2026 OneThing #7 - Fix and Sell or Donate Cowboy Picture

One of my father-in-law's pictures was this interesting looking cowboy on a bucking horse in a rough wooden frame. The pieces that hold the backing on to the frame had all fallen off, so it stayed at our house when I got rid of other artwork. 

 

I knew I had a busy week coming up, so I set this as one small thing I could do to get something out of our basement.

Of course, that didn't work out! I did a little research on the artist Frederic Remington. I had hoped maybe this would be worth some money, but I was pretty sure it's just a print. It's also a bit water damaged. So it's just a question of putting it together and giving it away, right?

 

(BTW, it's called A "Sun Fisher" and was painted in 1895. It's a lithograph in a private collection. This is just a print.)

When I went to clean the glass, I noticed that the frame was a little shaky. One joint seemed to be coming apart. My husband is willing to repair it . . . but needs new wood glue. (Our bottles of it have congealed.) It is not a "today" thing, so I will have to be content with it being in progress instead of DONE.

I told him that although I think it's a neat looking piece of art, I would love to give it to his sister who actually has horses. And who might appreciate the connection to their dad (and possibly Aunt Barbara?) because we think it might have come from her place in Arizona. But honestly, if he wants to keep it and display it, that's fine with me.

So this One Thing isn't finished, but it's toward the top of the queue. I had a good week, but it was pretty busy. I'll have to choose carefully for next week's OneThing and see if it's something I can actually get done! 

 

(BTW, last week's dog bed is sitting around, waiting to be donated. That's also not a today thing.)

2026 OneThing #6 Sew Dog Bed to Donate

I use a "bag" made of flannel sheet to line a basket in my sewing room. Any random small scraps, threads, batting, etc. get tossed in there. It has taken a few years, but I've filled it up. (Actually, I think it has been several years. It has definitely been since pre-Covid that I filled one.)

I sewed it shut with my serger then decided to make a sturdy outer bag with a zipper. It's not very elegant, but I hope to donate it next weekend at a pet adoption event. 

 

 

 

This is my "new" scrap collection container.

 

 

 

 

This is the full bag, ready for me to stitch closed.

 

 

 

 

This is the finished bag and the stuffed bag, ready to be put together.

Titus didn't climb onto the finished bed, which surprised me. But he "posed" with it for scale.

That gets some stuff out of my sewing space. Now I just need to donate it (along with some gently used toys Titus doesn't really care for.) Getting rid of things! That's my game.

OneThing #5 - Rough Drafts of Estate Documents

Making wills has been on my list for almost twenty years! I got a wonderful book from the library about a decade ago - Quicken's WillMaker - and made a will for myself. But I feel as though this is something Louie and I need to talk about and decide on together. We said we would do it by Thanksgiving 2025, but had attended a session on wills vs. trusts and weren't sure which route was a better choice for us. After meeting with a legal guy (free advice), and some conversations with others, we have decided to make wills rather than create a trust.

But that's where we stopped. I brought various papers and a book with me to help with the process (up at the lake) to finally draft our wills. I already have a health care directive, but Louie does not. When I tried to get him to have a conversation about this, we had some words. I finally said that this is very important to me and I can go ahead with my own will and my own health care directive (which is already done, but I can review and revise it, then make sure Alex has a copy as well as my doctor's office). 

He conceded that if we were to die together in a car accident, we would leave a terrible mess for our kids and the state of Minnesota would get to decide how to disburse our assets. Theoretically, we will select a DIY option this upcoming Thursday and proceed with creating our wills. Once we have the documents, we will get them notarized and give copies to relevant people. 

I'm going to call this OneThing done-ish. 

 

Technically, I have my rough draft will (from more than a decade ago) and my HCD. 

 

Sigh. This has been a tough one for me to make progress on . . .  

 

This book is one that I've had for a long time but have not read completely or recently. Might be time to put it on top of the reading list.

And pray that we have a successful conversation on Thursday!