A Space For A Couch

My weekend, or to be more accurate, my Sunday, revolved around moving a small sleep couch from the studio up to the den. It sounds so easy. But nothing, repeat ... NOTHING about moving anything from the studio is easy. It had to be done, though. 

Earlier in the week, DH had disassembled a built-in bench that was part of the den. We have other plans for how we want that room arranged, and have been wanting to pull out and replace the two built-in benches for more than 15 years. It was time. He took hammer and crowbar and other tools and after much effort disassembled the first bench, opening up space for the smaller couch. 

After DH got the built-in bench pulled out, we were able
to see that the original flooring was even worse than the
orange carpeting we've been hating for years. Our
hesitation had been the electrical outlet which was
mounted into the bench base (you can see it snaking from
the wall on the left). It proved easier than expected.
The base of the bench are the solid panels on the
right, leaning up against the wall. 

The space that opened in the studio will be reserved for one of two sets of print drawers that DH has wanted since he was a child. I have two full sets at the shop, and we'll clear one of them out within the next year and bring it home. He'll be happy, and having print drawers in a space that we reserve for artwork and creative activities is appropriate. 

The couch, moved into position, actually fits
the space pretty well (pardon the plaid curtains
coupled with the plaid upholstery - that's a
total ICK!). We'll get an electrician out in the
next 1-2 years to do a LOT of work we need
done. Meanwhile that electrical outlet rests to
the left of the couch on the lower shelf of an old table. 

After moving things around, pulling the couch around to the new location, and replacing things back into position once again, I was beat. After an hour or two cleaning up the mess we had made and putting some things away, we spent most of the remainder of the day relaxing and watching football, calling it an early night. So ... not much exciting for my Sunday off, but we did accomplish something that needed doing, and all in all, it was a good day. I hope you have an excellent Monday, I'm still on exercise machines instead of the pool for this week, but I'm getting used to them once again and it's not horrid. I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with a bit more to say - LOL. 

I Love My Local Grocery Store

My local grocer is undergoing an immense, store-wide remodel. New shelving is being installed for merchandise, along with new freezer and refrigerator cases and shelving, new cash register lanes and a new extended-length salad bar. I love the new look a lot, but of course it also means that I can't find anything quickly any more. It's going to be quite beautiful when it is finished, and I already thought it was pretty darned nice. 

Both Lunds & Byerly's grocery stores have been around for more
than 50 years. They merged several years ago and have been
updating and remodeling their stores ever since. It's time for
my local branch to get a re-do and even though it's annoying
to live through, it's going to be glorious when completed. 

What brings on this topic? Yesterday, on what happened to be my "day off" and the day I normally go grocery shopping for the week, they had a "flash sale" for the day. I got the text early in the morning - "Flash Sale - Salad Bar $3.99/lb from 9 am - 9 pm only". It was limited to two pounds at this price, but you can get a lot for two pounds of salad bar. I knew what lunch would be - LOL. So I indulged in a wonderful salad bar experience and treated myself to lettuce along with extras of marinated and raw mushrooms, crab pieces, bacon, dried cranberries and fresh goat's cheese on top of my usual green things. It was delightful, and only weighed 1 lb, 6 oz, so quite inexpensive. 

Three photos of the Woodbury store after their remodel ended last
year. They've already installed the hot meal bar at my location, and
were working on the fresh vegetable department yesterday. 

I love it when I can eat healthy and still have something tasty to eat. I do eat a lot of salads because I enjoy them. I also have my weekly baked chicken meals, but salads are my mainstay. I won't be indulging in my grocer's salad bar often, the usual price is hefty. But it was a delight to have two excellent salads yesterday - the fancy one for lunch, and my more standard one for diner. A total win/win. 

The salad bar selection has more than doubled and yesterday's "Flash Sale"
was a nice introduction to their new offerings. I approve - it was a
delightful lunch. 

Tonight is "Project Runway All Stars", so tomorrow's post will be a no-spoilers synopsis and Saturday's will be the Runway looks and the final results for the week. I'm trying to remember what the designers will be working with today, but can't bring it to mind. No matter, it's Runway, it's personalities and fabric, and it's fun. Have an excellent Thursday, I'm going to enjoy our little heat wave before Sunday brings back our snow once more. 

