Making the turn and heading for home

Ever notice how as we get older, the slogans we use to punctuate our years. For instance, "we're on the back nine", or "heading down the stretch", or "the finish line is coming fast". And as we get older, the finish line is coming at us like a freight train. When we were young and full of spirit, the finish line was not even in our thoughts. The race was just getting started and we had a lot of living to do before we had to think about any of those old folk things. We were invincible.

Being older is supposed to mean we are wise in our years from all of our experiences. Whether good or bad, we should have retained something to pass along. I once read that being older and having the answers was a good thing. Except nobody asked us the questions.

I don't give out advise to my kids anymore, for that reason. They don't ask. They are doing OK without me. I think their Mom gives them the advise anyway. Maybe if they need help around the house or apartment with something that needs fixed, they will ask. I am always glad to oblige if I can. The grand kids, two girls, will ask once in a while. And that is usually for AA batteries for the Leap Frog. Not much for advise though.

Recent events have made me more aware of the "finish line". Several weeks ago, a group of people got together for a celebration. There were sisters, spouses, nieces and nephews. All the sisters were eighty plus years old, which made the nieces and nephews sixty plus.

It was a fine gathering of people that had not seen one another for years. Some for more years than one would care to admit. The funny thing was, that back in the day, some did not speak to one another anyway. Or was it more like being mildly upset? But not this day. Whatever upset them then, was long forgotten and the hall was abuzz with stories and laughter and more of the same over and over for hours. All was forgiven or forgotten.

It was good, very good, that they spent that time together. Because, within a few short weeks afterwards, one sister would pass on. All that were there that night for celebration were glad to have had that time together once again.

We want our children and grandchildren to appreciate the time they have and to appreciate each other too. Not let pettiness come between relationships. And not wait for old age to cure the ill will. Someone said "don't sweat the small stuff. It's all small stuff".

But for those of us that are rounding third and heading home, we need to be sure they appreciate each other to the fullest. This is a good time of year to remind them.

And now, the famous Bavarian, or is it Bohemian sandbags

TA DA!!!! Presenting the; what's this

called again?

The Balgarian Exercise Bag. Ok, so what's this all about and why is it a featured item on the Corhnole Gallary?

Well, I think the big deal is that a group of people actually use them for their exercise program. The actual proper use is done by Blue Chip Strength group and they are at http://www.bluechipstrength.com/ . There you will find the links to YouTube to see how to use these bags.

But the real fun is in the making of the bags. My son, the personal trainer, ordered about 20 bags, each to weigh 15 pounds each.

The first pair were for him and they weighed 25 pounds per bag.

I wanted to post this a couple weeks ago, but missed the boat when he took all of them when they were finished before I could get a picture of them. My fault. Well, now he needed one more at 15 pounds and two for the grandaughters at 5 pounds each. I managed to get a picture before he nabbed them.

As mentioned, the fun is in the making of them. You need blue jeans worthy of being cut up, nylon wire ties, duck tape, wide adhesive tape (the white medical stuff) and of course, enough dry playsand for whatever weight you are making.

Cut the legs off jeans way up near the crotch. Grab the end with you hand and wire tie this section off as it is now to be a handle on one end. There is another handle on the other end as well. Take the duck tape and wrap it around the part you designated as the handle and then wrap it again with the medical tape.

Now you have a bag of sorts. A denim bag ready to load up with sand. Figure out how you are going to weigh it out then put the appropriate weight into the pants leg. Wire tie, duck tape and medical tape just as you had done previously, only this time the bag will be finished.

The sand should be free to shift around inside the bag so the weight moves about. Don't know exactly why, but the trainer wants it this way.

We later figured out that it might be better to put the sand into a plastic bag, such as the bags from all the stores when you shop, or perhaps a large freezer bag. The reason is the sand releases a dust right through the denim and can be annoying to the user.

Nonetheless, this is a good workout. I played around in my driveway with one of the bags and it got pretty tiring after a short while.

It you got any instructions from YouTube or have heard others making them, they probably used a automobile tire rubber inner tube. This is what they are using on web to make the Balgarian bag, but the cost is very high for a quanity of them. Besides, an inner tube is for much more weight and we simply did not need that kind of weight. So once we get the dust issue under control, these will work just fine.

In case you were wondering about the cost? Jeans are half price at Unique on LSB in Willowick on Mondays, and sand is around three dollars for 50 pounds at Lowes. Wire ties are cheap at Harbor Freight as well as their gray tape, but it is not really Duck brand, which I prefer. Medical tape is reasonable at Dollar General. So all together, 20 bags probably cost under $50 and took a couple hours.

It is a good workout.

Stay safe this weekend and God Bless America. Bless our troops and bring them home.

What a lovely shade of blue...on the kitchen floor??

Well, it was bound to happen. After more than forty years of painting something, walls, floors, ceilings, and, ah yes, cornholes, a can of paint gets dumped.

Luckily it was a quart. Or nowadays, it is a 29 ounce can. Notice that you don't buy quarts anymore. You buy LESS. Like tissue, and ice cream, and anything prepackaged. It is now less than it was.

