Oh let your man do the dirty work. He loves it. It's such a man thing. If I ask my husband to sweep, I get an eye roll. But if I ask him to cut wood, climb roofs, fight bears, he can't wait. I've been married for 30 years. Trust me on this. *L*

I know you're right...that's why men hate me. LOL! I DE-masculate them to the point of them just giving up. I'm trying to change that about myself and have been getting better over the past few years. I'm a toughy sometimes. Now gay men have always loved me, just not straight men. I shouldn't say that either, they love me, but don't feel like I need them I guess. I have finally found a man that does not give up on anything! He's competitive!! HA! He will die trying to turn me into a "real" girl! lol

Fight bears??? I love that !!!

Too funny creeser!!!! My Mom bought a Fusion in 2011, great little car for her, she just loves it.
Hi all :) glad to see everyone is doing good.

Morning all. So glad to leave yesterday's post, got way too out of control for me.

I blame old age but suddenly I got to a point that I can no longer drink dry wines, I can literally feel my brain shrinking after one mouthful. Fortunately I can smell which ones will affect me and which ones won't so it makes me look a real pro when I have a little sniff first.

Added a very innocent comment to the door "problem" too. See what happens, heehee. Actually if she is trying to drum up business for herself she isn't doing a very good job of it.

Enjoy your rain today Bob, do you know your rain is different to ours? I'm told you have very soft misty rain where ours is very tropical - large heavy drops, that drench in seconds.

Off to paint, supposed to be getting to 28 today but it seems to have cooled off a bit and looks like rain.

Only got 2 extra males today (I must be driving them away) but yes, it is fun bossing them around - I think BH is enjoying the reprieve.

Oh my day is made - someone liked my suggestion about the beaded curtains!!!!!!

roo, you mean the "love beads"?

well i just posted on a thread that was 3 months old....geez
sure they have found a solution to that problem by now! HA!

Hey olldcan! we've missed you!

and good morning to you roo!

hope feeny's okie....and hopefully went to the doctor.

I guess judyg doesn't want to play with us anymore ((:

Northern NJ got about 2 - 4" of snow on Tuesday, but central & south Jersey just got rain .. thankfully!

That's not too bad, 2-4". I've seen a lot worse in northern NJ !!! How are ya, astraea?

I've been busy, and the past 2 days were kind of like "The Twilight Zone"! I thought I had a couple of good photos of my house in north Jersey, where we had so much snow, it looked like a wave on the roof .. but I guess maybe that was a pre-digital photo!

I had to cover at the store, work is highly over rated!!!!! but sicky is coming back tomorrow, feeling good again. Hubby gets cranky if he's running ragged there in the mornings. Im back to my usual, just an early short shift with maybe an errand or two.
We have a heavy snowfall warning in effect, were expecting 15cm-25cm by in the next 18hrs. Seems like I just dug, blew and scrapped us out of the last one. Spent a week chipping ice and now will be right back at it.

olldroo, what's with the red beaches down under, I just caught a picture of it on the news but missed the report

olldcan, good to hear from you and welcome back Astraea too.

Only saw a bit last night but the red beaches is what is called an algae bloom. They come in quite a few colours and we get them from time to time, all to do with weather conditions/air temp/water temp/etc. Quite harmless but they do recommend no swimming as they can irritate and cause itching - not that you really would be temped to swim in them.

Bob - yes the love beads - too funny eh??

Gotta go.

Well, so far this "giant" rain storm has been a bust. It's like we have a huge umbrella over our town, every where else is getting soaked. Not. Fair.

roo with her love beads and vodka... hippie.. *snicker*
Y'all are having such bad weather and here we are in the southeast with sunshine and 60s.

creeser, right now the temp is 63 and the sun is shining !!! I hate it when that happens.....

sun is gone, getting chilly, and i'm about to head to the crib! well the grocery store first for dog food and half/half. good evening ma ladies...and good afternoon to others! til tomorrow... nitey!

wow you guys are chatty today! I lived in the Hayward hills, 94542. Beautiful up there. We had a view of the San Mateo bridge from our front balcony and a canyon out the back. A lot of horse properties so the people weren't snooty - although the area was quickly gentrifying/McMansioning when we left in 06. Before that I lived in Fremont, by the Hub.

