Here Goes...

So what in the heck have I been up to?  Well, I moved out of my big house in Los Angeles and moved into a little Doll House close to my shop.  No, the house hasn't sold, it's not even listed yet.  Lotsa changes in my life these past (almost) 9 months.  

You see, I searched for a place in June and July since the house was supposed to be on the market in June of last year and we were planning to move soon anyhow.  Then I find the house isn't gonna go on the market yet and to make a long story short, there has been so much disagreement (for some time) in our relationship in general not just about the renovation.  

I got tired of the drama so on my birthday last year (August) I gave myself the perfect gift, one of peace and a serene environment!  I signed the rental agreement and then moved in slowly and slept there by mid September.  Moving is so darn disruptive to the flow of one's life and I'm still not totally settled in.  At least I can get organized now which is what I'm slowly doing but of course this place is soooo small that I can only fit what is really necessary; the rest is stored in the 1 car garage adjacent to the house.  It's been: unpack and repack boxes to store away for the time being.

Yes, I'm living alone for the first time in my entire life and it's weird!   I had to move out so I could have a calm organized space so I can get up everyday and go run my little business.  I can't have a pet where I am now but I will someday!  Having a pet would ease the total "ALONE-NESS" but I can understand the landlord's rules. There is no enclosed yard and the property has 5 homes on it.  It is way back off the street on a private drive and is so quiet and peaceful.

I'll leave you with a pic of my new place that I took before I moved in.  Now it has flowers in the front so I'll post an updated pic soon.
  
One more thing, when you live alone you find what you eat and what you don't (and it goes bad).  I eat my share of butter (hee, hee).

I'll post some pics of  last weekend's girls day out at the Huntington Garden soon. 
       Have a fabulous weekend!

5 Down More to Go (Grow)

Howdeeee,
Just a quick update and a few photos of what I did last holiday wknd.  I got the bathroom cabinet finished and planted 2 clumps of Bird of Paradise shrubs (that have been in pots for 10 years) for a total of only 5 plants in the new garden so far.  I worked again to get all the roots out which took time and then had to deal with moving some of the potted plants onto the porch to avoid the extreme summer sun.  The rest of the plants are much smaller and will get planted faster and I hope to get most of them in tomorrow. 

Here is a before pic of the bathroom cabinet.

Can you believe the previous owners put the same tile on the walls, around the sinks and then onto the floor?  Way too busy looking and I think this particular tile would look good on an in-ground pool, don'tcha think?

I tell ya, I'm working with what I've got to make this place sell-able.  Some "after" pics coming soon.  I haven't crocheted in weeks now.  I'm not that motivated.  Seems I just want to focus on getting this house ready because I can't stand living like this much longer.  Plus my hands are tired from all the scrubbing and pulling roots and all that.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're all finding some time to relax and enjoy your summer!

3-day Memorial Weekend

Oh my, I'm so glad it's Friday.  Yeah, I'm taking the 3 day wknd to get more stuff done so we can get this house ready to sell.  I haven't got enough sleep all week long and today, well, I'm crabby.  Stayed up real late moving all my clothes and stuff from the closet to the other room and put away all the dresser top stuff into temporary boxes and moved it all out with the help of my son.  That was Tuesday and the painters started in the closet and then yesterday, prepped and painted the walls and took down those damn vertical blinds that I've wanted to remove since we first moved there.  I slept in the other room since my bed and furniture was in the middle of the room and covered with paper and plastic.  Hopefully they are all done and I can get things put away over the 3 days.  I got some cheap mini blinds from the store last night and will put those up tomorrow, too.  What would I rather be doing?  Relaxing and having an umbrella drink and maybe read a good novel and sleep.

Here's a couple pics of the house the other morning.

Here's the Mandevilla Vine Flower that I transplanted from the broken pot last weekend.  I tied her up to her new trellis.  Looks like she's gonna live!  I'll transplant the ivy geranium all around to fill in the rest of that garden space.

The mystery plant from my earlier post is:

Gladiolus!  They are blooming so early this year.

Have a wonderful weekend!

3/31 It was 90 Degrees, What's Up?

OK, Mr. Heat you can pack your bags and head south for another 2 months please!  The record heat for the day was 101 so at least it didn't get that hot!