Sunday Was a Busy Day

DH and I spent Sunday getting our house back. It's been almost a year since our remodel started with replacing carpeting so worn that the flooring below was visible in many places. After the carpeting we got the new kitchen flooring and then we started looking for wall coverings for the main level and upstairs hallway.

The kitchen laminate is similar to this, although a
bit brighter in tone. But it's a stone-look laminate and
I really love the look. 

Since we didn't want to move things twice, a lot of the items we had moved for the carpet installation just stayed in the dining room for temporary storage. I never dreamed it would take us almost nine months to decide on the wallpapers to buy and get them installed!

But finally everything is complete and yesterday I started cleaning early, vacuuming thoroughly before moving the furniture back into position. We rehung most of the artwork we had removed, leaving off two pictures - one that I need to repair, the other that we're still unsure about returning to its previous location. After that was complete, I carefully washed my hanging dragon lamp and began the long process of washing and reassembling my dragon shelves.

The dragons overlook the living room from a bank of glass shelving that stretches the length of a six-foot opening and extends upward three feet. Each panel of glass had to be washed and bolted back into position. Three hours later the assembly was complete and the dragons could be replaced. After another hour, they are finally back on display and happy to be on clean shelving once more.

The final item on our agenda was to return our upright curio cabinet back to its home. I was really pushing for us to put it in a different location, but DH insisted and now that it's back in position and the items are back in it, it does look good.

Today is the first day in months where remodeling hasn't been one of the top items on my agenda. It's almost like starting a new life in a new home, and it's wonderful! Happy Monday to all!

Wallpaper Success and Photos

I'll be spending Sunday vacuuming, beginning to rehang paintings, and reassembling my dragon shelving, but I wanted to share the long progress toward our finished look. I'm so very pleased with how fabulous the living room and hallway look now!

The old paper as it was after we pulled down the art. This was
taken the night before Mike was scheduled to arrive. Look at how
the paper is peeling away from the wall on the bottom. The one
square of differently colored paper in the middle of the wall is
my sample of the new paper. 

We had really old paper that was blue on white. It featured texture in the living room and a French provincial design in the hallway. I thought the paper was original, but DH thinks it dated from shortly before we purchased the home in the mid-1980's. Either way, the paper had been there a long time and looked horrible.

The paper is down in the living room and Mike has patched
and plastered, putting primer on the wall to help the
new paper's adhesive hold  well. 

Mike pulled down the old paper and spent Tuesday, Wednesday and some of Thursday smoothing the walls, fixing damaged parts, sanding and putting primer on the walls.

The hallway has also been stripped. The primer applied
here was pinker in the hallway lighting. Tarps cover
the carpeting throughout. 

Thursday he spent a long day putting up the striped paper in the hallway and entryway. Lots of cut-outs for this install, around doors and electrical outlets. Lots of small and narrow spaces.

The hallway has five doorways, an alcove and
the stairway leading to the living room. Lots of small,
narrow spaces. The stripe pattern is subtle and a bit abstract. 

Compare the finished look to the prior look of the
primer. I'm really happy with the look of the paper
with the woodwork and carpeting. 

Mike spent Friday putting up the paper in the living room. DH was sending me texts throughout the morning - he was seriously worried about how the paper would look and whether it would go well with the hallway paper. He thought it might be too dark, he was second-guessing his choice throughout the morning. It must have been over thirty texts that he sent. He was throwing angst in my direction for hours.

The new living room wall has an abstract look. The hallway
is in the upper right (the new lightbulb is looking blue in this
photo. I'll change it to a warmer bulb within the week.) 

DH was worried about whether the two papers would work
together. But here they butt up against each other and they
look great. The upper part is the hallway niche, the bottom is
a small overlap of the living room paper leading the eye into
the hallway. 

We still need to rehang our artwork onto the wall, and move
one piece of furniture back into place, but the living room is finally
complete after almost a year. We finally have new carpeting,
a new drapery, and now the wallpaper. It's a radical change
and so pretty! Call me VERY happy! 

When Mike finished and left, DH started falling in love. By the time I arrived home that night, he had moved most of the furniture back into place and was ecstatic about "his" paper (that would be the wallpaper for the living room). I'm thrilled all around. It was a productive week's work and after we rehang our artwork, it will be a joy to have one level of the house almost complete. Hope you're having a wonderful weekend, I'll be back on Monday.

