HAPPY LEAP DAY

 I remember 1965 was a leap year and I met my future husband George and we had a date. The custom was that on leap year the girls were supposed to ask the guys out on a date so I asked him if he would do me a favor and accompany me to a farewell party for a friend who was moving back to my home town since I didn't want to go alone and didn't knew anyone else. He seemed to be a nice kind young handsome man but I really had no romantic interest in him.  I just wanted a male friend.

At the last minute the party got cancelled as the moving date was changed a day earlier for some reason. I thank George and told him that he didn't had to accompany me after all. He insisted that we go bowling and we had so much fun and after bowling we went to watch a movie. Funny, I can't remember the movie for certain but I think that it was It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World with Jimmy Durante.  It was a funny, clean movie and we laughed and he was so respectful again that I got interested in him and we started going out. Now on Sunday we just celebrated our 46th Wedding Anniversary very privately with a small cake and a bottle of wine. We both have our independent streak but we still are together after 46 years.


Now I want to take a leap over to Patrice's porch of Everyday Ruralty for the weekly chat. It's always so nice learning little things from our blogger friends.

                                                   Questions

1.   What did you have for breakfast this morning?
      I had a bowl of Kellogg's Two Scoops of Raisins Bran with walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds,  coffee with 10% cream.

2.   What is your favorite kind of juice?
      I like unsweetened orange juice, preferably fresh squeezed  or unsweetened lemon juice.

3.   Have you tried Pinterest yet?
      I haven't really desired to check it up as my life is full enough as it is. I don't need another time sucking device to take up even more of my precious time.  I have nothing against it,  just don't desire it... at the moment.

4.   I can't wait ____for blooms and fresh vegetables from my garden( farmer's market/ CSA/  neighbor with green thumb)

5.   The worst job I ever had.
I never had a job I didn't like but I had a boss whom  I didn't like. He was so hateful toward a poor customer that I felt so very sorry for her. My first summer job was working in a clothing store and this poor but clean woman was looking at a cheap cotton dress and you could see that she wanted to buy it but didn't had enough money and she kept looking at it and coming back to it and he said to buy it or get out of his store. How she must have felt little and hurt, it showed in her face.   I didn't want to work for such an insensitive man.  I never forgot it.  


Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I hope that I'll have some update pictures of my finished stairs tomorrow. It was a very complicated project and I have new appreciation for the work that goes into this kind of project. JB



                                                    

JUST A LITTLE UPDATE...

Blogging has really taken a back seat lately. It's not that I don't have anything to blog about it's just that I'm not good a juggling my time. I'm all over the place and I don't take many pictures lately.

My house is turned upside down and there is dust all over the place and things dragging everywhere but I'm happy.







 This is the BEFORE picture of the plywood stairs without a guard rail because when the carpet was removed the iron rail didn't fit anymore and was disposed off and never replaced.  I painted the plywood.

After the steps were ripped off, boards were tacked in place so we could still use the stairs  very carefully.

This is what has been done so far. The guard rails need to be put in place and some finishing touch  here and there to hide the nails under the lower steps. I'll keep you posted  when the jobis done.

This is the picture of the vanity that I promised to show you with the double sinks of different color. The Double sink will be replaced by one sink only and  a few minor changes of knobs and a coat of paint.

Here the counter top of the vanity has been removed and the wall paper also has been removed on top. You can still see some wall paper on the right side.  The flooring has been removed.

Here is the new vanity top. The sink is not in yet.

Some shelves for towels.

The old tub and enclosure was removed but I forgot to take a photo of the new tub so it will have to wait.

The tile floor was put over some newly laid quarter inch plywood for durability.
My remodeling job is very simple  because I learned a long time ago that  renovations are better kept neutral .
I hope that you enjoyed visiting and please leave a comment to let me know that you were here.  Have a safe week.  JB

SIGNS OF SPRING... TODAY

I wasn't thrilled this morning when I spotted a big tomcat mounting my little barn cat. I chased him away and he went flying as if he had wings.

While I was having my tea at lunch, I glanced at the feeder in the backyard and saw a twitter-pated male pigeon chasing a female pigeon and trying to mate.  I thought, hmmm, we'll get an early spring...

Just now, I got really excited as wasn't prepared to see what I saw out my bedroom window as I pulled the blinds for more light. I SAW A ROBIN in the tree in the front yard.  Of course I wasn't quick enough to get a picture but I'm sure I'll see it again.  For today at lease I saw signs of spring, in the middle of February.    

It's warm outside and the snow is melting.  Did you see some signs of spring yet?  JB

WHOO-HOOO... IT'S HAPPENING....

 Our main bathroom is disgusting. I've seen worst but it's disgusting just the same. The taps leaks in the tub and the wall around the tub is stained with rust and the fixtures  are MAUVE from 1977. Yuck.  It has  huge mirror, double swags lights and double sinks.  Oops, I guess that I forgot to take a picture of the vanity, oh well I'll take one later.( I need to recharge my  camera  battery).  One sink is mauve and the other is ivory since one of them was leaking and my husband replaced it with one he got at a yard sale a few years ago.  Colored appliances were the rage in the late 70ies.    The girls all loved mauve back then. Anyone with mauve bathroom fixtures?

