Thursday, March 7
Mar. 7th, 2024 11:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Getting lots of sleep, and kitty snuggles.
Warm enough that the goats can be back outside in their normal pen. I'm sure they're happy to be in a big space again, the pens in the garage aren't very large.
Also removed the blankets from Wonder and the ponies.
A few weeks ago I gave some wooden chairs to a guy in a nearby hamlet who refinishes things and sells them. He seems to be the kind of person to get things done instead of sit on them for ten years like I do. He had already stripped the many layers of old paint from a pair of chairs that I really hadn't wanted to get rid of (but I accepted that I didn't want to strip them myself).
He's offering to finish them and sell them back to me, at what seems like a fair price for the work it must have been. I think I'll take him up on it, as it would be deeply satisfying to have them finished. He can sell the other two chairs to someone else, though. I don't need them all.
I went to his place today to look at the chairs and decide on a finish (oil finish, I think). He also makes and sells birdhouses, so I bought some today since the ones we made eons ago are crumbling, and we never seem to get around to making new ones (I see a theme here, do you?).
I talked with him a bit about the different things he does, and I got to see his handiwork in his shop. He seems fairly skilled, and the kind of "think on your feet" carpenter that would be capable of...say...doing work on an old house like ours.
I asked him if he might be interested in working on our window frames. The guy who was supposed to finish them for us (the one that did all the work in the basement) hasn't gotten back to us in almost two years. He's not coming back. My husband, who has good intentions, hasn't got the time to do the window frames either.
He said he would come look at them, and talk with my husband about how to do them (he had it all worked out at one point), so MAYBE we can finally get them finished.
I won't get my expectations up too high, though. I would LOVE for them to be done, and hopefully in a professional manner. This guy seems to be the kind to follow through on things.
I came home and my Sweetie pulled up about the same time.
We went for a little walk down the road with Roxy. We don't do enough walking.
I forgot to mention that my Sweetie put in some more time sanding the walls in the small porch area. Yay!
Then we watched a move called "First Snow" that was okay.
The country of Georgia is also in the Caucasus region (between the Caspian and the Black Sea). It has about 3.7 million, a third of which live in the city of Tbilisi.
Went through the same eras of being part of the Mongol empire, then Persian, then Ottoman, then Russian.
Also was briefly independent and then sucked right back into the U.S.S.R. and again after 1991.
Now they are " a representative democracy governed as a unitary parliamentary republic.[18][19] It is a developing country with a very high Human Development Index. Economic reforms since independence have led to higher levels of economic freedom, as well as reductions in corruption indicators, poverty, and unemployment. Georgia is only the second country in the world to legalize cannabis, and the only former socialist state to do so."
There were still plenty of civil issues, conflicts with neighbors, fall-outs with Russia and so on.
Today, many Russians are fleeing to Georgia to escape the war."Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Georgia has topped the list of countries which Russian exiles departed to after the war began; Russians are allowed to stay in Georgia for at least one year without a visa, though many Georgians view the presence of more Russian citizens in Georgia as a security risk.[154]"
Within it's borders, Georgia has two independent republics: Abkhazia and North Ossetia. Both of these regions are sort of...occupied by Russia now. I don't know how "independent" they are.
A great deal of Georgia is mountainous (the Caucasus Range), and the lower lands have little natural areas left as so much of it is used for agriculture.
"Western Georgia's landscape ranges from low-land marsh-forests, swamps, and temperate rainforests to eternal snows and glaciers, while the eastern part of the country even contains a small segment of semi-arid plains.[225]"
Since it's independence from U.S.S.R, like many similar countries, faced economic collapse, but has been working hard to rebuild, and to increase it's international business. It has mining, fossil fuels, hydroelectricity, produces vehicles, and is well-known for it's wine and cheese.
It has a good tourist industry and seeks to increase this sector.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(country)#Transport
https://youtu.be/bpTDkJxP14w?si=yaJN-FVK2oEZjNIt
Getting lots of sleep, and kitty snuggles.
Warm enough that the goats can be back outside in their normal pen. I'm sure they're happy to be in a big space again, the pens in the garage aren't very large.
Also removed the blankets from Wonder and the ponies.
A few weeks ago I gave some wooden chairs to a guy in a nearby hamlet who refinishes things and sells them. He seems to be the kind of person to get things done instead of sit on them for ten years like I do. He had already stripped the many layers of old paint from a pair of chairs that I really hadn't wanted to get rid of (but I accepted that I didn't want to strip them myself).
He's offering to finish them and sell them back to me, at what seems like a fair price for the work it must have been. I think I'll take him up on it, as it would be deeply satisfying to have them finished. He can sell the other two chairs to someone else, though. I don't need them all.