So, we don't raise prices. We just get less for the same money, which means they raised prices without telling you they raised prices. And all that having to redo the packages. Hope they are made in America. That means the new American jobs are "redoing what we have already done".
So anyway, as I was saying; I was closing a can of "true blue" Krylon, the 29 ounce size from Sears. From Sears because Drug Mart did not have it in the Painters Choice, which I would have preferred. I just finished a section of the Case Western Reserve cornhole board that a lady ordered. I was working in the dining area of the living room, mind you. Debbee suggested that because it is simply too humid in the sun room where I normally finish painting to come into the house. The sun room has much more sunlight and more room for my "stuff."

So I took the open can from the dining area to the kitchen sink, 7/8 full can of true blue. And I mean BLUE. True Blue. I never mess up the edges so it is easy to push the lid down and get a good temporary seal before tapping on the lid with a hammer when I am completely done. But I am not completely done yet. So I pushed down only.

Remember, I am just a little older than I used to be and the hands don't have the strength they once had. So, I am squeezing the can between my thumb and whatever fingers I can get around the bottom of the can.

I have this "thing" with my right hand that needs surgery to help straighten out the hand to its normal configuration. One finger is folded in such a way that the hand cannot lay flat. When shaking hands, it is the first finger in for the shake, so I have to position my hand to kind of wrap around your hand so you don't get a "finger bump" and wonder "what the heck was that all about?".

Squeezing the lid and bottom of the can, and suddenly it takes flight. Sort of like trying to hold onto jell-o, or a wet ice cube.

Well, it was airborne. And before I could react, it landed safely on its side on the floor, two feet away. At first, I thought it held. But no! It just sort of, laid down. And out came a lot of pretty blue latex paint. It reminded me of those scenes from a crime show when someone is shot in the head and they always show a pool of blood right next to the head to prove they were shot in the head.

Well, this true blue was defiantly shot in the head.

I reached for the can immediately to stand it upright. Luckily, if that is the right word to use at a time like this, I saved enough of the paint to finish the job. But all I could think was that this was nine dollars laying on the floor and a roll of paper towels will be used in the clean up process.

Ok, think fast! It's water based latex. So get lots of water on it right away. And get started wiping. NOW!

Suddenly, my knees did not ache so much and I went straight down to the floor on both knees using a bench I had handy to rest my chest and stomach on so I could use both hands. (I think I wrote a blog about this type of bench and its handy use both in the house or in the garden. If I didn't, I will soon. Very handy item.)

The wiping begins. I got up off the floor only to get a bucket of water to keep the area wet. If I dare say, working quickly and with wet paint made even wetter, the clean up went very well.

Sure! I used a lot of paper towels, but the floor shows no signs of the accident. And from now on, its using only the mallet to seal off the lid.

If you do use a hammer to seal the lid, tap it lightly. It does not take much to seal it. And use a cloth over the lid while tapping. The cloth will catch any spray that might be in the trenches of the can.

Hope you like the featured cornhole.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

FIVE THINGS TO LOVE (OTHER THAN FAMILY)

MY TOP FIVE FAVORITE THINGS



CRAFT STICKS

WD 40

3 IN 1 OIL

DUCK TAPE

SHELLAC

AND NOW, INTRODUCING (what daya mean not yet)

This was going to be the Bulgarian Exercise Bag Edition of Cornhole Gallery. But, as luck would have it, out of the 16 Bulgarian Exercise Bags (now referred to as BEBA's) we still have not gotten a good picture of them. Why?

Well, to tell the truth, we have been pretty busy with the cornholes. Four sets in the last two weeks. And then I got lazy when it was Millertime and completely forgot to take pictures of the BEBA's.

So, no BEBA's and more cornholes.

The cornholes were the black and white I showed two weeks ago, and another one is the Browns striped set done in four days, and another was just plain black. That one was interesting. A lady said her daughters wanted to do the rest themselves with fluorescent spray paint, which would be pretty cool.

And the last set due next week is shown below:

Pretty cool, huh?
I put the prices on the MSU because I was going to put this picture on the website, http://www.lccornhole.com/, but I think I will wait until it is done totally. Why show "work in progress", even if this is what it will look like when finished anyway. Just the letters will be "cleaner" and bigger.
I understand these will be taken to Chicago to a couple that attended each school and then got married. One of them should have gone to OSU. Now that would have been interesting.

So next, we will put a couple sets in stock, in anticipation of the NFL strike ending.
And then its on to something else. Maybe a leaning shelf. I like those.

Now go make something. And check in with your local craft shows. They can use your support.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

More than just cornholes, ya know!! Part 2

AND THE SAGA CONTINUES.................

Ok, maybe not so much a saga as just everyday life.

Back in early June, I wrote about the three tiered plant stand to show the world that life is more than just making cornholes.

And if you look at the website http://www.lccornhole.com/ , you will see more proof to that with all the step stools and yard decorations.

