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Let the painting begin!
Today G and I will be cleaning walls and getting ready for the painter to work this weekend. The neighbor was over cleaning the living room walls yesterday and told me I won’t believe the difference with just that done.
When we leave, we’ll load the 1950’s dinette into the car and take it to Goodwill. All that leaves in the house is my dresser, armoire, the cedar chest, and the damned organ. I can’t even give that organ away! No one wants it. Now I’ll have to pay someone to come and take it away.
I’ve talked to my next-door neighbor’s son about coming over to the house and using his scaffolding and ladder to get into the attic for us. I hope we can quickly clear the attic of stuff. I really have no idea what is up there. I hope not much.
My new finial for the newel post
A few weeks ago, DH took a stumble at the bottom of the stairs and knocked the ceramic pineapple off the top of the antique newel post, smashing it into a million bits. We had a ceramic pineapple on it because the post came to us without a finial.
When we first put the newel post in, I’d looked all over for a finial to top it but had no luck. Then one day I saw the pineapple and knew it’d cover the hole on top of the post. I bought it, painted it, and glued it on. It wasn’t perfect but it worked.
So there I was without a finial again. I began a search online and this time came across someone who made proper wood ones on E-bay. I don’t have a paypal account, nor am I a member on E-bay, but I knew someone who was…I contacted Chuck. I showed him the finial I wanted, he ordered it for me, and delivered it yesterday.
I have to tell you this person does excellent work. The finial is a perfect fit. Now all I have to do is match the antique stain and finish of the post.
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- Newel post finial
Calgon, take me away!
With the MIL’s house almost ready for painting, I had hoped my stress levels would drop knowing we might be able to put it on the market soon.
Then we got the county tax, city tax, and school real estate tax bills for the house. EEEEEKS!!!! I can’t believe how high they are when compared to ours. Double taxes, double utilities, double maintenance, this completely sucks. Moreover, we haven’t received the estimate for the roof repairs yet and we still have to pay for the funeral.
Excessive stress doesn’t help when it comes to writing. I find myself getting easily distracted all the time. Even reading, which for me is a passion, is difficult. All I can do is wait it out and hope for the best.
Movie day
G and I finally went to see the last Harry Potter movie. We had a good time. There were only a few other people in the theater with us. That’s why we wait so long to go to these. We both hate crowded theaters. Naturally, I forgot to bring my denim shirt to cover my arms and didn’t wear sneakers and socks. I froze and my feet felt like blocks of ice when we left. G wore sandals but had the sense to bring a sweater. Only her feet froze.
We’d both read all the books and with the time constraints of a movie we think they did it well.
The Smurf movie and ‘Aliens and Cowboys’ were doing a brisk business on their first day of release. We were so glad not to be in those theaters since they were loaded with children-type people.
I will stop giggling later
I had my laugh for the night at around two-thirty in the morning. Some idiot was racing his not-so-quiet motorcycle up and down the street. He forgot one thing…Roads, which have been dry for a long time and are suddenly wet, are slippery. He made a u-turn in front of my yard, the motorcycle went one way, and he went another. I saw him land on his feet as the motorcycle jumped out from under him and landed on its side.
I couldn’t stop laughing and I had to rush Patty inside before I collapsed. Then, while trying to keep a straight face, I went out the front door and asked Mr. Keneival if he was okay. He was. I went back inside and giggled like a fool for a while.
If he’d been injured, I would’ve called for aid. As it was, he was more embarrassed knowing someone had seen the incident than anything else.
I wish I had it on video—it was priceless.
A few more steps and we are out of the tunnel!
G and I filled my van again. This time we had two stops to make with all the stuff. The first one was to a local rehab hospital to donate the MIL’s wheelchair, walkers, and other items. They were delighted to see us come in with the load.
Our second stop was at Goodwill to empty out the rest of the items from the back of my van. This time we left them 15 boxes and 14 household items. Last time they got 25 boxes and a dozen household items.
The house is almost empty now much to our relief. We have one more trip to Goodwill to make on Sunday where we’ll drop off the sewing machine in the cabinet and some other things we couldn’t fit in the van this time.
After that, the only thing left for me to do is to get some help to load and bring home the armoire and dresser. Then I can call the painters for an estimate. Our roofer checked the roofs and he’s working up an estimate now. We are two steps closer to finishing this.
Doggonedmysteries 