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I'm taking a moment here to remember when I had to say good-bye to a very dear old friend a few months ago...and then to laugh at myself just a little.
Oprah used to call it "The Ugly Cry". The one where your eyes, nose...really your whole face...turn beet red. That's why I'm posting this picture in black and white instead of color. I really don't want you to see my red eyes and red nose in color. Wild Bill was kind enough to take these three pictures while I paused to commemorate a passing a few months ago.
Here's my old friend...a 1993 version of the World's Biggest, Oldest (and Continuously-Used) Combination Radio, 10-CD and Cassette Tape Player Boom Box. "He" was a big expenditure back then for a single mom, and my youngest daughter (a savvy 13 year old then) had to talk me into venturing into the new world of CD's as I clung to my cassette tapes! I sure got my money's worth with this one...
Man, I miss that big guy! "He" shared my love for T. Graham Brown's Bumper-To-Bumper CD ("we" had three copies of it, just in case one wore out) and he (unlike some of the other family members) never objected to playing it over and over for me.
Through the years, all the greats hung out with us...T-Graham, Roy Orbison, Billy Ray, Willy...they all sounded better on this old guy.
Trying to entice me away from my beloved boom box, Wild Bill bought me two or three new ones over the last 20 years that we've been married, along with a few I-Pods and such. But I just couldn't give my first love up. Those other CD players? They were too flashy with strobe lights that kept me awake - or they held too few CD's - so up in the closet they went.
I continued to stick with my good friend. That is, until a few months ago, when my CD's started warbling when this old guy was playing them. I knew it was time, but still I left him on the kitchen counter for two days, occasionally trying yet another time to see if the warbling problem had cleared up. Finally, Wild Bill joined me in a brief and tearful (on my part, not Bill's...he was doing the happy dance in his mind I'm sure) little ceremony as I said a final farewell.
Wild Bill snapped these three pictures during my tearful good-bye, then we quickly left before the garbage truck came to do the pickup. I just couldn't watch. Those other CD players are still up in the closet waiting. I'm in mourning after all.
I hope this post convinces you to let go of a few old things that might be clogging up your life too. Just bite the bullet and do it.
Thanks for dropping by!
Welcome to another Five On Friday! Can't believe how fast the weeks go by. I have been torturing this poor old galvanized tub for far too long! I'm just glad it's over (maybe). Here's the history of it...
1. Plain Jane Start...The tub started out a plain galvanized tub with stains inside, bought at a garage sale long ago. This is the only "before" picture I could find.
2. Hide The Stains...One day, I got the idea to use the tub as a magazine or book holder. The first thing I did was paint the stained inside of the tub. I wrote about this step here.
3. Let's Roll...I decided to add wheels since our floors are wood. That entailed making a sort of skateboard for the tub to ride on.
I turned it upside down and measured and cut repeatedly using an old cardboard box that was mailed to us.
I wrote "this side up" and drew arrows to remind myself of which way it fit. Wild Bill held it for me while I took pictures. Notice he still had that black thumb from an ouch-y accident last December when he learned you can't screw something through your finger without causing pain.
He used my cardboard pattern to cut this sturdy wood oval, which I painted black at first. Didn't like the black...so then I painted it white.
I love chalk paint because white can cover even black colors in just a few strokes.
4. Why Not Stencil? All was good until the tub started looking a little plain. I bought a stencil a while back, but not a stenciling brush. One night when I just couldn't stop myself, I decided to use a regular foam brush to see if it would work.
It turned out OK from a distance, but I recommend a stenciling brush if you're going to stencil. PARIS turned out looking like PARTS, which is OK with me because it makes it more industrial looking, right?
I let the stencil paint dry for a week and didn't bother distressing it since it already looked distressed due to using the wrong brush. I'd like to say I planned it, but we all know that's a lie.
5. Wax Her Up...Last night I started wondering what a little wax would do for the tub. I used Miss Mustard Seed's clear wax and gave the whole thing a coating. I love that brand of clear wax!
