Book-House

This is a book-house. Some folks have been known to put one in front of their house and slip their used books inside for passers-by to borrow, exchange, or I suppose, take if they so desire. It seems like a pretty cool thing to do if you reside in a neighborhood or residential district. I wonder if it would work for cupcakes or hamburgers?

In any event, if Mom sees this darn thing, I wonder how long it will take her to ask Dad to make one. According to Mom, building a little product like this probably wouldn't be any big deal and likely wouldn't take Dad more than 15 or 20 minutes to throw together: 30 minutes tops.
In the meantime, I'll try to remember to keep you posted on any and all book-house developments. (We'll see if this goes anywhere.)

December Barn Update

I realize Christmas is over and you're likely returning gifts instead of buying them. If you're married to one of those guys who's difficult to buy for, consider getting him a barn next year for Christmas or for his upcoming birthday. It's my belief that every man should have at least one barn in his lifetime.

If you're a gal who appreciates a good barn and need a place to keep stuff you don't really need, then maybe you too should have your own barn. If you're married to a generous spouse, maybe they'd be willing to let you hang out in their barn from time to time. There would also be nothing wrong with his 'n' her barns as far as I'm concerned.

I've written about barns a few times in the past and several folks have even written books about them. Should you choose, you can find numerous internet sites with pictures of these cool rural structures. But be prepared: there are some awfully nice ones out there and more than one man has gone astray as a result of coveting his neighbor's barn.

I don't recall where I came across this picture, but it's a good one. If my old friend "Nickademus" saw this barn, he'd probably exclaim something like, "Dang-that's a dandy!": and he'd be correct!

As I come across other barn and shed related information, I'll try to keep you posted....

New Sleep Study

Few things in life are as satisfying as a good nights sleep. I'm no TV doctor, but I'm officially recommending you consider doing whatever it takes to sleep well at night. For your convenience, I've listed a few ideas to get you started:

~Get yourself a pillow(s) that feels like it was custom made for you.

~Procure the most comfortable sheets known to man.

~Procure the most comfortable quilt or cover(s) known to man.

~Install a device for background noise. (A small fan works nicely.)

~Take a sleep-aid that works for you e.g. over-the-counter generic, doctor prescribed, shot of Wild Turkey...whatever it takes.

~If the person sleeping next to you snores like a Pratt & Whitney, make sure you are fast asleep BEFORE they are.

~Don't make the mistake of watching television as a means of lulling yourself to sleep. If you do, you'll likely be lulled into believing whatever it is your watching as you're falling asleep.

~If you live in Chicago under the "L", consider moving to the country where there are no overhead trains.

~If you live in the country, but have no door on your house, get a door. If you can't find a door, try an old sheet of plywood.

~If you live in a trailer that was manufactured prior to 1961, try sleeping under it instead of in it.

~If you're addicted to Sonic, don't eat more than 1 footlong chile-cheese dog after 9 p.m.

~If you don't have enough room to stretch out because your dog sleeps on your bed, consider getting your spouse their own bed.

These are just a few things to consider regarding a good nights sleep. Again, I'm not a TV doctor: not technically.

 

Organic and Free Range Venison

It's a beautiful morning in the Ozark hills of Missouri for bow hunting deer. I'm not-but a couple of young friends of mine are: George and Charlie. I know through text messages that both guys have already seen a few deer this morning. (7:15 a.m. central.) George saw 7 turkeys late yesterday afternoon. I'm sitting in the kitchen at the house drinking coffee while they're both sitting in separate trees on our cabin property in Southwest, Missouri. A great morning to be outside!

I took this picture last Fall. George is hunting in the upper left of this "photo" about 50 yards outside camera shot on top of this hill. Last year on this exact weekend he bow shot a real nice 8 pointer in that same spot. It was fine eating after George's near perfect shot! If the wind's blowing in the right direction today, maybe we'll soon be enjoying more of that fine 100% organic/free range venison. "You cain't go no better!"

Self-Inflicted Monkeys

This old chair has sat out beside my barn for about the past year. Previously it had performed duty as a sitting apparatus on the deck of our cabin. After Doakes the dog drug it about a mile down the road and through the woods tied to the end of his leash it wound up looking like this. My intention has been to fix it by replacing the missing and broken boards before gluing it back together. Every time I looked at this darn chair I got a small knot in my stomach because I realized it was about #97 on my long list of things to do. Then it hit me: this darn chair is a monkey on my back and I'm the one who put it there! Once I realized what I'd done to myself it didn't take long to decide this chair was toast. As a result, it ended up as a Christmas star at the top of a blazing campfire about 2 weeks ago.

On one hand I hated destroying what had previously been such a nice chair, but the good feeling of removing the monkey off my back made up for the bad feeling of the reducing the chair to ashes. An example of having your priorities in the proper order.

I'll keep you posted on an further monkey removals.

House

~Cool Old House...South City St. Louis

 If you haven't tried reworking some old wood that looks like it might make better kindling than building material, you should give it a try. Most folks call it reclaimed or repurposed and it's kind of a fad I suppose. But it really looks nice.

Darn Good Food!

In my experience gourmet food is often overrated. Throw a chicken in a crockpot with a can of your favorite soup, set it on high, and in a couple of hours you're eating like Mike Huckabee at an Arkansas political fund raising event. Better yet, take a can of red beans, mix in the appropriate amount of your favorite summer sausage and a little Worcestershire sauce and BING-BANG-BOOM you're ready for the food network baby!

Note: The key to running a successful food show is to make the peeling of a potato look substantially more difficult than it really is. Also, don't measure anything: just kind of throw stuff in the pan like you own the place.