Tag Archives: antique

Redo On My Bathroom

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Today was one of those days I look forward to and am always guaranteed a nice time. I spent it with my girlfriend. When we get together we talk about our kids and antiques. We chat like we see each other every day, although she lives an hour and a half a way.

Today we went to an antique store and a used store that has about everything collectible and antique in it.

I started off slow but by the time I was done, I had enough to redo my bathroom. She got some goodies also. She also brought me a surprise gift. It is the gold framed photo you will see below. It is just beautiful in my eyes.

I also purchased the baby doll that you will see. I am not sure of her age, but she is at least as old as I am. An electric candle, some berry vine, an old-fashioned candle that operates on battery and flickers when it is lit. My girlfriend also brought me a lady on a swing.

I also took a photo of me about 15 years ago. The photo above it is of my dad when he was about 18.

babybathroomdad and megold wreathlady in swinggold frame pic

Don’t Ever Do This to Me Again!

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Scrambled Eggs Super!

Don’t you ever do this to me again, do you hear me? Today was something else. A day out of my routine. I had to get up at the crack of dawn and drive in the 16 degree temps and light snow flurries. I had to have my three-month blood draw.

I stopped at Al‘s  and my favorite restaurant and sat quietly and had breakfast. I was having  an impromptu conversation with God while I was eating my two scrambled eggs, bacon and two slices of whole-wheat toast.

I was telling him I should not have come here. It is just a reminder of what a loner I am. I want friends around when I am out, but I like solitude when I am home. Does this make any sense? I was telling God, this is ridiculous, I need to get up and go home.

Then suddenly someone said my name. I turned around and I was greeted with a big hug by a dear friend. She worked for years at my bank, but I don’t see her much anymore since she retired. We sat and talked for about an hour while she ordered and ate. I sipped my coffee and found myself just smiling and yakking a way. God is good. Once again he listened and answered my prayer.

I came home to my warm house and went to get on the internet and nothing. I ran my virus cleaners twice. I unplugged the wireless router three times. I turned off my PC twice and restarted it twice also. Finally I got a light bulb idea. Call the internet company.

You know the routine, automated answer people, never anyone real. The robot named off my phone number and I pushed the correct buttons in responses. It then said to me in monotone, We are having a  problem with the internet connections in your area. The technicians are aware of it and are working on as we speak. It will be on sometime before 8am on Friday.

Oh brother, what in the world am I going to do without my internet? What about my WP friends? My games on Facebook, my yahoo mail? I thought I was going to have a major meltdown.

I looked at the clock and it was almost time for the mid-day news and my only soap opera I watch. I have watched it since the day it started. The Young and the Restless. Guess what? It wasn’t on either. Some dumb basketball game was on and will continue for several hours. I know there are sports fans out there, and that is fine, but I am not one of them. No soap opera either? No internet? Oh my gosh!

I knew I had to do something. It was too cold to go anywhere, and I had no money to waste. For six months I have gazed at the shelves above my kitchen cupboards. This is where a lot of my antiques sit. I have colored indoor outdoor lights that light the entire shelves. I also knew that dust and grease from the stove were piling up. I figured any day the grease bunnies would pop their heads out and start laughing at me.

I tried one more time to get the internet and it was a no go. Darn, darn. I got up and got the vinegar water with a touch of dish soap and took each piece down and wiped them shiny again and cleaned the wrap-a-round shelves. I cleaned off the top of the refrigerator and cleaned my antique bowls and miniature antique animal collections.

I couldn’t stop there. I was on a roll by now. I did sit to rest a minute and checked the internet again, nope nothing. Darn I have to keep on trucking. I stripped my bed and washed the sheets and re-made the bed. I took my bedroom curtains down along with all the living room curtains and washed them. I washed my bedroom window and when the laundry was done I rehung them. I totally changed the curtains in my bedroom.

Since it used to be my brother’s bedroom there were blue checked curtains hanging. Now they are clean, folded and placed in a closet. I now have white blinds with white shears and a pretty pink print valance. Looks much more feminem now.

I steam-mopped the tiles in my kitchen and hallway and bathrooms. I ended up sweeping the entire house. Darn, I was pooped. My feet were burning. I had no feelings left in my toes. It was time to sit and rub my feet trying to gain some feeling and burn relief.

