that 4 letter word!

Got your attention didn't I? Well my, now not liked, 4 letter word is RENO(S). and I am not talking Reno Nevada!  Mine has to do with the many renovation projects we have going. We have been doing renovations on this house since 2006 for that is when the bathroom window leaked! Of course, my husband wasn't home at the time. The water was pouring down the bathroom wall and collecting in the ceiling of the kitchen. I phoned him a panic and he said I had to put a hole in the ceiling and put a bucket under it to collect the water. Oh, I put a hole in it alright. Got a screwdriver and went to town! Who knew I had that much frustration built up?!  When my husband got home, he sort of mentioned that maybe I went a bit too crazy with opening up the ceiling to let water out. That, my friends, was the start of our renovations. We replaced all the windows in the house, and while you are without windows, you may as well take down all the siding and put on more insulation. New basement windows required us to build up the frame a bit better and larger. THAT caused us to notice that the insulation under the window was soaking wet! Rip down the drywall in the basement to find that cause. While the walls were naked, we may as well build a bedroom down there!  Can you see this pattern that has emerged with us? It is never ending. We also decided to make our kitchen larger and rip out the already cracked tiles. The only way to make our kitchen larger, would be to take down the wall between the family room and kitchen. Our goes that window, out goes that large stone fireplace.  I am happy to say, the kitchen is done! Well almost. The small bits and pieces need to be done, like the floor trim. Our renovations have moved to our front deck! In order to do the windows in the living room, we needed to tear down the front deck. It was full of rotted wood anyway. Now, we are building a new one. I am at then end of my renovation, tattered rope about now. The sun is beating down on our little heads in the afternoon and  the snipping at each other is in full swing by 3pm!  When all is done, I am going to stomp my feet until I turn blue, demanding a nice beach vacation! Not too much to ask for the past 6 years of blood, sweat, tears and swearing!  Now off to the local hardware store for more bits and pieces for the deck. Yup..still smiling!!!

What?!

I told you things happen to me that people often think couldn't possibly be true. Well, yesterday I had such an event! A friend of mine and I were standing waiting to enter a show. It was hot and we were glad to be standing on some cement steps out of the heat and there was even a bit of a breeze. We didn't mind the wait at all! As we were standing there my friend suddenly hopped up one step towards me. She looked at the lady that was sitting down on the next step, and asked if she wanted her to move. I guess this women had been crowding her. The lady just said "no". So we chatted some more and then she decided to move to the stop above me, leaving the step below empty. Well, that was great for this other lady, cause she moved closer to my step and kind of sprawled out. Here comes the weird bit! I was standing there talking some more and I felt someone grab and hang onto my ankle. It passed and it took me a second to realize that wasn't normal. But, not to worry, cause the moment came again. Yup, that is indeed someone hanging on to my ankle. I looked down and saw it was the lady behind me. She said "sorry" and turned her back to me and talked with her family. My friend was killing herself laughing at this, cause it only happens to me! I put my right foot up onto the step ahead of my and then realized that I better put it back down or else that lady would take more of my space. OMG, she had. There, where my foot was, was her hand. Really? Are you kidding me? So, I put my foot down near her hand and slid it more to the right as to move her hand along out of the way! That was the weirdest wait I have ever encountered. Dare I blame the heat we have been having? OH sure, why not?!

Photo...gone..

Sorry, but couldn't stand the large photo..it was kind of in your face. I will some day figure this all out and post photos that aren't larger then life! :)

Stinkin hot!

We are currently having a bit of a heatwave. Not only does this cause some major thunderstorms at night (which i hate..seriously..I hate those things), but it also causes this chick of the menopause era to swelter to death. I swear, the ceiling fan can't go fast enough sometimes. The windows are open, until the dogs in the neighbourhood start their barking fest, and the coyotes join in! My poor dog, is panting more then I am and has a fear of the ceiling fan. So, she doesn't know where to go at night. We are a good team, she and I. I tried to help her by putting a nice cool cloth on her head. She tried to get away from me and ended up smelling, well, like a wet dog. We do live near a canal that we could walk to and dunk her in (bad grammar..I know), but the walk back to the house would be just cruel. We would both be sweating and frankly, gross by the time we got back to the house. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the warm weather, but I don't do well in the stinkin hot weather. Bring me more Spring like temps or even Fall like temps. Those are nice to cope with. My internal temperature guage has never worked properly. I seem to take on whatever the temperature is. If it is cold, well, by golly, I get cold! Funny talking about how I can't cool down properly in this heat, and yet, my photo is of Palm Springs. Must be because everything there is air conditioned, not the outdoors obviously, but everyone has a pool! There's my solution! We have been doing a lot of renovations, why not add a pool to the mix. Hmmm, I see my husband is sitting on his tractor digging an area which is to become our front porch, why not head out there and suggest he do some more digging in the back yard. Couldn't hurt. By the time we have the hole dug and the pool put in, I will be writing about how it is -30 and bloody cold!! Can't win! Keep cool everyone!

Photo

Like the photo?  I told you I would play with this blog and see if I can download photos. Didn't realize just how huge the photo would end up being. Have to adjust that somehow. Anyway, the photo was taken when we were in Palm Springs. I love that place. I suggested to my husband that we retire there. (bloggers note...not that we are nearly old enough to retire!), and he said there were too many golf courses, not enough archery ranges!  I have been very lucky in life because I have traveled and seen so many places. Each one of them, I seem to want to live in. (bad grammar..I know..sorry mom).  My favourite place is also Scotland. I can picture myself living in a small village and everyone knowing everyone. Much like the TV series Doc Martin. Full of quirky characters. I know that series isn't filmed in Scotland, but some place like that must exist there. I have been to the tropics, as well. Got completely roasted sitting on the beach. I have a photo, which I will NOT be posting, of me in a bright pink bathing suit and my arms and legs matching the colour perfectly. That was a very long plane ride home I can tell ya.  So, enjoy the photo, cause it may change again soon. I am restless like that.