Forty One

 Its hard not to feel a little down about today.  Yes, I know that life is still beautiful and I am very blessed.  But that doesn't mean that I don't wish my person was here with me, celebrating our 41st anniversary.

I would say to him "can you even believe it?"

And he would drawl "Yep" (saying it slow and deep)

I guess I'll never truly understand how we got from there to here.  These smiling faces belie the bad times along with the good times, the struggle with the success.  It was worth it. Happy Anniversary to us,

Gina

5 thing Friday - roof, earring, photo binder, puzzle, thrifting

One day I drove up to my house and saw what looks to be a couple of loose shingles just sitting on the roof.  This does not make me happy.

Its like I told the electrician "it's always going to be something".  This roof is not old enough to be replaced just yet, so I will need to have someone get up there and investigate. These are the kinds of things that make aging in place so challenging.  Even with a strong support system or a healthy bank account it can can feel like a never-ending struggle.

I splurged on a small channel set diamond in 14kt with a flat back for this top ear piercing, only on this one ear. A treat for myself, if you will. I cannot leave the house without earrings on, no matter what I am doing.  A very weird thing leftover from childhood, I think.

I bought one gigantic 3 ring binder for three small photo albums I wanted to combine.  These are photos from high school, college, and early married life.*  I don't know why I assumed that only one would be sufficient.

I either have to go through them like I did the family albums and purge photos (I really should) or buy another 3 ring binder (I probably will).  It would be nice for all of these photos to have their new permanent home all set up so I might actually look at them.  No telling what my kids will think of them some day.  They will probably think "wait - our parents were actually people?".  Ha.

 

My latest puzzle.  I got the sewing table all cleared off because I thought The Girl was going to be here for a couple of nights while she had maintenance fix a mold issue in her vents. She ended up elsewhere, but since this workspace was cleared off I might as well spread out a new puzzle to work.  Its been ages.  Butterflies seem to keep showing up in my life.

I went thrifting exactly once for all of September.  I found a nice new chenille sweater for $7 and a glass snowflake for $3.  I guess I'm going to stick with that theme for my bedroom tree.  I'm really looking forward to having it in there all lit up at night - so pretty.

In less than 2 months the Christmas craze will be upon us, can you believe it?

Gina 

*41 years on Monday

What the weeks holds and bye, bye broken fans

 I finished out last week by finally getting two ceiling fans down.  In their place are two simple light fixtures that require only 1 light bulb each. Praise. These fans worked well for 18 years so I would say we got our $100 worth out of each one.

And while I was at it, I swapped tables out in my sewing room, because this wooden one is just too big!

This week:

*today is the 3rd anniversary of losing Mom

*MUST arrange someone to come look at rebalancing or replacing my front door, because I think the wood is warped

*selling some estate jewelry

*on call one of the days

*getting a new laptop - I think mine is trying to die

*continuing on with some smallish home projects

*finishing this book 

Hmmm...kind of sounds like a lot, but I am spreading it out over several days!  What does your week look like?

Gina

5 thing Friday - boob lights, paint, chickpeas, front door, Gina

I don't know that there is necessarily a season for home projects - I feel I've been at it for the entire year. Or, five.

The electrician that installed my garage light will be coming today to remove the non-functioning ceiling fans in two of the bedrooms and install with these very simple light fixtures.  Are they fancy? No, just functional.  He laughed when I said I wanted boob lights.

These 5 gallon containers with a bit of leftover paint in them take up a lot of space in the garage.  So I bought some 2 qt. lidded containers at Home Depot and transferred enough to handle touch-ups. There wasn't much left and I will take them to the City of Austin recycle center. Along with those fans.

I reinforced the seal on the containers with a little cling wrap and tape, then labeled them and placed with my other touch up containers in the hall closet where they won't bake to death.

Another benefit of having actual storage space I can use.

Trader Joe's has these canned cumin and parsley chickpeas in olive oil that are delicious served cold on a salad!  I'm not normally a fan of chick peas, but this was very good.  I spent a little extra money on groceries this week to fill in some empty spaces in my freezer and fridge and eat healthier.

