Or how $100 turns into $4,000, which is still better than $20,000....
So, being the Good Husband, there I am a couple of months ago, standing in Hancock Fabrics looking Not Bored while SWWBO does whatever it is she was doing. Then she sees it.
The table.
On sale.
Only $100 for a hobby table. Be still my beating heart.
I see her drooling and say, "Oh, g'wan, ya know ya want to." Trust me, I know what I'm doing here.
And she does.
Get it.
After I load it into the vehicle and we're motoring away, I look at her and say, "Yanno, I'm going to end up spending $20,000 to add a room to the house so you can actually set that table up somewhere."
She laughed.
Heh.
I was wrong. It was only $4,000.
There are three approaches to collecting expensive things, say, like, oh, guns.
1. Be single. My buddy Beau does this and has a simply mah-velous gun collection that has overtaken his house. I know exactly what my house would look like if I was single
2. Have enough money it doesn't matter. That works for another buddy of mine who has so many guns he has literally got his overflow in a small museum near here. I know what my house would look like if that was the case.
3. Co-opt the Spouse. That's my approach, as the first two aren't really options unless that lottery ticket comes in.
How do you do this?
Encourage her to adopt a hobby that is slightly cheaper than yours (if you're lucky, anyway) and be supportive. Then, within that context, try to get *her* to exercise the frugality you do *not* want to adopt on your side of the equation.
This approach is why I went to three Home and Garden Shows in two weeks. SWWBO was looking for a run-in shelter for the horses and goats.
She didn't find one she liked. But she *did* find a shed that was pretty cool. And my eyes lit up. There was my $4K answer to my $20K conundrum!
Get her the shed, so she could move her spinning wheels, 'splodey goat* shearing containers, and that table she got at Hancock Fabrics out to that shed - neatly clearing space in the house (sadly not usable for guns) and preserving capital (which *might* be usable for things of a ballistical nature...)
Ta-daa! The Spinner's House of Argghhh!
All in furtherance of the Arsenal.
Oh, I know. I'm not done spending money on it. Don't harsh the mellow.
*'Splodey goat. When the suicide bombers appeared, we called them "splodey dopes," as in "stupid people who explode." When SWWBO sheared her goats, especially during the initial cleaning, there tended to be lots of goat hair in clumps laying around the deck. It looked like a goat had exploded. Thus, the shearings are now referred to 'round here as "splodey goat." Because that's how I am.
So, being the Good Husband, there I am a couple of months ago, standing in Hancock Fabrics looking Not Bored while SWWBO does whatever it is she was doing. Then she sees it.
The table.
On sale.
Only $100 for a hobby table. Be still my beating heart.
I see her drooling and say, "Oh, g'wan, ya know ya want to." Trust me, I know what I'm doing here.
And she does.
Get it.
After I load it into the vehicle and we're motoring away, I look at her and say, "Yanno, I'm going to end up spending $20,000 to add a room to the house so you can actually set that table up somewhere."
She laughed.
Heh.
I was wrong. It was only $4,000.
There are three approaches to collecting expensive things, say, like, oh, guns.
1. Be single. My buddy Beau does this and has a simply mah-velous gun collection that has overtaken his house. I know exactly what my house would look like if I was single
2. Have enough money it doesn't matter. That works for another buddy of mine who has so many guns he has literally got his overflow in a small museum near here. I know what my house would look like if that was the case.
3. Co-opt the Spouse. That's my approach, as the first two aren't really options unless that lottery ticket comes in.
How do you do this?
Encourage her to adopt a hobby that is slightly cheaper than yours (if you're lucky, anyway) and be supportive. Then, within that context, try to get *her* to exercise the frugality you do *not* want to adopt on your side of the equation.
This approach is why I went to three Home and Garden Shows in two weeks. SWWBO was looking for a run-in shelter for the horses and goats.
She didn't find one she liked. But she *did* find a shed that was pretty cool. And my eyes lit up. There was my $4K answer to my $20K conundrum!
Get her the shed, so she could move her spinning wheels, 'splodey goat* shearing containers, and that table she got at Hancock Fabrics out to that shed - neatly clearing space in the house (sadly not usable for guns) and preserving capital (which *might* be usable for things of a ballistical nature...)
Ta-daa! The Spinner's House of Argghhh!
All in furtherance of the Arsenal.
Oh, I know. I'm not done spending money on it. Don't harsh the mellow.
*'Splodey goat. When the suicide bombers appeared, we called them "splodey dopes," as in "stupid people who explode." When SWWBO sheared her goats, especially during the initial cleaning, there tended to be lots of goat hair in clumps laying around the deck. It looked like a goat had exploded. Thus, the shearings are now referred to 'round here as "splodey goat." Because that's how I am.
http://www.jotul.com/en-us/wwwjotulus/Main-menu/Products/Wood/Wood-stoves/Jotul-F-602-CB/
This stove is the size of a range bag, will easily heat a building that size, is the bomb diggity shiznit for a spinning shed, and it's also a great place to boil your water for tea!
