Fixing To-Do List #2: Fixin Up A Blackboard

Life has been busy lately, more about that in a later post.

For now I'd like to show you another project I completed a while back. I painted an old frame white and will age it down later. Then I bought a piece of MDF (medium density fiberbroad for the new crafters amoung us), which is basically the new plywood, and expectantly waited for Gampy to cut it for me...and waited, and waited.

So, after taking the measurements of the inside of the frame myself, I took me down to Home Depot (H/D) and bought another MDF board, which the nice guy cut to size for me... for free...right on the spot...NO WAITING...wow, I love it when the handyman is sooooo handy!


Here's my handy-dandy work station, AKA kitchen island protected with cheap 99 cent shower curtains from Walmart (WallyWorld) and cans of beans from the cupboard to use as lifters. Man, McGiver has nothing on me!


I first painted on a couple coats of red-colored primer. I use two primers, either white or red (for the darker colored projects) and a cheap throw away foam brush and a throw away foam 2 inch roller. After the primer dried, I painted on 3 or 4 coats of blackboard paint from a small can of it bought at H/D.






I'm impressed with myself here that I got project no 1 (the chandelier) in the shot with project no 2. I love when my picture-taking talent morphs past primitive!



So if ya'll want a cheap decoration for your wall, try making a blackboard. You can paint the blackboard paint on almost anything. The other bloggers in blogworld would've written a snappy cute saying on the blackboard, but my handwriting has always been so shitty it would've cheapen the look, not improved it. Imagine the blackboard with writing on it...like for instance:

Dinner Menu: Beans from the cans on the counter

Well, that's not too snappy, but I'm sure you get the picture.

You Have To Wonder...

Jaysa (Chicago-land daughter) and Mike have never bought dining room furniture for their dining room because Jaysa hasn't found a set she likes at a decent price. She says she would like a big table and chairs for the dining room. So, I tell her (and use my laptop to show her the before and after's) about the table and 6 chairs I bought on Craig's List for $75. Jaysa states she doesn't think there are good deals around her area, so I jump on Craig's list and quickly find a 6-foot-solid-wood trestle table for $90. Jaysa and Mike "likey", so Mike calls and makes an appointment for tomorrow morning to see/buy the table.

This post is not so much about the wonder of Craig's List and the miraculous "before and afters" of furniture fix-ups you see around blogland. This post is about all the people who are somewhat confused about how to advertise their wares on Craig's List. Here are two examples:

First ad states: Nearly new Crate and Barrel table and chairs.

Then the seller proudly states the table "folds up" for easy storage. The only picture provided is below.



Did you find the table? Yep, it's the black thing in the middle. But, what does it look like when you're using it? What do the chairs look like?

Number two is an ad, and I swear this is how it's listed:

Dining Room Set/No chairs!

... Ok, WHAT MAKES IT A SET???

So, I go to the picture and this is what you find:




Ok, so you told us there are no chairs with your "set", but you forgot to mention no table either! I think someone mixed up Craig's List for Match.com!

The Chain Gang Does Rock

A little while back, Gampy and I took a drive to the Rock Farm. That's the place where they grow rock. It grows in piles and they have to put wire mesh around it to keep it growing straight up.

Here's a picture of all the pretty rows of rock growing.



We strolled down the garden path admiring how well the rocks were growing until we spied a patch of rock just right to use to line our mulch beds. After negotiating a deal with the rock farmer for a crop of rocks weighing over a ton and a half, we hurried home to await delivery.

During all that time it never occurred to either of us how much work this was going to be! Once the one and a half tons of rock was delivered on a pallet to the end of our long driveway, we discussed how to move them to the various mulch beds.

Now, I always thought I had good negotiating skills, but somehow I was elected to do the moving of the rocks while Gampy did the "thinking" part of the job. You see, sitting on the ground and placing the rocks in a row somehow requires more intelligence that I appear to have.

So, while Gampy did the hard work and mental strain of lining up those rocks...



...I picked up the rocks from the pile, placed them in Pop's little red wagon until it wouldn't hold any more, then hauled ass down the driveway to the concrete closes to each mulch bed, unloaded the rocks by picking each one up and walking them across the grass to the bed and dropping them by the edge of the bed.


Meanwhile, Gampy was able to lie on the grass and nap between my loads. He needed it because lining up those rocks was just...so...damn...exhausting!

