My Ceiling

Hi there everyone...how is your day going???? Thought I would show you a few pictures of my ceiling.....before and afters are always fun to look at.

This is what the ceiling looked like with all the tiles that fell from the water dripping so much. Pat the project manager had already taken down the ceiling fan and lights. A new fan and lights will be going up.

In the picture you can see all the tiles were taken down to the original ceiling and part of it removed...uge what a mess.

In these two pictures......all the old insulation and ceiling are gone.....to think in all that mess.....there was not much of a mold problem.....reason being there was a lot of air movement, good in that respect...but bad cause the heating bills were high. There was not a lot of insulation up there.

Look at this picture.....down at the bottom left....you can see where that part of the roof was patched with plywood. There still is a dip in the roof and the ceiling sagged 3 inches....Pat said.

The men working on this ceiling must of spent at least 45 minutes trying to figure out how to brace the beams....and this is what they came up with....looks pretty sturdy to me. One of the beams had actually disintegrated  it was so water soaked.

In this picture you can see all the insulation they put up....there is over 16 inches of insulation up there....so it will be WARM in the winter and COOL in the summer......nice!!!

In this last picture the sheet rock plaster board after it was installed. Next step is for the plaster guy to come and finish off the ceiling, covering the seams and nails and making a swirly design on the ceiling.

That will be in my next blog....as tomorrow 30 people will be here in my little house to finish off the work started. The kitchen will be painted with a lovely color called "morning sun". The fan replaced and the cabinet doors put back up. I have a new border for the kitchen....but I have to wait at least 2 weeks to put that up for the paint to set.

There will be plumbing done in the kitchen and bathroom, new faucets and a new taller toilet installed and grab bars to help us up off the toilet. New windows installed in the basement, and electrical work done in the basement and outside. Pat said he will update this old house and make it new. I am excited, because he is going to put a big light over my desk where I do my card making.....WOW....let there be light!!!!

The porch will be painted, my old shutters painted and put back up. The front and backyard landscaped, with a few flowers and shrubs planted. They might even redo my fence that keeps the kids out of my back yard. So YEAH!!!!

Saturday or Sunday I will update you on my "almost new" house. It should be fun....we will hang around for a couple of hours, then leave for the rest of the day. So you all have a good day and keep looking up....things do get better.
Cheers ~ Louise

Part 2 ~ Hi-lites of July 4th

Hi everyone, so as promised I have blogged about Part 2 of our July weekend. We washed and stained the front porch....oh it sure does look nice. Why did I take so long to do it???

OH MY GOSH!!!!!! I thought just for the heck of it, I would try up-loading a picture to see if BlogSpot would let me and would you look at this, a picture....WOW OH WOW!!! It's a bit too large for this blog...but hey...not complaining, lest I FINALLY can up load a picture!!!!! HOORAY!!!!



I am SHOCKED BEYOND EXCITEMENT!!!! Well, I believe I have two blogs now, if you would like to go to my wordpress blog for the whole story about washing and staining the front porch. In the picture above you can see the "after" the wash and staining of the floor. Oh my goodness I just can't get over it. Okay now that I am up and off the floor....lol here is my link to cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com so you can see "the rest of the story"
Have a great day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Star Clementis or Jasmine??? Which is it???

 Hi everyone....hope you had a great Saturday. It was another beautiful day, a little chilly but still wonderful. Oh and did you see by the calendar.....it was the last day of summer.....(sigh).....now to really enjoy the Fall. As winter is peeking around the corner again!!!

Well, as you can see by the title of this blog...Star Clementis or Jasmine...which is it??? Last year at this time, I had a garage sale, and a lady told me this vine was a "Star Clementis" well, I believed her, figured she knew her flowers and never questioned it. So at this years garage sale....a man came by and saw my vine and he asked if I knew what it was.....I told him last year a lady told me it was a "star clementis" he said he had a vine like this also....and it is called a Jasmine. I said, really....I always thought it was a "star". No he said, it's a Jasmine....well, all this time, I thought......so I looked up on the computer..."Jasmine Vine" and sure enough it is a Jasmine.........an exotic flowering vine from China who likes warm weather.

OKAY.....I looked it up and GUESS WHAT!!!! This vine is called a.....STAR JASMINE VINE.....now how about that......both the man and the woman were right, I am at peace now......lol!!!

 Here is a shot of the "star jasmine vine" from the inside of the porch, gives us lots of privacy, don't you think?? Here's the link for more information about this vine. http://treesandshrubs.about.com/od/commonshrubs/p/star-jasmine-trachelospermum-jasmineoides.htm/ Hopefully this takes you to the link...if not just type in "star jasmine vine" and you will find all sorts of info.

Well, this week I had a garage sale, Thur, Fri and today....made $68 not too shabby for 3 days. Weather was nice and people friendly. I think I will hold another sale next week-end. As long as the stuff is still out and the weather is supposed to be in the 70's next week...perfect for a garage sale. It is Octoberfest also, so maybe there will be lots of traffic too. Well, time to close this blog. I am so glad my problem is solved and now I know for sure what this vine is called....YAY!!!

You all have a great weekend and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh. Cheers ~ Louise

Projects Needing TLC

How you all doing? Spring has sprung and I have found lots of things to occupy my time. This little statue has lost all it's color. I should have brought it in last fall, but......I procrastinated. Only paid 50 cents for it last spring, sooooo, maybe a little sprucing up will help it look new. What kind of paint should I use on it??? As it sits outside in all the elements of weather. My beautiful "NEW" red gazing ball has added a new dimension to my little garden, $10 at Menards. This little garden will hold my Roma Tomato plants.

