Back in A Flash

I'm baaaack.  Maybe not in a flash, but here I am.

I just realized that it has been quite a while since I wrote on this blog.

That might be because I was trying very hard to recover from that knee surgery I had this past summer.  Let me tell you, it was a bitch.  And a complete surprise.  This was definitely not on my bucket list for the summer.

I finally started to feel a lot better sometime around the end of September.  And I mean finally.  It felt like it took forever.

That is all past now and maybe one day I will blog about my funky experiences with this particular surgery.  (And how I took road trips one week post op and five weeks post op.)

I can only tell you that my doctor's instructions are to please stay upright this winter.  God I hope so.

I am back to work, back to cleaning the house regularly (? and this is good news?), off the good drugs (for now) and starting to have energy that I haven't had in several years.

Energy, I missed you.  Welcome back.

First up, I will be posting those pictures I promised (long ago and far away) of the newly remodeled bathroom.  I never even took the pictures yet.  Yes, I was that bummed.

It's good to be back.  See you again soon.  In the meantime, enjoy a cold one.

Head and Shoulders, KNEES and Toes

Sometimes things creep up on you.  This song is a creeper.  It starts out all normal and then you just go faster and faster until your head is literally spinning.  Kids love it.  I love it.

Knees can be creepers.  In my case, they are for sure.  The right one crept up slowly but surely into the intolerable range and four years ago, we severed our lifelong connection.  I have never regretted it.

The left knee kept a fairly low profile until sometime this past winter.  Being on top of things like this, I decided I better go see my friendly Orthopaedic Surgeon in May (in Iowa, sometimes that is still winter).  That dang knee not only crept up on me, but it grabbed me from behind and kicked my not insubstantial butt.

I am now a knee orphan.  I have 2 step knees.  Don't laugh.  It was a really big deal to realise that I was not going to have that original equipment anymore.  I thought it was kind of sad.

My special gripper socks.

Because I had ankle reconstruction done last summer, I  forgot some of the fun stuff about having a TKR (Total Knee Replacement).

You have to go to Joint Boot Camp.  You get to learn all about what will happen, what rehab will be like and how to breath into a little handheld machine thing with a smiley face on it.

You have to have blood work done and a urinalysis and a heart thingy (can't remember the name of it, sorry) and a physical.

You have a lot of stuff to get accomplished before you have surgery. In my case, I had to clean (a lot), finish a couple of projects, clean the basement from construction, organize and get rid of stuff and freeze a bunch of in season fruit.

You have to make arrangements for the first couple of weeks post op.  I am now ensconced on the first floor in Alaska Girl's old room. I have some makeup, clothes, jewelry and art supplies.  I have TV trays for bedside tables, 2 computers, my phone and all the peripherals that accompany technology.  I have a clear path around the bed.

You have to borrow a walker from your parents.  Enough said.

The socks go so well with the special hose.

There were other things that I forgot about.  Like the fact that they put you in a diaper when you have a spinal.  I also forgot that if your butt is still numb from the spinal and you can't feel the toilet, you are probably not going to be able to pee, no matter how long you hang your hand under running water.

I forgot about how noisy a hospital is.  I couldn't wait to get home and get some sleep.

Pain.  You don't exactly forget about pain, but the severity of it is definitely fuzzy around the edges.  I never felt like I was being stabbed by a sharp knife repeatedly, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they did hit me on the side of the leg several times with a baseball bat.

Swelling.  I forgot about the swelling.  At least, I failed to remember the significance of all of that swelling and how on the second or third day you are up every hour peeing like a racehorse.  But this helps reduce the swelling, so clanging about with the walker at all hours of the night seems worth it.

It's kind of sad to have to borrow this
from your mother.

I am now starting to remember how difficult it is to get truly comfortable for any stretch of time. Unfortunately, I also remember how long that phase lingers.

And last but not least, I forgot about how freaking hard rehab is. It is not fun.  But if you don't do it then you won't be able to hike the Grand Canyon in a year or visit your daughter the brewer in a month.  I think I am recalling that the first couple of weeks are the worst in that area.  I mean, I think that's right,

So for now, those are my memories of TKR.  Of course, each surgery is different and this one is already setting itself apart.

In case you are wondering if there are any GOOD memories, there are.

