished? Send me some of your pictures!

 

 

Bates Motel..... update!

After spending an entire year and a half under construction on the 7 plex unit in windy Shelby, MT I believe that it is almost complete. Alex and David spent a year living there on weekdays, working everyday at gutting the place and rebuilding it. We would join with more family and friends to help out on the weekends. It was exhausting and hard work. We would go home with aches and pains in places that we didn't know could hurt. 

This weekend was one of the final weekends that we will be there. We laid sod, planted some pine trees, painted the rest of the exterior building, laid 60ft of concrete that was mandatory by the city, and worked around the rain. All said and done, we kicked some ass between the 3 of us. See the results in the before and after pictures.

 Newly purchased "Bates Motel" in Shelby. Oh we are in for the long haul!

The front under construction. Old tree and shrubs were ripped out.

New apartment signage done by Ringquist Signs in Kalispell. http://graphicdesigners.colorshade.com/Montana/Ringquist-Signs-Incorporated-20364.html

 

The sod was finally laid and pine trees were planted.

 Newly redone enclosed entryways.

Getting rid of the old and siding with the new. Also new back deck with stairs.

 

 The new siding and back decks being installed.

 Destruction and hold heating units

 Everything is ripped out. We also took out the old Murphy beds and sold all 6 on Craigslist.

Old bathrooms with laminate flooring peeling up.

 Update bathrooms with tile floors.

Installing the wood floors.

 

 Kitchen with tile floors, apartment sized stove/oven and fridge.

Enclosed entryways with tile floor.

Boat dishes. What do you use?

What do we use for boat dishes? After buying some cheap plastic plates at Wal Mart I thought I had it all figured out. They were the right price, unbreakable and bright colors. Perfect, right? NO! They were so gross when I washed them. The grease from the dishwater just clings to them. We don't have hot water in abundance so washing in cold water is normal. Something has got to change. Shopping I will go! Not a problem. After a few stores and endless searching online I finally found what I want and I love the colors as well. I got dinner and salad plates and bowls. They match with our blue theme on the boat and they look like stoneware.  They are thick, sturdy, wash up nicely and they don't seem to scratch to badly when cutting on them with a steak knife. The glasses that I purchased are a clear melamine rocks tumbler with a diagonal square design. I love them all.  I also purchased wine glasses that were plastic with a stem. For a wedding gift we received some stemless wineglasses from http://www.govinowine.com/

I must say that I use the stemless more. I really love them and they made a wonderful gift for a boater.

Our boat table

The design of the Catalina 27 in 1973 was a Formica table to look like teak. Well it doesn't look like teak and it is very unsteady. Because of the small space in the boat when you try to sit into the dining table you lean on the corner of the table. This way you can shimmy yourself back in there. Unfortunately there is only 1 leg on the front side of the table. This makes the table come unhinged from the latch in the wall and topples. Of course everything that's on the table goes into your lap or onto the floor. We decided that table had to come out and a new one will replace it. Mark made a table out of different types of wood pressed together and then he varnished the hell out of it. He also put fiddles around the edges to avoid things sliding off when healing. He did make an opening in the two corners though to make washing the table easier. The attachments on the back of the table are more solid so that we don't have the same problem when we lean on the table. We like the new look. I will post pictures soon.

This is the old table. It is warped and has a sway in the middle.

Mark is working in the shop on the new table.

Fiddles are being put on.

This is the finished table with a nice varnish on it. It is beautiful.

And works great with the locking hinges.

What is a chore?

At what point is it when you are doing something you enjoy that it becomes a chore?

 

Chore is defined as: 

1. a small or odd job; routine task.

2. chores, the everyday work around a house or farm.

3. a hard or unpleasant task

I have always enjoyed mowing the lawn it is something that I love. I am outdoors, getting exercise, and getting something accomplished that has a beautiful end result.

Even when we lived in Gretna Louisiana, it was so hot and humid outside. The love bugs would come and land on you, but I still enjoyed it. I knew that when I finished I would get to jump into the swimming pool that we had in our backyard. It was my own little reward.

Now I am out mowing the lawn and I feel like its a chore. There are more times than not that I don't enjoy doing it. So I ask myself, when did something that I enjoy doing become such a chore? I realized it was when it was an expectation of me to get it done. No one else was going to lend a hand. It wàs going to be me every week of the summer. They relied on me. Ugh! Why do we have to have such a big lawn! I have a renewed appreciation for when my husband plows the snow.

What have you done that you really love that now seems to be a chore?

DIY Outdoor Pallet Furniture

The Table

I have always looked at other peoples outdoor furniture and have wanted something for myself. I love thye magazines that have the gazebos or canopies with a big sectional type sofa underneath and lights going around. It looks like a big extension from the indoors brought outdoors to be in the sunshine. Why can't we be comfortable when we're outside lounging. There is no reason to have to lay on plastic furniture that makes you sweat and creates lines on your legs. I wanted outdoor entertaining in style.
But have you seen the prices of the furniture in the magazines? The sectional, like I would want,  is about $5000. That is the lifestyle of the rich and the famous. I am neither. So how can I have what I want at the price that I can afford? So I started looking around. And I kept seeing all of the pallet designs. I am a pretty crafty person and I could definitely replicate what they're doing. A little bit of thought process and budgeting ....I could make this work.
First on the list is pallets. That part for me came pretty easy. I worked in a grocery store and had access to pallets off of our trucks that came to deliver my produce. We had a coordinated so I would drive the truck into work that day and he off loaded the pallets on to my truck. I took 12 of them. Now in all of the videos that I have seen, they take the pallets apart and rebuild them. So I tried doing that. It was harder work than you would think. The nails are made to hold. It took me about 2 hours to undo 1 pallet. The second pallet I tried to dismantle wouldn't even budge.Back to the drawing board.
I decided to use them whole the way they are.
My first choice was a table. I had to decide on the design but I would like. I have seen some with glass tops and shelves underneath but glass is expensive. So I contemplated on what other style I could have. We went to the restore here in town and I found tile. So I picked out multi colors for the top and smaller ones to make a design. I made the table 2 pallets hi. And I chose a color that I decided I wanted. I chose dark walnut stain. You may choose to paint your pallet or stain it a different shade. No one will see the inside of the pallets so all you have to do are both sides and the edges. After staining I screwed the two pallets together. Then I laid down a sheet of plywood 40x48 and screwed that on. Next I screwed on a 40x48 piece of backer board. Now comes the tile then the grout. Then four 4x4 posts in the corners on the bottom for legs and 4 casters on to them so you can easily move the table. This will also raise it to its desired height. If you would like it higher or lower choose the size of the leg posts accordingly. Stained the posts and screw then to the bottom pallet in all four corners then screw in the casters. For a finished look I will also add half rounds to the edges of the table and stain them. 

Seats

I stacked the pallets 3 high and I stained them like I did the table. I did not screw them together for ease of movement. I did put a sheet of plywood on the tops 40x48 and stained that as well to make it weatherproof. SD for the cushion , I went shopping. Find what you like. What will fit and what fits into your budget. The long teal cushions on the bottom came from Lowes. I paid $150 total for them. The small pillows I found at Wal Mart. They were $7.99. (Lowes had them for $13.99) The solid colored pillows I made out of the Sunbrella fabric I had left from making things for the sailboat. I got the pillows to cover at a garage sale last year at 3 for $1. They are an ugly floral design but it didn't matter because I one they would be covered. Throw it all together for an amazing end result. if you decide to make your own, please send me a picture. I would love to see your design and creativity. Have fun!