Things Are Too Quiet

Things at my various groups are quiet right now, and it's a bit unsettling. There are still stories being written in the various writing groups I frequent, bead stores are still operating, but no posts in my bead store owner's group for almost a week, and several of the art groups I belong to are echoing across the virtual walls. I can't quite figure out why.

I search for new things, but so little is being posted. It's like
searching in an empty room. 

Yes, it's spring and we had our first 70 F day yesterday to start out the season properly. Yes, with spring comes gardening, outdoor activities, and preparations for the upcoming spring/summer/fall busy seasons. (If you're south of the equator, your fall also takes time and preparation before winter hits.) But it's really slow - almost listening to crickets slow. Wake up, people! Post something. Many of you fight depression and posting allows us to know that you're OK.

At least I feel that I might have a legitimate excuse (although I have been reading and commenting on posts by friends, so yes, I've been active). This week has been wallpaper week. Tuesday and Wednesday were filled with stripping off the old paper, filling holes, sanding, and priming the walls. Thursday was paper the hallway and entryway and today will be papering the living room and final clean-up. Mike is doing a totally amazing job and it's looking so good.

My walls were bad, but NOT this bad. Mike didn't
have to skim coat the walls, just do selective
seams and patching places where the old adhesive pulled off
some of the wallboard surface. 

So that's my excuse. That, and the fact that even if I have not been writing and posting fiction, I do post my blog every day and have for many, many years. That's not changing. But I love seeing what my friends and acquaintances are up to in their daily lives. When I get stressed out, it's sometimes the lifeline that pulls me along.

Reach out and touch someone. Post something, comment on
someone else's post, make yourself an active part of your
on-line communities once more. 

Please settle down and write something, or take a few photos and post them. Prove to those reading that you still exist and that you still care. The people reading your various posts need to know that they are not voices shouting out into the wilderness. I'll be thinking about my next project while I'm in the pool today. Happy Friday to all!

Sharing Pretty Things III

Today is my final post of pretty things I saw at the American Craft Council show this past Sunday. These are artists who have incredible talent and the vision to produce works of art, both large and small, that caught my eye. It's my joy to share them with you before I run out to the pool to begin a VERY busy day.

I wish this was a bit larger, but her website photos
were all tiny. This is the work of Ashka Dymel, who
combines oxidized sterling silver with small,
faceted semi-precious and precious stones on wire.
It could be made in a similar fashion with lesser
metals and beads, but the stones she chooses
are perfect for size and color effect. 

Mark Laub is a consummate wood artist, not just
a wood worker. The link goes to a video that shows
how this particular cabinet opens and the compartments
within it. He's local, but also has a studio in San Francisco.
I look forward to seeing his art every year - outstanding! 

Belle Brooke uses geometry in miniature to appeal to the
eye and rest the mind. She sprinkles her multi-sized interior
circles with diamonds for a hint of sparkle. I'll be working
on a piece with multiple circles similar to this when I'm in
Milwaukee in a few months. I can hardly wait!
(I had problems getting images of her jewelry to load on
her website, but passed along the link anyway. Maybe
it was just my browser and you'll have better luck.) 

Loy Allen is a glass maker from Hot Springs, South Dakota. Her
blue columbines caught my eye, but she does all types of
flowers and birds in works of glass for walls and tables.
Some of her work is decorative, other pieces are actually
vessels. It's well worth taking a look at her talent. 

Sarah C Chapman combines different metals in an
industrial look and then adds the unexpected - a sprinkle of
pearls, a hidden stone, a splash of gold. The bits of color or
hints of a hidden secret made her jewelry something
intriguing. 

So there you have it - three days of exploration into some exciting top-quality craftspeople selling at the American Craft Council show over this past weekend.

My own life isn't quite so artistic as the wallpaper installation continues today. Mike got all of the old paper stripped yesterday, and will begin the process of putting the new paper up today. It's a lot of area that he'll be covering, and yes - it will darken the room and the hallway a bit. But I think it won't be as bad as DH fears, and hell - he chose the papers. Next time I'll put my foot down and I'll make the choices of color, texture and brightness.

