There's a Blister on my Thumb

There's a Blister on my thumb, on my thumb, on my thumb
There's a blister on my thumb thumb thumb
I felt it growing by the minute
Knew but couldn't stop it, end it
Too much work, had to finish
No time to be a little skittish
There's a damned blister on my thumb!
Dammit. I brought this huge rug with us when we moved. I bought this rug 12 years ago. It is a beautiful thing - or, was. Deep blood-red and cream, with intricate roses and flowers, shaded and simply gorgeous. However, kids and dogs and cats tramping and shedding and bleeding and in general making a steady mess - I tried several times to clean it, but it is so big and heavy it just wouldn't dry. It sat rolled up for several years in the utility room til we moved here. Today we set up sawhorses, stretched an extra long pallet between them, and unrolled then draped the rug over it. Using carpet cleaner, the hose, and a heavy brush (hence the blister!) I scrubbed and rinsed, scrubbed and rinsed. Then I turned it over, scrubbed and rinsed. It started to rinse clean water at last - but there was still that ruggy smell, of old cat and dog and dirt. So I got my bottle of Simple Green. Turns out you can use it to 'spot-clean' carpets - and it has a nice wintergreen smell. So I mixed it up triple strength in a bucket and scrubbed the back, then the front, again, rinsing as I went. This time the water ran clear again - but now there is a much better, minty smell.

In SC, you can't hang much out and expect it to dry - between the frequent storms that come up in the afternoon, and the constant high humidity, it would take a week and the rug would still be damp. Here, however, where the humidity started out this morning at 50% and dropped all day, and where the entire week is forecast to be clear, warm, and dry, I'm thinking that this rug may actually dry by tomorrow night!

But I am NOT pleased about the blister - mostly because I plan to wake up early, and get out at sunup (6:30) to sand and paint that loooong fence around the front garden, that spans about 1/2 acre. Just one more thing to irritate me - like the sunburn I got yesterday at the tractor pull, that is still making my eyes water and my lips chap. Grrr... So much to do before the cold weather comes... Arrrrggghhhh.

There's a damned blister on my thumb! Grumble grumble grumble.

I did have an inspiration today. Out behind the garage is an old metal frame, heavy-duty but rusted. It is the frame for what looks like an old gas-station type sign, shield-shaped. Pretty cool. So Mike is going to trace out the pattern on plywood, jigsaw it out, wire-brush it down (ok, that will probably be me) and we are going to make a plywood sign to slide into the frame for the Farm. Maybe we'll hang it on the fence, or maybe we'll hang it from the arbor. It is made to be hung, deserves to be hung. There are a lot of cool things around the property, just begging to be put to use. It is as much fun as a scavenger hunt, living here!

Add that to all of his other projects - right now he is making a quilting frame for my birthday. What a way to get some use out of all of those silk and other outfits that I no longer need. He loves having his shop, loves finally doing things again instead of sleeping in his chair, watching TV, playing Nintendo endlessly. We were at the fair this week, admiring our neighbor's kids' cattle for the 4H group. Our neighbor, who manages an Angus cattle ranch and hog farm, came up to Mike. "We have a lot of equipment on the ranch that doesn't run, needs to be repaired, and we don't have the time. You do that kind of thing, don't you? Would you come out and repair our stuff for us?" Not a 40 hour a week job - but then he can't do that anyway, not with his handicap. Just on an as-needed basis. Mike was proud to say yes. (Screw all those worthless punks who looked down their noses at him after he got hurt, telling him he was useless without saying a word.)

Things are sure getting better and better. This was definitely the right move for us.
Now if I could just get rid of this blister.....