Gift of RA

We are actually having summer in June – usually doesn’t arrive until July 5th.  Everything has been mixed up, some flowers bloom sooner than usual, others later than usual.  I have been amazed and delighted to see how long the rhodos have been blooming – then to find out we have several large bushes on the north side of the house.  We have been in the 70’s this week, then yesterday around 80, today warmer.  Then it is due to go back into the 70’s and sunny for quite a while.  The prediction is we will have armer than usual temperatures this summer – not very much rain.  It has been dryer than usual, but so far we aren’t considered drought status unless you listen to the governor.

They are worried because we didn’t have as much rain as usual and the snow pack is minimal – that means ski areas are not profitable this year.  That’s not to say there was snow, just not the thick snowpack we usually have.  We noticed the Olympics didn’t have much snow – mostly the very top of the peaks.  I think Mt. Olympus is the one with a bit at the very top – probably will be gone shortly.

Eddie has been a kid in a candy store since we had the furniture moved upstairs.  He has been slowly going through boxes, finding things we had forgotten all about – can’t even remember where or how we acquired it.  Some are easy – the iceberg from Eddie’s 10 years at Volvo.  There is one from Hyundai for his time at Bering Trucks.  He found my white with blue Dansk china – Christianshaven was the pattern I think.

He also came across a lot of our Swedish crystal bowls, figurines, etc.  Some wooden Dalha horses, a few olive camels, a table runner I had forgotten I made.  There were even appliance covers I pieced – not hemmed yet.  I put one on the can opener, not sure what I made the other to cover.  Eddie has emptied 3 large boxes and now has 7 more to go.  We still haven’t found the  shelves for the secretary – I need to find someone who can teach me to pick a lock so I can open the desk part.  He is looking for the brackets for the breakfront and has no idea what he will unearth next.

He found a box marked kitchen and brought up some pots and frying pans, utensils, a coffee grinder and placemats – I had no idea how many large bowls we now have.  We have plenty of room in the cupboards, but they are going to be high shelves that I can’t reach.  Not all that steady on the ladder and I don’t need a fall from a ladder.

I dom’t know how much we will get done by next Sunday for Mom’s Celebration of Life open house.  It will be what it will be.  I have been calling the neighbors now that Delores had lent me her directory – I have put ours safely away so I wouldn’t lose it.  I was able to talk to several neighbors and they are coming because they remember Mom.  I finally have postcards in hand – that was Wednesday.  I am late in doing anything with them but since there aren’t that many people around who remember Mom, I don’t know if there will be much of a crowd.  I have decided the people who are meant to be there will be there.

I would love to plant flowers in the yard to make that look great – not the time, energy or flexibility to do it.  I am going to buy a few pots with blooming flowers in a few places, that will have to do.  I am going to meet with Robbi about the cake tomorrow or Tuesday and begin pulling things together.  I have decided a few things and need to purchase them and then think about some flowers for inside the house.

We are supposed to have a good day on Sunday, so it looks as if it will be more outdoors than inside.  Hmmmm, where is everyone going to sit?  Ye Gods and Little Fishes!  If this is simple, I don’t want to think about what I would do if it was complicated.

Now that the weather is so nice, the little gils across the street are out all the time – yelling and stealing the way only little girls can.  Am I getting to be a  grouch or mean tempered old woman because I don’t particularly appreciate hearing them all day and into the evening?

It will be interesting to see what this week brings – lately it has been a lot of the unexpected.

It’s been an interesting week – I seem to have worn myself out without much effort.  I put some oil o the hardwood floor, you can see the individual sections.  I have a couple of sections to finish, but they are traffic lanes and it won’t be hard to do them.  Eddie had a Defense Symposium on Wednesday and Thursday at Joint Base Lewis McChord.  He spent the night on Wednesday, so I had the house to myself for a bit.

I called Steve to arrange to have his guys come and bring up the furniture from the basement.  There has been quite an echo in here for a while.  I was hoping they would be able to come before he came home – I wanted to surprise him.  But it would be Friday before they came.  So I didn’t say anything when he left for work on Friday – I wanted it to be an unexpected surprise.  I was even in the bedroom having a lie down  so Eddie could get the full effect.  He was very surprised and very pleased – it is now the Kaplanian household.  They mostly brought up the big pieces and I have arranged the furniture  – probably temporary until we live with it for a while to see what works.

After dinner he disappeared down stairs – looking for the last cushion for the sofa and the little pillows that go with it.  Then he found some of his CDs and a few other things.  He was like a kid in a candy store.  I had forgotten about the big jar we used for umbrellas, I was trying to remember when we bought it.

We can’t find the shelves and bracket for the secretary and I know the key is downstairs somewhere.  There aren’t brackets for the shelves in the breakfront – no doubt tucked away somewhere.  We will go through the boxes slowly and decide what to put where.  Eddie is going to have to do it for the moment, I twisted my knee Friday afternoon and have been hobbling around since. It is getting better but I don’t want to chance it on the stairs at this moment.