• being waited on
• not having to do dishes
• watching Netflix at all hours of the day and night
• not having to clean for a couple of weeks
• sleeping all of the damn time and nobody cares
• passing out mid sentence after you take the good drugs
• the good drugs 

Ahh.  Sweet memories.

The good drugs.

I like this one.  Probably because it is no effort at all.

I'm guessing I will have better pics in another week.  I will hide them so you don't have to look at them.

Adventures in Burlap

I am a fan of all things retro, modern and industrial.  I know, weird.  Over Christmas we happened to stop in at one of the local coffee places while my son and his girlfriend were in town.  I asked the workers what they did with the empty burlap coffee bean bags and the guy in charge said, "We give them away."  I came home with three.  (Was there any doubt?)

They have been in the Bat Cave since then.  I kept looking at them, but they just sat there looking like lumps.  They are very cool, though.

Fast forward to Spring.  I needed a new purse, but I wanted to make one out of the coffee bean sacks. They kept lumping at me, not saying a word.

To make a long story short, after several weeks of fruitless Pinning and hemming (pun intended) and hawing, I decided to buckle down and get at it.

So, I went to the store and bought an 'easy' pattern.  I quickly discovered it wasn't going to work with the burlap.  No way.

So, I did what I should have done from the get go.  I used the saviour of all do it your selfers: YouTube.

I watched a couple of videos and decided I could just do my own thing.  I know.  Kind of scary.

I made a pattern out of the brown packing paper that I hoard.  I even used a measuring device.  I ironed my burlap and my lining fabric.  I traced the pattern onto these pieces with a blue Sharpie (very professional that Sharpie).  I cut everything out and then I went to work.

I broke about 6 needles sewing this damn thing.  I eschewed measuring anything after the initial pattern making.  You can't make me.  I made about 5 million trips to the basement to iron seams and stuff like that.

I also learned a lot.  The main thing being that burlap is a bitch to sew when you are using fusible felt for a bit of structure.  It's also hard to sew a strap made out of burlap, fusible felt and lining onto a purse made out of burlap, fusible felt and lining.  If I wasn't so lazy, I would have run up to the store and purchased some sort of strap-like material.  I might have saved a needle or two.

Anyway, the damn thing is done.  I would make another, but I doubt if I would use that felt stuff.  It is hard to sew with the burlap.  Maybe just the burlap and some canvas cloth for the lining.  Also, I would definitely purchase some strap material.  Or maybe a heavy duty machine that handles such things.

This thing isn't perfect by any means and the lining doesn't really fit.  But I'm using it.  All. Summer.

Dammit!  Besides, it's really cute!  And that, folks, is all that really matters.

PS:  I did put all my pursey things in it and they stay; as in - the thing doesn't turn inside out because of the weight.  I may need to sew on a pocket of some sort so that I don't continually have to dig for my keys and phone.  Then again, maybe not.  Glue is looking mighty tempting and I do have some E6000...

Brown Bagging It

I needed to send thank you notes out about three weeks ago.  I wanted to make them and kept getting bogged down with other little chores.

Today, I finally had a chance to make them up.  Now, I just need to write and send!

I stole the splatter idea off of Pinterest.  Then the rest is my own.  I decided to use what I had at home.  My guess would be that all of you have these items:

• paintbrush
• water
• watercolors (kids pan type will do)
• water color paper
• cardstock
• brown paper bag
• some sort of left over twine, ribbon, trim
• stapler
• ink
• paper trimmer

That's all it took to make these.  I promise.

First, just cut your piece of watercolor paper to the size you prefer for your card.  I chose 5 1/2 " wide by 8 1/2 " tall.  Then get your favorite water colors really wet and gently tap the brush against your finger over the watercolor paper.  Let it dry.  I think I used about five colors.

Copy the original onto cardstock.  I was able to get two cards out of an 8 1/2 x 11 " piece.  Cut each piece to the size you picked.  Fold in half (I have a folder thingy and used it).

Tear pieces of a paper bag and stamp Thank You on the pieces.  Edge these with ink of your choice.

Splatter paint onto the Thank You bits and let dry.

