One Way to Force My Hand

As is well documented in this blog, I'm not much of a housekeeper. Making stuff--I love it. Maintaining stuff, not so much. However, that very well may have to change right about now. Our floors are done, and what an improvement in looks, as you shall soon see. On the other hand, it will be quite the job for me to keep them looking their best, that's for sure.

Let's back up some days, shall we? When last we met, Mr. Peck was dismantling his desk. He moved onto the kitchen table, never missing a beat.

He was pretty squished up in there, but he made it work nonetheless. Please note the light over the table because, in addition to the new flooring, I purchased a new kitchen light, along with four new ceiling fans. Basically I went crazy on Build.com. Although I had never heard of them, my search for fans in person was fruitless. The same for the light, thus I took to the internet. Everything went beautifully; all arrived in record time with free shipping. So, while Scott was here working on the floors, Herbert was working overhead, and doing a great job, I might add. It was chaos on Saturday.

Good thing we'd had our date night Friday at Earls where they treat us like gold. Bartender Brandon made a lemon flower for my Raspberry Mojito. So cute!

Our server, Michelle, could not have been any better. She came down from Bruce's other project, Tyson's Corner for a little change. I absolutely loved hearing her say that the customers there are always remarking on how beautiful the restaurant is. You and I know it was not easy getting there!

Friday, Scott worked on the little bedroom. Bruce had already removed the carpeting and pad, along with the ancient tack strip, which fell apart underneath his crowbar. Little Missy did the sweeping and clean up. Come to think of it, that tack strip is only a few years older than we are! Scott began by grinding the concrete slab with a giant sander, removing, I don't know what. We talked about floating the floor, but in the end, it is all glued down snug as a bug in a rug. Oh wait...we won't have bugs in the rug anymore! 

Applying glue to the concrete, he followed by laying boards of random lengths. Once he had a few courses in, these neat straps keep things tight and straight.

He finished laying all of the boards Friday, with only the quarter round to go on Saturday. Herbert was hanging the new fan when he arrived at 10 (late start time in my book, but that is his idea, not mine), so he went to work on the sunroom floor. What a mess!!!

When it was all finished, the huge windows, as well as parts of the walls, were coated in clay dust. Once the floor was sanded, he poured a leveling compound of concrete over the tiles to get a flat surface to work on. Meanwhile Bruce and I put the bedroom back together once he nailed in the quarter round. Before it looked like this:

And now it looks like this:

Whereas before, dust and dirt could hide in the carpet, that is now a thing of the past. Yikes! Before we actually got it back in shape, there was cleaning to be done in here due to the concrete dust created by his sanding. Windows, bookshelves that sort of thing. I was literally being forced into cleaning. Should you be curious, the wood is wire brushed hickory. 

Needless to say, we slept well in our guest room because our bed was now in the sewing room. Scott wanted to work on Sunday, and we did not argue with that plan. The concrete was hardening in the sunroom, so he began work in our bedroom. More concrete dust! By the time Hill's Happy Hour began, we had begun putting a few things in our bedroom. Bill McCormac came over to help Bruce with the dresser and the mattresses. I had stopped by to see some of Glen's quilting project, and when I returned the bed was operational. One thing though, they did not put the dust ruffle under the mattress. Well, my hand was finally forced on that one, because although it was too long with the carpet, it was three inches too long with the wood. Today, once my sewing room was put back together late last night, I finally hemmed the darn thing about eight months after buying it!

Scott was a little camera shy, but here he is working in our bedroom.

One of the biggest changes is going from light to dark underfoot. 

Interesting, isn't it? When we had all the tile laid in our living spaces I did not choose wood because of one simple reason--we have wood ceilings, so having dark on top, and bottom, would have been too much in my opinion. A wood sandwich if you will.

Once our room was complete, Mr. Peck began taking up the carpet in my sewing room. 

During the process he discovered the pad was from our last install. He also discovered how they had hardly kicked the carpet before. Bad guys, they were. 

Monday I was meant to go to Days for Girls, however, Bruce had a meeting, so I stayed at the house with Scott which was pretty much torture because not only was there no place to even eat, he says very little, and my computer and sewing machine were not operational. Yikes! 

