Cleaning and Redecorating

I'm finally able to clean the dust from the plant shelves. This involved taking down all of the items up there and trust me, it's HIGH up there - 4th rung from the bottom TALL up there! You can see all the faux foliage on the counter top below drying after a good wash. I'll skip showing you the dirty water, chicks. ;-) I guess I don't run as tight a ship as I thought I did.

Here is the clock that we're putting in the corner of the pix just below this one.

Uhhhhhhhh, do you just happen to see all the stuff on the living room floor??? I've had to "side step" all day!!!!!!

This wall will have the sofa table in the photo just below this one.

I've cut in with the paint in some spots. The whiteness of the wall is actually the "texture" that was sprayed on saturday. On the right side of the arch that patch of color is where I painted around the light switch.

Okay, story time: Last night Love Bunny was doing something with that switch and I said to be careful because of the electricity. He said you can't get shocked because the light is off. Soooooo this morning I took the little plate off and painted the area around it. I noticed the little "switch box" inside was a tad crooked. (My first mistake!) I unscrewed the l i t t l e teeeeensy screws, inserted s c r e w driver and Zzzzzzzapppppp! My fingers were actually still buzzing 5 minutes later. I r e p l a c e d the plate back on and called Love Bunny and said "YOU LIED." He said "Well, it doesn't work if it's a 3 way switch!" Now, I want you go GUESSSSSSSS what kind of switch that one wassssss?!?!?! Nuuuuuuuuu, not a regular one, but a 3 WAY ONE!!!!!!! It has 2 places in that room to turn it on and turn it off. (I guess that was my 2nd mistake - asking him if that switch was a 3 way, which I didn't even consider asking because I wouldn't have known to A S K!) Yes, he's still alive! (Those are not typos, just my way of e m p h a s i z i n g the s i t u a t i o n !!! *Smirk* or * S M I R K * !!

Oh, remember the sink??? Well, hubs cleaned out under it and left it on the opposite side of the k i t c h e n so when the contractor comes back tuesday night it'll be r e a d y for him. * S M I R K * ;-)

Since I didn't have any room any where to put "drying" faux foliage it landed here till further n o t i c e !!!

In all this mess I found this little cow bell we picked up at an antique shop in Pennsylvania once while visiting H I S relatives there. It's going to be "PINK" soon!!

This little victorian house flower pot was given to me about 35 years ago by my sister's brother-in-law at the time. It was a Christmas present and he had put red carnations and Christmas tree cuttings in it. It was absolutely stunning when he gave it to me. I've kept it of course, but it sat on top of the grandfather clock and you really could not see it at all. That's going to change. I love it and will think of something lovely to put in it.

I can actually write my initials in the dust it's sooooo bad. Tomorrow that will change, sweet bloggers. :-)

Another view of what I've been dodging around all day. Ooooops, I hear Love Bunny c o m i n g n o w!! ;-)

Okay, all you lovely decorating chicks, question: Should the burgundy sofa table be near the arch or further down the wall to the right? I need help in deciding!

Remodel Day #7 and Random Thoughts

The remodel is finished - well, 99.9% finished; the decorating of the house isn't! I still have to paint it and I'd prefer to do it myself since I love to paint. Although I can't paint (walls) like I used to because it's so tiring on my shoulders and neck, this is a pretty small job that will not cause any distress on these creaky joints. The carpet needs to be stretched back in and he's supposed to do it monday or tuesday. (Now, we alllllll know about carpet installers and how notoriously slow they are so I'm not counting on it, but I'll call and wheedle and whine to the best of my ability, which hubs says beats anyone else's he's ever seen! I'm so thrilled to be perfect in SOMETHING!!) So here are the pix of the famous wall remodel now.

This view just kind of "frames" the dining area. Since it's just the 2 of us we didn't want a formal dining room anymore. It was the least used room in the house and would be now since we're empty nesters and kids are in California.

This truly does "frame" the living room when you're actually in the dining area looking into the living room.

