The old inner spring mattress, A Great Thing!

Found this beauty in the free pile at the local thrift store. I was just thinking i needed another one and there it was! I have so many uses for these and they dissect so quickly and easily. All i need is a razor blade. What happens to all those razor blades and why are they hard to find when you need one?

First the ticking comes off. Every mattress I've found has differant colors and stripes. i love these, but this one is a little too stained to keep for sewing into pants. I put it to use in the ceiling, holding the recycled blue jean insulation in place.

Now the best part!. Inside the mattress is a layer of cotton batting. it's often backed with a strong netting materal, so you just roll the whole thing off.

big globs of the stuff! When building this is like gold for insulating. You can handle it, stuff it into cracks or bag it for later. Yeah, I hear some of you, "but what about the bed bugs?" Don't bring it to bed with you or stuff it in your bra! I personally haven't found a one.
it goes into cracks like magic!

The spring inside. Or sculpture! Ever since Prince's first album I've been infatuated with metal mattress springs. you older folks will understand that reference!
Sometimes the spring is mounted to wood, sometimes it's just a floppy spring. They both have their own astetic and purpose here at Broken Shovel.

The newest one will complete the garden fence. perfect for climbing vines, keeping bone burying dogs out and adding that beautiful rusty touch If you see any more of these mattresses lying around haul it home or give me a call. they have many uses or as permaculturists call it "stacking functions" I love that ,too

front door

this is the story of finding my new front door.
If you glance at the photo you'll see i'm adding a glassed in front porch. i wanted a front door  that said ,"welcome to a home with heart, style and light". The doors I had laying around the property weren't quite the door i was looking for. I glanced around second hand stores, prayed before going to the thrift stores, asked friends, and even looked at pricey antique shops without finding exactly what i was looking for. If you were to ask me what exactly i was looking for, i wouldn't be able to tell you. I always know when i find what I'm looking for, I get a little rush, almost like a drug rush, only better.
After framing two walls I deceided it was now time to get a door. I drove into Albuqueruque and started making my rounds again, revisiting doors I had seen in the past, and checking the back rooms of shops that allow me to do that. I made an offer on a pair of french doors, that was turned down(note, I did not whine, just thanked them and left). late in the day I asked a fellow vendor at Sole, he suggested Habitat For Humanity. hmmmm. I crossed the street and asked the mechandiser at another shop, he said "what about Habitat for humanity? And ,"what style is your house?" I had a little laugh about that and struggled to explain just what was happening here. I said a little of this a little of that, what ever is lying near by and fits is mostly the style of my home. But there was HFH again!
i literally jumped into my truck and swung over there. I followed a great vintage Dodge pickup truck into the parking lot and had to wait while a woman unloaded her truck at the donation's door. She off loaded a couple of aluminum framed windows and low and behold, a classic aluminum storm door and an exterior 1950's ranch style front door!
This was what I'd been looking for all along. oh, so excited! I can't wait to park the car and ask about those doors. I hurry inside the store, but play it cool, you know, look at bathroom sinks, kick the legs on some old dressers and mosey on over to the restricted employee only area where the doors are leaning against a pole.
"Excuse Me!
i couldn't help but notice those doors you just got in?
Would you be willing to sell them now?
Hmmm... how much for the storm door?
ok, 40.00 and therare screens that fit? oh, it slides up and down, great!
and the white door?
40 again? Is that hollow core?
Yes, it is very nice, very 50's, kind of suburban, kind of ... oh 25.00 then.
GrEAt!!!"
that is how i found my new front door. Stay tuned to see it painted and the fancy storm door hung.

really just a truck loader

Tommorrow I'm opening a new shop in an antique mall in albuquerque. This involves scouting out items laying in the yard, stacked in the storage space, and attending to the "fix it someday" pile. I want to make a great impresssion, make money and create a buzz. Wondering if i should start off with the rusty porch glider or the mohair sofa from "Passion Play". Business is down all over, it feels like to me, and price point is more important than ever.
I,m holding a big sale in my old booth, hoping to raise a little cash and reduce the amount of stock i have. I pulled my treasures, don't want to give them away, and have said a mental good bye to the rest.
Now is the time to heave items into the truck, this is when i wish i had been born a "teacup" dealer instead of a large rusty furniture seller. Loading alone is a learned skill, i've had lots of practice, but it doesn't get easier with age and loss of waistline. I'll employ a furniture dolly to move one end of the glider, or sofa, and rest my carried end on the tailgate. Kicking the dolly out of the way, i heave the other end in and pray it doesn't get stuck in the tailgate groove. Thorw a blanket over that piece and get the next. And on and on.
I'll try a little of this and a little of that to see what the audience at the new place responds to. It's tricky and i feel a little unsure of myself after my less than stellar Etsy opening. Sometimes the learning curve becomes very steep and my footing slips.