The house is all done!  April Fools!  OH, don't I wish it were so.  Since we decided to have the painters do ALL the rooms, our house has been a bustling place full of dreaded dust and flies coming and going as they please in and out of open doors and windows.  Seems like an Extreme Makeover Home Edition!  But...my oh my, it is looking so fresh and bright with all the newly painted rooms! 

My job today in between customers is to find replacement window coverings to replace the massive vertical blinds in the family room / home office area.  Of course that means letting my fingers do the walking not in the yellow pages but using the internet.  There are two 8 foot sliding doors and one 5 foot sliding door on the south wall and a large window on the east wall.  The vertical blinds were there when we moved in and they don't work very well and are really dirty besides being ugly.  Anybody have any suggestions?  Originally, we weren't going to paint this room and just leave the blinds and clean 'em really good but since it's getting painted, the paint is going to look so nice and will really make the blinds look especially bad.  My idea was white sheers to keep it clean looking. 

What's been happening as we paint or fix up this or that thingy what's right next to it just looks really bad and so it seems a never ending cycle of what to fix and when to draw the line on fixing things.  Like when the living room was painted I told the DH, now the guest bathroom (which is right next to it) looks really bad.  It is such a small room that I felt they could paint it in a jiffy.  He agreed that it would look better and then we noticed that the landing where the stairs come up from the basement would look so much better so then they painted that and then on and on they've been painting.

The biggest mess of all was the laundry room that was in such poor shape.  It has lath and plaster walls and in some places the plaster was coming off and it was all sandy and ugly (see around sink area).  It is located in the basement but it's an enclosed room.  There is even an old fashioned laundry chute that starts at the top floor in one of the closets and then on the main floor in the guest bathroom.  I've used it for mainly for towels; way more handy than walking them down the stairs!  The owners before us had a furnace or water heater catch on fire years ago and the walls were all dark at the top from the smoke.  It was a smelly and scary place to do laundry but after 10 years you just get used to it.  You ask, why didn't we fix if before now?  Well, the biggest reason was lack of funds!  AND A WHOLE LONG STORY THAT I WILL WRITE ABOUT SOMEDAY!  Here are some pics of the laundry room after some sanding and you can see some 1950's turquoise paint here and there. 

See the laundry chute?

Notice the newly painted door on the left

See some 1950's turquoise paint?

Original sink from 1948

See the smoke damage at the ceiling?

Plain cement floor with a floor drain in case of flooding

Now that you are ready to barf at the ugliness of it all, I promise to show you some after pics next week!

Stay tuned!




I spoke with the head painter about planting in the front garden and if it was possible for them to be careful while painting the front come Mid-April and work around the plantings and he said it should be fine.  So if weather permits, I'll be preparing the flower beds on Sunday as well as continuing on the kitchen cabinets.  What are you up to?

Painting and Panic

Geez what a week!  Hello. Thanks for stopping by.  I have visions of posting everyday in a perfect life I don't have and seem to hardly be able to bang out even 2 posts a week.  Lord knows I'm never lacking words and always have something to say.  The latest is our contractor friend just wasn't able to get to us and do all we needed to have done in our time frame so we hired real painters and they started this past Thursday and when I got home all the main floors; living, dining and entrance way rooms had brown paper and plastic in some places taped to the entire floor.  That's how they protect the hardwood floors and it looked like a different house.  All the window coverings down and numbered, furniture that we didn't move outta there was in the center of the rooms all covered in plastic.  AND MY FAVORITE; SANDING DUST EVERYWHERE!  But it IS getting done faster so living within the perpetual mess will be of shorter duration, yippee!  Here's some pics of the outside I took last week.

I went to see the movie "I Am" that I posted about here.  I really liked it.  It was positive and shows how finally scientists that look at the material world and spiritual people are coming together to figure out what life, other living entities and humans share which turns out to be a very deeply rooted connection.  Go see it if you get the chance.  I'm sure it will come out on dvd and you could rent it soon.