Now you can see the concrete base he put down. By day's end, the room was nearly finished, at least enough for Bruce to put his desk back together, which is quite the task, what with all his equipment and electronics. Prior to the desk being removed from the living room, it was worse than before because of all my sewing room stuff!! Good thing Scott is a little man because believe me, the walk aisle was minimal.

Not only did we have to remove the furnishings, but empty out the closets. I had an epiphany though, so that is good. Regarding my beloved dresses, of which there are many, I'd had them in my sewing room closet for years. Well, duh! I wear them more than anything else so why I had them in the other room is a mystery.

I've now switched things out, putting this whole bunch in our closet, and all the skirts and shirts in the other one. Why I did not think of this before, I do not know. Thankfully, we had a rod in the garage as is shown above. 

So, here's our bedroom with the carpet:

As well as the horrible dust ruffle. Now, it looks like this!!!

My sister Nancy, who has a birthday tomorrow, will be so proud that I finally tackled this task. Well, I was sort of forced, wasn't I? The room is sparkling clean now...all windows clean, the floors mopped, not once, but twice, to remove the dust, the blinds look good. As well, and this is sort of big...the Murphy's Wood Oil Soap I bought is good for furniture too. I cleaned it all. Of course, I was about beat to a pulp last night, so there's that. :)

One reason I was so beat is because we not only put the sunroom back, after I cleaned the inside of the windows, washed the floor twice, wiped the clay dust off the walls, and cleaned the windows behind Bruce's desk because that won't be happening again any time soon. Impossible to get to. 

Here's the before:

And now it looks like this. Spiffy new fan too.

The dust went everywhere, so each and every item had to be wiped down. Do people do this kind of thing all of the time? It would kill me! One thing we learned is that you have to use rubber casters on a rolling desk chair so B got some, putting them on both of our chairs. Another thing we learned is that it is hard to get rid of the carpet. Orange County is making us wait until next Monday to pick ours up. Bummer!

I was just too tired last night to finish my office, although the cleaning part was done before bedtime. It's all good now. Here is the before:

And now it looks like this:

Oh my goodness, what a project!! I am so thrilled with my new light as well, because it well, has a bunch of light, unlike my old one. These older eyes need all the light they can get!

This morning, aside from finishing my sewing room, was spent cleaning every last thing around here. How can this become my routine?? I HAVE NO IDEA!

We are so grateful to be able to hire someone to do this for us after a lifetime of doing it ourselves. Floors by Scott is the name of his business, and I can attest that he did an outstanding job. 

Relaxing in his "new" space last evening, Bruce said he was wondering what I will want to do next. Hmmm.......

Good tired,

Gail

Curiosity is an Underrated Passion

Does that title fit me, or what? I wish I'd made it up, however, I'm not nearly that clever; it came from that Beth Gutcheon book I read last week. I did, on the other hand, make up, "a good memory is overrated", and I cling to that like flies on honey!

I suppose it was my curious nature that led me to ride down a street off Michigan which might be described as iffy for several reasons. One, the houses are pretty worn out, and two, the lot on Lake Pineloch I thought would have a big beautiful house on it by now, had anything but.

A number of years ago Bruce and I looked at this lot when it was for sale. Can't remember what happened, well, obviously we didn't buy it, but apparently neither did anyone else. How in the world does a place get so run down? Here's a creative solution to covering windows:

Doors over windows, oh my! Foliage growing on the roof, oh my! Mosquitos, mosquitos, mosquitos, oh my! The morning was gloomy, humid, and just plain gross, so I should have known so much better than to park my bike and roam around this place. The trees are huge,

aren't they? My bike looks so tiny. Then too, there are palm trees, as in two, growing up right through the branches on that live oak tree. My curiosity sated, I took off, only to go down another street on the other side of the Blankner School track. It's hard to explain, but on occasion I've been on the other side of this little lake in the area and heard a peacock. Well, now I've found him:

Finally, what good sense I do possess told me to get home and out of the weather because I am seriously allergic to mosquito bites, and if ever there were a time for them to be out in full force, yesterday morning was it! The inside of my left wrist is still swollen from a bite!

