Tag Archives: furniture

Cramped

Posted on by
24

maxineI must be feeling better today. I woke up and did not cry.

Instead I looked at the cramped conditions in my living room.

I have shifted and shifted in order to get Al‘s wheelchair to fit properly to the kitchen table.

Today I had had it. Everything looked cramped. No matter where I turned I felt stress.

Stress is the last thing I need in this  house. I have enough of it without inviting more in. So, I got to work. I am not done yet. I had to take a break from where I have moved big a big roll top desk and my furniture.

I have more space but now I found dirt hiding behind where the furniture set. Now this leads to more cleaning. I have also cleaned the living room walls as good as I could. I have cleaned ceiling lights and fan blades.

I smoke in the house so every six months I have to at least clean well the living room. I hurt a little in my arms, feet and neck from pushing and shoving but Advil should kick that out. When Al comes home he may or not notice anything, but I do. I smell Pine-Sol fresh.

Back to work, see you soon, if I am not eaten up by dust bunnies.

Daily Prompt; The Zone

Posted on by
14

http://dailypost.wordpress.com, DP, Daily Prompt

Tell us about your favorite way to get lost in a simple
activity — running, chopping vegetables, folding laundry, whatever.
What’s it like when you’re in “the zone”?

Photographers, artists, poets: show us LOST.

You are going to fall off of your chair from laughing when you read what makes me so happy and lost in my own zone.

No, it isn’t shopping. No, it isn’t going out with my friends, although I love that. No, it isn’t reunions, or eating my favorite foods. It is cleaning.

Yes, cleaning. I think partly because I spent so much of my time as a teen trying to please my parents it feels like home to me.

No phone calls, no door knocks. A t-shirt and shorts and barefoot. Music turned up and off I go. I would move the living room furniture around. Clean the windows and sweep and dust.

I would move from room to room until it shined and smelled so good. Now don’t get me wrong. There are certain types of cleaning I don’t care for. I only wash the curtains twice a year, and sometimes only once in the Spring.

I don’t mind cleaning my indoor windows, but I would prefer someone else to do the outside windows. I washed my living room walls down for the first time this spring and I have lived here a year and a half.

I take down my antiques that sit above the kitchen shelves once a year. Cleaning ceiling fans I do about three times a year. Rearranging closets twice a year, and only because I have to switch clothes out.

But general cleaning, yeah I love it. It makes me feel good when I rest my weary body down on my couch and take a look around. Furniture looks different. I am not stepping on any dirt on the floor, laundry is done.

Yep, for me that is my zone. Me, myself and I, music, a sweeper,dust rags and some Windex.

Do you think this is why I don’t have that hot date yet? LOL, I need to find someone to date that loves to move heavy bedroom furniture. LOL

A "Tropical Breeze Delux"[sic] ceili...

Related articles

Double Blessings

Posted on by
48

lighteningI got a double dose of smiles today from both Al and my own face. I went to see Al during his lunch time. He opened the sack holding his car and he just grinned. He said he was shocked then he said he was happy. Yeah!!!

He told me next that he walked down to the dining room holding on to his wheelchair. He said his pain was almost gone. This new stronger pain patch is working! I don’t care how long it works for right now I am happy.

We got ready to go to the dining room. He stood up and used his wheel chair to go to the bathroom. He still stumbles and almost falls but he did it. He walked all the way to the dining room. He was even quicker in his step.

I was so proud of him and so happy for him I made over him like cooing over a new-born baby. This made him so proud. I can see that the patch doesn’t help his eating or stumbles but my gosh he walked!

I am hoping there are stronger doses when this one becomes immune to his body. I don’t want him to be dependent but let’s face it, he is. He has terrible pains and this is helping. I just had to spread the word that today was a double blessing indeed.

Related articles

I Took Your Advice

Posted on by
34

ceiling fan

Guess what? My furniture got moved today! I am so happy. Now it is down to the knickknacks sitting all over the living room. I have Al‘s wall hangings done and I have stuffed his closet with extras. My bed is made but I will be sleeping in the living room tonight. My television needs a box now that it is moved.

A technician will be here tomorrow morning. I can’t sleep without my fan and television. Especially in a strange bedroom. I went out this evening and bought a ceiling fan for Al’s new room. He likes to have a fan blowing on him as he sweats so bad.

I also wanted to tell you that I listened to your advice and called a meeting for tomorrow with the Director of Social Services, her assistant and head of Nursing. We will have a nice little chat. I will be explaining Parkinson’s to them and giving a more in-depth description of mentally challenged people. This should all be very interesting. Yes?

I am more upbeat tonight than I have been for a while. The hopes of Al coming home is nearing. I haven’t had the final approval but was told he is eligible. From what I understand he basically needs a level of care determined. Then a case worker will be assigned for him.

Case worker sounds so government to my ears. I hope this is a good thing. She is to be there for him and sort of rock for me also with questions and decisions.

I have been a busy little beaver today and am tired. I couldn’t rest until I told you all about today and the meeting tomorrow.

Related articles

Project

Posted on by
20

can you burn your feet while walking through a...

can you burn your feet while walking through a sunset? (Photo credit: Marc (alias willy whopper))

It is almost 6pm. My body hurts and my feet burn. I am getting older and I want to break down in tears and yet have no reason to.

I have this huge mess in the living room. Both bedrooms are torn up. I was to have help moving the bedroom furniture but as of yet no one has shown up.

I want to cry because I can’t do this work anymore myself. I get mad because I am so used to doing things on my own.

Please give me back what I had

I don’t like being broke

Body stiffens up feet don’t work

Then I think about my brother

Who’s almost wheelchair bound

And I dry my eyes as I realize

Others have it so worse than me

Oh I wish I was beautiful and outgoing and had zillions of friends.I would call them and tell them to come help me.  I have to get this project done or Al will have no where to stay when he gets here. You are right, I don’t know the date yet. But I don’t want to do this they day before because I can’t carry the heavy load in one day, let alone two.

Give me strength Lord

To make these feet move

Do what you do best

Give me a miracle

Give me the Impossible

Terry Shepherd

03/09/2013

Related articles

Spring Clean Mood

Posted on by
30

Window-cleaning

The weather may not be ready

The skies are too darn grey

But my mind was ahead one month

To a nice and warmer day.

I had no place to go to

The truth is I didn’t want to be out

Instead I stayed inside

And moved my furniture about.

I got the vinegar water

And two clean rags in hand

I scrubbed down my blinds

As I listened to the bands.

The windows in my living room

Were full of winter grit

I cleaned them til they shined

With a little water and spit.

I only did one room today

After being sick I didn’t do more

I lit some cinnamon candles

And finishing this I will now sweep the floors.

Terry Shepherd

02/16/2013

Related articles

Daily Prompt, The Daily Post

Posted on by
20

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.

It Is A Bad Day So Far

Posted on by
49

English: Bassett queen size box-spring on meta...

Oh my, all of this help coming so often to help Al be able to walk longer and all Al is doing is showing his fangs. He has drawn his fist, gritted his teeth, and cussed and gotten mad. The first therapist has been here and now gone, and Al  has discovered his mattress and box springs is going to be leaning up against the wall, forcing some of his items to be removed from the wall for a period of time, as there is no other place to place his bedding.

Please pray for us, as I am a nervous wreck, almost in tears. We have the nurse and another therapist to go through, plus the set up of the hospital bed and tearing down the old bed.

Please……………….