Fall Cleaning...

Thanks to Sue at www.howtokeephouse@blogspot.com and her inspiring blog about cleaning her living room...I gutted my much neglected living room...

...and here it all is - washed and ready to go....
I edited out quite a few things, but oh how nice it is to have it clean!

Oh yes, the curtains are still waiting to be ironed and rehung....

It looked and smelled so good that the next day I gutted my office! Another friend Sarah had told me about stripping paint off metal with Lestoil (who knew they still made it...), so just in case I ever had the urge to do some metal stripping, I bought a bottle. I used it to clean the walls, shelves and floors and it left everything smelling and looking clean! An oldie, but goodie!

Mardi Gras

Yesterday our downtown was the site of the annual Mardi Gras. Has nothing to do with Lent, but gives us an excuse to collect and wear beads (no flashing necessary) and roam the streets listening to live music, partaking in some New Orleans cuisine and just have fun! There were 2 parades - Sacred Heart Homecoming at 4 and the Mardi Gras parade at 6:30. By then there were hundreds if not thousands of people downtown!

They also have many activities for kids including face painting. These 2 sweeties (Nicole and Rachel) are the daughters of my ex Joe and his wife Nancy. Thought my cousins would enjoy seeing them.....
...and this beautiful girl is Megan, daughter of my former brother-in-law Todd and his wife Mary. Can you tell she and Rachel are cousins? Love that hair color! This photo was taken during the Sacred Heart parade and later at the game, Megan was crowned Homecoming Queen!
After the first parade we went upstairs to the "penthouse" apt. of one of my friends son. He has this fabulous deck overlooking the downtown area. I had no idea such a view was possible from downtown and I've been here 38 yrs!
It was interesting to see a portion of our downtown from a more lofty view - especially with all the trees beginning to turn color.
The mighty CMU Chips play today. Fire Up Chips!!!!

Evening Project...

While going through our father's workshop after he passed away (8yrs ago - hard to believe), we found these oak leaves he had cut out of wood. I'm not sure what his intention was for them, but a couple years ago I painted a few of them. This year in my attempt to be doing something creative while watching tv in the evening, I completed the project and finished all 14 of them!

They add a special touch to my "hint of fall" decor.

First Day of School

Emma had her first day of pre-school today! I get to pick her up everyday - and really she was excited to see me, not as terrorized as she might look! She's growing up soooo fast!!!

Sanctuary From Repairs

During the week of replacing the roof, my bedroom became my welcome sanctuary at night.

With temperatures dipping into the 40's at night, it's time for the down comforter now at the foot of my bed...
This corner is across the room from my bed and as you can see flows into the room which is my closet/laundry/sewing room.....
A nook which faces the street - the chair, a $10 find at a garage sale that I recovered with an old pair or blue & white stripe seersucker curtains....
My dressing table just off the french doors leading to the sleeping porch....(okay, you caught me...all the things I'd cleared off are reflected in the mirror on the little chest....)
Another little nook....extra quilts below and a new wall shelf above...it was just too cute for me to resist... I hope you enjoyed this more than my roof photos! I know I did!!!

...and on it goes.....

The work continued on the roof, but tear-out and reshingling took only 2 days!

Unfortunately the night of day 2 we got the most rain we've had all summer and oops, some drips found their way around the skylights into the sunroom.... I am grateful it happened while the guys were still finishing up soffets, so by the next day it was fixed.....I hope!
Perhaps only I can appreciate the beauty of this roof after looking out at the ugly, black
membrane roof for 5 yrs! It is now Sat and a couple of the guys have just arrived to finish up the eavesdrough and to put a soffet under my screened porch, which previously I had left open. Must have been trying to save some $'s at the time, but the open rafters have been a haven for bee hives. Not conducive to enjoying time sitting outside! Hopefully my next post will be about something much prettier and fun!

It's Not All Fun....

This is not fun....another dumpster in front of my house - more on that in a minute.....

Labor Day was celebrated with my my family at my house. Since I'm not a "griller" (something about propane tanks just gives me the willies - perhaps it's the fire we had during a party a few years back when we had to evacuate the house till the fire dept. came....) anyway, the chicken was cooked in the oven, the corn on the cob boiled etc. Here's mom and Emma enjoying some time together. This was fun!
Brother Brian brought this table to me (at my request). I purchased it new 30 yrs ago at a time when my decor tended towards more comtemporary....my taste changed and I passed it on to Brian and his family. Sometime in the last 5 years it went into storage....until I remembered it. I've been looking for a pedestal table and somehow this came to mind! It needs to be refinished and I'm still debating whether to paint it white or restain it, but in my efforts to recycle and reuse, it will work perfect (especially since it has 2 leaves and was free!) This will be a mixture of fun and not so fun....
....and then there's the membrane roof on the rear of my home.... Having had it recovered 5 yrs ago, I was assured it would last 20 yrs.... It's been leaking for all 5 yrs and the installer has gone out of business..... so.... nothing to do but have it replaced.
.......not pretty pictures by any means, but this shows some of the rot that they have discovered.

Not only were there 2 membrane roofs, but below the backer board for those was a layer of gravel and tar roofing (put on no doubt before the days of membranes). This too was wet and the board below that soaked too. I feel fortunate to not have had my ceiling fall in on me! When it's done I will have a much more attractive shingled roof to look at out my second floor windows and sleeping porch. Anyway now you know what the dumpster is doing in my front yard.

This is not fun!!!