Oh, ok, I lived in 94541. It's certainly a small world!

Ok, Mendi, have a super sparkly day! I love that commercial.

I do want to play…sob, sob. This is my week for the mammo, endo, blood work, and the 24 hr urine collection. Will be back on board soon.

Oh, poor judyg! We've missed you. But regarding the mammo, endo, blood and urine, better you than me! hehehe I'm not worried, you'll be back harrassing me in no time.

Boy judy, you sure don't do things in halves do you. Hopefully with good results all round, you will be really charged and ready to go. I find it very envigorating to get a clean bill of health or know problems are well under control.

Hey creeser - we really did give you a bad time yesterday. Just came in on yesterday be mistake and realised we had you invisible. No wonder I lost the plot on the conversations.

Oh, bob, I checked back on the love beads and the "like" came from the poster!!! Wonder if she will run with it, the right colour will actually give that dark wall a lift.

You guys have to realise, being Aussie, I am a stirrer, something we are pretty good at.

Had a bit of a setback with the painting today - honestly, when will we ever have a day without one- BH FELL OFF THE LADDER!!!! Idiot propped it against the wall on a plastic sheet, so naturally the plastic slipped on the timber floor making the ladder unstable and down they both came. It was actually one of those slow motion events, he was very graceful and bounced well, just made a heck of a noise that brought the builders running and the ladder put a hole in the wall. Luckily one of the guys working here is a plasterer so he helped fix the wall, but have to wait 24 hours for it all to be well dry. Now I hear tomorrow is going to be a 40 day as well as Saturday's 41 so probably won't get too far both days. Time is running out - only have a week till the carpet comes.

roo, I told my husband a couple of days ago, seems when you start trying to do something, stuffez happens that makes it even more difficult. Murphy's Law I suppose. In regards to being invisible... I kind of enjoyed it. Felt like the Invisible Man...and could get into all kinds of stuff. *L*

Poor judyg. Hate a week of testing. It just harshes your mellow, doesn't it?

MP... another beautiful day in the neighborhood. Awww... do you have to work and be stuck inside all day AGAIN? tsk, tsk... *snicker*

Creeser, makes you wonder what you did wrong and when doesn't it.............. and olldbob tried to tell me the other day Murphy was an optimist!!!!

I keep thinking back 30 something years ago, when I could send the girls off to school and have two coats of paint on the walls of one of their bedrooms and the room back together again by the time they got home. Don't seem to be able to even paint as well these days, I think I've lost the knack.

olldroo - your description of BH falling off the ladder is priceless ! That must have been quite something to see. Glad he's alright.

creeser, today you pay for your invisibility ! "Harshes your mellow"? Never heard that before but I like it, I may have to snag it !

Guess what? Someone named "Karla" posted (shared) her ideabook on mine ! I deleted it, but what the hay?

bob, it's a hippie saying. Very California. *L* Ok.. that sharing her ideabook on yours is weird. How does that happen? Might be a question for superhero Emily.

roo... I know exactly what you mean. I could do the same thing. Now I can't even paint a trunk.

Yeah, well just imagine watching it and trying to keep a shock/horror look on your face.

Glad bob has no idea about the 'harshes your mellow', I gloss over a lot of these thinking they are Americanisms that I never expect ot understand. Actually I think it was creeser - LOL, you are going to get the blame for everything now - put some initials on yesterday that I can't work out, something like IMBO????

How on earth could you share or someone else's ideabook???