So I went to get a breakfast sandwich and some coffee on my way into work this morning (the house is just too much of a mess to get bkfst or make coffee) and I was shocked to find the credit card I use most often was not in it's place in my wallet.  I tried not to freak out at the checkstand but I was trying to remember what could have happened to it.  Hmm...did big Al take it to get me gas last night, don't jump to conclusions...think girl when did you have it last?  Got in the car and continued my way to work then pulled over to call home.  No answer.  He must be talking with the painting guys.  Start to PANIC as I'm rummaging around in the purse and looking at all pockets in my wallet, not there, s**t!  Think, think.  Used it last at the other grocery store on Thursday morning.  OMG for 2 whole days someone could be enjoying my cc on VISA and my dime.  Damn.  Stopped at that store went in and asked if they have a lost and found and explained I'm missing my cc and used it last at their store.  Sure enough they had it.  RELIEF!  I've never lost a cc ever, thank God!  The clerk told me to make sure nobody used it before it was turned in and to check with the cc company.  So we did that, A-OK.  I went thru my memory of last Thurs. morning and remember now, laying it down on that little counter after swiping it then reached for the darn club card and I NEVER lay it down.  I always put back in it's place.  Must be the discombobulation of the house mess that's making me a mess!  Boy, was I lucky.

Here are some blooms from the front yard.  The white Watsonia are the first to bloom then will come the pink and then the lavender ones.  The Nasturtium and Kalanchoe are blooming nicely.

Since the painters are there working today, my plan was to stay at the shop and complete the insurance project that seems to be taking forever and I even brought my crochet projects that hopefully will be done soon so I can start my next project.  Hope you have a terrific wknd and are enjoying some flowers that are finally poking their heads out for you.  Spring is here!

Treeless + Flowers

Howdy, a quick update.  Here is the front now after the trees are gone.  I wanted to take the pics when the front was less cluttered but the contractors haven't come this week so there ya go, I took pics anyway this morning before I left for work. 

I got these flowers when I stopped at the dollar store yesterday.  6 plants, 6 bucks!  They'll be planted where the trees used to be.  Mini red roses and Campanula (Bellflower, Blue Bells).  Hope they survive without too much sun.

Have a lovely Friday and thanks for visiting!

Renovation Update

Here are a some pics of the trees that are now cut back and of the house being painted in the front right now.  The trees look better but I thought they'd be cut even lower so you could see the columns more.  The Umbrella plant is really invasive, see what it's done to the Cypress tree?  It's all bald, no green and all brown on the inside.  Can you tell how close to the columns they are?  They should have been cut down 20 years ago.  They were planted too close to the columns to begin with.  We're thinking that we'll remove those trees after all. 

The new garden is filling in & the pink ice plant is in bloom

A pretty ivy geranium is blooming.

My customer K, was all smiles to get his package yesterday.  Glad that is OVER!

I'm trying to do the chevron crochet stitch (zig-zag) and it's being a bugger and taking me awhile to get it.  I've watched u-tube videos and followed the pattern from one of my crochet books.  I'm not giving up, I'll figure it out. 

Hope you're having a pleasant evening! 

Where is K's Package?, Trees and Dan's Cap

Worst week in a long time.


One of my mailbox renter's packages from the backroom is missing.  This hasn't ever happened...not in 18+ years we've been in business.  No pkg has gone missing, EVER.  I've not slept well for the past 2 nights.  I can't believe it.  I'm sad, then mad, then sad, then mad.  Uuugghh.

Scenario:

My customer, I'll call him K, a longtime customer, very shy, mild mannered man, ordered something from Amazon and he told me that the first one they sent got lost in the mail and Amazon was gonna send another one to him and they did.  It was sent overnight and arrived last Sat. by Federal Express.  I called  K right away and left him a msg. that it was delivered and he could come get it.  He didn't come for it until this past Thurs. morning.  When he arrived, I was helping another customer but I got his pkgs for him but I couldn't locate that one.  I told him I'd find it and I'd call later.  Then very softly he says, "It's worth $300.00" and I say, reassuringly, we'll find it.  He looked so concerned..  I got searching for the pkg.  NOWHERE!! damn,  slowly the pit of my stomach got a wrenching feeling.  I tried to remember all that had happened from Sat. to present time running it thru my mind.  Did I give someone his pkg by mistake?  If I did, my customers would surely bring it back...but...hmm, they hadn't brought it back or called me to tell me they had it.  I got worried.  I called everyone that had picked up pkgs that week and asked them, "No" they had only got their pkgs.  I didn't even know what was in the pkg. just that is was worth $300.00.  At the end of the day, I was realizing that it was GONE.  What happened??  I got the sick feeling again.  Then at the end of the work day I left K a msg. saying that I was still looking into it, terribly sorry, but that he should come in ASAP and bring the invoice from his purchase from Amazon and assured him that I would pay him for the item.  He came first thing Fri. morning and I found out that it was an iPod Touch, a 32 gig one.  If one of my customers got it by mistake and opened it, there would be a temptation to keep it.  Damn, why couldn't it have been a stupid book, or something not worth so much...something only K would want so the person would bring it back.