Have a fantastic Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow with whatever has hit my weary head. "yawn"

Sharing Pretty Things II

Continuing on through the American Craft Council show over the weekend, I have five other talented and innovative jewelers to share with you. Today is the start of a very busy three days. My wallpaper guy, Mike, will be here at 7:00 am to start pulling down and putting up our new wallpaper. My living room now looks like it's been tilted and all of the furniture has slid to the north end, since he'll be re-papering the two-story southern wall. I'll be so glad to get this done. DH is still fearing the new look will be too dark. It will be darker than what we previously had up, but I think with the lighter carpet, it will be a good trade-off. I also think the papers we finally decided on will be stunning in their assigned places. So here we go - the final stages of our main floor re-do (without the kitchen which I'll save for another year or two). Now to look at some pretty things ...

This is work by Thea Izzi who works with what is called fused metal.
It is gold on one side, sterling silver on the other. She uses it
to make exquisite, geometric shaped jewelry. Her work can
be found at her website Divine Geometric Design . She'll be
showing at the ACAC Lincoln Center show in early June for
my New York friends. 

Jera Lodge is my next jeweler. I loved her concept, but
wasn't as sure about her methods and application. She
uses stainless steel and other metals for her shapes, then
patinas and paints them to get color and texture. I was a bit
hesitant because I couldn't judge the durability of her
paint, but I loved her unique concept and sense of style. 

Here is the stone, metal and jewel work of
Julie Jerman-Melka. Julie and her husband Jeffrey
are from Calumet, Michigan and their work
is unique; river stones, cut, drilled and polished,
often set with precious stones. I loved their design
sense and the idea of merging the precious with the
same stones that we have skipped across ponds
while growing up. Their business is called
Flying Anvil Designs . 

Heather Guidero textures silver and gold and 
sets precious stones (sometimes) in them to 
create unique, geometric designs. Her work is 
anything but the flashy. Instead, it has an 
industrial appearance and appeal. She's 
a bit pricey, but there's some very nice work 
here. This bracelet was very elegant
while understated. 

Enamel by Wear Ever Jewelry from Budd Lake, New Jersey is
my final choice for today's share. Jennifer Jordan Park fashions
sturdy, textured and colorful enamel into very modern and
functional jewelry. She's got two shows in the East scheduled
for May and then she's in San Francisco for the final ACC Show
of the season in August. She also teaches classes.
and workshops in New Jersey.
Check out her work on her website here. 

So there you have it - five more artists to brighten your day, along with links to each website. Sorry I forgot to put links in for yesterday's grouping, although they are pretty easy to do a quick search in Google and find their designs. Here's hoping your day goes smoothly and that my own will be unmarred by panic phone calls from DH or my wallpaper dude. Happy Tuesday to all!

Raining, Pouring LIFE!

So, where is it written that everything has to happen at once? Can't do it - just CAN'T! I'm finally getting my spring schedule handled and have been waiting to hear from my wallpaper installer. I told him I need a week's notice before he can start work, and that two would be better. I get his email yesterday night - he wants to start Monday morning at 7:00 am. No ... NOT!!! My return email asked for a date in the week after, but at a minimum, 24 hours after when he originally wanted to start.

It never rains but it pours, and I have no time in which to
do 12 hours of prep work. Argh!!!

I just can't swing my disassembling of my hallway and living room that quickly. Sunday we have the ACC Show to attend followed by visiting Matt in the hospital and then we'll get home and can start pulling down the artwork and disassembling shelving. But by Monday we can't get it done, and we both work on Monday, so no go at all for that day of the week. Oy! I  need a clone, but I don't see that happening anytime in the immediate future.

Love this book. It's been read in my stolen five
minutes for the past couple of days. Wish I
had a extended period of time to just
immerse myself in it. He makes the science fun! 

I've been having a wonderful time reading a book suggested by a friend (shout out to Huinare) called "Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body" by Neil Shubin, and in turn, I am recommending it to my readers. As an archaeologist, I've always been fond of digging in the dirt, but those people who dealt with fossils were beyond my ken. I thought what they were finding was pretty amazing, and loved the thought of dinosaurs, etc., but I never really put a lot of thought into how evolution can be present in our current bodies and how it is more than just differently colored finches and moths.

Apparently there was a PBS series based on the book.
Now I'm going to have to search this out because I
want to see it as well as read it. 