And since you raised half the roof, you might as well do the other half while you're at it -- this will create an airy, expansive, cathedral ceiling that'll keep the fireplace from looking too intrusive. I *did* mention that the fireplace should be fieldstone with a firebrick hearth, right?
Go ahead and laugh.
When I was building my toolshed, those were KtLW's "suggestions". I finally had to tell her, "Look, it's a *shed* -- not a rental property!"
The scrup'ls love it when I stand my ground like that.
It means I get to share the couch with them...
Now, as for the plumbing...
The deck thing could happen though.
I love that little house! I hope SWWBO enjoys setting it up.
RG
But the truth is there's a fourth approach, too.
Just pick the right chick. But that's harder than the other three, as there are so many more variables.
Mind you, it took three tries...
We have to go to Atlanta or Fayetteville to get fabric; JoAnn's or Hancock's.
Sigh.
I think a loom would be a great investment. Love the cabin. It has to have a name.
Except he's funnier.
I bought a pair of them, but I had a coupla funny feelings while in there.
ff#1. The staff all looked at me funny, and I had trouble getting waited on, as in "what's an xy person doing in here?"
ff#2. All the staff were my Mom's age, or so. (She was dying of old age at the time.)
The place closed and was replaced by a consignment shop for used chick goods.
There used to be an embroidery-supply shop in the local mall, run by a gray-haired lady. She sold out too, and the place is now a sphincter (i.e. sports) bar.
I see a trend here. There are fewer and fewer handy capable women like Beth and my Mom, and more who just buy stuff, or worse, get guys to buy stuff for them without prudent good reason. The Shanty is a prudent good purchase, and mah kitteh an ah would move in instantaneously if we had one and a place to park it.
And, with the winter storm we had today, John discovered one place where the wind was blowing some snow into my studio, so we can seal that up quickly. He also found that the windows and door and roof were all quite tight. Good things to determine before I move any of my stuff in.
Oh, and Og - I've seen those little stoves you speak of. OMG - they cost over $1,000. No thanks.
I can run a heavy-duty extension cord to the studio and run one of those little oil-filled radiator heaters for years before spending $1,000 in electricity!!
Fishboy - Drinking beer is a hobby?
It's amazing how they can move something this heavy around so easily.
I think if you insulate and drywall, you could use the electric heater just fine.
Going into a Hancock's or a JoAnn's these days is frought with peril. The staff are ignorant, rude and can't tell the difference between cotton and linen. Not only that, they can't cut something on the grain to save their lives. They have been 'trained' but they don't know anything. Hancock's and JoAnn's doesn't want to pay their informed female help anything. The older women who sew are either dying or quitting. If it weren't for women like Martha Pullen, who keep heirloom sewing and basic tailoring skills taught, I shudder to think of where we would be without those skills.
I learned the basics in jr. high. I do a LOT of sewing and mending because it is cost effective.
In fact, the Princess Kitty wore a dress that I made for her to church today. She got compliments on it, and a few 'I wish my mom could sew' comments. I knit for all the male members of my family. Most of what I knit, they absolutely love.
It doesn't surprise me about the bike clips. I have a few of them for my quilting. I actually have a Quilting Buddy now! She also crochets and sews. I am racing to set up my quilt so we can stitch while we chat or watch movies. She has one in a frame all the time; I have a frame and some tops...I might need the Engineer to rework the playhouse ...
hm.
Off to bug the Engineer...
I'm not Irish...so beer is a hobby. If I was...beer would be a vocation.
And Happy Birthday.
(Just in case you would ask...I had to attend the Fireman's Ball as President of my club and present donation. Firemen do like to drink...good thing I was sitting with the Police Chief)
With the latest wave of immigrants in the mid-2000s, various little fabric stores sprang up to cater to people who came from places where sewing is still practiced.
It's been a few years since I made any custom garments for myself; there's always other stuff to do, and the sewing table keeps getting covered with paperwork, birds, and other household clutter. The cloak I made back in the late 90s still keeps the rain off... and still draws comments.
Interestingly, the main population of non-elderly, non-recent-immigrant people who sew seems to be science-fiction fans, many of whom are into costuming and thus sewing and leatherwork.
This may be a partial explanation of why I don't even want to try to chat up latter-day wimmenz; compared to my Mom and women of her generation, they seem sadly deficient.
Berkeley, eh? Doesn't surprise me.
JTG, I have two Singer Featherweights that still sew like they were newly made. They are my fall-back machines. I sew on them as much as I sew on my Elna Diva 9000. It was the last model of machine made in Switzerland before Janome bought them out and moved everything to Brazil. That machine is 17 years old. In electronics life, it is a dinosaur compared to the electronic machines now. The Engineer bought me a treadle. I have access to someone who restores them (they are across the country) and will prolly do that as my graduation gift.
I can see a treadle sewing machine in SWWBO's cabin. Janome still makes them, but they are more modern and build for the Amish and off the grid people. I have read mixed reviews of them, so I am seeing if the company will take those to heart and improve the product.
I just found this fun blog after seeing a link on Mr. Lex's totally cool site. Now I have another place to read. D@mn you! XD
That shed looks mighty handy.
thanks,
Phalanx08
why do we have a double tap here?? I only clicked once??