Once the clear wax was a little dry, I put on some dark aging wax. Miss Mustard Seed's dark wax wasn't dark enough for me, so I used Amy Howard's dark wax, which worked better.
Even the wood handles and rusty holder got some of the clear and dark wax...
A little of Amy Howard's dark wax goes a long way. Wipe it on, let it sit a little, wipe it off. I used a rag to put it on and an old sock to take it off.
So here we are today. I won't say I'm completely done, but in its current state I can think of a lot of uses for it next to the chair...a winter throw, pillows, books and/or magazines...
Thanks for dropping by!
Books and bunnies seem to be coming and going today. Here's my Five On Friday, joining the party at Love Made My Home.
1. Amazon delivery arrived today...my part was Susan Branch's book, Martha's Vineyard - Isle of Dreams.
I sat right down and started reading it. As an avid follower of Susan's blog (see bloglist for link) I couldn't wait to read it. Like me, she's a California girl who moved far away to another world.
2. I couldn't put it down! As I read, I got to the part where she accidently bought a small cottage while on her way to see a rental house. Oops! I loved it. She was talking about walking in her new yard and seeing brown bunnies hopping all around. That made me think of the poor baby bunny who met with a swift death early yesterday morning. We went out to get in the car and found just its poor little back bunny legs lying in the driveway. No blood, just the legs. Did a owl drop them there? Did a dog kill the poor bunny and carry them there? Odd...
3. Right while I was thinking of that poor little bunny...CRASH! The porcelain bunny mold hanging on the top of the chalkboard fell right off and smashed on the floor.
This poor bunny lost more than his back legs, but there was a piece that I kept as an (un)lucky rabbit's foot.
4. As he did with the little rabbit legs laying on the driveway, my big house bunny hopped right up and came to my rescue and cleaned up the porcelain carcass too. Wild Bill takes his job as "floor man" around our house very serious indeed.
5. To fill up the now empty chalkboard, the metal bunny that I bought for a few dollars on clearance a while back replaced the shattered one -- along with a boxwood wreath to add volume and color.
Black, white and boxwood green together make me so happy...how about you?
There's no breaking this bunny so, if it falls too, there will be no mess to clean up. Hop on over to Love Made My Home and join the Five On Friday link party here.
Thanks for dropping by!
Nothing I like better than Christmas movies in July. A lot of TV channels use to do it every year.
I haven't found any on TV this year, so I'm playing my favorites on the DVD player. Which, you might ask, is my favorite?
Well...that would be The Family Stone. Love that movie anytime of the year! I love that the characters who appear to have the least in common turn out to be perfect for each other.
And then there's when Sarah Jessica Parker's character, who has already pissed everyone off, thoughtlessly gives all the family members the same exact present wrapped exactly the same, but manages to melt everyone's heart by doing so. Good cry...good cry.
Christmas can't come soon enough for me. I hate Summer!
Me and the Chicken...we like the lights. We're party girls, no doubt about it.
In fact, seeing all the color created last Christmas made me realize just how drab and neutral our front room has become. If you read my last post, you'll see it's all white and beige...I'm missing these reds and blacks right now.
Maybe it's time to start decorating for Fall. Anything but Summer. How about you? What tops your Christmas movie list?
Thanks for dropping by!
The coffee table finally got her knobs back. New knobs that is.
The last time she got a chalk-paint face lift, I used her knobs for another project. I kept meaning to get around to distressing her a little more and applying dark and clear wax, but something always came up.
Maybe it's just me, but it seems the chicken always disapproved of the knobless decor.
The coffee table sat naked for quite some time while I played with idea of filling in the knob holes and painting numbers on each square before I waxed her.
Finally, after more months than I care to say, I admitted to myself that she really needed some knobs while I ponder how much more torture she can take.
It took me just two minutes to find the knobs and two minutes to screw them in by hand.
The chicken seems happier and that's all that matters. Now that the knobs are back on, I think I'll skip the numbers idea. Now I have to find the dark wax...
How about you? Do you have a little job that's been bugging you for months? I challenge you to get it done.
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