Roo - I sometimes find it hard to believe that when we first moved to NJ in '79, I painted Mom's 3-bedroom split level house myself, then my condo in '81, and my own 3-bedroom ranch in '85! When I bought this house in 2009, there was no way I was going to paint it, if only because this house has lots of cathedral ceilings, and a ton of windows & doors with contrasting color trim molding .. not to mention that I'm a few years older too!

LMBO - laugh my butt off. Wish I could ! I'm tired of painting, too !!! It's the easiest DIY project out there but enough is enough. And I only have three rooms to go.

A hippie saying? I'll take your word for it !

Bob - Just imagine what it was like years ago, when paint was oil-based! Clean up was horrible, and the lingering odor gave you a permanent headache, because it took 3 or 4 days to really dry & stop smelling!

astraea, what's the deal with oil-based paint? Does it last longer, or show better, or easier to clean? I can't remember ever using it tho my dad probably did. What a pain!!!

Don't make me feel old(er)! This is from "ehow": "Before Latex Paint - Before latex paint was invented, oil-based paint was commonly used, and most of the oil-based paints contained lead. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, if your home was built before 1960, most likely heavily-leaded paint was used to decorate the interior surfaces. .."

See? bob knew LMBO... laughing my butt off. I LOL, too, but never LMAO. That would be crude. I BTW occasionally, but never BRB either. I figure if I'm AFK then you know I'll BRB.
Are you sorry you asked yet?

Sadly, Astraea, it is definitely the passing years that make things difficult. Cathedral ceilings were never on my radar, they came in here in the 70s but never really took off. I don't know how many times I have painted this house over the last 45 years, the last time was only 10 years ago and it definitely was a lot easier then. I think the older you get the faster you go downhill. I would happily pay for a painter now and wait a little longer for other things but BH who has never lifted a paintbrush in his life has suddenly gone all DIY. He has been watching too many home improvement shows and tries to swish the paint on like they do. At least he is listening to my nagg ................ er................ constructive criticism. You probably missed my comment some weeks ago though that watching him paint is worse than watching paint dry!!!

astraea, sorry! Didn't mean to make you feel old(er) !!! You know what amazes me? All this lead and asbestos in our homes that's supposed to be making us sick and shorten our lifespans, yet we're still kicking! And you wouldn't believe how much of it is in public schools. I worked for a hazmat remediator and we did a lot of lead abatement in schools.

creeser, you do realize it's only 4:30 am here, right? LOL !! I lost you at BRB !

Yesterday I was trying to help this Houzzer attach her photos with no luck. Between the two of us there were more than 20 comments ! Then when she finally got them to attach, I felt so bad because I had no idea how to help her with her French Country fabrics. I know I said something lame, but I just felt I had to say something ! Groan. I can't wait for a professional to pick that one apart.

I remember all gloss paint used to be oil (or enamel) but that was very early in my painting days. I used to paint a room and toss the brush, I just couldn't handle the turps clean up.

I am using oil based full gloss on my woodwork this time - BH insists but also insists he will clean up afterwards so no argument from me there. I definitely find on wood trims, like architraves, window sills and skirtings the oil gives a much better coverage and it doesn't chip as readily. It also covers better, because it dries slower, it all runs together to give a nice smooth finish, no brush strokes. The only downside is you have to wait 24 hours between coats and lightly sand back each time.

I think in the olden days they only used brushes too, rollers would have been a nightmare to clean, but you definitely didn't get brush marks like you do with acrylics.

Yes, bob, it definitely is much easier to clean, you can really scrub it.

I guess I'm behind the times; I'm not sure when cathedral celings became popular here, but I think they're still a popular way to make rooms appear larger, as is "open concept" design. I wanted to relocate to the shore, but I was especially happy to find a house that had already been "opened up" 10 years earlier .. so I didn't have to go thru the fun & games of a full-house expansion & major renovation (LOL). I'm sure with the original walls in, my house felt smaller & boxy with lots of rooms. It's much more open to have a 25' x 25' great room, than what was probably a 12' x 20' living room and a 10' x 12' dining room.

