GARDEN LIGHTING

Good morning everyone !

I know you've probably seen mason jar lighting 2,999,999 times before this -

My Son was over on the weekend to help me out with a huge problem (to be blogged about at a future date but the problem is solved )
It involved lighting - a way to hang up a chandelier to be precise - of which the base is larger than that whatever you want to call it attached to the ceiling.
In the den.
This is what we started with

Much to our delight we discovered that the wiring was installed on a paint stick basically

Can you believe what you're seeing?
I mean really - can you freaking believe this?
And there's no way a home inspection could have seen all these little " secrets " buried beneath walls and ceilings. Thankfully most of it has been updated now - this room and the living room are the last two nightmare's involving electricity ( even the certified electrician who worked here last year could not believe what he was seeing - bad - it was really bad )
It's shocking that the place hadn't burned to the ground many years ago ( which would have saved us from buying it and going through all of this )

Anyway - this post is not about that - it's about outdoor lighting - ( I just needed to vent for a moment or two ) thank you.
I've been searching for a chandelier to use for a year now........no luck.

I DID however have the horrible one we took down from the room my son is working on !
Picture it with fragile huge white globes hanging from each arm
I figured I'd simply turn it upside down and use it for tea lights.

John says - Why bother to wash it if we're just throwing it away ?
Suzan says - WE'RE NOT THROWING IT AWAY !
Suzan says - I'm going to use it outside over the dining table
John says - ARE YOU NUTS?  IT'S UGLY AS SIN !
Suzan says - Can you go help Gordie or something?

Last summer I used tea light in cages ( post HERE  ).which was very pretty but a pain when you're out longer than the candles last - than you have to stand on the table - open them up - and replace them. ( besides there's tons of area's they can go - closer to the pool would be pretty I think )
What I'd really like is a proper light

I brought the light into the mudroom to work on another day - but lo and behold THESE were sitting in the
mudroom - and you know how it is - somehow they made their way on to the light fixture almost by themselves...............

Do you think it's ok not painted?
I don't really want chips of paint falling in our food ( although painted and then chipping away would be a lovely look lol )

For some reason I'm missing 3 pins so the fifth one is not attached yet but here's how it'll look hanging outside.

I love how the light filters through the glass

I bought these last year to hang around the garden ( if you look closely in the tea light cages below you can see one hanging off the bottom of each of them )

So it'll be easy to glam up my new light when necessary ( you know, for those black tie bar-b-que's )

And I'll tie them in with these

And the best part?
My son is going to connect it with an outdoor switch - ON/OFF ( maybe DIM? )

OK - paint it or let the elements get to it and make it rusty ?
ME - who paints anything and everything - is leaning more towards letting it rust and hopefully getting some fabulous patina on it !

John says - I really like it - what a great idea
Suzan says - You do? ( because he very seldom says that as you know  )
John says - You watch - everyone's going to be copying you and using jars for lights now

I didn't need to tell him that I was the 3 millionth person to do this.
But I told him anyway..........because even though I can blatantly lie right to his face about how much something cost ( I can now do it without blinking or even crossing my fingers ) - taking credit where credit is NOT due just never sits right with me - I DO have some principles you know :)

So many dreams
I've kept deep inside me
Alone in the dark
But now you've come along
And you
Light up my yard.......................♪  ♪ ♫  ♪

Now have fun trying to get THAT out of your head all day.
You're welcome
I never liked it - even when most of the planet did, I didn't.

Oh !
Here's how it looked before - sorry for the quality of the pic but that's all it deserves anyway lol
I can't tell you how thrilled I am that it's down - and the ceiling's painted white - and my chandelier is oh so close to going up.................

I'm not sure what era it's from - but it looks like a bunch of moons to me -
And the last thing I need in a den is having a light fixture moon me.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone

ok maybe this will erase the previous one -
It's just another manic Monday...........................
I liked that one :)

UPDATE:  It was painted shortly after I posted this lol - a sort of Gold / Silver - Champagne?

For better or worse ( and I think I liked it better before but I'm NOT going to go there ) it's finished.