Later in the morning I talked to Cheryl and she thought I was crazy for going out--she may very well have been right. Last Friday night she had an awesome dinner party at her house and we were happy to have been a part of it.

Once home and cooled off, I had a little inspiration for a photo shoot to add to my growing litany of wine cork photos. If you've ever wondered what my work space looks like, this is it:

A stool to stand on, various background fabrics, in this case placemats, my bag of corks, a box from Bruce's Mom, and my glasses! Inside that box I found all manner of goodies, including this photo book with an adorable picture of my husband:

Now you know why they moved to Florida from upstate New York! Obviously I love digital photography, but there won't be much of looking at old photos in the future, which is sad, but I guess young people won't think twice because they have never known otherwise? As well, I found this family photo taken in 1984:

I posted this on facebook, however, there are a few, and you know who you are, readers, who are not on fb who might find the photo interesting. From the left-- Matthew, age: 8, Bruce, age: 30, David, age: 4, Jonathan in my arms, age: almost 1, Gail, age: 30, and Bill, age: 4. Currently, no one can remember the cat's name. When Bruce saw it he barely recognized me, and I couldn't agree more! Who is that girl? I do remember the skirt though because I made it. It had a complicated waistband, buttons on the bottom portion, and then angled parts in the front with the buttonholes. Even though I lived that life, it is hard to imagine I had time to sew. It looks as if I've got my hip stuck out to hold Jonathan doesn't it? Many people who meet me today cannot imagine this was my life for so many years. I tell them I have four sons, but when you see the whole gang together, it takes on more meaning. The stag horn fern hanging in the tree behind our heads is the only part of this picture that still lives with us. I'll have to photograph it to show you what it looks like nearly 30 years later!

If our weather doesn't perk up pretty soon, Tom, when he comes home with Matt in a few weeks, won't believe that our state is called, The Sunshine State! Grey, windy, and rainy days have been the norm lately, which is not at all to my liking.

Baxter, with his new haircut, is enjoying the breeze:

It's surprising that the pad Baxter is standing on is not wet because most things are, including our new umbrella:

I'm not fooling around with this one--the slightest breeze, and down it comes!

After getting out those props, it spurred me on to some cleaning which led to another trip to Goodwill today. I wisely parked this time.

Cleaning out drawers and such is always a trip down memory lane, one that I was glad I traveled on yesterday. I'll tell you more about that in my next post. Are you curious yet?

Dresses

I'm waiting on Bruce to return from New Jersey. Tonight is the annual "The Art of the Dress" exhibit at the Avalon Gallery on Pine and Magnolia. Last year it was loads of fun, partly because it was super crowded, partly because the art was so fun.

Yesterday, Nancy will be thrilled to know that I shook off my slacker ways and cleaned the house, or at least my version of cleaning. Some days, everything I see is a picture, some days  I see nothing. Cleaning supplies, when lit properly, can even be interesting, at least to me.

After finishing my cleaning I made lunch for Bill who was taking a vacation day. I don't get to see my boys often enough so I took the opportunity to have him over while he was available. Working on the weekends has it's drawbacks for sure.

Finally I sat down at the sewing machine and started back on the dress you first saw in JUNE!

No doubt you're wondering why in the world it's taken me so long and you would be right to wonder. For some crazy reason I bought an invisible zipper for the dress along with the special foot to install it. Guess what? Could not read the instructions, even with a magnifying glass! Some of the print is getting too darn small for an old lady like me. So, it sat.

Eventually I purchased a regular zipper, planning on getting to it soon. Well, maybe not soon, but in the near future. The future is now, or at least yesterday and today.

Today I missed bridge because we did not have a foursome which makes things difficult. One friend has a dad in the hospital, one is on a Mediterranean cruise. Next week I hope!  So, after walking Baxter I sat back down and got to work.

Interestingly enough, the pattern suggested a way to make a lapped zipper installation that I've never used. For all the years I've sewn you baste the seam together and then work from the inside. Not this method, which worked like a dream. Best zipper I've put in in as long as I can remember.

Next the side and shoulder seams, the facing, the sleeves and finally the hem. The dress is finished!