It is just plain fun to make stuff. Like this sign for instance:

This is not Buster. It is Tiby. Buster is in the house. But check out the sign. It reminds me of Geneva on the Lake. You know. The street down by the lake where they have all the games and rides and bars and the fun stuff for summer.

Anyway, I was talking about making stuff just for fun and this sign is one of them. I was getting tired of painting a cornhole, so while I was waiting for paint to dry, I thought it would be cute to have a sign in this area of stone and sand and call it Buster's Beach. The area was Debbee's idea because Buster, the visiting dog of our oldest son, used this area as his private spot and has torn the living heck out of the soil, but only in the area outlined by the rocks. So Debbee's thought, that since Buster was going to be here for a while, might as well make it better to look at.

So the rocks got put into place, then added the sand, and next thing you know, Buster and Tiby have a cooler place to lay down. She called it "Buster's Beach". Couple days later, as I said, waiting for paint, I ran down to the basement, grabbed a router bit and router, a piece of scrap wood and have at it. A little action on the band saw and done. It took all of twenty minutes and it looks it, doesn't it?

But it is a fun looking sign, like Geneva on the Lake. Like a pirates cove kind of thing going on here.

Now its your turn. Go make something. You don't know all the fancy tools like you see on TV. Just some small hands tools will do just fine. And lots of glue. Good Luck!

THIS BLOG WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT THE SAND USED IN MAKING THIS BEACH. THERE IS A STORY BEHIND THE SAND, LOTS OF SAND USED IN MAKING BULGARIAN EXERCISE BAGS. THE BAGS I WANT TO SHOW YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN USE AND THERE ARE NOT ANY PICTURES YET. http://www.bluechipstrength.com/ USES THEM AND MY NEXT BLOG WILL BE ALL ABOUT THEM.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Other people have good ideas, too

First order of business is the plant stand pictured. Jean N won this is the contest I had several weeks ago. Actually, the one pictured had to be reworked somewhat. The edges get a little messed up when the plant stands rub together in the boxes used for craft shows. So that needed attention. Also the top face was softened to give it a "foggier" affect. The finished one looked super. Another fine job by our art department.
Now back to business!
Website www.bluechipstrength.com and www.jb-cpt.com has long told me that the best way to do the cornholes, is to have them in stock. Difficult propostion to say the least. First off, since I started doing these five years ago, I had always done the special order custom type cornholes. Like the one featured on these pages from time to time and shown in the cornhole gallery at www.lccornhole.com.
Only recently, with his help, has the idea really worked out very well. The idea of keeping them in stock. And the "his" I refer to is my oldest son, Jason. He's the man behind the websites "Blue Chip" and "jb-cpt". His field of expertise is personal training. I should have half the energy of him and his fellow workout people. I probably did once. Anyway, check out his blog in the News-Herald or go directly to the websites.
But his idea was to have "blank" set of boards available to decorate is always brought up in conversation. And finally, I am glad I did. He did a website for me to get me going, and going it is. Not that I have to rent a factory just yet. But who knows?
He believes it is the blogs that is driving the website. I would like to think so, but honestly, I am inclined to believe it is "Google". Whatever it is, any set featured on the website HAS SOLD.
The Stars and Stripes, (both sets) the Browns MDF prototype set, the Steelers set, another standard Brown set, and another Browns set with the stripes offset for a different look. (and it did look great, if I say so myself).
Now featured is a blank set for the "paint it yourselfer". Or not! An unpainted set will play just as good as a painted set. May need sanded a little, but it will still play.
The other featured set is, of course, the standard Browns set. And on Craig's list, I have this set WITHOUT the bags just to see how that works out. I may do this same thing on the web if I am serious about selling boards only. Wait and see!
The point to all this, is these sells were all IN STOCK. Something I would have not done before. Simply because I would have had them, and no one would have known about it. But now, with the help of this blog and Jason's (actually I do the business on it now) website that he set up for me, I can keep on making them and getting more in stock.
One young women called and asked if I had any in stock and she did not care what they decorated with, just as long as I had them. Well, I did have them! And, BINGO, they were SOLD that same day. Thank you Christy!
Before this revelation, I would sit for hours in the hot sun at the flea market listening to wives and girlfriends tell their partners "look honey, you can make that". But we know they never will.
So I will keep on making "stock". Keep on "featuring the stock" on the website and here in my blogs.
But one more important issue that I may make an entire blog about is this: DON'T BUY A CAN OF ORANGE PAINT AND BROWN PAINT AND TRY TO PUSH IT OFF AS "BROWNS COLORS". BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT!
I was driving Miss Daisey (my wife but don't tell her I said this) around last weekend (the 4th) just taking in the nice day and getting out of the house. And a lot of family gatherings had the cornholes in the front yard for me to examine. They all knew I would be driving around so they proudly put them in the FRONT yard for me to see. And I noticed a lot of Browns fans by the color of their boards. BUT! BUT! C'mon! Try to get close at least to Browns orange for crying out loud.
AND KUDOS TO THEM FOR PLAYING CORNHOLE. AT LEAST THEY WEREN'T STABBING EACH OTHER IN A GAME OF "JARTS".

GOD BLESS AMERICA.