Ooooh I do like LMBO, have to remember that. Gosh creeser, if bob knew it I guess it does make me pretty dumb!!!

C'mon, it is 11.30 at night here TTYS.

Wow, astraea, that's beautiful! I love all your windows and the natural light you get, and how balanced you've made the rooms. One would think you have some experience at this ! hehehe

Thanks roo, sometimes I even toss the paint brushes when I'm too exhausted to clean them, too. And I refuse to clean a roller, no matter what kind of paint I use.

roo .. I remember when our painters started using rollers, and they had special ones to make a stencil design too! We lived in an old house that had very formal (there must be a name for this, but I can't think of it now) wall panels surrounded by molding, and they'd put a stencil pattern in gold or silver in them. I remember sleeping on the dining room floor a couple of nights, while the oil paint in the bedroom dried. What a choice; have a headache because of the paint smell, or have a backache from sleeping on the floor!

Astraea, probably another reason they didn't take off here is that the open plan also didn't go well because of heating costs especially. Air conditioning and central heating is only relatively new here compared to the US and Europe. In Tasmania, Victoria and the ACT, it took off more because they are colder areas but a small single room heater is pretty adequate here. Reverse cycle air con is taking off here now as it becomes more available, more for the conveniece than anything but with our dramatically increasing power bills who knows what direction things will take in the next few years.

Your home is really lovely, I love that huge arched window. It is all so 'finished' something I am determined to make happen this time round. Love your piano, do you play? I always wanted to learn, we had a family piano that my mother's eldest brother kept, he played it well but it was no good to me at his home. He always said when he died I was to have it and at his funeral his wife greeted me with "when can you arrange to pick up the piano". Not exactly appropriate. At that time the girls were babies and toddlers and no time for me, then the girls all learned to play but once again I had to take back seat and by the time I retired and had time the piano had had it and was beyond repair.

Bob - And now that I lost a large pine tree, I have a better view of the Manasquan River (LOL). That's the tree in the middle of the photo; the pine on the left survived. The photo was taken the winter of 2009/10; my first winter in the house.

I cannot wake up. I'm trying to cut the caffeine but it's not working !! I just can't function without it.

Oh well, I'll open 11/29 now, let's move over there, shall we?

astraea, how did you lose the pine? Hurricane Sandy? What a shame.

No way could I handle that snow!!!!!

Before I started house-hunting, I loved the openness of a friend’s contemporary .. but she talked about heating inefficiencies. Still, I like it! I will say – now that I got my gas bill, that generating my own electricity during the Hurricane Sandy utility outage, is a lot less inefficient than buying utility power (LOL)! It cost me something like 10 times as much to provide electricity .. good for an emergency, but not otherwise!

We always had a piano & I took lessons for years, but it’s my “ear for music” I depend on, because I’m very poor at reading sheet music. I’m lucky there was a perfect spot for the piano, and it’s not close to the windows. Too bad about your piano experience. Growing up, we had an old upright that had been a player piano (with the “guts” missing). I got this piano in my old house; not the Yamaha I would have liked, but spending $25K on a baby grand wasn’t in the budget!
I’ve had my dining room since I moved out on my own in ’81, and all the wood furniture in the living room is that vintage too, but the couch, love seat & chair w/ottoman are new to this house. I kind of took my time & added pieces, as I got used to the use & flow pattern.

Yes, I lost 2 large pine trees & 3 other large trees to Hurricane Sandy .. and none of them fell on or even towards the house!

Well I guess you got lucky with the trees, if there's a silver cloud there at all. My mother always wanted to play the piano. She took lessons, learned to read sheet music, but concentrated to heavily on the technical aspects and had no rhythm at all. It was painful to watch her struggle.

Bob - I had the exact opposite problem; too good an ear allowed me to be too lazy to learn to sight-read well!