Neil Shubin takes the basics of palentology and fossils, fits it within the framework of evolution, and demonstrates how our bodies have structures directly derived from the evolution of life on this planet. Detailing specific structures in the body, he focuses in on how they came about and the probable derivations of these body parts such as the wrist, the structure of the ear, and the muscles of the throat and eyes. It's more than fascinating, it's an easy read, and it's thought-provoking while being backed up with the history of these discoveries. Love it and highly recommend it. Now I want to find something super cool to send to Huinare to thank her for recommending such an amazing book!

I missed some birthdays over the weekend and on Monday. I'll try
to get caught up today. Bad me!!!

It's a Tuesday, and a busy, busy day, so I'll sign off here. I've missed some birthdays over the past two days of hectic life, so I'll post some belated birthday wishes later on. I don't want to forget people even though I'm drowning in work right now. Have a wonderful day of joy and I'll be back tomorrow, and check out that book - it's a great read!

Yes? No. Yes? No. Arghhhh!

So we're still in limbo regarding wallpaper number 2. The one he originally said "go ahead and get this" wasn't what he actually wanted (fortunately that was discovered before we had spent money actually buying it). So more samples were obtained and put into the framework with the one we have already purchased for the living room wall.

Choices and decisions. They're hard for DH to make, but I'm forcing
him to actually have some input here. 

Yesterday he was trying to make decisions. The ten new samples didn't quite meet what he wanted. He ended up choosing a sample that he had already discarded. I'm going to order larger samples of two of the new choices as well as his older choice. Let's see what he thinks when he has those.

This way or that way? Everyone must make decisions - many of
them throughout each day. 

I spent yesterday walking up and down the stairs putting things back into our of our display cases. Since we know we would have to move the case when the wall paper is installed (I live in hope that this feat can eventually be successful), we decided to leave it in the dining room for the time being. But Sharon needs her room, so the goal was to get her room emptied out. It's at a point of minor details and straightening now, so I'm much happier than I was yesterday morning.

Starting at "both of these are OK" led to "either this or that would
be OK", which finally led to "neither of them", and last to
"just pick one". *sigh*

The State Fair starts in less than two weeks, and Renaissance Festival starts this weekend. We'll be out at the Festival grounds on Sunday - our first day of the new season. I can hardly wait. I have a parasol that I purchased late last year. It'll be fun to use it if the sun will be beating down on us. And I'll need to review what I want to wear since my corset will be too large for me. Still - that's a good problem to have :-)

Once more we will walk the grounds of the Renaissance Festival. We lose
our land after next year, so the owner/operators are actively looking for a
new stretch of land that they can purchase. We've been in this location
since the early 1970's so it is a blow to have to leave it behind next year. 

Have a great Monday. I'll be doing an abbreviated Guppy Day since I have my chiropractor appointment cutting slightly into my swimming time. Here's hoping those of you struggling with the heat get a break today.

Oooooh - Shiny!

Yesterday was a day of accomplishment - not everything got done, but a lot of it did. Pivotal on my schedule was a trip to the northwestern offices of my eye clinic to get my eyes checked out and an up-to-date prescription. Happily, the doctor said my eyes are better now than they were three years ago when I last had them checked, so HUZZAH! Now I possess a new up-to-date prescription so that I can get my current glasses relensed and look at possibly purchasing a new pair when I'm at the State Fair in a few weeks. My two original frames are more than ten years old now, have been relensed several times, and are still wonderfully unusual. I refuse to buy "normal" frames.

I have two pairs of eyeglasses that I wear, both from the Spectacle
Shoppe, and both extremely unusual, custom made frames. Not
a day passes without someone commenting on how unusual my
eyeglasses are. If you have to wear glasses, then treat them as
if they are face jewelry and get ones that really work for you. 

Of course, every up must have a down to balance, and my balancing act was driving and functioning after those darned drops dilated my pupils. I had freeway traffic to deal with getting back to my part of the city, and it was a sunny day. The clinic provided extra sunglasses that I wore, but it was still a bit dicey getting back. In fact, my vision was impacted for hours. *sigh*

With my pupils dilated, I felt like a cat - able to see well in
darkness. Of course, light was another matter, and it was a
sunny day with light flashing off the cars and mirrors every
direction I turned. Oook! 

I did go to the wallpaper store with my photo in-hand (along with my drapery sample and the sample of the other wallpaper we had already ordered). I looked through a lot of sample books and Aleeza also did, and we came up with ten possibilities. I have those small samples now mounted around the large swatch of the main paper to help DH and me choose which samples we want to see in a larger size. I'll try and get those ordered over the weekend. We're back to the drawing board, but one step ahead.