Now this shed has sat out in all the elements since we have had this property. For the last couple of years, I have wanted to do something with this shed. Today on Patty's blog she mentioned going out to her shed and painting BIG daisies on her shed..........I thought, yeah, that's what I want to do on my shed. So Patty, you got any good ideas??? I Probably will paint the outside with exterior paint........what kind of paint would I use for the fun daisies????

Here is where my fountain will be.......still working on the rock to place them around the liner. We found the water pump at Home Depot......I am excited to get this project going in the next couple of weeks, I love the sound of a water fall. So much to do......but if I can do a couple hours of work a day......I should be good to go.
Today I was painting the front porch, railings and lattice. The porch is starting to look really good, but there still is more to do. Need to remove the furniture from the porch cause I want to stain the floor. But that will be in a couple of weeks.

How in the world did I ever hold down full time and part time jobs and still keep a house??? Retirement sure has been busy these last couple of years!!
Well, time to close this blog for tonight. Take care and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh. Cheers ~ Louise 

MYSTERY~SATURDAY

Mystery Saturday??????????? Well, I am not sure what that is all about either. Missed "Friday Funday" cause there was nothing fun going on and did not take any pictures that showed me having fun........oh well.

Now as my big "65th" birthday comes leering around the corner, I am not finding alot of comfort in the supposed "Golden Years" either. Seems there is alot more stress in getting old AND I really don't know how to retire!!! You would have thought after 5 years I would have figured it out......nope, nope, nope! Still as busy as ever, but with different things.

MYSTERY SATURDAY
Now what could that entail...................I don't know. Maybe a list of things I would like to do today? Or a list of things I HAVE done, guess that would have to come at the end of the day. People talk about a bucket list......I've not made one up yet and probably won't. I just live each day as it comes, waking up each morning wondering....."what day is this one.....aaahhhhh yes, Saturday, what will I be doing today???? Well, let's see..........here is my list for today.
1. finsh this blog
2. make some coffee
3. do the dishes (I always have dishes in the sink to do)
4. maybe do a little crocheting sometime today (making a pink doily)
5. give myself a perm and trim hair
6. cut JP's hair
7. make some cards, actually I have 3 projects going
~~~~~a. making orgami bridal bouquet
~~~~~b. making my iris fold Christmas cards
~~~~~c. make some more Christmas ornaments
8. rake some leaves
9. plant 3 "allium gladiator" bulbs
10. wash some clothes
11. straighten the house and sweep the porch
12. ride 5-10 miles on my stationary bike
13. ah yes, cook lunch and dinner (which always puts dishes back in the sink)
14. maybe take a break with another cup of coffee on the porch (wishful thinking on my part)
15. take a nap or go to bed.........

Whew, after that list, I am TIRED!!!!! Retired??????? I don't think so!!!!! Well so much for Mystery Saturday........I will finish this off tonight, or tomorrow or whenever I get back to it, cause I am not sure how much will be accomplished, maybe nothing, maybe just partly.....who knows at this point, ONLY GOD KNOWS THE BEGINNING AND THE END of my list!!!!

Cheers ~ have a great day!!
Louise

Winter is a Coming

Yep, winter is a coming........I will miss our dinners on the front porch. It was like going on a mini vacation each time we sat out there.

This might be last years dinner on the porch but it was still delicious and enjoyable. I guess we ate on the front porch so much that taking a picture of the meal became old hat.

This years mini vacations were a little less because the mosquitos and bees were so bad. But we still had quite a few meals on the front porch.

We have most of the garden cleared and all the summer ornaments in........the first frost has not struck yet so the tomato plants are still growing.....but not many tomatos on them. The rose bushes are covered.....ah shucks....it feels like winter is coming.

Now, I shall zero in on my cards, been laxed in this area. Well, need to get ready for work, so talk later, have a great day ~ Louise

What's New?

I have a few moments and thought I would put a few thoughts down in my blog and show you some pretty flowers growing in my garden. To your left is a white flower clementis. This is the second year of growing and it over took all three trelis's.....amazing. This is the inside of the porch. I took pictures on the outside, but have to find them. These pretty little white flowers have given much privacy for us on our porch, sad to say, we have not ate on the porch alot this summer, too many bees and mosquitos. We've done alot of cook outs this summer with charcoal, which has been alot of fun with our little $20 grill.

I should look for a picture of food on the grill.....just a moment. Be right back. Okay, I found a lovely meal cooked on our little grill. MMMMMMM looked so good, I could almost smell the aroma. Veggie shishkababs and chicken. that was sooooo delicious. These pictures were taken back in July 31st......my how time flies.

Been working on a few new cards, but have not put any up on my Etsy store lately. I will be renewing some Christmas and Autumn cards, but nothing halloween.....I actually hate halloween, it's worship of the Devil and I am not into worshipping the Devil. So there you have it, people have been so blinded by the evil one, they cannot see.....if someone held a spoon before their eyes and they were told it was a spoon....guess what, they still would not see that spoon. Satan not only has people blinded but also brainwashed. I prefer to have my brain washed in the Blood of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. There is no other way to live.

So what else is new???? We are looking to have a tree cut down in our backyard......we got the first estimate today......I could not believe how much the estimate was.......guess......just a quick guess.......give up? $2,284.oo yep.....hard to believe huh? No we are not going with him, that is for sure.

I will be taking some pictures of our front yard. JP and I landscaped the front with lots of wood chips and today I bought some stepping stones so we can walk through our little front yard garden. I am looking forward to opening up the whole front with lots of flowers and a Zuchinni plant or two.....I can't get over the fact that I planted 12 zuchinni seeds. 6 plants made it and out of those 6 plants I have yet to get 1 zuchinni.....ground too wet I guess. The back yard got flooded twice. Been a frustrating year to grow things, I am beginning to think I am losing my green thumb!

Well, I think I shall close this blog for tonight, talk to you later~Louise