I sat down at the computer naturally. Ya I know, no internet, but I had to try. It has now been eight hours and I feel like I am having with draws. I take my shoes and socks off and rub my feet back to some feeling. I put my shoes and socks back on and try one more time.

Yippee, I have internet. You would have thought I won the lottery.  I yelled in joy. I started to play one game and I received a text from my son. They were inviting me, their mom to supper. Oh yeah, I sure will go. To be with people and better yet family, hot dog!!!

We ate at Golden Coral. I had a super sized salad and a small dish of ice-cream for dessert. Then we went to Wal-Mart. I bought a new shower curtain for my now new bathroom. It is very colorful. I am not quite sure what colors they are as I am color-blind, but my daughter-in-law said it was a thumbs up color.

The best came at the end as it usually does. Since the grandkids went to the toy section I thought I would check out the cars Al loves. He had been telling me about this one car he saw on an outing. It was like the owner of Pawn Stars  had. It was green. My son said, No Mom, it isn’t green. It is aqua blue. Whatever, it was green to me. LOL. I bought it for him and got two more cars that are the coolest unique antique police cars. I am saving those for his birthday in May. The aqua blue one? I am definitely taking it to him tomorrow. Oh wow, I can’t wait. He is going to smile so big, I hope.

So a big day of work work work. Internet don’t ever do that to me again. Cleaning upper shelves and antiques should be saved for some other type of day!

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Daily Prompt; Clean Slate/ The Daily Post

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Victorian Era Cosplay WIP 5

Victorian Era

The Daily Post  http://dailypost.wordpress.com

Explore the room you’re in as if you’re seeing it for the first time. Pretend you know nothing. What do you see? Who is the person who lives there?

When you walk into the room  in you feel peace. There is a nice comfy wrap-a-round couch that I could curl up in and take a nap. I see several shelves full of old crocks. It seems that this person likes antiques pretty well.

Two miniature trees decorated in white lights and gold Victorian ornaments. This brings a calmness when you gaze at them.  I see an old round chrome table with two matching chairs. On top looks like several boxes of left-over candies that may have not been able to be stuffed in to Christmas stockings.

On one wall right by a window, there sits a computer. Decorated by white soft curtains this would make a wonderful view to look out. I wonder if the one who uses this computer is a writer? I can see this person gazing out the window gathering ideas to place on  paper.

I see several candles sitting on the fireplace. This white Victorian fireplace brings a sense of warmth and could provide a very romantic setting. There is a big screen television and sitting beside that is a WII system. It is covered with dust. It must not get played with much. There is a beautiful wood blanket chest. It looks like an antique for sure.

I imagine that the person who lives here is into old stuff. She loves romance and peaceful surroundings. The glow of white lights and candles burning makes me feel like she is a loving and compassionate person. A philosopher, a deep thinker. I would love to meet her.

 

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Daily Prompt, The Daily Post

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http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/daily-prompt-10/

 

Take a subject you’re familiar with and imagine it as three photos in a sequence. Tackle the subject by describing those three shots.

In the bottom photo is a painted antique kitchen cabinet. What you do with this depends on what you want to happen to it. Do you want to sell it or keep it? If you want to sell it, you may not want to touch it, as the original finish sometimes sells for many more dollars. If you want to sell an item, never paint it. You can touch up with a scratch cover product, maybe run some tongue oil over it to revive the wood, but other wise, leave it alone, and place your mark-up on it and a sale sign, and you won’t have it very long. It will be snapped up!

If you choose to keep the piece that you bought or maybe inherited, and you want it to compliment your living space, and you are pretty sure you will not sell it for a long time, then you may want to consider refinishing it.

Most woods that I have done in my own shop I have hand-finished. Dipping furniture is a lot easier, but it loosens glue, and a lot of glue was used in earlier pieces, so I never dipped furniture.

I bought liquid strippers for the most part, with using a small can of semi-paste gel type of stripper, that holds its shape while doing its job. Hopefully, if you are lucky, there is only one layer of paint on your item. If there are more than one layer, then one layer is what you can take off at a time.

