Saturday, October 9, 2010

So long Tumbleweed Street

When I was a kid, I remember my Gramma driving along Topham Street from our home in Encino allllllll the way to Topanga Plaza, the local mall.  The 7 mile drive seemed like an adventure!  Topham had small dips that made you sink and then bounce a bit in your seat if Gramma was driving fast enough-- and, it ran right alongside a railroad track.  Sometimes you would actually see a train, but mostly I would look out the window at the different walls and fences of the backyards just past the tracks.

In the Fall, when the hot Santa Ana winds came, I would look out and watch the tumbleweeds tumbling along the barren railroad tracks and wonder where they ended up.  Being in part of the desert known as Los Angeles, I had seen stray tumbleweeds turned into a "snowman" for someones front yard holiday decorations every so often, but where did the rest go?  I always wondered about it.

As time marched on, my fascination with tumbleweeds diminished.  The train that ran along Topham Street stopped.  Years passed and I moved to another part of the city.  I married, had munchkins, blah blah blah... and the railroad property has since been turned into a Metrolink bus line.  My fascination cannot be taken up by my children since this stretch of land is now blacktop.

Fast forward 25+ years and I'm in the middle of suburbia with my curious boys in the back seat.  Topham is a distant memory for me.  Driving towards a play date, what do I see??

Tumbleweeds! 

For those of you who are San Fernando Valley readers, this is Canoga Avenue, just South of Nordhoff where the same train tracks used to run.  I pull over, whip out my camera and snap the above pic.  My sons ask about it and we spend the next half hour talking about tumbleweeds and that there is a song about tumbleweeds and where do tumbleweeds grow and how do they tumble and on and on...

The same Metrolink link line is taking over this area.  Soon.  So, this will be the last time I can locally show my children the fun tumbling of the tumbleweeds.  I never thought I would look forward to those Santa Ana winds, but I do this season just to relive a fun moment of my life with my boys.

Friday, October 8, 2010

The littlest tombstone

I have thought often about writing this blog.  I did not write about it when "it" happened but felt that, as part of our lives, it might be a good thing to talk about.

This summer, our sweet Petey, our 14 year old rescue dog, died quite quickly.  We were shocked at how fast he went from being an energetic and happy dog, to the dog he was the day he passed... it was a matter of mere weeks and it left our family deeply saddened.


Our children are 6 and 4.  The oldest "gets" what death and dying are to some degree.  The youngest has a different but equally valid understanding.

So, a couple of weeks ago, when I began on the Beelzebub tombstone, Em, the oldest, asked if he could make a tombstone for Petey.  He had a piece of wood and had an idea of what he wanted it to look like.  At first, I thought it was a morbid thing-- none of our tombstones are about people or animals we know, so this would be a first.  Then my son says to me, "It will be like when we visit Gramma E at her cemetery... I know she is not there either, but it is nice to visit, right Mommy?"

So we sat, side by side, me with my paintbrushes, him with his.  And we painted and talked about Petey and about death.  About Petey and squirrels.  About Petey.

So, it is with a less sad heart that I show you the littlest tombstone that will grace our graveyard this year.  It glows in the dark "because that way Petey can see we love him Momma and made this just for him."


I hope this does not upset anyone.  I try very often to be positive and lighthearted here on CelticMommy.  But this blog is also about our lives and I felt that writing about it would bring a bit of a smile through my tears, the love of my child for his first pet.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

97 cent soda can lights!

First off:  I cannot take credit for this super cool project... my sweet hubby came up with this genius idea.

Okay, here is the tutorial for individually lighting up your tombstones or other creepy crawlies for Halloween!

You will need: 
  • A cheap can of flat black spray paint.  We purchased ours at Home Depot for $0.97!  This covered about 36 soda cans.
  • Clear holiday lights, size C9... they are usually a set of 25 lights per strand placed 1 foot apart.
  • Clean soda cans, at least one per tombstone or whatever you want to highlight. 
  • A utility knife
  • A unibit (this one is similar to ours) for your drill, we used a 3/16 to 7/8" to be able to get the socket of the lights to fit.

What to do:
  • Drill the circle out of the bottom of the soda cans
  • Cut the soda cans on the top with your utility knife, right where they are beginning to taper-- the edges will be sharp so lightly bend them inward if you wish.
  • Spray the soda cans with the flat black paint and wait 1-2 hours to dry completely.
  • Check that your strand of holiday lights works. 
  • If the things you would like to highlight are already set up, take the lights and the soda cans out to your display and figure out proper spacing. 
  • Do not plug in the light set yet.
  • Take the bulbs out of the sockets you will not be using and set aside.
  • Take the bulbs off the sockets you will be using.  Place the soda can over the socket and replace the bulb.  The size of the hole is such that the metal of the soda can will not touch any metal on the lights.
  • Position lights and test. 
  • Wait for dark and enjoy the fruits of your labor!  :-)

 I would love to hear if you use this for your own Halloween setup!  Please feel free to drop me a note with a link to your photos.

Only 25 days left until Halloween... do you know what you're going as??!? 
Happy Crafting!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

97 cents

There is something, actually several somethings in this photo, that only cost us $0.97 to significantly change the look of our graveyard...


The tutorial for "it" will be up later today!
Link to the tutorial.