I was fighting my dilated pupils for more than three hours after
I had been medicated for the exam. It was one of the rare times
that I really wanted a cloudy day, and of course there wasn't a cloud
in the sky. 

I also was able to find the specialized fold that I wanted for this year's holiday cards and ordered a few samples of these to determine the weight and color I want. I need to get my materials for this year's card isolated and ready to go ASAP because the clock is ticking. I usually have already started physical work on the cards by the time of Le Tour de France. I'm running almost a month late this year. But I'm thrilled that I could get the type of fold I wanted, so this year's Solstice cards have the potential to be outstanding!

The thunder seems to be moving away. Maybe the outdoor swimmers
will have their shot at the pool after all. The outdoor pool will close
for the season on September 7th, and everyone is anxious to get whatever
time they can outdoors while the Olympic-size pool is still available. 

That's all for today. The thunder is rumbling in the background and all of the outdoor swimmers will be pushed to the indoor pool if there's any lightning. Fortunately, today is a machine day for me. Elliptical and recumbent bicycle, here I come!

Wednesday - Rushed Once Again

It's Wednesday, it's my day off, and my schedule is, as usual, absolutely insanely busy. Today I add a trip to the eye doctor to get an updated prescription to the mix. My last checkup was in June, 2012, so I think I'm due. I want to get my eyeglasses relensed once more and if I decide on a new pair, my favorite shop offers exceptional deals at the State Fair, so I need my prescription then. Unfortunately I have to drive to the far northern suburbs to get to the only doctor that had open time today. And I get the joy of fighting rush hour traffic once more to accomplish it. *sigh*

These Wildebeests are experiencing their own form of rush hour. I'm
not looking forward to the roads I have to travel today, but I really want
to get my eyes examined and an updated prescription. 

I was THIS close to ordering the second wallpaper yesterday, but held off. DH really isn't fond of what I chose for the hallway and entry area. He kept telling me to take a close look at the wallpaper in my dentist's office. Yesterday I was at my dentist for my semi-annual clean and check, and looked carefully at the wallpaper. I even took some pictures. I'm going to head out to the wallpaper store once again late this morning and look at the books with a different focus. Now I have a closer idea about what DH is looking for, so I'll see what I can do.

Dr B's wallpaper has a crackling look that DH really
likes. Putting it through filters in my photo programs,
I can see a lot of depth in it, as well as some interesting
color variety leading to the mottled look. It's quite nice. 

I figure that we can't get the paper installed for more than a month anyway, so I can take some time to find the perfect pattern - or at least try my best to do so. It's pretty - kind of crackly looking - and if I could find it in grey tones, it would perfectly offset the marbling paper I have already purchased for the living room. But looking through wallpaper books can be a bit daunting - there are so many of them.

The new line is called "Hidden Treasures".© It features a lot of beads
that we haven't had on the sales floor for years, things we found in
odd corners or that are discontinued, all mixed up into color
coordinated mixes. I think it will be run. 

So my list for the day isn't as bad as last week's list was, but it's packed for the morning. At some time I need to do some computer work for a new product mix I want to sell at the store. That will involve signage, pictures, and catchy text. I think the collection will be a popular alternative for some customers, but I can't sell it if it's not on the sales floor. Silly me! Have a wonderful Wednesday - I'm off to the pool for some guppy time.

Yes? No? Maybe? - How About All of the Above?

Busy! My Tuesdays are usually something I can handle fairly easily, but not today. After the gym (essential because yesterday's swimming didn't happen due to the lack of a life guard *sigh*), I'll be running at high speed to get to the south end of town in time for a 7:30 dental checkup appointment. Then, fight my way back in traffic to get the store opened on time.

Rush hour traffic - there's nothing fun about it, even if it
is dealing with sheep in Afghanistan. 

My patience with Chickie's current illness has just about run its course. I'm a pretty patient person, and she's been feeling really crappy, but enough is enough. I actually need work out of her, so time to buck up and actually show up in more than just body. She should be on her last day of her evil medication, so I have some hope there.

Brewster Wallcovering is an old, established US firm that
has both household and commercial wallcoverings available.
I want one of their commercial choices, with a second choice
being one of their household choices. The differences aren't
great, but enough to be picky. 