New sink he'll install on tuesday. I love stainless steel sinks. They're way easier to take care of. Not many people have sinks in their living room, do they?!?! ;-)

~*~

And here, my sweet bloggers, is the trailer I'm going to frou-frou up. Squeeeeeal!!! This is gonna take some time though. This trailer was the ONLY way I'd go camping at all again! So for those of you who have emailed me regarding this, I'm hearin' ya, chicks!!! *Sigh*............... But I truly am excited to have the extra STORAGE SPACE it will provide! I already have a lot on my plate with redoing things around the house.

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I saw this pillow on a post when I was looking for pillows to buy and the lady had it in her garage for a yard sale and it didn't sell. I thought I loved it because of all the roses fabric on it and emailed her and asked about it. Suddenly it was mine and it arrived last week. I really LOVE it! Her picture was taken in the garage with piles of stuff on it so I thought I'd show it to you in a better setting so you could see just how beautiful it truly is. It's beautiful!!!!

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Now for a rare treat for y'all.......uuuhhhhh, well, maybe not so much. It's me! I finally took a pix with my hair all done for church. I did this with my iSight camera that sits on my monitor. I cannot get a good shot so close with my regular Canon camera! I never think to ask hubs when he's around and besides, he takes lousy photos anyway! Not too bad for nearing 70 years old, but why can't I look like Sophia Loren?????

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I was drying my hair and putting on make up this morning and got to thinking. I know, I know......this can be dangerous for anyone within the same block of me, but I was really thinking hard. A few thoughts come to mind while blowing and fluffing this mop!

1.
I swished my foam applicator puff across the makeup and one side of my face got a little more than the other. I tried smoothing it out but I wondered if anyone looking at me can notice I'm "lopsided" today?? Hmmmmm.

2.
This is for all you young chicks out there. (Rachel, are you listening, honey?!?! Joyce isn't even there yet ,but she still won't tell ya these things. Trust me, Rachel!! I wouldn't lie to you, sweetpea.)Some things your mom may have neglected to tell ya: menopause and chin hairs! Yessssssss, my sweet young bloggers, we go through this about the age of 50 - give or take a few years. But it's pure torture to sit in a room while you're "glistening" (women "glisten", we don't "sweat" like jocks do!) and everyone else is wearing their coats or jackets. I'm telling hubs I'm hot and he's saying it's not hot in here. He's lucky to still be on this earth with that one! Then like I've said before with the 15x magnifying glass that sent me into anaphylactic shock from looking at my face closeup, it's worse when you can see the black hairs growing outta your chin and lip. Just remember where you heard this - and it wasn't from your mother!!!!!!! They're too afraid to tell ya!

3.
Last year I had foot surgery on both feet at different times - 2 months apart. I'll never ever do it again and would not recommend it to my worst enemy........well, if she was wrinkle free and flaunted it, I just might! Anyhow, I met another woman who had done the exact same thing - bone fragments, which is just another fancy name for the dreaded "bunions" (and let this be a lesson to those HIGH heel wearers - they RUIN your feet!!), and she said it took 5 years but her feet felt fine after that. So I've gotta wait 4 more years to have pain-free feet?!?!?!?! Oh, be still my heart! DUH!

4.
Shea butter. Yes, that cream I get at WM - coconut shea butter, which is such a treat for your feet, is no longer available. I loved the coconut because that's one of my favorite scents and flavors and the smell reminds me of Mexico. But they've changed it - to coconut/LIME shea butter. I think there's a tad more lime in it than coconut and it's just not the same, sweet bloggers! Leave my shea butter for my feet ALONE!!!!!

5.
Some of us have the tall or the short gene in our gene pool. Mine has both. I get the relative middle - average! So why couldn't I get the taller gene and be svelte? I think we all get the gene we're less likely to want: short/tall, thin/fat, blonde/brunette, small/large feet, blue/green/brown eyes. I didn't get ONE I wanted! Not one!! Oh, I've learned to adjust but why do my kids have to outgrow me before they're even teenagers. I'm 5' 4 3/4", sparkling green eyes(!) and weigh.........well, we won't go into that one! Hah....... At least I can say at my age I have NOT lost one inch to osteoporosis so take that, Gidget (aka Sally Fields)! Same height I was as a teenager! So I got that going for me.

