From Blue to Blah

Legend has it that I possess a little lamp, half borrowed from YsD when she found lodging with us many years ago.

The wood piece on the lamp -which belonged to YsD- was originally blue, but I could not reconcile the thing, since my contributed shade was burgundy.

I do not have considerable skill in DIY, unlike some… but decided to tackle the problem of the blue wood piece anyway. I painted it taupe, using the latex from the recent bedroom re-do. That was hideous, so then I ordered a little tube of silver (what was I thinking?) and it became pretty damn festive. If I thought the taupe was bad… ugh.

Then and only then did the thought occur to sand everything off down to the wood and stain it.

So I did. It took many days because I sanded it by hand. Well, not everything had come off; the blue had seeped into the wood and dyed it in places… and I was sick of sanding.

I thought the right stain would leave the wood looking almost nice. Well, I didn’t buy the right stain and I didn’t read the directions before tackling the project. Of course.

After four applications I couldn’t get it any darker, so I gave up. Something in me wants to strip it all down and try again, but not right now.

It actually looks okay at night when the light’s on, but when it’s not? Heh.

Now I’m thinking of papering the shade with old maps.

The good news is, I’ve been able to clean my kitchen counters off. 😉

November 27, 2018 0

Bed Head

We’ve been through an ordeal: mattress shopping.

I thought it would be a dandy idea to order a bed-in-a-box thing, so tré moderne! The only problem? Either it sucked or we’re too old to sleep on ‘a cloud’, a.k.a. Casper. My back has never been so bad.

Then we slept on it the next night, just to make sure it sucked. I couldn’t even move yesterday, going from the inversion table to the very firm sofa over and over…

Ironically, we’ll have to jet over to Mattress Firm, which is in financial peril over the bed-in-a-box phenom. Oh, I get it; I’d much rather make this sort of transaction in a detached, sanitized way instead of touching mattresses that dog knows who have lain upon. I’m taking a sheet with me, screw anyone who thinks it too precious!

This is our 20 year old headboard, which I still love.. but I swear I’ll cut it up with a blowtorch should the top of my head ever touch it again.

bedhead

Bad shot, but I wasn’t going into the brush and spiders to take a better one.

Now, my original idea was to take a picture and post it for free on NextDoor… but Arthur opined that it would look good covered in ivy out back.

I think it would be sweet spray painted white(ish), suitable for a teen’s room… but since when do teenagers have king sized beds?

Sigh. I suck at the home decor thing. And now I must find a new mattress and headboard. Pray for me.

EDIT:

It’s the Simmons Beautyrest World Class Resonance Plush! Which felt wonderful in the store and hard as a brickbat last night. We’ll see. The salesman said it would take a few days to feel like it’s supposed to, but I wonder why… Anyway, new bed. I’m exhausted.

Forgot to add:

The guys who picked up the Casper (1-800-Buy-Junk) to supposedly recycle it? They were very forthcoming about how many beds, just in our area, they pick up: A hint? Between Casper, Purple and another he couldn’t remember the name of… they are very busy. LOTS. It must cost the Bed-in-a-Bag people about $100 a pop to manufacture those mattresses; they’re just foam. Then they sell them for $800 and up? Yep, they can afford to give a LOT of people their money back…

August 10, 2018 14

And a Funny Story

mybabes

Look at my pretty babies! Growing out of their makeshift pots like fledglings falling out of nests…

Rocks are so chaotic, don’t you think? Seen from the street they might give a uniform appearance, but up close, it’s like a stony holy war.

Okay, here’s the story, more silly than funny. I’m still painting. (And yes, still on the first room. Go ahead and laugh. We’ll talk when you’re 60.) Everything is done in the master bedroom except baseboards.

While the bed was pulled out last week I painted the baseboards in that area, which included caulking. Now… I’m a very neat painter, but caulk? It gets everywhere, as if I simply open the tube and start spraying it with childish abandon… AND, instead of putting gloves on, my hands were nekkid. Of course. Well, it didn’t take too long for my right hand to be completely covered in caulk. And it freaked me out; that stuff just doesn’t want to come off! If only my store had Lava, but I can’t find it around here.

Dawn and Bartender’s Helper proved useless, so I ran into the bathroom and found some face wash… the kind with little beads to help exfoliate dead skin. Ew. So I’m washing… and washing… and the stuff’s not budging! In fact, the damned beads had stuck to the caulk, so now it looks -and feels- like I’m wearing a beaded glove.

Acetone saved the day, but how surreal there for a minute…

glove

July 23, 2018 4

Whiteout

whiteout

I painted the master closet (yes, this is how small the master closet is; can you imagine the matchbox that is the guest closet?) Ultra Pure White and this is pretty much how it seems when I go in there.

Took me all weekend, which is more a nod to my age than anything else. It was only a prelude, though, because I plan on painting the whole house.

Should be done by this time next year. Ha.

June 19, 2018 4

Selloum

I wanted some of those giant Philodendrons, the ‘Selloum’ variety, but of course Home Depot had absolutely nada and Lowe’s only had one ‘Hope’ (which I bought but am not thrilled with). Didn’t want to hike 50 miles to Miami so instead purchased seeds on the internet. As one does.

Philodendron bipinnatifidum at Floridata.

And my 19 seedlings, which really tickle me. Almost time to plant in pots.

There are way too many for my lot, which is why there will soon be little pots of babies at the curb. My crinum lilies went pretty fast so I’m sure these will as well.

May 12, 2018 0

Après Irma

Well, we survived. Again. But really, how many times can one tempt fate? I lost track of how many hurricanes I’ve been through.

I took before pictures, as one does… but no after. The pictures would come out looking like modern art that nobody understands because everything is swathed in green and brown roughage; the result of the almighty raking a giant comb over the land at great speed.

We were more ready for this storm than any other, which thankfully was not needed. Luckier than most, we were only without power for 24 hours and internet for a few days. I’d rather have power than internet, but it felt odd and I didn’t even turn my pc on til it came back up.

Kudos to the city of Margate and Broward county, both of which kept everyone updated via Twitter and Facebook.

Now… there are three other systems to keep a weather eye on… and have I mentioned that I WANT TO MOVE??

September 15, 2017 5

Hurricane Prep/Disaster Kit

This is my master list so I’m dropping it here.

GENERAL

Silicone caulking for bathtub drains to hold water. The caulk will not affect the taste of the water and cleans up easily. Just use a thick bead around the seams and it will pull away cleanly when dry.
Manual can and bottle openers.
Folding stove, oven mitts. Better to use a camp stove or grill; but don’t use them indoors. In a pinch, you can use ”canned heat” (Sterno, etc.) but it will only heat food; it won’t cook it.
A battery-operated radio and/or television.
Extra batteries.
A windup clock.
Battery-operated lanterns and enough flashlights for each member of the family, plus extra batteries and bulbs. Candles and kerosene lights can cause fires and severe burns. If you must use candles, never leave one burning unattended.
Duct tape.
Lightweight fire extinguishers.
Wrench to turn off household gas and water. Keep it near the shut-off valves.
Chain saw, gassed up, oiled and ready.
Generator.

Continue reading “Hurricane Prep/Disaster Kit” →

August 25, 2017 0

New Windows!

Three are broken and four sills have to be replaced, but we finally got the new windows in! Yes, I am happy.

Before, of course. Goodbye, nasty old rotted aluminum crap. Honestly, some of those thin little panes were just barely sitting in the frame, it was all so rotted.