I'm having a hard time thinking that a customer esp. if it was a mailbox customer, would keep it.  Where is it???  Sure, I have insurance but if I put in a claim my insurance would go up next year.  SO, I am now looking into scanning software and getting a (frickin') bar code scanner to log the pkgs in and out for people and now I'm wearing this as part of my wardrobe everyday:

That's my elbow and dang my arm sure looks fat!

This is the key to the backroom where the pkgs are kept.  This is the same room my computer is in.  I'm in there when I'm not at the front counter.  It will be locked every time I leave it and I'm making my mailbox customers wait until I'm finished with a customer before I get their pkgs for them.


Now on to other things.  We decided to trim the trees about halfway instead of taking them out completely.  The gardeners are there today trimming away at the trees as I write.  I don't want to go home until the chainsaw noise is over.  Here's a few pics that I had fun editing to see how the house might look with trees trimmed or removed.  The trees rose above the house by about 16 feet and you can't tell that in the pic.  I didn't do a perfect job on the editing but I learned more techniques with the software that I've had for years!

Orig. pic showing the tall tree

We chose to cut them about this low

This is what it would look like removed

Here is what I have been working on.  It went pretty fast.  My friend Danny had asked me to wash his fav hat and then it got funky-discolored and I thought about dyeing it or using dye markers in a pattern on it and then I got the bright idea to crochet over it!!  He likes it!  It will keep his head warmer now, too.

I just made the pattern up as I went.  I started out with a chain long enough to go around the insignia on the front and then did single crochet around that.  Pinned it in place around, cut the yarn and then began at the top making a circle large enough to fit around the button and continued to dc in the round until I came to the circle that was pinned down.  Then I went back and forth each time hooking into the sc of the circle until I got to the bottom.  Then on the brim, I started at the center back and then dc back and forth adding and decreasing stitches to make it fit.  Then I sewed it onto the hat with a needle and regular thread along the bottom and a few stitches around the button at the top and ta-da, finished.  I got more yarn and plan to make him a scarf to match.  The yarn is soft and is called Naturally Caron Country a washable wool (wool and acrylic) in charcoal.

I'm off to continue to work on the kitchen cabinets.  I made some progress last weekend and I just have to keep at it.  DH just called me and the gardeners are done with the trees.  Safe to go home now. It's a nice wknd again and I just wanta be outside.

This post is a long one.  All week in one post.  Thanks for reading to the end. 

Geez, I get to buy an iPod for K.  Think how much yarn $300.00 would buy!

Hope you're enjoying yourself and doing whatever blows your hair back!!!!

Edited to say:  The trees do look better now.

Nose to the Grindstone

Hi'yall!!  Busy Bee here to say that it's been a full week and I'm tired but I must keep going as I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!  Maybe the economy is improving since I've a small business and I was really busy on Wednesday and then I took off Veteran's Day (thank you vets who help keep us free) to work on the house and then on Friday I was really busy again.  In fact, I've been so busy that I haven't had time to regularly visit the blogs that I enjoy, boo hoo.  All my filing is getting backlogged, too.  I hate filing, ugg.  I can't seem to get ahead of it.  I file some and then the piles seem to grow on their own, damn it.  So, I've been working the shop extra hours and then working on the home, too.

Talk about nose to the grindstone, JD, my sis' hubby came over to help with some fix-it stuff on Thursday and he and my son were putting in a new base cabinet, sink and faucet in the basement bathroom (pix soon) and of course they had to shut off the water to work on the plumbing and so I was told, "The water's off" and then I figured that I'd vacuum clean as I didn't need any water for that but then decided to check my email so I sat down and then since it's been so dry, my skin and nose have been itchy and my sinuses were already irritated from all the sanding dust so I started rubbing my nose and then it started to bleed and so I rush to turn on the water and then damn, no water.  Amazing how dependent we are on using the faucet for instant water.  Thank goodness I have a bottle of water in my room.  After getting that under control, I picked up my crochet and relaxed in the chair for a bit before resuming the chores of the day.

