Hopping Along to Class

Well the hopping is more Victor's department. He's settling in nicely and the other animals are getting used to him. Artie is very comfortable around him and pretty much ignores Victor.

Pixel on the other had likely to sit on the pet stairs to Victor's house and not let him in/out. She also likes to eat his food.  That doesn't stop Victor from exploring for long. He's quite the ATB, all-terrain bunny.

Gus has been acting strangely and after taking him to the vet, we're trying to rule out kidney failure and the possibility of diabetes insipidus, aka "water diabetes." We'll know more once his blood tests come back this coming week.

FH and I joined a local "makerspace" last year and have access to more types of tools and technology these days. The group is a non-profit and focuses on teaching uses for technology and building a community workspace filled with tools that the average person might not have access to otherwise... like 3D printers, computer controlled routers, laser cutters, large saws, and specialty electronics.

The "class" bit refers to me taking a CAD/CAM class through the makerspace so I can learn to draft drawings to be used for laser cutters, computer-controlled routers, and 3D printers. I've got some furniture designs drafted on paper that I'm going to transfer to the computer this week. In a few weeks, we should have an operational laser and I can finally cut the pieces for all the shelves I need for fabric bolts in the Patchwork Peach! I'm very excited about it.

The other neat thing about the makerspace is getting to meet and work with other people who know all sorts of different things. One of the guys works with plexiglass often and has said he'll show me how to make display cases for my minis. Another gent is an electrician and is going to help me remember the basics of wiring from my electronics class in high school so I can make some tiny LED lamps!

There's another particular man who understands and uses technology, but has an artist's soul. He does "light painting"... changes the exposure times on his digital camera and uses LEDs to create stunning effects in his pictures. He asked me a while back to bring in one of my scenes for him to "paint."

I chose the Vermeer Vignette my Aunt Pat made. These are pictures I took a while back.

Now look at the work Jay did with his camera and an LED pen.

It took the better part of an hour to get the light just right for the candle flame, but wow! I'm going to see if we can "light" the fireplace at some point. I think Aunt Pat would love to see it.

That's all for this weekend. I'm going to go see about drafting up some shelves. Ttfn!

Victor von Bunn

Victor came into our lives on Wednesday last week. He is a four month old Netherland Dwarf. The girl who gave him to me was being abused by her boyfriend and was leaving him, but couldn't take Victor with her. She was terrified to leave him behind because the man had already thrown him a couple of times into walls from across rooms. With Victor safe and sound, she was brave enough to take her little boy and leave.

As you can see, he and Gus have become fast friends. Gus absolutely adores Victor and will pace behind him whenever Victor is playing outside his cage.

Pixel and Artie are being pretty gentle with him too. Although I've been watching them pretty closely. Pixel was more afraid of Victor than he was of her.

He's a spunky little guy and somehow knows he won't be hurt here because he's already given FH and I loads of kisses every day since he's been here.

FH is insisting that Victor be given to a rescue that I contacted last week, as soon as he's old enough to be neutered. I'm hoping Victor will win FH over and can stay. We have a month or two to see how that shakes out. I'll be spending that time supervising his play times and attempting to potty train him. Unaltered bunnies are difficult to potty train. I lucked out with Tempie as she was a bit older and preferred things tidier.

Running Late

My desktop PC has found some malware somewhere and is enduring a thorough scan, etc. I thought we'd be finished with the process by now, but alas ''tis not to be. Happily I figured out how to get pictures from the camera onto my new tablet, so now we're in business!

It's currently grey and snowy here. The sun's almost down so it's really not fun to be outside at tne moment. However this is really a heat wave considering the wind chills we experienced during the week. For the most part the critters and I didn't do much but cuddle under blankets. I did come out for air long enough to check the mail and this was waiting for me. Now I can start looking up all the furniture I received from Aunt Pat!

I also wrapped most of the furniture up in acid-free paper and got it stashed in the archival box I purchased. The box is big enough to hold a queen-sized quilt and came with about two dozen sheets of the acid-free tissue. There are still a few pieces that still need more work before they're stored though.

These three need minor repairs. Thanks to Casey, I'll be using E600 to get the job done.

With the exception of the pink dresser which is just really dirty on the back, these pieces all have an odd white residue that smells of acetone on them. I haven't had much luck with soaking or scrubbing it off. I'm not quite sure what to try next, but I'm doing some research into the matter.

Yesterday was fun though. I had my teenaged niece here and we started working on her quilt. She picked the pattern and all the fabrics. We got everything pressed and cut, but only had time to get the centers of the blocks done before she had to go home. But we had fun!

That's all for now. I'm off to find someplace warm to curl up. See you next week!

Renwal Restoration

Happy New Year! I hope 2015 is a good year for everyone!

One of the gifts I received this Yule was my Aunt Pat's Renwal dollhouse. It's not her childhood dollhouse, that was lost many years ago. But she found one nearly like it at an antique shop about 20 years ago. It needed some work then and, well, now needs even more work.

The second floor has to be completely replaced.

 At least I won't have as much carpet residue to remove that way.

 The walls need new paper/paint.

The outside is in fairly good shape. It needs a gentle cleaning and the porch columns need tightening.

 Three window and the front door need replacing, unless Aunt Pat finds them in her storeroom somewhere.

 The roof pieces need cleaned and re-attatched.

She had been collecting the plastic furniture from Renwal and Ideal as well. She has a habit of over-buying for projects, but that's half the fun!

All of the furniture needed washing, and that's how I've been spending my free time this week. Eight of the pieces (dining room table and chairs, buffet, and blue chair) have some kind of residue that smells like acetone on them, so I'm still working on trying to get them clean. It's to the point where I'm having to scrape the residue off with q-tips and toothpicks. It won't wash, soak, or brush off.

As for the rest of the furniture, it's clean, dry, and waiting for the archival box and tissue I ordered to get here. I'm going to store it nicely until the house is ready. Whatever furniture I decide not to use will have safe storage this way as well.

That's all for this week. I'm going to make myself a cup of tea and watch the birds at my feeders. It's snowing, so everyone is wanting to eat a good meal. See you next week!