Beach Fog

You Gotta Keep em Seperated

Despite the fact that I do not agree with my boss that certain M$M's taste better than others,  the fact that she keeps free candy in the office is enough reason for me to help with the separation process.

When it comes to M&M's,  You gotta keep em seperated!

Poem Friday: Musicians

 Music can make a sad person happy
and music can make that happy one sad
and music can send a whole string of emotion
from loving, to hating, from angry, to glad

Musicians however are really the key
guitars simply dont play themselves
the touch of the hand and the practice you see
helps the music we love to fly off of the shelves

but the music in stores is the tip of the berg
for so many melodies charming and sweet
mix with the harmonic tones of musicians
I see every week as I walk down the street

So find a musician who sings or who plays
and listen a moment of two
and throw them some change in their instrument case
for they just gave a great gift to you!

Musicians outside the local store

Musician at the Farmer's  Market

How to Hide flat screen TV wires

If you have been to an electronics store in the last 10 years,  or even online,  you may have noticed that the day of the old box tv has passed.   That's right,  you cant even find them anymore.  

The world has moved into the age of the flat screen TV.

The 31 inch beast of a 200lb TV we got for our wedding,  finally bit it this spring,  and I came to the realization I would have to get a flat screen.

One huge advantage of these is that you can quite easily purchase a wall mount,  and hang the TV on the wall,  eliminating the need for that bulky entertainment center (especially in a smaller room)

There is however one small problem.   Unless you have a cable outlet,  and power out let half way up your wall,   All the wires are going to show beneath your newly hung masterpiece.

 Dont worry though,  hiding these ugly wires is as simple as a quick trip to the hardware store.

You will need:
small nails, 1 inch nails,
square posts (they are in the dowel section)
and a thin piece of wood for the front
total cost: under $20

 First you will want to paint all your wood to match your walls.  Yes you will have to buy the paint if you dont still have some,  but there is usually a tiny bit left in the bottom of that gallon can in the basement.

 For mine,  I wanted to include a bookshelf made of old applecrates.    This adds some depth to the wall,  and creates a functional space for the cable box.

unpainted crates

 It is very important to choose skilled workers who love to paint.   This makes the task of repainting the crates to match eachother much easier,  and they will have a blast helping out.

Note: Old laundry detergent covers work great as paint cans for the kids.

 Next,  attach the square dowels to the wall.   Space them so that the front piece of wood will cover one outside edge to the other.   Using a level is not required,  but it will help to make sure that the channel you are  building is straight up and down and does not look crooked.

 Then using the small nails you purchased,  tack the front piece of wood into the 2 sides that are attached to the wall.

Here the channel is off the wall for referance.

Look carefully,  the channel is there!

 Nice work!!! you are almost finished at this point.   Go to the fridge,  and get a nice cold beer,  set it on the table,  forget that it is there,  and take a picture for your blog with the beer bottle in it.   If you do not consume alcohol,  an ice tea will do for this step.

 Now for those crates that the kids helped you paint.   Once dry,  you can screw them to the wall below the first section of channel  that you have built.   The length of the channel is entirely up to you and how high you want the shelf.   If you dont use a shelf at all,  you can totally skip this step.

 Once secured to the wall,  you can store the cable box,  and any other device  dvd, blue ray, VHS,  on the shelves that you have just installed.  run the wires from the TV through the channel you built down to the hardware.

 All that's left now is to finish decorating the shelf.   In my case I let my wife decorate it,  because she has style and I totally don't.  An ivy plant,  some family photos,  and a few vintage novels will do just fine.

Congratulations,  you are done,  and your living room is now the envy of the local book club.

The Garden

I have always had pretty green thumbs, so when my neighbors told me that no one had used the garden along the side of the house in 10 years, and it was a lost cause,

 I took it as a challenge.

Old Juniper Shrubs removed

It was terrible soil, so I dug down a foot, and removed at least 5 wheelbarrels full of rocks. Then I raised the bed another foot and filled it in with a mixture of peat moss and top soil. 

Lettuce and peppers from the Farmers Market

My Father in Law has a small greenhouse,  I got my pick out of all these!


Then I started planting, weeding, watering, and never looked back.

The planting begins

Tomato seedlings

Free help

The Marigolds are to keep the passing dogs out

Cucumber!!

My wife calls the garden my mistress, but hey, my mistress is looking pretty good!!