This is my bathroom at night all cleared out ready to paint the ceiling.  You can see some downtown Los Angeles skyline through the glass door.  That is scaffolding for the painters that you can also see thru the glass.  BTW, that sliding door opens into thin air, nope no patio to walk out onto; the second floor and it's a loooong way to fall.  Yeah, the people before us were crazy and did crazy things to the house like this red and black bathroom.

Here it is after painting the ceiling and the temporary old curtain put back up and before all my paraphernalia and plants fill up the place.  Remember the popular sunkin' tubs from the 80's?  Well, I've never used this tub for fear it would fall thru the floor.  Remember the movie with Tom Hanks, "The Money Pit"?  Yup, it's just like this house.

Different angle without flash

The renovations are coming along.   I used the refinish stuff on the masterbath's cabinets just so we could be all done with one room except for new curtains that are still needed.  This weekend I'll go back to working on the kitchen cabinets again. The part of the kitchen that is still left to do is where all the real cooking and cleanup occurs and so those cabinets are really way worse than those I've already done.  Nothin' like leaving the worst for last!

My goodness it's a gorgeous day here.  I would much rather be outside enjoying the sunshine instead of working, grocery shopping and then house renovating!  I'm getting close to finishing my Pilate's bag cover which is good since there are gifts to be worked on.  Now, if I just didn't have to sleep!

Have a fabulous weekend!
oxoxoxo

Shawl is Complete

Howdy!  My Monet (Berroco brand yarn, named Monet) shawl of many colors is finished and I wasn't too tired last night (yeah) to finally take some pix of it.  I followed the pattern (Lion Brand Half Moon Shawl) pretty much, only I wanted it elbow length and had just the right amount of yarn to do so.  I didn't make it as wide since I wanted it to come together but not overlap in the front.  I will add a closure to it when I think of one that would work good. The yarn was a bit difficult since it was chunky then got thinner in places.  I accommodated this by doing single crochet instead of double crochet when it got thick.  I'm happy with it.

Still working on the mat cover and started a new project but that is for a gift and I have to be *hush* about it since that person may visit my blog.  I don't know how many handmade gifts I'll be able to make before Dec. 25th but I'll give it my all!

It's getting wild at home.  The workers are there almost every day and whipping the house into shape.  Last Sunday there was the scraping on the outer walls on both sides of the house and the noise was so nerve-wracking that I spent most of the day outside weeding the garden and moving around my poor plants that got banished from the porch to the driveway.  My bathroom ceiling is done except for white paint that got on the dark gray grout at the ceiling edge and there is still a fine layer of sanding dust on everything in my room.  So guess what I'll be doing this wknd?

I took down the sheers over the sliding glass door prior to sanding and painting and washed 'em and one ripped in the center of the panel.  They were original with the house only I took them down from a different window as it was to be temporary anyway and now the fabric became rotten from the southern sun on it after many years.  I'm going to put clear tape on the rip and hang them up again until I get some new curtains since the sun beats in there all afternoon long and since there isn't any curtain hanging there for the past week and we've had a heat wave, the damn bathroom is like a brick oven; tile from floor to ceiling, can't you just feel the heat?  All my stuff that was in the bathroom is still strewn about my bedroom and everything is a mess, yuck.

The elections have left me depressed and I know I have to get over it.  But, what is the definition of stupidity/ insanity?  Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.  California's too liberal gov't is what has ruined California and the majority of the people voted into office, the same people and now what, do they expect a different result?  Barbara Boxer, senator for 28 years, hello...we need change not the same crap.  All in all, we didn't have really great choices to choose from.  However, some states made big changes and I salute you all for your effort.  We'll have to see what happens, meanwhile I'd better get back to work.  Now, where was I?  Oh yeah, filing papers, what fun.  But wait, I think I'll finish my lunch and crochet a tad, first.

Hope you are having a happy day despite the insanity of others!!!