The Insanity Called Life or Another Remodel

This summer was so nice. I had little work, so I got to garden, enjoy the yard and recuperate (still) from my broken ankle. Doesn't hurt all the time, but it does have it's moments.

I got a car near the end of the summer which was very nice. Then in the last few day of summer Bam! Sales increase, I start school with both of my daughters boys, and after she finally got moved into her new place, I have to help her remodel. My life is insane right now.

Here is a picture of how the kitchen looked when she moved in. Yes, the in-laws didn't even take all their hoarded garbage with them. She is still pulling out boxes and boxes of garbage and they don't even recognize it as theirs. They ask her if it's garbage and she says "I don't know, it's your stuff."

The refrigerator in this picture is hers, all the rest was theirs. The pipes under the sink were totally broken and they had a bucket under the sink to catch water that they then took to the bathroom to dump. They eat a lot of oily food, so now the bathroom sink is blocked.

We found later that the reason (possibly) the sink broke, was that the entire sink base was not attached to the wall. We guessed that the pipes might break if the sink is able to move around the kitchen,

None of the cupboard doors closed and all were hanging crooked. The rest of the house is vile too.

My daughter's best friend and I have come over a few times to help clean and renovate.

Cleaning was pretty rough, not sure what the brown drops were on the stairwell walls, but I suspect it was coffee spills from carrying full cups up and down the stairs. The walls were covered in brown drips from handrail height to stairs.  All that is cleaned and painted now. Magic erasers REALLY are magic.

There is still a LOT of work to do on the house, but we did manage to rip out a lot of those kitchen cabinets and my daughter found some nice replacements at the Habitat for Humanity restore. They are pretty cool places. People donate to them and the money from the resale is put into new housing builds.

Here is a picture of cupboards on one wall. Still needs paint and a counter top, but that will come soon. The kitchen sink will be a lot of work, but she also found a lightly used dishwasher and the sink base to match isn't too expensive, even new.

We will put uppers and shelves over the old sink next week. We are being creative with the cupboards she purchased at restore. They are not a perfect fit, but we are adding shelving to make them adorable. She also bought new drawer pulls from China on ebay at a fantastic price.

The reason she is doing this is that the house is really big, and the rent she is paying is worth fixing up the place. This part of the kitchen looks so much better, I can't wait to see the whole place finished.

This is just fantastic therapy for me too. My ankle has been greatly improved since I have to climb up and down to install the cupboards. I'm the one who knows how to do the work, the rest of the family rips, lifts and moves the heavy things. Although I did the base cabinets myself, not so hard to slide into place and screw them to the wall. Yes, that IS how you install cabinets. You check for level and attach them to the wall, AND you attach them to each other. How about that?

It's kind of tiring with my injury, and my weight, and my age, but remodeling is the thing I enjoy doing more than anything else. When I see these pictures side by side, it puts a big cheesy smile on my face, and the sore muscles, aren't quite so bad.

Didn't remember what she paid for these. For this and a few more uppers, slightly used and in pretty decent condition. $180. Check out your local Habitat restore.

I had to update this with the painted walls and counter. Now it looks like a kitchen.

Before and After at the Tiny House

I was posting pictures like a madwoman when I first moved into the tiny house. Haven't done too many since then, but I thought you might want to see what I've been up to. Looking at these is making me tired.

Here's a bit of what I've done so far.

The first picture is what the garden looked like when I moved in. I filled the window boxes and the bare spaces with flowers. They are all in containers. All planters and holders were either donated or came with plants. Most plants were clearance. I made cushions for the "free" plastic chairs and I like them.

The next picture is my living room/front door. The reason I took a picture of just the door, is that other than a ratty old beat up sofa that I recovered in the second picture, there was NO furniture. Second picture, Ikea sheers, $70 clearance chair, donated and repainted curio, recovered sofa and pillows I made.

The side tables are mission style, dark wood. Two and a matching coffee table were $40 and I have one more brown chair that was $30. The ceramic elephant was my uncles, is very heavy and one of the few things I've been lugging around for years. Several elephants on the shelves too.

Finally a peek at my sewing area. I had a table and machines and some bolts. There were 2 shower rods, so I took the sturdiest one and put it in the nook to hold my bolts and spools. A few months later. a small storage unit holds a shelf for bolts and orders.

