A Chandelier for the Kitchen

A few years ago, I made a chandelier for the kitchen.  The story is a typical one for me.  Start with good (and cheap) intentions, then the project turns into so much more.  The town in which I live has, what we fondly call, 'big trash day.'  Twice a year, residents can put out just about anything on the curb and waste services will come and pick it up (we are not allowed to do this other times of year).   An entire industry of scroungers trolls the neighborhoods looking for useable, fixable, or recyclable items.  I've found some great things while walking the dogs.   One day, I found a chandelier in a box.  It had a nasty white/gold spatter paintjob, but the fixture was pretty.  I painted the whole thing black to resemble wrought iron, attached some blue glass bead flowers and metal mesh, then took the fixture to the cabin.

My intention was to wire it into the ceiling and be done with it.  Not so easy!  The ceiling was wired for a fan/light combo and when I reached up to look at the wires, I got a nasty zap.  The porchlight stopped working at that point also.  (I'm not stupid, the electricity was off, something was seriously wrong.) Well, its been a year, and my father's friend, an electrician, came out to look at the problem.  After four hours of back and forth with the wires (kitchen on, porch off, porch on, kitchen off, et cetera), the problem was finally resolved and the fixture installed.

Ahhhh, light in the kitchen at long last.  The chandelier is not too fancy, but adds some class to the room.  The beaded flowers sparkle and I know I'm going to be cleaning out cobwebs, but its worth it. After all the time and hassle, it would have been easier to buy a new one.  However, I know for sure I have the only chandelier like this!

Spring Arrived, and Passed By at Ghost Dog

FYI: This post was written back in March, but not published til now.  Sorry for the delay.

So far, this has been a quiet spring.  Winter was dry, little snow at the house and not much up in the mountains.  Everyone in town has an underlying tension about the possibility of flood, but the plants and animals continue on as always.  The sycamores and cottonwoods are greening up, the fruit trees are blooming (the first time all have bloomed).  The weeds are sprouting and the lizards are out basking.  I caught the first grasshopper of the year - a very nice specimen. My skills at keying out insects are rather poor, but I think this is a Red Shanked Grasshopper (Xanthippus corallipes).  According to my grasshopper books, these guys winter over as immature adults and are common in the spring.

This hopper was not happy with my attempts to open its wings and pose its legs at the same time. It is difficult to tell from the photo, but this fellow is very colorful.  The hind legs are a nice bright orange (easily seen), but the top of its abdomen and head are a rich marine blue (not so easily seen).  I know not many people like grasshoppers, but they are wonderful.