Although there are some interesting details on the front you'd hardly notice them with the busy print. The pattern is a 60's retro Simplicity--thus I wanted a little bit of Flower Power, or maybe a lot. :) I've got it on now--figured it was a good event to show off my crazy little dress.

Speaking of which, after a trip to the library yesterday afternoon, I have some new reading material. I found Flower Children by Maxine Swann,  choosing it, not only did I think I might like the story, but the cover photograph is cool as well. You know when you read the first page of a book and realize--yup, this will work? Well when I read the opening line: "They're free to run anywhere they like whenever they like, so they do." I knew right off this book was for me; I stayed up late, nearly finishing it last night!

Mostly, after boring you to tears writing about our cardinals, I have steered clear of the subject of late. I've had to content myself with this adorable mug I bought a few weeks ago to get my bird fix.

HOWEVER, the birds are back with the slightly cooler weather. I did my best to get this shot of what I'm hoping is the baby, although, heaven knows I can't be sure.

This morning you would have thought we were a park what with a dove, crow, tit mouse, cardinal and squirrel all hanging around the new tree and bird feeder. Nice. Don't you just believe in silver linings? I do. If the big tree hadn't come down we would never have had this much fun with our feathered friends. Of course, all of my friends and loved ones who are having such health challenges undoubtedly cannot see a silver lining in their future. Who can blame them? That said, if I'd never gotten sick for so long, I would never have gotten started with my business. Maybe it's only some of the time......

The other day a man, after looking through my baskets said he was impressed with my still lifes. I said that if I can't find something out and about to photograph, I make something up at home. I'm sure this isn't really true, but he said that he'd heard that painters and photographers need go no further than a two mile radius from their homes to be good. Now that I've typed that, it does sound pretty crazy, but it worked for Monet. Walking Baxter this morning, we stopped down at the lake, something we've done countless times. It just struck me today to get way down and see what happened.

Plain and simple, but I like it. Imagine that it's the first time I've thought to do it after so many times standing right in front of it! I just wasn't looking with my photographic eyes.

Finally Bruce just called from the runway. We'll be late, but we'll be there.

Good night dear ones.

Gail

Sparkling Clean

At the outset, let's get this straight, I'll be the first to admit to undervaluing the allure of sparkle and shine. Who knew my things could look so nice without a layer of grease and grime? Deep down, I'm sure I did, however, making the effort to get there has not been my strong suit. Yesterday, I made that effort.

The morning began gray and gloomy. In fact, not long after getting up, the rain began falling. That ruled out going swimming.

Unlike our typical rainstorms, this one was nice and easy--no thunder or lightening--just soft rain. Before it came on in earnest, I spent about an hour and a half, working in the yard, weeding and trimming. Although I got slightly wet before I quit, it was preferable to baking in the sun. While outside, I looked diligently for our babies with no success.

As well, we have a slight problem with the pool finish; some dark spots are appearing on the bottom. The company has been responsive, sending out a fellow yesterday morning. I don't know about you, but it is VERY hard for me to look someone in the eye who has a tattooed bald head, scraggly beard, and lisps because of something embedded in their tongue. I did my best. He may look kinda scary, but he seems to be knowledgable and that's what we need. Worst case scenario is draining the pool and treating the shell with acid. Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

In homage to Nancy, I decided to seriously clean the kitchen. If you can imagine it took me hours and hours. We now have a perfect toaster, shiny kettle, impeccable stove, and more. I emptied the canisters and washed them as well.

You might notice the 409 on the windowsill--Nancy has definitely convinced me of it's usefulness. I washed all the cupboards, polished the dishwasher and take a look at this stove:

Sparkle! That backsplash and granite around the stove were pretty gross, covered with spattered grease that has been on there for who knows how long!

I had the weirdest experience while this was going on. My doorbell rang and it was an elderly woman looking for my neighbor Marion who lives across the street on the front side of our home. She explained that she was there for a visit and despite having scheduled it, Marion wasn't home. Marion is another of my neighbors in her 80's. After her heart attack a few years ago, she's had a helper who comes several times a week, driving her places, and I suspect keeping her company more than anything. I related this to the woman whose name I'm not sure I ever got. Anyway, I told her they most likely would be returning soon and did she want to wait inside. She did.