A cubby at the side holds tubes of fabric. There is a plank on the other side to hold the shelf and there are pegs in it to hold spools. The shower rod is still in use, holding threaded rods with nut ends for my spools of trims. The unit is completely freestanding and can come with me if I move.

I've done a lot more, but that's all I'll bore you with today. I still have much work to do in the dining room, but I'm really getting there.

Direct Foam an Economical Way to Hand Wash

I saw a blog this weekend, that gave a recipe for homemade anti bacterial hand soap that you use in a foaming dispenser. Then I remembered how economical direct foam was for doing dishes. I used to do it a few years ago, when we lived in New York, but never got a new foam dispenser in Cleveland.

This person had a favorite brand and she reused the dispenser, claiming that it was great, because the label was easy to remove. Can't remember the brand, but I looked it up on Amazon and it sold there for $15 a bottle. Well it did have soap in it.

I went to my local grocery today, and thought, I'll just do what I did before and buy the foaming detergent and refill that container. The name brand dish soap was $4.99 a bottle there, in the foamer. Ajax was $.99 cents. Is the foamer worth that much?

I looked around and found a generic antibacterial hand soap in a foamer. $1.09. Now that was more reasonable, bought 2 and took them home. I never got a soap dispenser for the bathroom yet, so I'm using one for that room. I emptied the other one into a jar to use for the bathroom later, and cleaned all the hand soap out of the foamer.

Because I've done this before, I knew you don't put detergent in full strength. It has to be diluted for the foam to work. I add 2/3 water 1/3 dish detergent. With that percentage of soap, I've never had the water go bad, but if you have well water, I would use distilled or filtered water. My foamer works perfectly, and now I will use much less detergent when hand washing. One pump can wash several dishes.

As for the label, here's a tip. The other blogger recommended soaking the glue in hot water and scraping off. Here's my trick. Adhesives HATE oil. Mineral oil is best for adhesive removal, Skin So Soft is great, but even cooking oil will work. Rub the oil into the adhesive and easily scrape with a spoon or back of a knife. When the adhesive is all gone, then use your soap to wash up all the oil and residue.

Tour of the new Homestead

Been in my new place for almost a month now. Hard to believe. That moving stuff was a pain, especially since there is not much storage here and I had to be creative.

Tiny, like an apartment, but my own house. No shared walls, just a shared driveway, which I hope does not become a problem. Not really a problem not, because it will be a while before I can swing a car payment/down payment. 

About 650 square feet. But the best part is the laundry room. Washer and Dryer included. And they are nice. Nice new kitchen too. Or maybe the best part is the quiet neat neighbors. Or maybe the best part is the walk to town. Or maybe the best part is the pretty yard. Or the deer, birds, bunny, chipmunk, and black squirrel (although the deer and chipmunk eat the day lily and roses).

First picture is the street view from my front door. The whole one side of the house is day lily, the other side has a little patio shaded by trees. The last picture is my front yard. Teeny but secluded and pretty. I have a nice back yard. too.

I don't have much in the way of furniture, but I'm getting there. I have a lot of wonderful friends and family who have helped me. I lost a lot moving from NY quickly after the fire. My DD lost a lot too, so I left her some things. I can't thank my friends and family enough for the things they've given me. From coat, hangers, to silverware, to dishes, sheets, sofa, and even that printer in the top picture. 

My daughter has been able to find me some really good deals on furniture too. I'm getting there. By the holidays, I should be in good shape. 

I don't have a car yet, so I have to walk to town. It's a mile hike just to the Post Office, but it will do me good. I did it in 80 degree weather and I managed OK. Besides, town is so quaint and beautiful that it's a pleasure to walk to. 

The first picture is the man made waterfall by the park, the second is our famous Popcorn Shop that is suspended over the natural falls. The last picture is just a sample of the beautiful Century homes here. 

I never in my wildest dreams thought that at this time, this year, I would have enough money to live on, and find a dream house in this town I love so much. I've had a lot of struggles the past few years, but today, I can listen to the birds chirping and go out and water my flowers. 