Its hard to see in this photo, but there is a gap in the front door and the weatherstripping needs to be replaced.  I don't know why I have been putting this off...probably I just don't want to do it.  But the cavalry is not going to arrive any time soon, so its on the list of things to address today. I also want to repaint the door and clean the whole area up.

I would also like to re-do the cling film on the transom, the skinny window,

and the dining room window.  Once upon a time, it was all this floral cling, but it has faded quite a bit (over at least 15 years) and I want something a bit different up there now.  The hardest part of this project was matching the seams, which sort of shrunk over time, leaving a tiny gap of light.  Its time for this to go.

If I'm being honest, I'm ready for a lot of things to go.  But they have to resolved in the right way, you know?  Everything takes time.

Gina

The butterfly

 My butterfly is still healing (even after two weeks), and its devilishly hard to take my own photo of her:

I never realized how freckle-y my arms are!

She was a whole adventure.  

I scheduled the consult. Cancelled the consult. Rescheduled the consult. Made an appointment for the tattoo itself. Sent photos to the artist who did not receive them. Went to the appointment anyway. We consulted again, then I got tattooed for two hours. Developed skin irritation all around the Tegaderm. Ran a fever - developed tattoo flu. Spent a lot of time on my couch. Had a mild(ish) anxiety attack. Kept her protected with Aquafor.  Went to work as usual at the end of the week. Oof. I think I am done with this experience now and I do love her, but I was not prepared for that roller coaster.

Sometimes I go into these "projects" with a little too much confidence, but I expect the best anyway!  

Gina 

P.S. Its Ok if everyone does or does not agree with getting a tattoo.  I wasn't going to take a poll.  But unkind comments about it, or anything really, will not be published here.  (:

5 thing Friday - biscuits, hanging trick, coat rack/shelf, yardwork, Bertram

 I had a hankerin' for a biscuit, so I bought some frozen jumbo sized ones.

I've been putting them in the oven, along with some link sausage, then splitting them when they're done and adding cheese and maybe a scrambled egg.  Not shown is some low sugar raspberry jam on the side and in no way is this healthy but boy, is it good.

Ok, so I ordered a shelf with hooks from Home Depot for the empty wall.  And the directions for assembly were simple, if not time-consuming.

I have a trick for centering things on the wall.  I use painter's tape and a Sharpie to mark where the hangers or holes are:

Like so.  Then I place the the tape on the wall where I want the item to go, using my yardstick and level to be sure the holes are centered and the item will hang straight.  Then I make a pilot hole, pull the tape off the wall, push in a wall anchor (if needed), and hang the item up.  Easy peasey.

For now the top shelf holds just simple decor.

And my tote and purse have a place to live.  I might hang art on the wall above the shelf, too.  But today is mowing day! Plus, I need to wash a month of dust and bird poop off my car.

The sprinkler going off without having to think about it is lovely.  The backyard smells cool and fresh on Thursday mornings and it looks like the grass has started growing again.  On Tuesday I sat out here and watched a rather large and beautiful skunk make its way down along the fence line into the neighbor's yard.  I sat there frozen in place, coffee cup in hand, ha ha.

After my pedicure yesterday I made my usual jaunt down the sidewalk to the Bertram Library thrift store.  Remember these coin operated horses?  There was one outside of every grocery store in the 60's.  We used to beg to ride the horse!  I wonder if this is for sale?

Then I went to the gift shop on the other end of the building and looked at everything.  Just bopping around shopping for nothing in particular can be very therapeutic.  This place is scented beautifully, too.

No trip to Bertram is complete for me without sipping wine and enjoying the peace and quiet out in what feels like the middle of nowhere.  I love it.

Happy weekend - September is slipping by!

Gina

What the week holds and an empty wall

A big expanse of white:

 That's all I see when I walk into the house from the front room, and I keep thinking I need to add something to the wall across from the bench. So that's a small thing I will work on this week.  But also:

*picking up a bunch of stuff from Home Depot

*meeting with book club about this book

*meeting a friend for a beer

*a pedicure followed by...

*...visiting my tiny winery in the country

And Monday of next week I will be off so I will bring out the To Do list and get another big thing crossed off.  What does your week look like?

(p.s. Blogger is not updating my reading list - you, too?)

Gina