Although I suggested she sit in the living room, she couldn't hear me. I wasn't about to quit my cleaning for a stranger. No telling if I would have finished had I done so. In the 45 minutes she was there in the kitchen with me,  I discovered that she also is in her 80's, and despite having three daughters in town, they are mostly too busy for her. In other words, another lonely soul. I learned more, but all the while she talked, I scrubbed and scrubbed on that stove.

Then it was time to tackle the stuff above the cupboards. That's one thing about having lots of decorative items. Lots to collect dust. I got the ladder out and started bringing things down. It was pretty darn icky I'll tell you that much. Not everything was as gross as this soup tureen which was stationed above the stove:

Outrageous the amount of grime!!! You see that white middle? That's what the whole thing looks like if there were an excellent housekeeper around here. While cleaning it I kept puzzling about who gave me this. How long ago? That sort of thing. Well, take a look at what a bit of 409, red scrubby thing and dishwashing soap will do:

Much better indeed. One by one I washed everything and there is a lot. The photo below is less than stellar, however, for those of you who've not been in my kitchen before, it gives you an idea about what one side looks like:

By the way, the top of that fridge was pretty nasty as well! See how everything sparkles in the sunlight? Tremendous! Luckily, last night, I had some leftovers to eat for dinner, because after doing the whole kitchen, including washing the fan and floor, I mowed the lawn. Hey, it was cool from the rainy day. Why not?

After bridge today, I came home to my sparkling clean kitchen, to cook. Rhubarb is hard to find in the South and when you are married to a Northern boy like I am, you buy it when it comes to market. This year I'm making a rhubarb crisp recipe from the  New York Times which I'm hoping Bruce will enjoy.

Those canisters are blinding they are so clean! Bruce has been in Casper, Wyoming all week, however, not long ago he called once he landed in Orlando. As such, I expect I best get in that sparkling kitchen to rustle up a little something more than a dessert!

Finally, from what I'm hearing, the riots have quieted somewhat in London. Truth be told, one of the reasons I did all that yesterday was to distract me from worrying about our man in London. Mostly I'm not a worrier--something about this situation though was getting to me. Busy hands help.

Back at the Ranch

Well, not strictly speaking a ranch, but we do live in what's commonly known as a ranch style home. Indeed, if you've been along for our London journey what I have to say today may not be all that exciting to you, however, to me, it's very much so.

As you may already know, one of my sisters, Nancy, has been in the house. Make that for about four weeks. Saturday she left, joining another sister, Maureen and her friend Lynn for a week at the beach. She is missed already. After so much time Baxter was thoroughly taken with her, showing his displeasure while she was leaving by tucking his tail. That's how we know he's unhappy. You should see his tail when he's happy; he wags it like nobodies business. Isn't wag a funny word?

Nancy, unlike me, is a maintenance machine. Cleaning and organizing makes her happy. The sloppier or dirtier the better. Personally, I can overlook both, but I'd have been a fool not to accept her offer of help, although at times, not without a bit of fussing on my part. Good enough is my way of looking at things, she, on the other hand is not so easily satisfied. So, we cleaned and I mean more than I might do in a year. Yikes! It was a wonder I got any blog posts written.

In our absence, Nancy began with the linen closet in the hallway bathroom. What was once a jumble of towels, sheets, and various linens, now looks like this:

That isn't the entire closet because the bathroom is so small I couldn't get far enough back to show you the rest, but you get the idea. What you don't see are index cards on the left wall detailing what is on the upper shelves. To date, I've just kept washing the sheets on our bed because I don't want to mess anything up! How she folds sheets so neatly is beyond me! I suspect she'll be unhappy if she sees this photo because the towel on the bottom shelf is misplaced; I must get a stool out to put it in its rightful place. Allegedly I won't be buying things I already have if I study the contents of the little drawers which are clearly labeled.