Can't wait for it to have lights in it!
Big hugs,
Me,



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A Friday Chat ( about this & that )

I'm embarrassed to admit this but I have never gotten used to Celcius -
Here in Canada we switched to the Metric system in the 70's - that's been plenty of time, don't you think?

Although I know that 29 or 30 degrees celcius is beautifully hot - I still find myself constantly scrambling to work out the equation in my mind of what it is in Farenheit - then and only then do I think ahhhh - how wonderful !

My kids don't understand when I say - oh my gosh - it's going to be 90 degrees today - don't forget your sunscreen - but they were born into this and know nothing else.
( They also don't get - why - in their 30's I'm still reminding them to wear sun screen but that's another disorder of mine altogether and doesn't belong on this post )

Same with miles - if we're taking a road trip I still find myself converting kilometers into miles to gage how far we'll actually be going.  For instance I know that Manhattan is 350 miles from Montreal - don't ask me what it is in kilometers - and I don't feel like figuring it out right now anyway )

We work in fabric - with European mills - who, of course, all work in metric too - and yet?
I'm frantically working out what a meter is in yards when I'm purchasing fabric for myself.

And I can't - for the life of me - convert liters per mile ( of gas ) as opposed to gallons per mile.

I'm metrically challenged in all honesty.
Or as I prefer to say - I'm an Imperialist.

Just trust me when I tell you that they're calling for a lovely week ahead !
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I made a large batch of meat sauce this week -
I save all my glass jars to store it in - but you know - you give a jar out here and there to your kids when they visit ( in case they're starving to death and just not telling you lol ) and next thing you know - you're low on jars.
Suzan says - I need to pick up some containers.
John says - We have a ton of them in the mudroom
Suzan says - We do?
John says - Yeah - at least 8 of them
Suzan says - Oh I don't think so John - why would I have put them in the mudroom ?
John gets up - goes in the mud room - and comes out with my beloved blue bell jars - which grace the garden with tea lights all summer
John says - Here you go
Suzan says - horrified -  I CAN'T USE THEM !
John says - Why not?  I thought that's what they were for?
Suzan says - OMG - they're for my tea lights in the garden
John says - NO THEY'RE NOT !  MY MOTHER USED TO PUT HER HOME MADE MARMALADE IN THEM !!!!!!!!!!!
Suzan says - Well I save the jars from your store bought marmalade - wash them out and then use them for storage..............
John says - And somewhere - in your brain - there's logic in that, right?

Later on John says - Why are you gorging on pickles?
Suzan says - with her mouth full - I NEED THE JAR - IT'S A PERFECT SIZE..................
John says - There's not that many left - why don't you store them in a smaller jar?
Suzan says - Because I DON'T HAVE SPARE  JARS !!!!!!!!!

If we were a song -
These would be MY lyrics

When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful,
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical.
And all the birds in the trees, well they'd be singing so happily,
Joyfully, playfully watching me.

And these would be John's 

But then they sent me away to teach me how to be sensible,
Logical, responsible, practical.
And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable,
Clinical, intellectual, cynical.

i HAVE TO WATCH WHAT I SAY - OR HE'LL BE CALLING ME A RADICAL
LIBERAL, FANATICAL, CRIMINAL..................................
________________________________________________________________________________

Quick everyone - I need egg recipes that can be frozen - besides Quiche ( which I'll make a couple tomorrow )
He will NOT eat devilled eggs - so that's out
He's not that crazy about my chopped egg salad because there's miracle whip or mayo in it.

John does the groceries because I can't be trusted he claims - I handed over the reins quite willingly though

Eggs were on sale
3 dozen for 5.00

Plus we had a dozen in the fridge

Suzan says - WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH ALL THESE EGGS?
John says - Eat them ( there's that logic again )
Suzan says - They have a life you know !
John says - What do you mean " they have a life " are you nuts ?  They're eggs
Suzan says - A shelf life John - we can't possibly eat this many eggs that quickly

So I guess along with Spaghetti Sauces - I'll be handing out eggs to visitors as well

Here honey - here's a meat sauce - and a dozen eggs - love you !