One of my first pieces I bought and refurnished and placed in my store for sale, was a ladder back chair. It was painted heavily with an enamel paint, and I thought, this was going to be a snap, but it wasn’t. The first coat was a snap, but there were ten coats of different paint colors underneath in total, and I had to strip each layer off one at a time, but the reward underneath, was worth all of my work. A hand carved Indian head was carved into the wood. This piece finished was beautiful and brought me bigger dollars than I had thought.

Tools that you may include to refinish any piece of furniture will be cheap paint brushes, all sizes, chinese eating sticks, detail miniature pointed tools, old towels, wash rags, trash bags, sandpaper, sanding stone, drill with sanding attachments, clean soft rags, rubber gloves, metal cans, large,( I used an old horse trough so I could sit section by section inside the bucket in order not to spoil the grass or ground, and to be able to re-use the strippers), water hose, stains, tongue oils,soft scrapers,(plastic), furniture putty. These are the basics, I had a lot of odd pieces I found at sales, and at home, that I used for picking out paint of tiny lines and curves and crevices. Never use anything sharp. There are very few woods that can not be scratched, when softened by the strippers and being wet!

So, you put the stripper on, and you make sure you are in a well ventilated area, better yet outdoors,and always in warm weather. Strippers don’t work in cool weather, and if they do work at all, it takes a lot longer. You let the stripper set according to direction times, and while it is setting you take pointed tools, and with the gel-type stripper on those intricate, detailed areas, you start picking and wiping, removing the paint. When you get most of those small areas done, you can then go ahead and let liquid strippers run over it and keep wiping the paint off.

All of this takes time. You really have to have a love for antique furniture in order to do this type of work. A lot of strippers smell to high heavens, and if you are bare-legged, the back splash can burn, like a mosquito bite on your legs or arms. I never did, but some use face masks to protect the lungs.

After the paint is totally off, the strippers that I have used, can be washed off with clear water. When you see no more paint remaining, dry with a soft cloth, and let sit for 24 hours to dry the wood completely. You will not be drenching the wood, so don’t worry, it will dry nicely and not lose its shape.

When this has all been done, you can put a finish all over the piece. Some come with a luster glaze in them, some are water proofed for drink marks, but what I do if I am especially going to sell the item, is run lemon oil, or tongue oil completely over it.

My favorite pieces to own are completely natural looking, back to what they looked like originally. This is the only type of furniture I sold.

I had my own business for several years. I bought and sold antique furniture, and refinished it for clients wanting work done. I also helped to run auction houses, and sometimes bought antiques to flip in the business only. We all need a quick buck sometimes!

The love of antiques is in my blood, and if a customer came to me once again, I can tell you this, it would stir my blood up to a boil once again, just thinking about the joy I get out of it.

So the pictures above are in three stages, painted cupboard, beginning to strip the piece of furniture, and finally the finished product.

Anything Else?

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Close up of a bright red mask (IMG_2815a)

It was a beautiful Sunday, God’s day of rest. Blue skies, a chill in the air. No heat on, but the electric fireplace, and definitely no air conditioning turned on. Windows all shut, and I hate this, because I love fresh air.

We had no plans, since I worked so hard yesterday, cleaning the house. I was going to laze and Al was watching television, when my son came down and invited us both to go to Fort Wayne to a car show, that just happened to be at the restaurant, The Quick Lube. Al loves that place. I posted pics of it a few months back. This place is all about cars and women standing near cars. Most of the women were at the back though, by the male restroom door, go figure. There are also real miniature race cars hanging from the ceilings. Al thinks this is cooler than the cat’s meow!

Although, he has great struggles with moving, his brain was anxious to get his shoes and socks and jacket on and said yes! I want to go, can we go nice sister? Get that, trying to butter me up by calling me nice. LOL I said alright, I know you would love it, so let’s go and save being lazy for another day.

We followed them up there and went to the restaurant parking lot, but there was no car show going on. We parked and my son made some phone calls and discovered it didn’t start until 4pm. He wanted to know what we should do since it was only 1:30. I suggested eating, as Al needs to be on his medication schedule, and they agreed.

We all got out and Al was slow but we all made it. Al just used his cane to go in, as the scooter would not be welcome in this place. As soon as we go in, Al has to use the mens room, and since I had to use the lady’s room, I walked back with him. I went and came out, and Al did not. I waited and waited, still nothing. I kept wondering to myself, should I ask a nice guy going in or coming out to check on him? Men came and went, but no Al.

