YIPPEEE...MORE MATTHEW MEAD

Have you heard that Matthew Mead is in the process of producing a new Holidays with Matthew Mead publication??  Read the blurb below and then head on over to order...the book-azine will not be sold in stores, so make sure you order online, OK??

Head over to Holiday with Matthew Mead to find out how you can win the opportunity to have your blog or online shop mentioned in the magazine. Holiday with Matthew Mead is a  "book-azine" celebrating and offering inspiration for the Christmas holiday season. To be released in October 2010, Holiday is offered via online orders only - in limited quantities - and will not be sold on newsstands. But, by simply following the BUY HOLIDAY MAGAZINE link below their banner, you can reserve your own copy of this beautiful magazine, with guaranteed delivery of the magazine straight to your mailbox!  Holiday with Matthew Mead is144 pages of holiday inspiration with well-known and admired designers, bloggers and top-notch features, printed on beautiful paper and not drowning in ads!

Now, head on over for your chance to win!

Later,

Janet

THEY SAY

....it's a virtue.....patience that is

I say...the jury is still out....

I'm still working getting things painted, primped and back together.  Sounds like just another excuse, I know...

Later,
Janet

AWAY

Progress...it's a relative term, don't you think??  Please say yes ;)

When we get back from a brief weekend away the floor should be finished in our bedroom and then we can put all the furniture back in there and make progress on the den/exercise room that is hiding under all this stuff.  Please note that the dust ruffle has been washed and is hanging to eliminate as many wrinkles as possible..who knew "she" would have to wait this long??

Later,
Janet

PALLADIN

 Remember Palladin...Have gun will travel??? 



The problem has not been resolved as yet, but the estimates for correction should be here soon.  Seems like bad maintenance was to blame...  Lack of sufficient caulking was allowing some wind- driven rain to penetrate the frame and get inside the wall. Apparently this has been ongoing  for some time which has caused some rot.  Woe is me!!!  The replacement window plus the window frame/sill have to be removed, probably the insulation as well and hopefully no mold has grown in the wall cavity and then the new window etc will be installed, new clapboards, sheathing if needed...oh my...has to be installed.  This will cost more than my new hardwood floor ( luckily that is already paid for)!!

I think I need to go to Lowes and buy a lot of caulk ( and not the cheap stuff which my carpenter says is really only good for a couple of years).  Why don't they make exterior caulk in the aerosol cans???  So much easier to deal with than a clumsy caulk gun.

Peeved in Plainville,

Janet

An Open Letter to Mother Nature

picture by Reilly Winant found on the internet

Dear Mother Nature,

For years you admonished us to not to fool you.  I complied, actually I am mostly compliant in most things ( although I never did try the Chiffon Margarine).  So why, I ask you, did you feel the need to send 8" of rain my way this weekend.  As I am sure you are aware, I am trying to get some rooms in this not so stylish abode redone.  I have paid my dues and lived with many unfinished projects and frankly funky rooms while we raised four boys and now it is time to get some fixin' done.  I do not do well with chaos in my life..my ADD brain needs an orderly exterior to compensate for the craziness that runs rampant within.  There is stuff in every room.  My clothes are scattered about and nothing is where it belongs.  I was handling the chaos extremely well ( if I do say so myself) and dealing with the small setbacks.  All that was left was to get the hardwoods installed in the bedroom and then everything could be moved back and life would resume in an orderly fashion.  Why did you decide that you would send rain onto my bedroom floor from some mysterious and heretofore unknown orifice??? You can't install a floor on a damp subfloor and you certainly can't install it until you know where the source of penetration is, now can you??  The next time the floor man has is next Monday when my very elderly parents will be here.  So, the floor remains undone, the carpenter is coming to poke and probe windowsills, flashing and God  forbid roof to try and stop your evil plan.  I am going to either go eat worms or possibly down a container of yellow fake butter!!

Later,
Janet

PROGRESS

The room is painted...yippee and... the dust, well the dust will take a couple of weeks to settle ( I know this from experience ladies) and see that pile of boxes of hardwood flooring??  By the weekend this floor should be done and then we can start the next part of the long, tedious, but oh so rewarding project.  That involves moving our bedroom furniture into the room above, pulling up the 20 year old gray carpet, and then having hardwood installed in our bedroom.  All of the gray carpet that was "newish" when we moved here will have been replaced by hardwood, well the DR still has Pergo, but that will have to suffice for a while. Can't do everything, doncha know, but we are making progress toward what the house should have looked like all along, 4 boys not withstanding!!

Later,

Janet

gone

The painters have gone for the day.  I am sure hoping the Pottery Barn Moroccan Spice is not going to be too orange-y!!  Just one coat on so far so it is hard to tell.  At least it will be a warm cozy color!!

Later,
Janet