Happy Thanksgiving

It was nice to have a couple of days off for the Thanksgiving holiday.  I have so much to be thankful for and it was nice having a break.

We did get out and walk every day.  It was so nice to be out and our weather was incredible.  In the 70's each day, so you wanted to be outside.

Candy and I went out for a little walk on Thanksgiving morning.  We didn't really see anyone so Pebbles was running free.  We caught the trailhead down the street and did a loop in BCP.  The deer were thick today, I counted six just on our street as we made our way to the trail.  We have seen a couple of nice bucks running around.  Today one was in the neighbor's backyard eating from the birdfeeder.

After our Thanksgiving morning hike, we cleaned up and got dressed to go have dinner.  This is the second year that we have gone out instead of cooking.  I have to say I am ok with it.  Don't have leftovers, but's that's OK we don't have a huge mess to contend with.

Clark and Kirsten joined us this year.  We had dinner at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort.  They put on a spread with everything you could want and more.  Oh boy, it was awesome and I am confident that we all ate way too much.

Friday morning we headed out to do another hike.  Clark came with us and we had planned on doing St. Mary's Falls but the parking lot was jammed.  So we drove over to Captain Jacks.  Hadn't been on this one for a while.  We hiked up about 1.5/miles and then back.  It warmed up quickly.  Pebbles was happy and ran free for most of the hike.  We did come across a couple of mountain bikers who were hauling ass down the hill.  After our hike, the three of us went out and had a little lunch.

I spent the rest of the day working on steampunking another Nerf gun.   For this one, I repeated the same process as the last.  Took it apart, painted everything black, applied rub and buff in the colors I wanted for each part and then reassembled.  For this one, I added a flashlight to the top and a copper T for side sighting.

Saturday we headed out again for another hike.  Clark joined us again and this time we did twilight canyon.  The first part of this hike is a steep climb up the side of a ravine.  You work your way up to the top and then across the spine of the mountain.  Clark showed us a fort that he had come across

before.  Not sure who built this but boy they put some work into it.   It is pretty awesome and chances are you couldn't find it unless you knew where it was.  Just off the trail, but you cant see it.



Once we got to the top of the mountain then we started working our way down the other side.  You follow a small creek that may or may not have any water in it depending on the time of year.   Once to the bottom, you run into high drive.  then just hike back along the road.  It's a 4-mile loop, but that first mile is a killer.

After our hike, I had to run over to the shop.  I am letting a friend store his car in my shop while he paints the Ranchero for me.   I guess this is good collateral as I would want this back in my garage if it was mine.  67 Chevy Corvette.  Looks pretty good sitting next to my 61.  He left me the keys and said I could drive it if I wanted.  The only driving I would do is back it out if I needed to move something in. 

More Steampunk Fun

Last week we took Pebbles to PetCo to get a bath, but mainly to have her toenails trimmed.  While we were waiting we stopped into Ross and looked around.   Found a bin with Nerf guns in it and they were cheap.   I grabbed one with the idea that I would see if I could steampunk it.  Seen several videos where people have done so and they looked pretty awesome.

This was a fun project.  I took it all apart and then painted all the parts black.   I then used what is called Rub and Buff, found it at Hobby Lobby and you apply and the buff and it gives it an aged look.   Came in the colors I wanted.  Once dry, I reassembled and then tested.  Still works great and looks good in my office.  I will be looking to do a few more of these as I think they would be cool gifts and it was easy and fun to make.

Making Changes

I am slowly getting my home office going.  I found a desk a few weeks back.  Found it online and Candy I went and checked it out.  This is what I was looking for as it has the industrial steampunk look that I am going for.  Not a fan of the blue drawers and may change out the color in the near future.  Love the polished metal look and that fact that it is all metal.  It was a challenge for Candy and me to move and to get it up the stairs and situated where we wanted it.

Then I found the style of chair that I wanted.  Again found it online and went and checked it out and bought it.  Found both the desk and chair using the facebook marketplace.  Pretty excited to now have a place to work at when I work from home. 

Once the desk and chair were in place I started working on my equipment.  I am going for a steampunk look and you can see what I did to my monitor.   I painted the base of the monitor and then used gold duct tape around the screen.  Had some old gauges at the shop and added them to the top of the monitor.   Used e6k to glue the gauges to the monitor.  

Added a strip of tape to my laptop as well as my keyboard.  While I was at it, I also made some changes to the paper shredder.  You can see what the shredder looked like when I started.  Also in the picture is the base of my monitor.  I taped off the top and the plastic window and then applied a couple coats of paint.   I added some handles on each side, just to give it a different look.   It came out really nice.  I was able to do this project in an afternoon, with most of the time waiting for the paint to dry.

Next on the list is to do something with the back wall.  I have been looking at removable wallpaper.  Candy turned me on to the idea and after doing some looking around I think we are going to go with a brick.  This may be a Christmas break project.