Shades of the Past Part 2

Well, continuing on, and I'll call this part 2.  Because of the poor condition of the lampshade cover, I thought it would be very easy to just rip that old cover and wire wrap off. Well, it didn't come off that easily.  What a chore.  It will be much quicker wrapping the wire, than it was to remove the old.  As you can see from my little stool, I had to basically ATTACK it with scissors.  Of course, being that the half doll is porcelain and breakable I had to be careful, but I can assure you that she got bounced around quite a bit!  She probably felt she was on a tilt-a-whirl at a local carnival!  If you look closely, you'll see that I left the metal frame under her, wrapped with the original material.  She is very sturdily attached, and feel that a new single layer wrap around that will be sufficient without disturbing her anymore.  Poor thing is still dizzy as it is.

So you can get an idea, she is about 3.5 inches tall, and marked in red on the back, JAPAN.  Now, I will sand the frame down where there are some areas of the beginning of rust, then I'll seal the metal, and begin wrapping the frame.  I'll explain that as I go in Part 3.  The frame was out of shape somewhat, and I've tried bending it back some, but trying to be careful not to break the joints, which look welded or soldered.

As for me, it has been an adventurous day.  It is my birthday.  I woke up to 12 degree weather this morning, and 3 frozen pipes.  I have had friends and family ask me why I didn't "drip" the water last night, knowing that the temperature was going below 20.  Well, you cannot drip the water going to your bathroom toilet, LOL, nor the water hoses going to your washing machine.  So, under the crawl space of this old farmhouse I went, mubbling under my breath and swearing.  Fighting old insulation, spider webs, and Lord knows what!  You cannot stand up straight under there.  That was difficult for me.  Anyway, I managed to get an electric heater on and start the unthawing process.  It took until dark this afternoon for the the water line to the toilet to unthaw.  It didn't take that long for the washing machine, and you know when it thaws, you hold your breath that there are no broken water lines. 

Holding my breath didn't work.  Unfortunately, the cold water line to the washer is broken, and water was spraying in the utility room.  So, finally this evening, after all the lines were unthawed, the water was shut down to the whole house, and a plumber will have to be called tomorrow.  We are expecting snow and ice here in Tennessee this evening and tomorrow.

I hope everyone of you are staying warm.  I know that I'm dreaming of Spring already.  I hope you'll stayed tuned for Part 3.

~Robbie~