Notice the grass clinging to his butt and back where he was lolling around. I have to admit that while I was tossing the rocks on the ground, a rock or two may have come closer to his body than was called for! "...oooops, sorry Dah-ling!"



This went on until it got too dark to see any more. One of us was real sore. Care to guess which one?



The next night I put my foot down and used the truck, which is what I suggested the first night. We backed the truck up to the rock pile and BOTH of us piled the rocks unto the tailgate and drove them down to the mulch beds.

Here's a shot of one of the mulch beds with the rock. We'll take a better picture after the grass (and Gampy) recover from all the rock hitting it when I off-loaded.

Fixing To-Do List: #1 Fixing Up The Chandelier

In addition to my cooking lessons with Inna, I am busy around the house doing odd projects on my "Fixing To-Do List". I had planned to post the completed projects on my other blog, but...well...this is too much "multi-tasking" for me.

I don't seem to keep up with either blog these days, so I'm going to just randomly post my completed fix-ups on this blog and be done with it. That said, here's the one project (yes, I only posted one actual completion) from my other blog.

So, here's a picture of the completed chandelier after I fixed it up.



See, problem was, I bought it over a year ago and left it in the garage waiting for a good time to ask Gampy to get 'round to-it. I gave up on Gampy and called my favorite handyman Kobie (pronounced K-obie). Preparation not being my strong suit, I opened the box just before Kobie arrived and discovered that it was waaaaay more silver than it had appeared in the lighting shop. I got it on sale for $90 so it was still a good buy as far as I'm concerned. With Kobie on the clock, it's too late to spray it Oiled Bronze like everything else in the house, SO I decided to have him hang it and I'll figure out something later.

After living with this silver chandelier for a few days, I tried to get up the nerve to ask Gampy to take down what I just paid to have put up, so I could paint it. Too much pride on my part to admit my error, so I challenged myself to do it in place.


I got out the mahogany furniture stain from MinWax and put on some latex gloves (from a hair dying episode) and then a pair of Gampy's old white gym socks on top of them. I dipped my socked-hands in the furniture stain and prayed no one would ring the doorbell any time soon.


I think it came out better with the furniture stain rubbed on it than it would've looked sprayed with metal spray paint.


So, of course I'm looking at everything around the house these days with a new eye as to what might look better with a little rubdown of my mahogany stain...and, I'm thinking Gampy's hair is a lit-tle too silver...hmmm, hold still Honey...I've got some new hair gel I want to try!

Cooking With Inna

My friend Inna stopped by the other day to give me cooking lessons. You know Inna, she's the Barefoot Contessa on the cooking channel.


Anyway, Inna announced she was going to make a meal for a friend who just called to say he was stuck on some interstate and had friends coming for dinner. He asked Inna to whip up a meal for him to serve his friends since he wouldn't be home in time to cook.

Of course Inna said "yes!" and proceeded to get out, and prepare, some luscious meat, a very healthy and robust salad, and a Cherry Crumble for dessert. Being the extraordinary wizard of cooking that she is, she had all this in her pantry and refrigerator.


I leaned back and got out some paper and pen to take notes. My cooking skills have nose dived lately and I'm hoping to improve. The salad Inna showed really looked yummy.


She made it by cutting up lots of fresh veggies like this yellow pepper...hmmm, I could eat the whole thing raw!


She also had some fresh baked bread, which she wanted to turn into some delish looking croutons. She cubed up the bread and then sauteed it in oil and spices, then baked it in the oven til crisp... Well, I was getting really excited about that salad, so I hit pause and went to the kitchen to see if I also had some salad "fixins" as Inna did. I really wanted to impress Gampy when he got home!


Sadly, I found no fresh bread just coming out of my oven. But, I did find a slightly stale package of stuffing left over from last Thanksgiving. I thought maybe this might work as a substitute for the croutons...


And, while I had no yellow peppers (or any other yellow vegetables for that matter) I did find some yellow bananas and thought that the combo just might work. Alas, it appeared that the bananas had seen better days! Sadly, I didn't think I'd be able to throw the salad together this night, so back to the show I went.

Next up was the Cherry Crumble. As Inna said: "Cherry Crumble is just like Peach Crumble...we've ALL made that, right?" My thoughts were "Inna...you bitch!"


The Cherry Crumble did look good, which just added to my depressed mood. So I moved on. I fast forwarded to the table decorations.


