frenchtown fiber

Chris Mundy and Kate House try to make art while navigating the crap life throws at them.

Monday, November 16, 2009

(Catchy Title Needed Here)

I just have some scattered thoughts to put out there today.

First of all, the question was put to me, what are you going to do with the snake? Well, I was thinking I would make a hundred of them, all out of different fabric, make up little stories about them and put them all on Etsy. It will be the next Beanie Baby-like craze, and I will make millions. Cool fantasy? By the way, did you notice I put a rattle on his end? Made of stacked buttons.

On Sunday, we worked on the attic. Joe is still working on the small section over the addition. This is the section that you can't stand up in, but will create a lot of new storage space. He was building out the studs on the wall, because they are too shallow to contain the insulation. If that doesn't make sense, don't worry about it, it is just a dreary detail. Next he will put a moisture barrier over the whole thing, then sheets of particle board so that no holes accidentally get poked into the moisture barrier. I expect this stage to be done sometime in December, because Thanksgiving is bound to interrupt.

While he was doing that, I was prying "cymbals" out of the roof joists in the main part of the attic. You may remember me describing the weird, old, filthy insulating paper someone had put up sometime during the last century. Well, they nailed up a hundred or so of these metal disks, that look like little cymbals, to hold up that paper. I already ripped off the paper, but these things remain, and they need to be removed before Joe can do anything else. I was bending the edges with a pair of needle nose plyers, and them prying them the rest of the way off with a claw hammer. It was miserable. I had emptied out this part of the attic, but it is now partially filled again with building materials, such as giant bundles of insulation, so I could not get to every "cymbal." I must have pulled 50 of them, and this is just one side of the attic!

In other news, I started feeding my Christmas addiction again. I've decided that my favorite part of Christmas is decorating for it. I've been collecting old ornaments. I have some that are very old, but mostly, I'm collecting 40's, 50's and 60s. I can actually afford the things from that era, and I don't have to get angry if they get broken. I like the old glass Shiny-Brites, but I've also become intrigued with some of the plastic ones. I like to see how designers started playing with these new materials. It would be hard for me to describe exactly what I look for, but it does need a certain quality, I don't know... naive space age?  I guess I will need to post some pictures at some point.

Anyway, we had another nice day yesterday, so after working in the attic, Joe invited me to come along for a motorcycle ride. I went, even though I would rather we just worked longer in the attic. I find that there are rewards for indulging him. Like as we were riding past one of my favorite antique stores, he said, "You want to stop?" You bet I want to stop. This place was just starting to put out their Christmas stuff. I found a couple of good things and I started my routine: "Oh my God, I have so much stuff, I really shouldn't. It's crazy, blah blah blah. Joe then responds, "Awe, come on honey, go ahead and enjoy yourself." "Nuff said. He's an enabler for sure. I added an ornament with a funky shape, but the paint is not shiny. These were made during WWII, when they would not spare the metal for Christmas ornaments. I also got a funky as hell blue tinsel tree. Oh, I also have a collection of little trees, and little houses (the made in Japan kind) and little plastic deer...

2 comments:

Kim Hambric said...

I did not notice the rattle on your snake. I will have to take another look. The button rattle is a great idea.

Having an enable husband must be great. Enjoy those ornaments. I don't think you can EVER have enough. Are you going to show us a photo of your home when it is all decked out for Christmas?

Marty Mason said...

So happy you told me what your plans are for the snake. Sure hope you share your millions with your friends. Better copyright that snake!!

Joe sounds like a jewel.