Friday, March 13, 2015

A Friday Chat ( about this & that )

Spitting Image....................

Hockey players love spitting

I don't get the correlation between sports and spitting -
or why the cameras seem intent to focus in on it every single time.
It makes me sick.  ( literally - I gag every time I see it )
Really, who needs to do that and a better question might be - who needs to see it?

Anyway it seems prevalent in Hockey for some reason.

I gag every time
And John roars.................

This is the Stanley Cup that the winning team will take home


Do you think it's a coincidence that it looks like a spitoon?
I don't ...................

What is it with Men and spitting anyway?

John says - Well what do you want them to do with it?
Suzan says - WITH WHAT?
John says - Their Spit
Suzan says - I don't know - where the hell does it come from in the first place?
John says - It's a very physical game you know
Suzan says - I can spend the day vacuuming - moving furniture around - cleaning toilets - making beds - and not feel the need to spit all over the place because of the exertion.............
Suzan says - I think Men just like to do it
( I have to mention here that I've never seen John spit - never - but he may be the only man I know that doesn't )

Men love to do it so much that it was once common for spittoons to be all over the freaking place.
Courtrooms - Hospitals ( OMG ) - Restaurants etc.

What are they?
A bunch of Camels for crying out loud?

So now I'll share a story with you - that's absolutely unbelievable to me
AND I SHOULDN'T BE SHARING IT
AT ALL except I giggle my head off every time I think of it ...................

I come from a family of secret holder's.   ........and window closer's so they'd all be mortified if they knew how much I share...................

Most of you were introduced to my two Grandmothers ( HERE ) it would make sense to read it if you haven't -

One of my Grandmother's was the epitome of class - always -
Slip - check
Dress - check
Stockings - check
Heels - check
Hat - check
Hat pin - check
Red Lipstick - check
Hair dyed and permed - check
Matching shoes and purse check -
You get it, right?
One day we were out shopping - just my Nana and I - and as we walked around the aisles there was a little girl who kept sticking her tongue out at me -
I remember I tugged at my Grandmother's sleeve whining about the little girl
To which my Grandmother turned around and said something to the girl's mother -
I didn't have a clue what was being said ( my Grandmother was fluently bilingual and the entire conversation was in French - this was long before I knew a word of French )  the conversation became very heated and I was getting very very nervous.
As it reached it's height - the lady turned her back to my Grandmother and snarled out something that must have been over the top insulting because my Grandmother quietly said something under her breath - and when the lady whipped around to reply - my Grandmother stepped back and SPAT AT HER. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OMG - it was disgusting and brilliant all at the same time.
As we walked away I turned around and stuck my tongue out at the little girl.
We were such a dynamic duo - Nana and I.

She was my very own - real life Mary Poppins - always striving to teach me how to be a lady.
And except for that little slip up she was always the perfect lady in my eyes.




And no one ever knew about that slip up except for family -
and now all of you

( I think she's turning over right about now )

Sorry Nana, even skeletons in the closet need to come out every once and awhile and dance.

My Mother once told me that I made her a nervous wreck -  she never knew what was going to come out of my mouth.
" Nothing's sacred in your world " she worried.

Well it was never spit Mom - not once.
_________________________________________________________________________________

It's Skunk Mating season - Hallelujah !!!

I wait anxiously every Spring for that sweet aroma to permeate every wall in my home - and wake up to it gagging - it's just so awesome !

Hey Pepe !
You think you could go hang around another street ?
I hear the ladies are prettier over there.................


_________________________________________________________________________________

And a random thought I had this morning.....................from where I sit in my office I can see the Church down the road ( it's very close )
As I'm typing up my posts in the morning I usually see this from my window



That's the early morning sun shining on the triangular window - isn't that spectacular ?
That's what I call sacred..................
( not silly secrets )

Does it make up for an otherwise gross chat today ?
It's part of a post I'm working on but thought I'd show it to you all today.

Hope the sun is shining wherever you are.....................

Have a wonderful day AND weekend everyone
Much love,
Me
















Thursday, March 12, 2015

A Farmhouse Door......................( before and after )


When we first moved into this place this is how the doors upstairs looked...............
( vomit bag not provided - sorry )


Complete with flimsy plastic " stained glass " panel inserts. ( that made the worst plastic-y sound when you opened and closed the doors )


I know you're thinking " cheater - those are not the same doors at all "
But believe it or not I discovered that these doors had veneers covering the original panels ( you can read about my discovery HERE )

( We'll just call this privacy film a test run, ok?  It's not centered correctly - but still - even off centered, it such a difference already, right? )



Why anyone would mask them this way I have no idea - maybe an attempt to modernize the house back in the day?
I can't for the life of me understand the thought process on this one  - I just can't.

The conversation must have went something like this.
"Let's see now - how can we make these solid wood doors - filled with character - look more like hollow builder grade doors ?"
"Oh and I've found the perfect plastic panels we can use as inserts"

I mean a LOT of work had to have gone into creating the " look ", right?  Precise cutting - glueing etc..........on all 6 of them - both sides, so that's like 12 times -
Which created a lot of work to restore them, needless to say !

AND 6 dark doors in a very tiny upstairs landing ( 7 if you include another cupboard door )  made the entire landing extremely dreary looking - especially with the 70's upgrade railing and bannisters that are still there - painted but still there for now.

The veneers were removed and the doors were sanded down ( removing more glue than I've ever seen in my life ) and painted white.
I'm sure the square footage has increased with all of the shi crap we've scraped off  floors - walls - doors !

We then installed a plain panel of clear glass and added the privacy film which would allow light to come through. ( well actually we lived with a piece of plastic from a black garbage bag on the bedroom door for 10 months and even that was better than the plastic pane that was there before lol )
Originally there would have been a wood panel inserted in there - but I desperately need the light that glass brings into the landing.
I asked John at least once a day for those 10 months to PLEASE install a glass panel and finally last weekend he did it
10 months is pretty good considering there were a LOT of hockey games on in that period of time.
You need time to rejoice.................and to grieve.
I grabbed hold of him after one particularly great game and asked if he wanted to celebrate by installing the glass ( I could have got him to build new doors - he was that happy )

And the doors now look like this - well one of them at least - I'm in the process of finishing the others as I type - but playoffs are going to start soon - so I'm a little worried.
I've never had so much at stake for our team to win !



I spray painted backplates and found a vintage glass handle ( the screws aren't in the back plates yet because I tried all kinds of handles before settling on this one.
Maybe.




Although I can't make the teen tiny landing larger - I'm doing my best to make it brighter
I'd love to have a skylight installed but we're not sure if it's feasible -and there's still so much to do as you know ( I'm feeling discouraged the past few weeks - very very discouraged )

For now I'm enlisting the aid of white paint - and mirrors.
As many as I can squeeze in .....................



And now you know the story of my Farmhouse doors ( would you call them that?  Not sure what style they are actually ! )

All I know is that I like them a whole lot better ................


Here's a better view - which I was NOT going to show because the room's a mess - with a half painted mirror ( for months now - you learn to live like that when you're renovating - trust me ) and a mantel being used as a catch all - but I figured if I don't water mark it, I can always deny it's my room later on LOL


Country Doors - take me home........................

Huh?  Excuse me?  I've never seen this room in my life.

Have a wonderful rest of the day everyone
Much love,
Hugs too
Me


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