Slowly, I cracked open the door, and yelled his name, and he answered. Well, he is still standing, I think to myself. I ask him  if he is alright and he says yes, that he is hurrying. Another ten minutes goes by. My son and his family have been seated now about fifteen minutes, and I am hoping they have taken the initiative to go ahead and order.

Finally, Al comes out, and he is just beaming ear to ear. I don’t know what could be so exciting about peeing, and I was not going to ask. I told him to let’s go, the others are waiting. We get to the main entrance where waiters and staffers are heavily trafficking, and all of a sudden, Al stops dead in his tracks. I think, oh no, his legs are frozen again. He says, Terry, guess what, and I look at him still smiling and slowly, with hesitation say what. He says I did it! I say you did what. He says I went poop and he shows me a diagram with his hands that it was definitely a large. He says this  in front of everyone, you don’t need to give me that poop medicine tonight, because I went a whole bunch.

I died, right there I died. I didn’t have to check myself in my compact mirror, I knew my face was burning hot. People around started snickering and laughing out loud. One kid I noticed plugged his nose and was laughing. I took a nice deep breath and smiling at Al, I stated calmly, that is wonderful bub, now let’s go to our seats.

We ordered and I tried not to look at the few tables near us that overheard Al’s exciting story, and our food finally came and we dug in. I never let on to my son what had happened, I just wanted to forget it.

When we got up to leave and everyone was outside, Al’s legs froze. No moving, no marching, no baby steps, no mother may I. He and I struggled for about fifteen minutes, and we were not being very successful. He would take a shuffle, then stop, then try again, then stop.

The car looked like it was ten miles away, and Al was bent over in half, telling me he could not stand up much longer. I begged him to keep standing telling him how cold and hard the cement was. Standing in the background was my son and his girlfriend,  just watching…..

I yelled over at my son and shook my head no, but he seemed like he didn’t get the picture, so I yelled, I need help now!! He walks over and says what, and I say please, please grab his other arm to help me to keep his balance. He says that I need to go get the car, and inside I am thinking uh yep, but how am I going to get it and leave him here with just you. I looked at him and Al and I said to my son, do you think you can hold him up while I run and get the car? I don’t think I waited for an answer, because all I remember is running, ya me run, huffing and puffing at my middle-aged speed. I got the car and raced over to where he was and I mentioned that I needed a wheelchair. My son says you don’t need no stupid wheelchair. I say yes we do, because by the time I get the scooter out of the trunk and all put together, he will have fallen to the ground. The cane is useless now. He is too weak for it.

I get him in the car, and then I light up a cigarette and thank God for helping Al to stand while I got the car. They wanted to go to the Halloween store, and so we followed them there, and this time, I got the scooter out and he rode it through the store, laughing at all the spooky items. After this store, they knew of one more, so I broke down the scooter by myself, and put it in the trunk,, and I had loaded Al already and we went to the other spooky store.

I unload the scooter again by myself, and put it together, and get Al out of the car and into the seat. We go in, and get about a fourth of the way through the store, and I saw this beautiful red, feathery, glitter face mask and I wanted to take a photo shot of it so I could show all of you its beauty. I handed my camera to my daughter-in-law, and she is turning the camera in the right position, and she drops it. It is in slow motion in my mind,as I am standing there watching it fall to the cement floor, lens first. Pieces break and scatter on the floor. My son tries to fix it but it can not be fixed. He was embarrassed I think, and she said that she didn’t mean to do it. I placed the camera back in my purse, and now I do not have a camera. I don’t know if they are going to try to get it fixed, or if I have to go buy a new camera,or maybe my son will try to fix it, I  just don’t know. I should not feel this way, but I felt like I lost one of my close friends.

By then it was getting late afternoon, and I think the camera incident sort of ruined the fun. They decided it was too late to go to the car show and they had to go pick up their son from family’s house, and so Al and I came home. On the way home, Al wanted a coke, so I stopped at a gas station and got some coffee and him a diet coke, and we splurged and each got a small cake doughnut.

As soon as we got home, he headed to his bed, and I am sitting here waiting for him to get up so I can fix supper