Feeling guilty, I washed our quilt at the laundromat, a task I'd been considering doing for well nigh a year. Good grief, it was so simple once I finally did it. A little more than a mile away a spotless laundromat was waiting patiently for me:

The cost was $3.75 and worth every penny. I'm not sure if we're sleeping better now that the mattress pad, quilt, shams, and bed skirt are clean, but I will say it looks better!

One Saturday Nancy worked on the living area. How dirty could it be? She washed everything in sight including the plantation blinds! She took them down, putting them outside on the driveway and scrubbed them like nobodies business. Sheers anyone? It's anyone's guess how long it has been since they have been thoroughly cleaned.The windows were next, while the blinds were down, making that task much simpler. I'm still marveling about that one each time I look outside. So not just the inside, but the outside as well. You can see how large the windows are in this shot. As well, here's an update on the garden as well:

It's coming along nicely isn't it? I think it must have been Monday afternoon that, once Bruce returned from work, he and Nancy took down his blinds, pictured on the right, and repeated all that nonsense. For the longest time I'd tried to get Bruce to throw away a gigantic fake palm tree in the sunroom with no success. I tried the Angela approach. No dice. Nancy, on the other hand, has clout. It's gone, as are some silly drapes that hung on either side of the above pictured window. Hurray!

While we're in the yard, here's an update on our momma cardinal:

She is no dummy, making her nest amongst the palms so that it's impossible for me to see what is inside. The only evidence visible is her tail on the right. Not a great shot, but I thought you'd want to know how things were progressing.

I believe it was a week ago Saturday that, while Nancy was busy doing some sort of cleaning, I painted our sparkling clean bathroom the same color as the bedroom I painted during our major remodel. There is something to be said for having smallish rooms for sure. 

I only wish all of the tile were the same color, however, for the most part, we like to keep things that remind us of the age of our home--only seven years younger than we are!

Bill and Dave, indeed came to get their stuff, not even waiting until the last minute. I now have the largest closet in our home mostly to myself, aside from a few boxes of Matt's mementos. Below you see not only that I have a bunch of dresses, BUT, they are all hung on matching hangars, another one of Nancy's doings. Lord knows, I wouldn't have done that. I did, however, hang them by color and sleeve length.

The closets were treasure troves of goodies. I tackled the one in what was formerly Jonathan's room and discovered a contract he wrote during his Everquest days. That will wait for another day. I did find these little guys up in the top of the closet:

I've no recollection what kind of figures they were, but I clearly recall Jonathan playing with this bus in the tub when he was young.

While I was playing bridge on Thursday morning, Nancy was working on our bedroom blinds. Upon my return I was pressed into service, cleaning the new sun room windows, which eventually led to the remaining windows in the house. Did I tell you how much Nancy loves bleach? Well, she does, using it on everything! 409 is her other favorite, a product I've never once in my life used. She's making a believer out of me! Once the windows and screens were done, Nancy used bleach on the awning, getting on the ladder to do so. We discovered that the gutters were full of leaves and pine needles. So up the ladder I went, scooping out copious amounts of gunk and dropping it down into a large garbage can. I thought I didn't have one ounce of energy left to finish them, however, having Nancy as a cheerleader, I kept it up. I think one of the best things to come out of this, if there is a best thing, is I scrubbed the white roof flashing with bleach. In the past I'd tried to do it while on the roof, this time I could see clearly how disgusting it was. Fantastic.

Earlier in the week, I think it must have been Monday night, our Chinese Tallow tree apparently suffered a lightening strike. Very strange as there was no storm. Anyway, it needed attention so I called our tree guy who came out to give me an estimate. Although he said he'd be here either Wednesday or Thursday, he was a no show. Thus, when Bruce returned from his trip, the tree was untouched. Which meant that while I was still working on the gutters he got out the huge extension ladder and went to work. Undaunted by our day's work, Nancy cut up a good deal of the branches. Good thing she is four years younger than us! Seriously, I thought I would die from exhaustion. It wasn't too much later, after a Taco Bell run for dinner, that we all fell into a deep sleep! Here's what the tree looked like pre Bruce and Nancy's efforts:

There was more, but I'm getting tired just writing this! So, instead of traveling around one of the world's great cities, we were making our little corner of the world a much cleaner place. At least for now....