Inna informed me that I did not want to have a dinner party with a high bouquet on the table because my guests wouldn't be able to have a conversation.


Inna showed me how to use a regular drinking glass to make a cute, short bouquet. Oh-Oh. I don't have any fresh flowers, but I do have a bouquet of fake hydrangeas in the dining room. I ran to check it out.



Hmmmm, my bouquet seems to be a little tall for company. Not sure we will be able to see each other over that vase, let alone carry on a conversation!


No, there's definitely a problemmo here! I will have to get back to you on how my dinner went, as it appears I have some shopping to do. I'll let you know how the banana-stuffing salad works out -- I know YOU just may want to make that one for your guests!

I wonder if Inna has ever thought about peeking around the vase like this? I'll bet not! And she thinks she's the guru of entertaining.

Why Do They Hold Their Mouths So Funny?

Angelina Jolie has a new movie coming out. Have you seen the ads? In one scene she is being "booked" into jail apparently and is having a mugshot taken. Well, next time you see the ad, take a look at how she holds her mouth. I've seen a lot of models and movie stars hold there mouths this way. I think it's supposed to make your face thinner and your cheekbones hollow.

So, while getting ready to go out and do some heavy lifting in the yard, I thought I'd see how well I'd look to pose like Angelina did...hmmm, this one is not so good!



Well, later I tried another one... still not so good. In fact, down right ugh-ly! I know I'm old, but this look did not work for me.



I had to take a normal picture to show you that I'm just NOT that ugly. Yeah, I know my face looks awful white. I get roscea real easy so I slather on like 95 SPF face protection. Not pretty, but it helps

What Was He Thinking???

The other morning Gampy got up first and while I lazed in bed, I heard a distant humming sound....oh NO...he isn't? I looked out the window to see the sunrise blinding me. Then I look at the clock. Hmmmmm, this is a.m.


I try to get his attention, but his mind is on business. Apparently he has decided to get the back yard (the far out back yard) mowed before the sun comes up.




So I do the smart thing and hide inside in case any of the neighbors come yelling at him that it's not even *F&&$0@#$&G 6 a.m. As I cringe, it just goes on and on. Finally the mower stops and I peer out the window.



I don't see him or the mower so I guess he's through. I check the clock. hmmmm, he's done a full day's work and it's not even 7 a.m. Hope the neighbors didn't mind my old rooster crowing...er, should I say "mowing?"

Hope The Fireworks Don't Scare The Neighbors

This afternoon Mama Deer and her two little twins spent the afternoon sprawled out on the green grass where the aerobic septic sprays the cleaned water out. Mama was eyeing my plants and shade inside the fence. I'm sure she was plotting how to get in and eat the new shoots. I got my camera and went out onto the back porch and neither the babies or the mama seemed to care or worry about me being there aiming something at them.



All the neighborhood seems to be shooting off fireworks and all I can think of is how my old dog Ginger used to panic when she heard fireworks being shot off, and I wonder if it will bother Mama Deer and her Twins.



The deer live in the woods behind our property. I can see them moving around in the early morning after they've spent the night mauradering around the neighborhood seeing what plants they can get to before being scared off.

Maybe I Have This Corrected

My words are staying in English instead of Hindu, as I discussed in my last post. Only I could run into this problem as I am the least likely person there is to be able to read or speak Hindu. I'm just saying...

My pictures are still showing up as a mumble jumbo to me as I write this, but when I post it will be a picture, so I hope it uploaded or downloaded (whichever it is) the right one.

I was trying to point out in my Post Gone Wild that I got paint on my favorite pants. These pants are at least 10 to 15 years old. They are so old, they are now back in style again with the skinny-jean legging pants look today. It doesn't matter to me because I have worn them at least once a month for as long as I've had them, in style or not. They're quite a look with my Fiddo Diddo tee-shirt I wear, which I rescued when one of the girls discarded it back in the 80's!

My Wierd World

If you're wondering why I haven't posted lately, look at the post below. For some reason my words are changing from English to ... I think... Hindu right before my eyes as I type!

Why? I don't know. When I put a picture on the blog all I see is a bunch of numbers and letters. Help?

I have gone in and tried to ensure that the translation button is set on English and only English, in case you're wondering. In order to get this to be in English I had to click on the words and change them back to English.