The wall needs repairs beside the tub as there was a leak in the wall and the plumbing was fixed and the wall patched  and never finished.

I've paid for three days labor at a church auction last year to have a contractor do the renovation but he's been so busy even though he's retired and he finally came over yesterday to check up on the job.
There's even a small hole on the small wall shelf to hold the soap.

He's also going to redo my stairs and put a nice oak rail etc as the carpet was removed from the stairs when I was on chemo as vacuuming the stairs was just too difficult for me and I just painted the plywood stairs with a white satin Melamin paint.  Since the iron rail didn't fit on the stairs rungs  after the removal of the carpet they were never reinstalled. Neither of us are getting younger and also it's required under the construction code, we need this done pronto.

Remember me jumping out or rather falling out of a birthday cake on an earlier post?... well the contractor is non other than the birthday boy and he even is giving me extra work at no charge. Now how nice  of him...  He's appreciated the trouble I went through for him and now he's paying forward.

So yesterday my hubby and I went to buy a bathtub, sink and toilet and they have been ordered and should be  at the warehouse on Thursday as they don't keep them in stock usually. They have a showroom.  It will be nice to not have a leaky facet in the tub.  I'll post some more photos later as the work is in progress.  The contractor is coming to work on Monday next week.

Now I have another boy in mind. My daughter Christine sent me some new photos of James.

How do you like my little snow buddy Mama made for me. I think that he needs eyes but I love him just the same. I want to bring him in because it's cold out here.

I just love to play with my snowball and smile for the camera. I've never seen this cold white stuff before.

Meeoww.... I'm a red striped kitty cat going in the cat bed... shhh, don't tell Brazen, she won't like it.

Look at me... silly mama forgot my bib but who cares, the food was yummy... all gone...

James listening to daddy play the guitar. It won't be long That James will play too.

I love posing for the camera especially when mama is reading fish stories.

Oh dad, I just love how mama read Mr Brown can Moo, don't you?

Mom, I think that Mamoo should have put this picture first.   This was before you started reading the book.

Watching the Super Bowl with dad. Us guys love football.

Lasagna for supper and sharing with my son,

Thanks for stopping by and putting up with my long blog posts. I hope that you'll leave a comment, they let me know that you visited as I don't have a traffic gadget to spy on who is visiting me.
Stay safe and warm and have a great week.   JB

STUPID IS THAT STUPID DOES... & UPDATE ON QUILT

Not much happening here other than I'm nursing a bad cold and cough.  I got myself run down again and it caught me by the throat. I stayed home from my regular breakfast group outing and church this morning. I don't want anyone getting sick on my account. My husband went alone and said that one of our friend was home sick too today.

I've been working on my king size quilt  on and off and it take a long time to get from one side to the other before I can make a turn. I've been envying those who have been hooking nice rugs all the while I've been pricking my fingers to the bones.

For the backing I used an old salmon color top sheet that I wasn't using anymore since I got a thick mattress and although the pillow cases were a bit more worn I kept them just in case that I would need them to add an extension on the back.

I'm using a three roller quilting frame for the first time. I wasn't too sure how to put the quilt and backing on when I first put it on and figured that the backing would probably stretch a bit and that I might  only need to add a few inches of the material from the pillow case. How wrong I was...

I was at the end of the quilt and realized that I needed about 6 inches extension on the backing. So I pulled the pins off  the two rollers and unrolled the quilt to take a look and then I saw that I should have unrolled the ticking fabric on the rollers when I pinned the quilt on in the first place. I learned from my mistake and it will be burnt in my little brain.

The beauty of this three roller quilting frame is that there is no need of basting the three layers of the quilt. The middle roller keeps the backing taut and the back roller keep the top and batting taut and the front roller holds the work in progress.

I pulled a small drafting table along side the quilt  and had to move the table along every 6 inches of sewing and sewed the extension on the backing.

I then got my iron board and steam iron and pressed the seam flat.

Now with the extension on the back  I tacked the quilt back on the two rollers the right way this time but I didn't took a picture and got to bed. Notice the ticking fabric on the two rollers.

I'm now ready to make a turn on the quilt. Sorry for the dark photos. I did this before going to bed late at night. It couldn't wait. lol...

Now my seed catalogues are coming in but I'm so tired with this cold that I can't get enthusiastic with gardening yet.

Thank goodness for English muffins and my little toaster oven, I made these delicious mini pizzas  in a few minutes because I was just too tired to prepare something that would take time. Six pieces was just right for the two of us last evening. I know, carbs for the last meal of the day isn't a good idea but I'm wasting away anyway so I guess it's OK.

Can you believe that I got this brand new toaster oven at Value Village a while back for only $9.99. There was not a speck on it when I got.  I love it so much.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.  I so cherish your comments.  Have a great week, stay safe and warm.  JB