No doubt it would be smart to put in the pictures to show the end result.  I will admit to being a bit overzealous in taking pictures.  I think most are self-explanatory.

I needlepointed this hassock a long time ago.  The picture goes all the way around.

Last Saturday afternoon, Vickie came over with her buffer to help clean the hard wood floors.  It was too expensive and the logistics didn’t work to have a professional to them, so this was the next best thing.

Eddie dancing with the buffer

Vickie took a turn around the floor

We started in this corner and worked our way around

Eddie checking out the progress

There was a lot of dirt, but the stains didn’t come out

Our dance partner

It also meant the furniture had to be moved too – the pieces aren’t as light on their legs as the buffer

Under the dining table was really dirty and a bit sticky

A little two step with the towel

Vickie is a dab hand with her buffer

Section by section we worked around the room

Without furniture, there is a lot of floor – I had no idea

After using the buffer, it needed to have the goop mopped away

Every time we did it, there were puddles like this

Vickie mops the way I do

She is such a generous and loving friend

Eddie did a two step with the towel

Mostly he was more at ground level

Now the next thing is to put some oil on it, that’s my next project

This was what I was waiting to see – the new mantel.  Everything was done except for a few bits, so Ronnie will be back to  fix them.

I am trying to understand why the photos are upright in iPhoto but when I transfer them to my blog, they are sideways.  I’ve decided to put them in as is – I have fooled around with them for the last time.

I am confused about what I have already put in the posts

I am so pleased with the mantel, it’s what I envisioned

It is soooooo worth it!

One more cattywampus.  Now it’s time to give the floor some attention

This was an interesting day because I saw their “spray booth”.  I went to Breakfast Club in the morning, so I gave Ronnie a key since I didn’t think I would be home in time.  I did a couple of errands and then came home to see what was happening.

The spray booth was around the fireplace area.  Part of the spray was for the mantel

With all the plastic, it was a bit hard to tell what was furniture and what was the spray booth

You can see the mantel through the plastic

They took out all the shelves and painted them individually

Far end of the spray booth – by the front door

I wasn’t sure my pictures would come out – what a delight to see they did

It was a nice day outside but finding an agle that wasn’t dark was hard

Looking good

Sometimes it was a maze to find a way from the bedroom to the kitchen

There’s my mantel – needs some attention to complete it.

WOW!  How about that room!

Ronny is to come tomorrow and finish the mantel and the other bits and pieces

The hardwood floors definitely need some attention

It’s beginning to look more like the picture in my mind.  I can’t wait to see how the mantel looks when it is painted.  This day the second coat of wall color and also the fist coat for the wood work.   I just noticed the green woodwork on this first photo – doesn’t quite go with the color scheme.

 They covered up the brick since I don’t plan to do anything with them except maybe clean them

Getting ready for the primer for the mantel

 This was just before they resumed painting the second day

 What a difference between the door and the new wall color

It’s really beginning to take shape

At the end of the day it really looked good

The floor definitely needs attention

I discovered there are rhodos along the lot line with John and Luzma – where did they come from?

Lovely to see them out the window – the blackberry vines are trying to strangle them, so Jorge has some extra work when he comes to mow the lawn

WOW!  The shelves look good and they are only primed

Tomorrow they should finish everything and I will finally see my mantel

When Eddie came home, we were able to really check out how it all looked.  They had put the first coat on Monday and primed everything, so it was time for another coat.  The furniture changed locations every time I looked at what they were doing.

The green door doesn’t quite fit the color scheme

The room really was looking great with the new paint.

This was the corner they left their stuff overnight – better than the porch

It was amazing how they papered and taped the floor to prevent spills

They fixed it so we could watch tv that evening

They put the shelves back after they painted the walls – shelves are next

Candy had her birthday in November – sometimes it is on Thanksgiving.  I sent her a box for her gift, but I thought she would enjoy something extra.  Pardon me, Candy, if you are uncomfortable about a couple.

I have been cleaning out and found some photos from different places, years and people.  I know she will like these two because it shows our Dad when he was very young.

Dad was about a year or so old – this is in 1915 or 1916

It’s the beginning of his long golden curls.

This is Candy at 2 years old.

Candy at 4 riding a pony – no idea where

This is the backyard of the house in California

This is in front of the back porch of the house in Seattle in 1955 – Grandfather Paull was visiting but I don’t know if Grandmother came too.

Update

I was going to scan some more photos for Candy but now suddenly my scanner won’t work.  Technology has gotten the upper hand this time.  My other printer suddenly decided it wasn’t connecting to the cartridges – so that is out of commission.  However, I hope these will be  good for now.  Also, there are old family photos on their way to Candy and somewhere in the depths of the upper cabinets are more photos.  These are for you Candy, enjoy.