Hi... a beautiful day here... 70... Sun is out and we have "stars on the water" Just love it...
Going to go buy some plants for the deck and patio tomorrow.. Let the plantings begin!

kimdee... Love that rug on your porch!...

Morning all, can't believe I just got 5 emails of comments on yesterday's thread - 28 hours later!!! Quite cold here today - 17 deg at the moment - has been very heavily overcast but it looks like the sun is breaking through. Was hoping it might have rained a bit to keep the garden damp - makes it much easier to weed.

Kimdee - love your porch, the rug is gorgeous and just my favourite colour combination.

So some help and advice from you pros please. I have this old bed dd has passed onto me for the kids room, it is stained in a ghastly dead shade of brown and in pretty sad condition but I really like the style of the bed, it is really practical for the room and not a style readily available, so I have the big idea to sand it right back and lime it. I checked out stains yesterday and the shop guy said to go lighter with any stain or to lime it I really have to go back to the raw timber. I started giving it a sand the other day and the old stain seems to be rubbing off fairly easily but to really do it properly will probably take the rest of my life so I'm going to try the electric sander, if I can work it out. Any clues please??

I was watching one of our home improvement shows last night and they took a very tired kitchen from the 60s and jazzed it up for under $2K. The fake timber doors, they primed and painted black but the bench top was the interesting thing. It was simple laminex and they lightly sanded it, then did a base coat in black and while it was still wet, sprinked on glitter type stuff and left it all to dry. Then they lightly scraped the top to remove any really chunky bits of the glitter and finished with a coat of sealer. Whole kit to do it cost under $200 and it just looked like granite. Amazing what products there are on the market these days.

Morning, Ms Roo! I got the rug really cheap at Lowe's. It's actually made of woven plastic? polypropylene? I wasn't sure about it because of that, but it looks nice and if it only lasts one season, oh well!

Hi roo... is wood flat on the bed or is it round? If it's flat, you can use a sander pretty easy, but if the wood is round, it may be a bit more difficult... Us a lower grade of sandpaper then use a higher grade once you have it sanded to the point you want it...

Anyone else feeling lazy? Watching a documentary on Eleanor Roosevelt on Netflix..waiting on a pizza!!

Kimdee, I got a couple of that type from Joss and Main last year... They held up a lot better than I thought they would... Will be able to use them again this year, and they are on a patio that faces the west... Sun most of the day...

Good to know, Patty, thanks! @Jayme -- I am lazy. And I wish there were pizza!

Jayme... We are having pizza too! Papa M's taco... I am just waiting for a client to send me some stuff so I can finish for the day...

I want a pergola over our brick patio..but our patio slants some and prob. need to tear it out and re do it..they put too much of a grade when they did it. That was completely unrelated to pizza-I change subjects too much.

Jayme, do you get a lot of standing water in your yard?... I know ours is slanted too, and the post that hold up the deck look kind of strange because of the angle... I have always wanted to wrape them so you can't tell, but haven't been able to yet... that stuff is pretty expensive... I have been looking for an alternative, but yet to find one..

patty, fortunately the bed is very simple and not a lot of timber. The boards are flat but the ends are rounded, although doing it by hand it wasn't too hard. The middle of the flat board part seems to be the hardest. What do you mean when you talk about 'grade'. We seem to have a different language to you. This is what the ends look like, top and bottom is the same. It is actually a bunk bed, the other bed had ends twice the height as they serve as the ladder too. The best part about it is that each bed is freestanding, so I can put the beds at right angles so they are easier to make and put drawers under the upper bunk to save on space in the room. The upper bunk isn't as high as normal bunks either as I will have to put the end of it in front of the window - I think, still have to play around with the room once the beds are in, it is a really tiny room.

roo -- she means "grit", fine vs coarse sandpaper. Start with a coarser and finish with a finer.

Kimdee - amazing what they are doing with plastic type products these days, and a lot of it is recycled things which is good to see. I guess when they complain how long these plastics take to break down in the environment, you rug should stand up pretty well. Colour might be the first thing to go.

@pattyannb -No standing water...It's not that bad of a slant, but we would like it a little more flat. What's slanted on your patio?

Thank you kd - glad you speak my language.

Just got home... There's something in the water to make people crazy and grumpy today. My last call of the day and people were excruciatingly rude. Not just borderline... Blatantly bloody rude.

Spent some time today retracing my steps from yesterday, trying to find my phone. I went back looking last night, but thought I might have better luck in daytime but not so. I usually keep the GPS turned off, to conserve the battery life. Unfortunately it was raining last night, so phone probably wouldn't ring anyway but I've certainly tried several times.