Bring It.....wind

wondering why i'm surprised that it's windy everyday on the prairie. Duh. Another stella windy day and another attempt to stay centered while leaning eastward.
A great day yesterday at the recycling bins, got to one just as a restaurant busboy was unloading his employer's bottles. he nicely sorted out the ones he believed I wanted, as he was afraid I'd get cut. I hardly ever do, a weird phenomenon as I always sticking my arm in a huge container of broken glass. I measure my bottle picking success by how many Bombay saphirres I score. 4, that's a great day!
Got some cans, though ran into another can picker at one bin and we seemed to be following the same route. I try and share, it's tough as I try and gauge how needy they are. I guess I look needy with my shaved head, dirty truck and makeshift collection containers. I try and give older women first dibs, respect for my elders and you'd be shocked how many grey haired ladies are supplementing their social security with aluminum. a couple have minivans stocked with plastic bins that they fill from net bags. I often wonder,"are they crazy or just poor?"
I also scored a wonderful folk art dresser at the Goodwill. an unknown artist painted a waterfall dresser white and glued old book photos of horses, maps and women in aprons to it. It seems to be custom made for me and I'll keep it and be inspired.
I attended the monthly permaculture meeting. always fun and great wisdom shared. We talk about our current projects and plans for our next projects. I love learning from other's mistakes, saves me from making them myself. More learning to live from the heart!
I'm watching the hummingbird try to land on the gusting feeder. I wonder if hummingbirds curse?

LOOK I fixed it!!

Thank you!!

recycling on Mother's day.

Ran into a fellow recycler at the bins. She's got an update on Albuquerque,s recycling program. She's heard that the city has finally found a company that will truly recycle. up until this pint most of all bin content ha sgone to the landfill. Good for the landfill, bad for the community of people that have been making money truly recycling. th eprices of metal are at all time highs so I see many regulars picking through the mixed content bin. there are few glass recyclers, i think I've met them, we're all using the bottles for building, one woman sells some bottles to brewers. Albuquerque is trying to pass an ordinace to prevent people from scavenging the recycling bins.
By evening on a Sunday, most of the mixed content bins are overflowing. one woman picked up a big box of children's clothes. I was able to get a partial roll of chicken wire, a wooden bed, a few bags of cans, and 3 bonbay sapphire bottles. I passed up a pile of cardboard swamp cooler filters. Sometimes I'm slow on the ideas, they would be perfect for "sponges" for trees. If you dig a good size hole near the newly planted tree and fill the holes with paper, cloth, leaves, straw, and any organic materals, the sponge will hold any water and the tree will send roots into the sponge. it eventually breaks down into compost and you hacve to refill but it's a great use of junk mail and old paper.
I purhcased 9 fence posts from an ad on craig's list. these will help to finish the pallet fence around the perimeter of the property. He also had a few t posts, they were more money than the yshould have been but he gave us a small discount. everything can't always be free and I see it as supporting fellow recyclers. we could all use cash sometimes and it encourages us to keep it up!

another friday, another trip to the recycling bins

More bottles, more cans. Almost have 100 pounds of cans. But the big news, my cans are being rented to In plain Sight!! That and some bottle, rusty bed springs, iron headboards, sinks, a cistern and othe rassosrted treasures that give my yard character. It was a great sytle affirming business transaction. A hippie/gypsy camp needed dressing and they thought of me!
This brings me to my fear and second thoughts about quitting my job and just living my life. I hate the way i feel at work, I don't like who I am whan i'm at work and I love who I am at home. I love how I feel building a wall from trash or massaging a horse or selling a treasure I found. I had an interesting train of events happen Thursday and Friday. Thursday the set designer came over to Broken Shovel, ooooded and ahhed over every thing, rente da truck full of stuff and it felt great. Besides really needing the money to buy hay for the horses. Friday i got an email from a friend regarding a position on the Avengers. It was for an assistant to the travel coordinator, no sweat for me, not much money for me, but 2 1/2 months away from my new life. I agonized over the decision and turned the job down.
Not to get too Spiritual, but i think this is the time that i really need to trust the universe to send me what I need. My part of the bargain is to see the beauty in nature and the creatures i spend my life with. Call it the universe, jesus crist, god ( or I like to refer to god as dog now),mother nature, karma, whatever, Trusting and letting go is the hardest but the rewards are more than you could ever plan for. Living from the heart feels extremely important right about now and I'm going for it.