6.
Who in the world can resist the smile of a child? :-) I saw it in action today in church.

7.
When we moved into this house 3 years ago we looked so sad. I think the church members who helped us unload the truck must have thought "here's the hillbillies" because 99.9% of everything we owned was in boxes. Oh, they saw the sofa (sans the pillows), the chairs (also sans the pillows), the lovely oak table all scratched up from "you know whoooOOOOooo" not listening to MEeeeEEEee when loading it and setting it right next to something with a SCREW(!) and all the legs taken off for the move, the lovely bed furniture all taken apart for the move. I tell you it was definitely pathetic! But when you view it now it all looks nice. Maybe not YOUR style but nice. That's when it hit me - my life was in U-Haul boxes and it wasn't until we opened them and put stuff out that it became our "HOME."

I'll leave ya with those "random thought"!! I'm a deep thinker, ya know..........

If I Could Live In A Rose Garden

Edit: I just noticed that on the first few pix it looks like I had the "proportionate" button on my PhotoShop "unchecked" and the pix look distorted and thin and elongated. Wish I could capture that look on this bod, chicks!! I'll try to be more careful from now on, promise!! AND I'll post pix of "Love Bunny's new T O Y, tomorrow along with the finished wall. Now, understand it'll take me a while to hang things again. I want to study a scheme for putting things on the wall before I dive in haphazardly hammering in new nails! Oooooh, and I love all the tips people have been giving me on the "growing" of all my plants. I truly need all the help I and hubs can get.
~*~

Hubs and I spent the day trying to stay out of our contractor's way but we don't do a very good job of it. Well, hubs does; I don't! He's through today with the walls - texture is on and it looks really lovely. He has to come back on tuesday to put in the stainless steel sink I purchased a couple of months ago. (His name is Bob Robinson and he lives in Nampa, Idaho if anyone wants any remodel work done I think he'd be thrilled if you gave him a call. He's very reasonable.) Anyway, I've stepped in his "mud" on the paper he puts down on the carpet with my bare feet and tracked it all over the place, stuck my finger in his mud, and I've also brushed against his texturing and he's had to redo it once. But all in all, I think I've pretty much stayed outta his way! He, on the other hand, might just disagree. ;-)

But hubs wants to buy a pop-up trailer and has wanted one for a couple of years, diligently searching ebay and Craigslist for one. He found one today and we went to look at it. We offered a price to his wife because he was out getting their dog mated. :-) Dogs must really love this one!! Anyway, he came home, called hubs and accepted his offer. Now, I told him if we got a trailer I was taking over and "shabby chic-ing" it up. I don't think he has a problem with that really. His aim in life is to make me happy! But it's a hunk of change I tell you to buy a small pop-up trailer. I'm truly not that much into camping any more. It's not that I don't like getting out in the woods once in a while - like once a year or every other year - just fine for me! It just takes a lot outta me to get things ready, plus I have to be away from my computer for a few days and to tell ya the truth, my little cherubs, that scares the heck outta me and almost makes me shutter!! Truly, when Smokey the Bear puts in wireless and the U.S. Forest Service can run tech support with the cable/ISP company then I'll give it more thought! Until then, pass that router please and keep your hands off my browser! But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Soooooooo.........sigh........another decorating project for a "trailer"!! Whoopydippydoooo......... Mom never warned me about these kind of situations! Aaaaaaacckkkkk!!!!

Then we went to Greenhurst Nursery over on Happy Valley Road - don't ya just love that address??!!! I picked up a hibiscus and a beautiful english vintage tea roses bush with the most luscious smell. I've pictured it below with a caption telling you which one. Love Bunny/hubs has already dug the hole and put the hibiscus in it and also is in the process - prior to receiving the call that the aforementioned trailer was HIS - of digging out a forsythia bush to put in the new rose bush. He just HAD to rush over to Middleton to pay the guy and pick up his new trailer! Now, you and I would say it could wait till monday, right?? Nuuuuuuuu, hubs has to waste a gallon of gas in the gas guzzler Montero to run over and pick it up. After all, ya never know when aliens from outer space just might decide to invade this planet and set their beady little eyes on that exact trailer he just purchased to transport back to their home planet and disassemble it to find out what in the world this civilization is doing with these tiny little "houses" with canvas tops rolling along on wheels, right?!?!?! Sheeeeeesh.....