I went to his place today to look at the chairs and decide on a finish (oil finish, I think). He also makes and sells birdhouses, so I bought some today since the ones we made eons ago are crumbling, and we never seem to get around to making new ones (I see a theme here, do you?).
I talked with him a bit about the different things he does, and I got to see his handiwork in his shop. He seems fairly skilled, and the kind of "think on your feet" carpenter that would be capable of...say...doing work on an old house like ours.
I asked him if he might be interested in working on our window frames. The guy who was supposed to finish them for us (the one that did all the work in the basement) hasn't gotten back to us in almost two years. He's not coming back. My husband, who has good intentions, hasn't got the time to do the window frames either.
He said he would come look at them, and talk with my husband about how to do them (he had it all worked out at one point), so MAYBE we can finally get them finished.
I won't get my expectations up too high, though. I would LOVE for them to be done, and hopefully in a professional manner. This guy seems to be the kind to follow through on things.
I came home and my Sweetie pulled up about the same time.
We went for a little walk down the road with Roxy. We don't do enough walking.
I forgot to mention that my Sweetie put in some more time sanding the walls in the small porch area. Yay!
Then we watched a move called "First Snow" that was okay.
The country of Georgia is also in the Caucasus region (between the Caspian and the Black Sea). It has about 3.7 million, a third of which live in the city of Tbilisi.
Went through the same eras of being part of the Mongol empire, then Persian, then Ottoman, then Russian.
Also was briefly independent and then sucked right back into the U.S.S.R. and again after 1991.
Now they are " a representative democracy governed as a unitary parliamentary republic.[18][19] It is a developing country with a very high Human Development Index. Economic reforms since independence have led to higher levels of economic freedom, as well as reductions in corruption indicators, poverty, and unemployment. Georgia is only the second country in the world to legalize cannabis, and the only former socialist state to do so."
There were still plenty of civil issues, conflicts with neighbors, fall-outs with Russia and so on.
Today, many Russians are fleeing to Georgia to escape the war."Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Georgia has topped the list of countries which Russian exiles departed to after the war began; Russians are allowed to stay in Georgia for at least one year without a visa, though many Georgians view the presence of more Russian citizens in Georgia as a security risk.[154]"
Within it's borders, Georgia has two independent republics: Abkhazia and North Ossetia. Both of these regions are sort of...occupied by Russia now. I don't know how "independent" they are.
A great deal of Georgia is mountainous (the Caucasus Range), and the lower lands have little natural areas left as so much of it is used for agriculture.
"Western Georgia's landscape ranges from low-land marsh-forests, swamps, and temperate rainforests to eternal snows and glaciers, while the eastern part of the country even contains a small segment of semi-arid plains.[225]"
Since it's independence from U.S.S.R, like many similar countries, faced economic collapse, but has been working hard to rebuild, and to increase it's international business. It has mining, fossil fuels, hydroelectricity, produces vehicles, and is well-known for it's wine and cheese.
It has a good tourist industry and seeks to increase this sector.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(country)#Transport
https://youtu.be/bpTDkJxP14w?si=yaJN-FVK2oEZjNIt
no subject
Date: 2024-03-08 07:30 am (UTC)There were two tiny finished birdhouses I had hanging outside, mostly sheltered by the branches of a cedar tree. My hope was to hang a small village of seven or eight similar or identical houses under the cedars, painted in different colours.
One of the birdhouses collapsed (old age and weather) after a few years, and the other one was in rough shape. I took in the second one, replaced its roof and base, and it's ready to go outside. I don't have the proper tools (yet) to construct more of them, but if I don't learn to do it, there won't be a village, I guarantee it.
no subject
Date: 2024-03-08 07:43 am (UTC)I could, at any point in time, work with someone at the wood working part of the craft center, and I do consider it.
If you have some old, chipped up teapots or something like that, apparently they make great birdhouses if you can secure them to a board and mount it (not hang it, or it swings too much).
no subject
Date: 2024-03-08 08:02 am (UTC)I feel that I deserve a gold medal for cutting down the front porch Christmas garlands and taking down strings of lights; they could have been up until summer if I hadn't done it.
Would that have been the end of the world? No, but if it matters to me, and it does, then it's best I swoop in and do it.
no subject
Date: 2024-03-08 07:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-03-08 07:46 am (UTC)I think that if he wants the work, and can do a nice job, it might work well for both of us. I get the impression that he's retired and earns a bit of money under the table to supplement his income. I would have no problem with him working at his own pace (say, over the course of a month or two) as long as he gets a reasonable amount done relative to his hourly rate.
no subject
Date: 2024-03-08 08:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-03-08 08:02 am (UTC)