Fit the Thank You bits onto pieces of twine, trim or ribbon.  I actually just untied this piece from a gift today.  I save all that stuff.  You just never know.  Attach the trim to the Thank You bits using a stapler.  I used a Tiny Attacher.

Staple these onto each card.  Finish off the front of the card by edging it with ink.

That's it.  Now it's up to you to write the note on the inside.  Or up to me, I guess. Now repeat after me: Splatter is Good!

Chinese Lanterns Redux

The Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis is once again playing host to the Chinese Lantern Festival for most of the summer.  If you love color and light, this is for you.  If you were lucky enough to visit in 2012, go again.  The displays are all totally new.

This is the link to the Garden.  I was lucky enough to go with part of my family this past weekend.  It is not free, but well worth the price of admission.  Make sure that you check it all out online as they have limited days until August.

For those of you who love to shoot, sorry, but you are not allowed to bring in a tripod or monopod. This is actually a good thing because there are tons of people walking about.  Brush up on your settings before you go so that you  know what you need to do to get the best shots.  I was unaware that the Festival was in town, so I got caught with just my kit lens.

We ate at the little cafe in the main building and it was yummy.  I had mushroom and pesto flat bread pizza.  OK.  Now I'm hungry.



A couple of tips:

• Make sure you bring a stroller if you have young children. You are there for a bit.
• Make sure that you bring bug spray.  They have great mosquitoes in St. Louis.
• It is heat and humidity that define St. Louis in the summer. Hydrate while you are there.  There are concessions around the Garden, including alcohol.
• Plan on spending a few minutes in the adorable gift shop and the Chinese marketplace.  You really need the entire 4 hours.

If you decide to go down, don't forget to visit the St. Louis Zoo. They just opened a new polar bear exhibit.  This is one of the greatest zoos around, people.  Don't miss it.

 This is part of the fabulous multi-media center display!  Lots of horses, music and fire.

 Kids and adults took advantage of this fountain!

 A pagoda made entirely of china!  So cool.

 The center display at night.

Dandelions!  I believe they were made from cut up water bottles.

See.  Fire!

This was so cool.  An elephant display made entirely of china.

Peacock made of glass medicine bottles.

Projects on the Side

The railing before any cleaning.

Before I take and post the pictures of our new bathroom, I thought that I would show you a couple of side projects that I did.  One is the railing for the stairs and one is the extra storage for the pantry.

I knew what I wanted to do to clean the super gross railing that attaches to the wall leading upstairs; lemon oil.  I am in love with lemon oil. It cleans and shines and moisturizes wood. And it smells good!

Gross railing.

After I found the lemon oil, I had to find the umph to attack a really, really gross, dirty railing. I finally managed it today.

I intended to just squirt the lemon oil on my rag and wipe away.  That would work.  However, it was going to take the entire bottle of lemon oil and a big hunk of time to do it that way.

A quick trip into the house and a  Google search brought up some great ideas for cleaning a wood railing. I chose the one that involved baby wipes.

Why do I have baby wipes when the only child who lives at home is Swim Girl and she is 28? That's easy:  art.  I use a lot of baby wipes in the Bat Cave for art projects.  I mean, I didn't even have to make a run to the store.

The oily hunks of grime.

My wipes hadn't been used in a couple of months, so they were dried out.  A quick soaking in a bit of water revitalized them.  Ok.  Now you can start.

Wipe the dirty, gross railing with baby wipes. You should start to see the gunk kind of come up in oily hunks. Be sure and go over and over until you get up all of the grime.  It should loosen up fairly easily with just a touch of pressure.  You don't need to wreck your arm. Throw the wipes on the garage floor as you use them.  You can throw them away later. Yuck.

After the railing is cleaned up you can use the lemon oil.  Just squirt some into a clean cloth and wipe away.  Then with another clean cloth, wipe and buff.  You can repeat this step if you want.  If you have done a good job with the baby wipes, very little dirt will come off onto the oiled cloth.

The directions I checked also suggested using equal parts vinegar and water if the baby wipes didn't work completely.  I did not have to do that.

In progress

Finished

We have quite a bit of room in our pantry for some storage under the last shelf.  I looked all over for some sort of rolling storage that wasn't plastic.  No luck.  I finally decided to take matters into my own hands and make some rolling crates.

Yup.  Snack crate.