With all the wallboard dust it's another night of eating out. Last night Applebee's and tonight Qdoba's for mexican salad.

This is what he cut and pulled out for the hibiscus. I didn't like it anyway.

Hibiscus is on left.

Just some summer roses blooming.

Aren't these just lovely?!?!?!

The new rose called "Medallion". It is a very pale pink with a bright sort of pale yellow center and kind of ruffley petals. Very lovely!!

The hydrangea is getting bigger and the bougainvillea is growing in just a week!!

Remodel Day #6 & "Pink Saturday"!

Okay okay, it's still early here in the west, chicks!! Just got up and have part done from last night, but needed more photos for ya.

Not much different from yesterday except more mud on the walls and he's to come back today for 3rd mudding and texturing. Then monday we'll paint it and it'll be done except for the "decorating"! *Smile*

Close up of a basket I keep things in.

My first attempt at painting on something "round"! Eeegads, what a time that was. I'll get better though.........I think!

A tribute to my group on ebay. Oh my, how I love those special chickadees! Simply the best ever............

A rose painting a woman was going to throw away and I said send it to me and I'll display it!!! Can you imagine? It's just gorgeous.

Very closeup of one of my birdhouses in my collection.

A sign I bought on ebay because it touched my heart........ ;-)

More "fluff" laying around this house. Always "PINK" fluff though!

The beginning of one of my paper roses. I must get back to them, but blogging keeps getting in the way......and remodeling........and cleaning...........and cooking........and laundry..........and my affair with Tom Selleck and Clint Eastwood! Hah, as if?????

And this is the lovely paper wrapped around the last pictures. You'll see it when you get down to the bottom. I put the little decoupaged hangers on there because they have PINK roses on them and contrast with that wild and crazy paper!!!!!! Wooooohoooo.

My very first painting that I ever considered selling on ebay. I guess no one else thought I should have considered selling it because it didn't. Humbled me, but I don't care. I love it and proudly hang it in my house. So when I'm rich and famous from painting roses and running around in my Mercedes with a chauffeur and thumbing my nose at all of them and wearing those bustiers and hot pants and showing off this hot bod, I can laugh and go nananananana, right??!?!!! And if you believe that, you really ARE in lala land, sweet chicks. I don't want riches; I HAVE them! I have my kids and Love Bunny!!! Yesssssssss, who could ask for anything more than that?!??!

A very sweet and talented lady, Miss Doodle, gave me this lovely roses painting. (It is but a snippet of the whole canvas.) And for that she is in my thoughts almost daily because it hangs on the wall across from me here in my office/computer room.

Another painting that touched my heart from Lorena. It's on the same wall and I see it every single day!

A lot of women send me things for helping them with their computers and technical stuff because I am a techie. This is what one sweet lady sent me - 2 lovely rose paintings. I know, I know, you're asking how can this "beautiful HOT se*y nana chick" be so techie??? I don't know, just lucky I guess!! But I help anyone with anything I can about computers and blogging and photography. Now, don't beat the door down asking me things. I'm busy with the remodeling, ya know!!!

Can you believe this?!?!? I received these in the mail yesterday from Joanne after winning the delightful D R E A M letters from her. BUT can you even guess what they are??? At first I wondered why she would send me some elegant gloves with fancy polka dots on them. And then I picked them up and they're rubber gloves!! Yes, gardening gloves, but ya know what, my sweet chickadee?? I just may wear them out to Applebee's tonight with my "not-so-elegant" attire. Hey, I live in Ideeeeeho, ya know!!! Formal is a crease in your jeans and spit shined boots!!!

And finally, does this say it all?!?!?! The letters/word I won from Joanne.

