Cost = Free ~ Part I

There is a tip I'd like to share with you folks.

It's called Craigslist.

It's kinda funny how things work out sometimes.

Several months ago, I found an old "baker's cabinet" listed for free.

It had been in the garage, and he was clearing it out.

It was filthy but I liked the size and shape so inquired.

It was 2 hours away near my hometown 
which I thought might make a good reason to go visit.

(This is the ad photo I responded to.)

Upon inquiring, I couldn't go get it on a weekend.

It had to be Tuesday mornings or Thursday evenings 
or some silly thing like that.

(Linoleum covered work surface which probably saved it in many respects.)

(No paper? No problem! Just write it on the cabinet - really!?!)

(Need more hooks? Just use nails.)

*Sorry for the odd lack of quality on the last couple photos.  My camera settings somehow got switched, and I couldn't undo my work to get more 'before' pictures.

I told him I worked during the week but would see if I could get ahold of a friend to pick it up for me.

By the time I was able to get ahold of my friend and explain what I needed,

the post was gone so I figured I missed it.

Nearly 2 months later, it reappeared.

Evidently, the first time "it fell through," and he lost the phone numbers.

Needless to say, I was able to just text my friend and ask if it was still okay.

He made arrangements and went and picked it up, 

then I got to go down on the weekend and pick it up from them.

It worked out wonderfully.

I made thank you chocolates to take with me.

The cabinet is from the 40s/50s as the original paint was still on the doors.

(The original colors - inside of cabinet doors.)
It's a homemade job as the pencil lines for the shelves 
showed on the back as I was sanding.
The other neat part is it was probably made from "local lumber" as it was a lumber community.  I sure miss the smell of lumber mills running.

After day one~

 I had two different sanders I was using.
This little one got back into the corners better
but wasn't as powerful as the belt sander.

I'm not sure why, but I like leaving a little of the paint in the grain of the wood.
Maybe it's because it reflects its past a bit.  Who knows?

After day two~

Finished sanding and stained/sealed.
I wanted it "just wood colored" and tested a couple different choices 
on the bottom.  I didn't like any of them as was.
Clear was too bright, cherry too orange/yellow, others too dark, etc.
I ended up mixing 'cherry' and 'old American' to get the right tone. 

I don't have the doors done yet but was able to get it in the house 
and out of the shop.

The doors are smaller and much easier to set aside.
I will have to make bottom doors, 
but the hinges were still on the cabinet so I have them.
I love that I have a place to keep my huge bowls.
I will be putting my beeswax/candle making items on the bottom 
but want to wait until I get the doors made so it doesn't get dirty.
I will try to scrub the inside of the upper doors.
If they clean up okay, I think I will leave the inside original
just for a bit of whimsey and surprise.

The only cost was a visit to some friends and a bit of elbow grease.
It's pretty primitive for our home, but I love the functionality of it.

As the saying goes, "One man's trash..."

Hand Forged Hasp & Hinges

Just have to brag on that sweet man of mine.

Mr. LB forged a set of hinges and a hasp for Hucklebunny Hideaway.

She approves, and I got to tell him she loves him 
almost as much as he loves her.

He really does like her.  
It's kinda cute, but don't tell him I said that.

He won his first blacksmithing competition a couple weeks ago

so that was pretty exciting.

(Never mind the bunny fluff on the hinge.)
Knives are popular due to a show on TV,

 but Mr. LB prefers making tools and mechanical technical sorts of things.

He already has the math skills and metallurgy from his "real" profession

as a metal fabricator so that helps.

We have been gone every weekend for the past month,
 so I'm looking forward to staying home

and catching up on things ~ will be sharing more soon.

Making use

Another one of those ideas hubby loves me for (grin.)

We have a huge cedar tree out in the side yard.

It's actually a couple of trees but looks like one big bushy tree.

Over the course of years, it has been consuming more and more of the yard.

We do like it because it blocks the view of our back yard from the road

so didn't want to get rid of it.

Also, it's beautiful and smells wonderful.

So, here's where my brainy idea kicks in.

I suggested that we clean up the bottom branches so it's just up off the ground.

Mr. LB got the little chainsaw and made his way in toward the trunk of the tree.

He cut the bottom branches all the way around.

From the outer skirt, I began to try to figure out just which branches to pull
and figured I was tugging on ones that were still attached.

Finally, Mr. LB took hold of the base of of one of the branches and walked out.

It was difficult because the branches that were in part laying on the ground
and had taken root!
In addition, there were a half dozen smaller trees that had sprouted up
with trunks 2"-4" adding to the bulk.
We got the branches pulled out and set to work on them.
Even though these are smaller, cedar makes great wood for starting fires.
It's unfortunate that our old cottonwood wasn't a better burning wood since there was lots of that.
I am making use of many of those rounds,
but we'll probably end up burning some of it which will make a ton of ash.
Maybe next winter won't be tooooo cold, because 
we are sure getting a scrappy looking wood pile.
We tend to focus on the burning qualities of trees
because it is such an important part of our lives 
and requires a great deal of time and energy.

But there are other good qualities for both of these trees.
I've used those sticky little pods that the cottonwood shed 
to infuse oil for healing balm.
It works wonderfully but does smell just like cottonwood 
in case that bothers you.
The cedar of course repels bugs and moths.
We are infusing quite a bit of oil so we can make soap with it.
We made it through a good part of the branches 
when God told us to take a break.
He kindly decided to water for us (it started raining.)
We should be able to use just about every morsel of the branches.
It rained Sunday too, and 
I didn't feel like working in the rain so it's taken a little while to clean up.
I will rake up underneath the tree eventually.
Hopefully, this will let enough light in that we don't lose more lawn.
We try to make the most of our resources and trees are pretty important to us.
I can hardly wait to use the cedar oil.
Also, since we began on the cedar tree, that other cottonwood fell
as I shared in the last post.
We've been working on getting it cleaned up as well.
One of these days, we might get a yard back.

Now I have a confession to make~
Shortly after the post where I showed my upside down tomato cages,
Mr. LB noticed them and said, "NOooo!"
Evidently, that totally bothered him last year (who knew?)
He asked why, I so I told him they tipped and didn't go in the ground even, etc.
He asked if he could try.
"Sure," says I.
Of course, he tried and one tine would promptly hit a rock.
He said he could fix them, and in no time he had a thin-cut 
and chopped the stakes/tines down to about 14"-18" from the first ring.
He went through and cut each one and put them in the ground right side up.
So now I don't look quite so much like a goof.
If you are having issues with your tomato cages, 
you might try trimming the tines.

After the Storm

I have another post nearly finished to let you know what we’ve been up to,

but last night we had a major storm go through. 

We watched it happen. 

The base of that cottonwood is at least a couple feet across.

It was alive and healthy.

It was good that we had taken out the two trees a few weeks ago 

or this would be far worse!  

Luckily, nothing hit the house, rigs, critters or us 

but we sure have a mess to clean up now.