I bought a couple of pallets of reclaimed oak flooring from our local ReStore for $150. They estimated about 700 sq feet, but it is probably more like 175 of one set and 250 of the other set, but some of that will be waste from demolition damage. The smaller lot is mostly rift and quartersawn with almost all of the boards between 5 and 9 feet long, so not typical bargain material. The other lot is shorter lengths and plain sawn, so not as much of a bargain but still beats new unfinished at $1.80/sq ft or so.

In the past we have always just tried to work around cut off ends, but I'm considering trying to set up a router to cut new groove ends for the damaged boards so we could cut damaged pieces out of the middle of boards and get two usable shorter boards from the good pieces.

Linda, you do my head in. You make everything so easy and here is me trying to work out if I can use an electric sander........... provided (1) I can work out BH's filing system to find it and (2) find the on/off switch.

Good luck with your phone that must be so frustrating.

@Robin -- there MUST be something in the water today. I was exceptionally and weirdly crabby all day today to the point where decided I just needed to get home because clearly I shouldn't be around others.

@Linda -- sounds like a lot of work, but I'm sure it will look fab when you are done with it. Hope your phone turns up, so frustrating.

@Roo -- you're right, the rug will probably never disintegrate, hope it doesn't fade too much. It doesn't get a lot of sun, so it might just last forever.

Yes, that is what I meant "grit"... *red face*...
OK... got my numbers... time for pizza!

Firstly we got sent to the wrong address - instead of being sent to the hall, we got sent to the apartment next door. An older man comes over and starts berating us because we went to the wrong place, so when I try to defend us against this guy, he tells me to stop giving him attitude! then, a lady at this function we were called to questioned why I was there in uniform. I told her that someone wasn't feeling well. She asked me who and then proceeded to get angry with me while I explained to her that I couldn't tell her due to patient confidentiality reasons. I won't even get into some of the things people in the dining room said to me either.

Robin, one thing I learned in a public service environment - never, Never, NEVER try to defend or explain yourself. It never works. I can think of so many smart answers I learned to give that totally took the wind out of anyone - well the rational ones........ the nutters and druggies were another issue.

Geez, did she expect you to show up in a cocktail dress? Jeepers!

If I didn't have to be back at work in 10 hours, I think I'd have some wine...

We must have done something nice... After all that, they invited us back for their next function at no charge.

I'm wondering if you guys have had too much winter and need a good dose of sunlight. It is supposed to help with mood.

Gotta go and get some curtains made - really progressing here at the moment, it feels good. I think I have been nibbling away at them for so long suddenly I'm up to the final touches so it doesn't feel as daunting.

I am a crab too. Very irritable.

roo -- I think that is a huge part of the problem. Winter has gone on for so long that I think people are just fed up. Today was a decent day weather wise, but it's been a long time coming. Sounds like you have been super busy around the house, I hope you will post some pictures sometime!

I agree. Winter was rotten. Usually you'd think spring would bring out the best in folks. Oh well... tomorrow is another day. I'm off to bed. I'm sick again so I'm gonna try to get some rest. Have a great night y'all!

Was it mpoulsom who did her own new concrete countertops? Anyone recall?

Sleep well and feel better, Robin.

Robin... I just want to thank you... And please never forget how much you are needed... Although you get the old grumps, and the people that don't think about how much you care... Just remember, there are more people that admire you for what you do than those that don't...

Our problem is more the opposite, our summers can drag on too long but fortunately with all the sunlight we don't seem to get crabby. Trouble is then winter usually hits before we are prepared, our autumns and springs are getting shorter and shorter. Sometimes winter drags on into late October/November but our winters are really very mild compared to yours so we are mostly quite happy for that to happen to delay the hot sticky summer.

kd - I will get round to posting photos, at the moment every room still seems like a work in progress, I seem to be moving stuff from one room to another as I sort things out. Hopefully when my new lounge furniture arrives in a few weeks that will help a lot too.

Robin - sorry to hear you are ill, do get rest and drink lots of water, although I'm sure I don't have to tell you that.

Jayme - yes it was mp who did her own concreting for her countertops and her fireplace hearth. Last week she was going to make rocks!!! She is one amazing woman.

There is a thread on someone looking to use those...concrete countertops...wondered if it was her!

I think she did hers quite a while ago, before I came on here, so she wouldn't be asking about it. I know she put her fireplace on a thread asking for others to submit things they had done and sort of got knocked about fire standards because she had put timber over brick. She had looked into it all.