Remodel Day #5

Day 4 wasn't as bad as I had anticipated, but tonight will be with all the sanding. I've covered the living room with plastic drop cloths because tonight it's sand, sand, sand the walls and then apply more "mud" and sand again. So the next 2 days will be the worst in terms of "sanding dust", which I am NOT looking forward to! Here's what it looks like this morning.

My sweet long time friend, Steph, has awarded me yet another blog award. I love Steph dearly and her mum is my adopted mum. Just how lucky can one chick get, I ask you???!!! She's a true southern lady. :-)

Here are the rules~~~~~~
1. Link this back to the person that tagged you.
2. Post these rules in your blog.
3. Share 6 unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag people at the end of your entry.
So here are six unimportant things about me~~~~~

1.
I love going barefoot. Hubs is always telling me it'll ruin my feet and it causes them to get "tough" on the bottom (his are as soft as a baby's bottom!) but I hate wearing shoes unless I go out somewhere. I am sitting here typing this with my pink "crocs" on though because of the mess in this house at the moment. Nails, staples, wood parts and chunks of sheetrock are everywhere!

2.
I'm a list maker. I can't live without my lists - from grocery lists to to-do daily lists, it's what I have to do to accomplish things.

3.
I'm not fond of the daily routine of cooking. But sometimes I like to try gourmet recipes and love that. If I was rich I'd have a cook, masseuse and a gardener!

4.
I am NOT a social animal. I hate parties and if you asked me to play a silly game I'd probably refuse. Hubs, however, is a party animal! I only go to functions I absolutely have to go to and that's very few. I love staying at home. Plus I loathe having my picture taken. That's a very personal thing to me so you'd better ask before you take one. I am not a "star" type person and would much rather go through life as a small fish in a big pond instead of a big fish in a small pond. Toooooo much responsibility, chicks!

5.
I cannot stand disorder whether it's in my house, car, garage, yard or head, there has to be order and not chaos for me. I don't function well if it's not. I know, I know, I have a serious problem, you say. SOOOOO WHAT?!?!!!! It won't kill ya, right???

6.
I love Toyota Camrys. I doubt I'll ever have another car that's not a Camry. It just keeps on trucking along no matter what.

Now, for the people I'm supposed to tag. Well, I wanna tell ya something, sweet blogging chicks, I've seen this go around to many of the more "popular" chicks' blogs and some never get tagged. How sad, because there are some lovely bloggers out there that I'd absolutely love to get to know better. I especially like to know what state and town they are in. I truly do! So what I would like to happen is that for anyone and everyone reading this to take the rules and answer with the 6 unimportant things about yourself and pass it on. I do this NOT to get out of tagging someone but because I truly do want to learn more about all of you.

I've seen some, for lack of a better word, "selectiveness" in some blogs. I've NOT selective; I love hearing from and learning about each and everyone of you. So please, please give it a go, my sweet friends. We're all here blogging to have a good time so let's HAVE a good time!!!!!
~*~

Yesterday while surfing some of the blogs I remembered an incident that happened in Mexico - Puerto Vallarta, I think - many years ago now and thought I'd tell you the story today on here.

We were in the condo just coming in from the pool and I was just changing from my bathing suit into some clothes. There was a knock at the door. The young men always bring big fresh bottles of water for the "north americans" every day in those Culligan-type 5 gallon containers which are quite heavy because our tummies just cannot adjust to their water for the short period we vacation there.

Anyway, there was a knock and I couldn't get to it in time. The mirror was on the side of the bathroom where the door was visible when I was looking in the mirror. So after a wait of several seconds because I was "in the middle" of changing (read here as stark n*ked!), I heard the key in the door and the door opening. There stood a very shocked young mexican guy who froze! I looked at him and he was getting an "eyeful" of this gorgeous hot bod!! Riiiiiiiight!!!! LOL He realized I was in the condo at that point but after not answering right away decided to just use the staff key to come in and leave the water. As I said, he froze and I froze and then he backed out, Jack rushed to the door from the living room and opened the door and got the water. It was quite a shock. Ooooh, and we never saw that guy again. I suspect his eyes are still "glazed over" and he's still in rehab from that incident!!! Pray for him; he needs it!!!