Economy - Changing Your Perception

The goal of Marketing is to make you believe that you really need something. It would be unfair of me to say that I don't try to persuade you, that you need my lovely flowers. I don't do a very good job at it though. Maybe I don't sell my flowers much, because I truly believe that they are a luxury and not a necessity. (See akaCINDERS over there --->)

I was watching a commercial for a NuWave oven and thinking to myself, that that monstrosity that we have taking up half our kitchen is a totally unnecessary thing. We have the tiniest kitchen, and we could use more storage. If we had a cupboard, with a counter top oven and electric range, we would have more room, and more counter top. OK, maybe you can't cook a large turkey in it, but I've cooked them out on the grill in the middle of winter before, and they're great. The perception is that you NEED an oven with 4 burners to feed a family. We NEVER use more than one burner at a time. Do you?

Now lets look at your house. How much does it cost to heat your house in the winter (cool in the summer)? Look at your family all sitting together watching TV. How much space is there around them, and between them and the TV? Is all that space necessary. The bigger the gap between them and the TV, the bigger the screen needs to be. Now look at the TV, hold your hands about 15 inches away from your face and frame your TV. How big is that?

I usually watch shows on my laptop. We have a tiny house with a 36" HDMI. My laptop screen at viewing range is 4 times the size of the TV. I usually watch TV on a teeny tiny portable TV. Last night the boy wasn't in the room and I thought, what a great thing, I can watch on the big bedroom TV. As I was watching I did this measuring thing. The big TV at it's distance was half the viewing size of my teeny TV when I watch it.

I realize that some of these suggestions are impractical for a larger family. You can't all sit around a laptop, but you can consider a smaller, not larger house if you are buying. They are easier to maintain and cheaper to climate control. And you can use a smaller TV.

Consider alternatives to your kitchen, or bath to make them more economical and spacious. And my very favorite, hang your laundry and fluff in the dryer to soften. You can even do this in the house in the winter. After all, you have all that extra space.

My point is, that we've all been brainwashed to think that we NEED certain things. We need extra space and a larger TV and a large capacity dryer and a smooth cook top range and the biggest fastest newest car. It's not that I don't think that if you have the money, you don't need to spend it to help the economy. It's just that if you don't have the money, you should check your perception of what you're actually using and need. Then you'll have enough money to come to my new shop and buy my lovely flowers.

Cyber Monday Deal

Stop by the shop for a great deal on shipping through the end of the day cyber Monday. I've even discounted International shipping. There's even a $5 discount on chef's aprons for your guys.

Poppy's Garden Gate 

Your #1 shop for handmade Genre and Geekery

Life on Mars - After the Fall

I haven't posted much lately. Not that I don't have time, or that my life has been uneventful. Far from it. I guess that Falling down the steps of the house, and the stiffness that came of it, just threw me out of whack.

It's been overt 2 weeks now, and all that remains is a 3" x 1 1/2" lump, a 3" diameter bruise over my tailbone, and a 3" X 7" bruise on my butt cheek. (Don't even think to visualize). The bruise on my elbow is barely noticeable.

I guess I was lucky, the wood on the back porch is kind of rotten and moldy and the steps get slippery when it rains. I usually hold the rails, but I was mad at the pup who peed in the kitchen and I was running her out cursing. Both my feet flew out from under me and fortunately I landed on my back near my hip on the edge of the stairs. I actually feel blessed, because it was a very hard fall, and my spine was just a few inches away. It could have been much worse.

Long story but short version, I tell the lady owner and she yells and swears at me. Then she comes over later  with sandpaper step treads (not really waterproof) and gets mad when we say that there is no way in hell that the sticky backing will stick to the moldy rotten steps. (I actually said it much nicer). Then her husband comes over and starts swearing at me and tells me he's going to raise the rent $100 a month and then tells me to leave, all because I fell down the stairs and told them I wasn't going to the hospital, because I didn't want them to have to claim in on their insurance. What a couple of freaks.




Other than that, we had a very late Halloween, due to Sandy. I'm sure some kids in Jersey haven't even had theirs yet. Emer dressed in gore and when Poppy posted the pics, friends thought it was another real accident. No Emer is not the accident prone one. Very realistic bullet hole, but once again Emer is entirely inappropriate as he wore this costume to the neighborhood where kids were shot at the High School last year.



Luna was an adorable little witch, but she wasn't very happy. She hates coats, shoes and hats.

The Dink is a Spy of some sort. Video Game character.

Puppy is growing. Business is post Halloween slow, but we're taking the opportunity to rearrange the house to better suit the needs of growing children with a school in the home. (moving the business into the living room instead of the bedroom), which means I get to move into a bedroom instead of the living room. Bottom bunk bed, but better than the living room sofa.