Sorry..I worded that wrong....someone is looking at doing concrete counters on a thread and I remembered someone else once mentioning making their own...thought it was mpoulsom...so u now confirmed to me it was mpoulsom-Thx Roo!..they really looked great in her pics that I saw. I am not brave enough to try something like that.

I wouldn't know where to start. Afraid I was brought up old school - mens work -v- womens work, I don't even know how to use a lawnmower. Mind you there was method in my madness there, I figured if I pushed a vacuum inside every day someone else could push a machine outside.

Random question -- does flour go stale? I just made a little yellow cake, and it's good, but it tastes kind of "off". Noticed that with my pizza dough too the other night. Guess I need to replace my flour, though I store it in a sealed container. Or maybe it's me that's "off...." (entirely possible).

Definitely has a use by date - check your packet. Actually if you use a container or a cannister that is the worst part about emptying the packet into it - you lose the use by date. I used to cut it out and slip it into the side of the flour so I had the record.

That brought back a funny memory, LAdd loved to make scones as a kid, but she was a nail biter. The best way of kneading scone dough is with your hands of course, but one time she put Stop 'n Grow on her nails and then proceeded to make the scones. Well, it didn't only cure the nail biting, it cured the scone eating too.

Good idea with saving the label. I usually just dump it into the container. I guess I used to bake more often, I have never noticed this before. Time for new flour!!

Robin W – What kind of area do you work in? In the suburbs here, we have volunteer fire departments & first aid squads, so the people who come to your assistance are your friends .. or at least neighbors & fellow residents. Most people are appreciative, and any “bad behavior” is strictly due to personal stress of the situation. I remember when my 91 year old aunt fell, and was in terrible pain when I helped her up to the couch, I had a feeling she had broken something. The police & EMTs were so nice to us, and careful with her being frail; I can’t imagine anyone not being nice to them. Nosey maybe, but not rude or nasty!

Californians – Was thinking of all of you yesterday, when they showed photos of terrible wildfires in Ventura County. Anyone near there? I have cousins in Simi Valley, so I’m hoping it doesn’t spread that way.

Kimdee – Great question about “flour”! I rarely use mine, and I have packages of white & whole wheat in the freezer .. probably since fall 2009, when I had my open houses & did a lot of cooking. Mine is still in the paper bags with the “use by” dates, but I figure those dates are for them to sell more flour, as much as to get rid of the stale stuff!

Don't know about over there but here all food has to have a use by date. Flour definitely does go stale and has a funny taste. Probably keeping it in the freezer might lengthen the usable time, I generally keep mine in the fridge due to moths but I don't do a lot of cooking so I only buy the smallest packet I can and toss it.

I saw the fires on TV tonight. They sound a little early in the season. DD isn't near it fortunately, they did have a really bad one a few years back.

Roo - I saw them interview one of the fire department honchos, and that's exactly what he said .. bad thing, if it's that hot & dry this early in the season!!

I think the smallest amount of flour you can get here, is a 1 lb bag, and if I use a few ounces to coat food on rare occasion, that's a big waste for me! If it wasn't for the hummingbirds, a bag of sugar would last me 10 years easily!

We started off like that last summer but then we got a heap of rain and suddenly half the country was flooded. Of course that all means bumper crops for next summer, although they are very active here with hazard reduction. Do they do that over there? It is great peace of mind, the only problem is that sometimes it can go for several weeks and there is just enough smoke to get really annoying. I have some days I just have to get away for some fresh air.

I think a half kg bag is our smallest, which would be about a 1lb. If I need it, which isn't often, I usually get a generic brand which is pretty cheap. As for sugar, surprisingly, it does go off too, it can get a very stale taste. When my mum passed I had family from interstate visit and was making teas and coffees but didn't think sugar so my darling sister in law raided her hotel tea making facilities and brought me up a heap of sachets of sugar. Things you don't think of.

I think I bought a box each of sugar & no-calorie sweetener packets, when I had my housewarmings. That will last a long time! (LOL)

at the risk of sounding martha stewart-ish, keep your out of date white and brown sugars for pampering yourself.
i put a tsp of sugar on 1/2 of a fresh squeezed lemon and rub it on my face to exfoliate. rinse and do it again and leave on for a few minutes to tighten pores. follow with avacdo and honey mask or a little cocnut oil or petroleum jelly for a deep moisture treatment. cheap, easy and it works.

Martha Stewart tips always crack me up - I can't help but think of Maxine's combacks.

derby is about to run. any favorites?

Anything I pick starts from a kneeling position.