Years ago, after my dad died, Richard was piddling around at their house and ran across this old ladder. He recognized it as being Daddy's so he decided to bring it home to (one day) make a quilt ladder from the side with the rungs. The balance side was missing several pieces. It got put in a corner of Richard's shed and forgotten. Until...
I had gone out to ask Richard something. I rarely go out to his shed because it is just too hot! But Richard was doing something near that corner where the ladder was and I happened to see it. Oh yes! Of course, at the time life had us by the ear and there was no way either of us could take on another thing. So there it stayed. There in the corner of the shed and in the back of my mind.
Last week I climbed on a milk crate, so I could reach the top of an old crawfish burner and onto the top of a stack of wood piled on a
barrel (maybe?) It's much heavier than it looks, so moving it from the corner past the mountain required more muscle than I have. So I climbed farther into the corner which, admitted was a bit precarious and scary. How many snakes, rats, or opossums might I be disturbing anyway? At this point I was able to get enough leverage to move the ladder, tilt it sideways and slide it over the mountain peak and onto the dirt floor where the snakes would surely be lying in wait.
Once the ladder was situated in the snake pit, I started the downward climb. You know how people say, "Don't look down"? How do you know where your feet are if you follow that sage advice? As I contemplated that universal question, I maneuvered contortion-like to the ladder and dragged it to the front of the shed where Richard and Adam were discussing some mundane subject.
And that's where my story ends because, you see dear reader, Richard took over the project as I knew he would. Sure he'd have done all the climbing and whatever, but I needed to be able to claim reward for something, so I had to do something. Apparently I'm only afraid of heights when I am perfectly safe, such as in a stadium, on a real mountain, or on a balcony.
Richard hosed off the dusty cobwebs and the following day asked me what I wanted done. I had a couple of changes: cut the top rung in half to make two quilt ladders, remove the paint shelf and use the wood to replace the missing rungs, and reinforce whatever needed reinforcing.
Voila! Check out my quilt ladders made from my daddy's old wooden ladder with authentic scratches and paint drips and split rungs. The pictures here are of the ladder in our bedroom. The other one is in the dining room, waiting for me to put a table in storage and open a corner of the living room. It will display quilts that I'll occasionally change out.
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13 ways to reuse, repurpose, and recycle used candle wax.
When a candle burns down to the bottom, but there's still lots of wax left, what do you do? Toss the whole thing, container and all? Peel out the bits of wax to wash and use the container? Dig out the wax and reuse both it and the container? I, of course, prefer the last option.
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The problem, sometimes, is getting the wax out of the container. But, there's a trick to removing the stubs and pieces of candle. Warm the wax by putting the candle and holder in a bowl or pot of hot water.
If necessary, increase the temperature of the water by slowing adding hotter water. If the container is glass, be careful so you don't break the glass by adding hot water too quickly.
To remove the wax use a butter knife to pry the wax out or cut the wax into chunks first. Just be extra careful so you don't break the glass or hurt yourself with the knife. You can find information on ways that I've repurposed glass jars here.
Ways to reuse candle wax.
1. Rub on metal zipper teeth to help the pull slide smoother.
2. Coat metal rods, such as shower curtain rods, towel rods, etc. to clean and delay rusting.
3. Rub on drawer mechanisms to help it glide smoothly.
4. Warm in microwave and rub onto metal parts of can openers to loosen rust and coat the gears.
5. Use on the soleplate of a hot iron to clean it and help it slide easier.
6. Rub on sticky door hinges to lubricate.
7. Make fire-starters. Stuff paper towel or tissue cardboard roll (cut to about six inch lengths) with lint, small sticks, and dry leaves, pour melted wax in. Be extra careful with hot wax!
8. Warm and coat clean garden tools with a layer of wax before putting away for winter.
9. Use as a wax resist for dyeing fabric.
10. Use in a candle warmer if the candle still has scent to it.
11. Use to waterproof leather boots . Warm the wax so that it is pliable but not completely melted, rub on the leather and buff down with a soft cotton cloth.
12. Emergency candle when the electricity goes out.
13. Melt down the wax into the bottom of a candle holder before putting a new candle in. As it cools the hot wax works as a glue base to hold the new candle in.
Years ago, after my dad died, Richard was piddling around at their house and ran across this old ladder. He recognized it as being Daddy's so he decided to bring it home to (one day) make a quilt ladder from the side with the rungs. The balance side was missing several pieces. It got put in a corner of Richard's shed and forgotten. Until... 
I had gone out to ask Richard something. I rarely go out to his shed because it is just too hot! But Richard was doing something near that corner where the ladder was and I happened to see it. Oh yes! Of course, at the time life had us by the ear and there was no way either of us could take on another thing. So there it stayed. There in the corner of the shed and in the back of my mind.