I purchased two wooden crates at JoAnn's for about $10 each. I have seen them at Michael's also. We have plenty of leftover paint from the remodel so I primed the crates and gave them two coats of paint.  I chose to use the same color that we put on the kitchen walls.

Let me tell you, this was a bit of a pain to do.  Each one of those slats has edges that need to be painted. Alaska Girl suggested that I use spray paint and I almost ran to the store to get some.  Then I remembered how much paint we have left and just sucked it up.

The wood was also pretty rough.  It really needed sanding, but I am lazy and didn't do it.  I tore up more than a few foam brushes painting the crates.  I suggest that if you use this type of crate that you set up in an area where you can just leave them and the paint.  You will be more likely to keep at it. It does take a while since you can only do so much at a time. I think the whole process took me a week to complete.  This includes a couple of non-painting days.

The casters

I then turned the project over to my husband.  I had purchased two packages of 4 casters to put on the bottoms.  I also bought the screws. I did not buy washers.  He had to make a washer run. Apparently, I also bought two different sizes of screws accidentally and I failed to take into account the fact that each caster needed four screws.  My turn for a hardware run.

There is plenty of room on the ends of the crates for identification.  I almost painted those with dry erase paint, but decided against it.  That stuff is expensive and once you open it you have to do all of your layers and then throw the rest out!  You cannot save it for later. Have fun!

It's a New View

Hey.  I am delivering on my promise.  I have pictures of our kitchen.  I will save the bath for another day.

The kitchen is basically finished.  I still have a few things to do as far as decorating.  The only plain wall has nothing on it yet.  I will be trolling the sales and shops this summer for appropriate decor.

We are nearly finished with some storage for the pantry.  I will post those pictures when all is completed.

I have yet to get out my labeler and attack the cabinets, but that can wait a bit.  I am getting better at remembering where it all goes.  Baby steps.

Now, to help you remember what the 'old' kitchen looked like, here are a few reminders.

This was the view from the entry of the living room to the opposite side.  This is a very old refrigerator that we inherited when we bought the house.  We moved our fridge into the basement and then moved this one into the rec room (where the trees are to the left) and used it throughout the remodel.  The tubs held our food in the rec room during the process.

Same view.  The fridge was relocated to the other side so we gained a huge amount of workable counter top.  Plus, we had no upper cabinets before.  Yay. 

This is the bit of space we had next to the fridge. 

Now, instead of the fridge and a choppy little counter we have this beautiful uninterrupted stretch with plenty of storage below. Yum.

The view of the sink area.  There was also this crazy scroll work above the sink.

The sink area now.  It was my husbands idea to add the cabinets above the sink.  We also added an LED light stick that was hardwired in so we could use the switch.  It is awesome.

The old flooring and pantry.

The new flooring and the pantry on the right.

Same location, new doors.

New shelving.

And my personal favorite, a motion activated light inside the pantry.  My husband painted and rebuilt the shelves in here.  We are finishing up some additional floor storage.

These two pictures show what the wall that borders the living room used to hold.  Because of the huge microwave storage shelf, the counter was virtually useless.  We kept seldom used things under there.  Note the soffit.

There's the fridge!

Old view.

New view.

The new configuration has the fridge on the living room wall with the stove moved down a bit.  This allowed for a lazy Susan cabinet to be installed, a corner upper cabinet and a return in the corner that allows for more use. There is a very small 9" counter that separates the stove from the fridge, but we haven't really noticed that very much.  Next to the fridge is an upper spice cabinet and a lower cabinet that is built to hold trays and cookies sheets.  I love it.

 Because we only had enough space for a 32" wide refrigerator, we had to forgo one that was counter depth.  (We would have lost a lot of interior cubic feet.)  So, our contractor came up with the brilliant plan to recess the fridge into the wall by turning the studs sideways.  I think that this small improvement has made the biggest impact by making the kitchen appear wider.  It still amazes me how much more room we have.  They did extend into the opening to the living room by about 9" in order to accommodate all of the changes.  Other than that, no walls were harmed in this remodel.

One of my favorite additions is the LED under cabinet lighting .  

So there you have it.  Our new, much more efficient and modern kitchen.  We did not change any major structures, just redesigned things.  I still can't quite believe it is ours.

Next time:  the new bath!