Actually maybe I'll bake all weekend..................
Or have a give away for 2 dozen eggs - anyone interested?
_________________________________________________________________________________

Otherwise, In the news....................

THE MOST RIDICULOUS
_______________________

Georgia Trash Collector Jailed For 30 Days For Showing Up To Work Early

A Georgia trash collector will spend 30 days in jail because he showed up to work two hours before he was supposed to.

Kevin McGill, who works for the private company Waste Management Inc., showed up a few minutes after 5 a.m. one morning to pick up trash in Sandy Springs, WABC reports.

A city ordinance requires that trash only be picked up between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Because of his misdeed, McGill was sentenced to 30 days in jail, the maximum sentence he could have received. His crime of picking up trash too early was the only infraction considered by the judge who sentenced him.

He now plans to spend every weekend over the next three months in jail, so he can work during the week.

"I was stunned," McGill said, according to WABC. "I didn’t know what to think."

VICE spoke to Sandy Springs prosecutor Bill Riley who said jail time is necessary to make sure trash collectors don't start collecting garbage in the early morning hours.

"We look for the minimum punishment what will deter the crime," Riley said. "We tried forever not to put anyone in jail for these cases, but it wasn't working."

Sandy Springs spokesperson Sharon Kraun didn't immediately return a request for comment from The Huffington Post, but she told VICE, "Our residents, they like their quality of life. And that means not waking up at 5:00 AM to hear the trash can."

VICE also points to a 2012 New York Times story about Sandy Springs farming out nearly all of its services to private companies.

_________________________________________________________________

What's the sentence for being late ?  Life ?
I wonder how much something like this costs taxpayers 
( I wonder, I wonder, but I really don't want to know ) 
_________________________________________________________________________________

There's a new show on TLC !
About Little People !
Let me see now...................there's already been

Little People Big World
The Little Couple
The Little Family
Seven Little Johnstons
and now there'll be a new one - how exciting !

All they air at this point is HUGE people or LITTLE people..................
Or people with huge families.

Surreal.
And I keep watching.
I think I'm turning into one of those ornery people who just like to complain actually -
God help me.

or·ner·y

ˈôrn(ə)rē/

adjective

NORTH AMERICANinformal

1. bad-tempered and combative.

   "some hogs are just mean and ornery"

   synonyms:

   grouchy, grumpy, cranky, crotchety, cantankerous, bad-tempered, ill-tempered, dyspeptic, irascible, waspish

_________________________________________________________________________________

I wanted to watch GOING CLEAR - the Scientology documentary.

But HBO Canada wouldn't let it be shown for fear of repercussions from the " church "

( Tom Cruise went to elementary school in Ottawa - our Country's capitol - maybe they're afraid he'll show up and jump up and down all over their furniture like he did on Oprah? ) 

This Country has the wimpiest policies - I mean really - when you're afraid of Scientologists ..................

ENGLAND has the mighty LION as their national animal

The U.S has the fearless EAGLE as theirs

AUSTRALIA'S KANGAROO will kick you to the ground in a heart beat

And Canada?

We've got the BEAVER - be careful or he'll gnaw you to death !!!

Or scurry back under that ferocious damn he's built and hide.

In case you sue him.

Oh Canada we stand on guard for thee ..........................♪♫

source

We're the Leave it to Beaver's of the Western World - and we don't give a damn ! ( unless you ask nicely ) 

________________________________________________________________________________

Tokyo recently named GODZILLA as their official  tourism Ambassador.

What a twisted way to say  " WELCOME !!! "

That's like using Freddy Krugar as a Maitre D' - don't you think?

________________________________________________________________________________

Ok - I have to ask my Son in Law if he can download ( upload? sideways load? ) a copy of that documentary.

If anyone from the Canadian Government is reading this - I'm NOT talking about the Scientology documentary  

Have a wonderful weekend every one !

Much love from here...............

to there ( wherever your there may be )

Me,