The wallpaper saga is getting a bit out of hand. One paper was successfully ordered on Sunday, so my living room wall will have paper. The second paper, I needed the equivalent of 18 single rolls for my hallway and entryway. The young lady helping me on Sunday mistakenly typed in 18 feet for the order, and it's a commercial wallpaper that comes on bolts (much larger than rolls). After not getting a call back in the morning (which was supposed to happen), I called the wallpaper store instead.

If I go by this chart, I'm totally screwed. Supposedly a bolt
from Brewster is 54" wide, 30 feet long. A single roll
of wallpaper is usually 21" wide by 16-1/2 feet long. I'll
have to do some of the math myself before calling back
the wallpaper store later this morning. 

The young man helping me finally managed to get in touch with the factory and found out why the order was rejected (yeah - they probably had a good laugh over an 18 foot order *sigh*). But, when he did the calculations from single roll square footage to bolt square footage, we came up sitting on a line. If I had wiggle room in my measurements, two bolts would probably do the job. But if the measurements were spot on without wiggle, I would need three bolts. At almost $400 a bolt, I wanted to save that extra $ if I didn't need to spend it.

I'm tangled in measurements and measuring tapes. *sigh* This
has to be accurate - the stock is low and I can't afford a $400 mistake. 

Calling my wallpaper install dude who had originally done the measurements, of course he was on a job and couldn't check his original notes. He'd get back to me as soon as he could - which he did, almost two hours later.

I need more time, and I'm not getting it. I also need to wrap my
mind around some numbers before I phone my wallpaper store
again later this morning. Anyone want my life? I'll trade for a while. 

So he says I can do two bolts (although I'm still going to check numbers once more). But the young man I worked with yesterday is off today and I will need to bring yet a third person up to date on what's happening with my wallpaper order. OMG! At least I got Sharon's flight information in a post yesterday so our annual crazy time at the State Fair and Ren Fest is once again happening. Now to get her room emptied, the small house cleaned up before the Fairgoers make parking impossible, and, and, and ... I need the Time Fairy to give me more time from her magic wand! Have a good Tuesday!

Sunday - Busy Gearing Up

Sunday turned into a very busy day after DH said he had no firm plans for the day. Following a breakfast of Mexican omelettes (salsa, chorizo sausage, herbs, sour cream and avocado), I went to the wall paper store to place our orders for wall coverings. I backed DH into a corner and told him he had to decide NOW. Thus, the order. So one has now been ordered, the second one will have to wait for finalization until the factory is open since they said their stock was limited. Hopefully they will have enough for our order, if not, we'll go with our second choice from the same factory.

Getting DH to agree on a wall covering was like pulling teeth. He's
still not happy with the secondary paper, but I gave him no choice.
I'd like this done before the snow falls once more. 

Getting home, DH was in the process of cleaning the library so that we could move the book boxes from the spare room into the library while Sharon is visiting. I got to work replacing our curios and collectibles into one of the living room cabinets. Lots of trips up and down the stairs. We put the bookcases along the hallway, but that's temporary. We'll discuss whether or not to re-install them later. I'm angling toward keeping the hallway open, DH wants the shelves replaced.

Our hallway bookshelves are quite nice, actually. DH built them
many years ago to accommodate our overflow of books. Since that
time we outgrew these also. I'll be taking quite a few books to sell
to Half Price Books over the next few weeks. 

Finally, after several hours of work, DH fired up the grill and we had steaks and charred corn for dinner. Nom! I saved half of my steak for tonight, so I'll double my nom - LOL.

With the exception of pasta instead of the potato at the right, this is almost
exactly what we had for dinner last night. So good! 

We ended the night with football (American football). It's really early in the preseason, but the Minnesota Vikings were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers for the Hall of Fame game. It's a good opportunity for the coaches to see how their new players are fitting in. There are four more preseason games before a final roster is required, so there will be lots of hopeful players trying their best to make the team.

So football is here once again, and DH's team actually won
this one. Of course, it is pre-season, and there's a long way
to go until Super Bowl next January. 

All of these cleaning and putting away, of course, will have to be reversed when the wall covering finally arrives and we get  Mike out here for the install. The story of my life - back and forth and back once more - LOL. I suppose it's only reasonable that I'll be swimming laps today. Back and forth and back once more. Happy Monday to all!