Project fiend!

I've started working on some old crappy pipes that someone sent me for free when I bought my last pipe rack. The pipe on the bottom is how they all looked when they arrived. The pipe on the top is the first one I've refurbished.

I took it apart, cleaned out the insides, reamed the caked gunk out of the bowl, and then sanded and waxed the outside. I removed the oxidation from the stem and waxed that as well, and cleaned all the insides with moonshine and salt to kill any germs that might have entertained small, germ-sized thoughts about hanging around to bother me.

It's quite fun, actually, although I do wish I had a floor-standing buffing wheel/lathe/sander thingie to work with. As it is, I sit with a handheld power drill in one hand, and the pipe in the other.

Just the other day, I smoked the newly refurbished Kaywoodie pipe and it smoked like a dream! I'm now working on the second pipe of the three that came in the box. We'll see if that one turns out as well.

I realized the other day that I have an alarming number of projects in the works (ie: unfinished). And I seem to have no qualms about taking on more. So far I have these:

1. Make stained glass mosaic inserts to put under the plants in the front windows of the cottage. So far I have the thistle cutouts and some of the glass pieces I need. I still need the hardyback board, adhesive, grout, and to actually put the stuff together. Hmmmmm.

2. Refinish and reupholster a gorgeous antique chair. So far I've ripped off all the old upholstery and removed all the straw and horse hair stuffing. Yes, I said horse hair. Really, really OLD horse hair. Ewwwww. I still have to remove about four hundred tiny upholstery nails from the wood, refinish the chair, and then learn to upholster by hand from books I intend to take out at the library. Eons to go. Hmmmmmmm.

3. Scan and catalog my insanely huge collection of Angelina Jolie magazine articles and photos and store them on CDs. I've already collected hundreds of magazines, but guess what? The CD burner on my computer is broken and it has been for over a year. Wonder if / when THAT will ever be fixed? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

4. Create steampunk projects and open an Etsy.com store to sell them on. So far I've finished three projects, but I'd set my heart on having at least four items to sell before opening a store, so as not to have a Grand Opening that's more like a flop or a fizzle. Thing is, my "piece de resistance" is still lacking hardware, and it's proving difficult to find. I also have to photograph my art in alluring and inviting ways for the purpose of displaying them in my store. As it's rained the last seventy-three days straight, I haven't been able to get out and do my photography. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

5. I've just been stewing about this one in my brain recently, haven't acted on it at all yet... but I am thinking about trying to record my box of heavy metal LPs onto CD (the ones that you can't buy on CD, obviously) but it requires some research as to the best way to accomplish that. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I think I might be what mothers in the 1950's would have called "a project fiend".