All Dried Out and Check Your Hose Tip

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With a title like that, I don't know what you might be thinking, but it's safe to keep reading.  I promised to come back this week to update and my house clearing adventure over the past week did not disappoint.

Here's the tip:  Check Your Water Hose Connections on Your Washing Machine and Dishwasher at Least Once a Year.  





You know how you put off doing things because there are so many things to do?  Well, I often noticed that my cold water connection was pretty newish, at least installed in the past ten years and it looked clean, non rusty, and the hose was flexible.  The hot water connection was an ugly rusted monstrosity and the hose was not flexible and I should have given it some attention.


Here's what happened (in brief):   the connection/hose on the hot water pipe line shot water all over the basement through the wash and rinse cycles. It was like standing under a water fountain in a public monument and walking into inch deep water.  The washing machine is fine but my cleanup left me with two ruined tables, wet chairs, a soaked fan, and an underwater emergency radio.  I lost four good packing boxes plus two boxes of packing papers- some bubble wrap is drying out.   A few other things may be salvageable and I threw out other boxes that were soggy.

It took the better part of two-three days plus Liquid Wrench and muscle to dislodge the bad coupling thingamajig.  The hose and replacement parts are now new and shiny.  I can do laundry again!

The good news is that lots of stuff was in big plastic/vinyl totes, not in cardboard boxes yet, so they survived the shower.  The other good news is that Jury Duty was not required.

Thank you for checking in.  I'm going to get back to some kind of normalcy any day now, no promises as to when.  My eye is giving me a little concern so there are loads of reading to get to and emails to answer, please don't think I have forgotten.

Make sure you check your hoses soon!  I'll be back next week.  Enjoy the end of summer, the weather here has been chilly, but comfortable, hope it's really nice where you are.
Bye for now.    

 

Yellow Roses for the Wounded an Update

It was so nice to log on today, do a skim and see what everyone has been doing. There are new babies on the way- Congrats Paula!  Lots of new babies making moms happy and tired, new business ventures, new products, new art, new jewelry, and more. I've kept busy plugging away:  packing, sorting, shredding, donating, discarding, painting, and planning.

In the past few weeks I've dropped a ladder on my right foot- ouch, poor toes got bruised, but better now.  I twisted my left foot and couldn't walk for days, all better now.  Sprained my left wrist and arm badly- still not healed, but slowly coming around.  Dealing with allergies, colds, and fever- but hey, no moaning- just keep on keeping on as they say.

Into my shopping cart dropped this- I treated myself to a bouquet of small bud yellow roses.  They were $3.98 and lasted more than a week.  I put one stem in this bud vase and the other stems in a vase for the parlor table.  While sitting on the couch resting my foot I had something pretty to look at!

One of my thrift stores turned me away as they have so many donations they are all backed up.  The Salvation Army couldn't do a pickup for 7 weeks, so I cancelled them and asked Habitat to pickup.  Free things at the end of the driveway disappear shortly after being put there.  A couple of things on Craigslist- ablounge and monitor-  are not getting any interest.  I still have all the big furniture to list and sell, if not, then donate.

The plan is to move in November, but if the house doesn't sell or other things crop up, I will return to stay until it's finalized.  I have had to accept that things aren't going according to my timetable; going with the flow is a tough lesson to learn, but I'm teachable.

THANKS to everyone who played along with our Inspired by Four Letter Words Series, it was fun to see what we all made and to think of words on our Pinterest Group Board. Please add to the Pinterest board, but for the foreseeable future, let's put a pause on the linkups here on the blog, (unless someone wants to add it to their blog, let me know.) When I first suggested the idea, I didn't know if anyone would participate, so once again, THANK YOU for joining in!

I am not able to visit as often as before, but I am keeping all of you in my prayers for your good health and happiness.  I know that some of you are entering the busy season for your shops, and I wish you extraordinary sales and overflowing good business ventures. Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a great time, make happy memories, and that it lasts a long time.

A special birthday shout out to Stacy,  who has a birthday on September 18th and mine is the 19th.  Any other September babies, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, TOO!!

I will update next week, still have to find out about Jury Duty, until then, all the best.

Progress on the Home Front, Choosing to Donate

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Just popped in to say that I am still hard at work emptying the house to ready it for sale.  After the garage was filled I was lying awake one night and wondering why it was I felt I needed to have a yard sale.  Previously when I decluttered all of the goodies were given to charity shops, the church, and thrift stores.  It felt good to unload and know that other people would get some benefit from my donations.

So why did I want to have a yard sale this time?  I guess it was feeling that in making this next move, a little extra cash would come in handy.  Or maybe I was trying to hold onto the past. Changes, even ones I initiate, can be hard to accept.

That's when I realized that all of the extra stressors were making me feel a little "less than."   So I decided to can the yard sale idea and go back to giving all the stuff away.

It's hard to let go, but time is in short supply and more valuable than using it to organize yard sales that might not draw in the cash buyers. Private sales through Craigslist are another option, but around here the site is crowded in that it's hard to get noticed once you are 8 or more pages deep in the day's listings and more often than not, the person never shows up.  In the end, the scales were weighed and donating it all was the verdict.

When it's all over and done with I hope to look back at this stressful time and chalk it up to experience. It's not easier to give it all away, especially with the sadness over the years of memories invested in the stuff. There are items from my Mom and her Mom that I'd rather keep if I had the space and the will to dust, but they aren't precious to me in the way the people are precious.  It's all stuff and it could be gone in an instant if a fire or tornado had struck.  Still, it's the person's spirit which endures after all the china, books, knick knacks, and so on have disappeared.  I'd trade it all for more time with them.

It's almost not funny, but the employees at the Goodwill drop off center recognize me.  They are happy to get the boxes and bags and have a little chat.  Later this week Habitat for Humanity is coming to pick up furniture, tools, and appliances.  I'll have more for them to pick up as the time to move gets closer.  

One of the tips I read somewhere was to photograph the item and then give it away.  I might try that. You could never call me a hoarder, that's for sure!  It's going to be so Zen around here when it's all neat and tidy once again.  Ommmmmm

See you soon...

Summer Ending? Time for More With Four

Happy almost end of August and summer, too!  Time to enjoy all that's left of warm weather and summer vacations for those of us living above the equator.  If you're south of the equator, please send us some cool weather, but not too cold.  I'd like some gorgeous autumn leaves in a month or so.

Alrighty, you know what today is.  It's that day of the month, time for "More With Four or Inspired by Four Letter Words."   Anything you make, create, cook, felt, paint, bead, write, or what have you that has any number of word(s) which can be described with 4 letter words- nice ones not the naughty kind - we want to see!  Add your blog post link to the linky below and head over to the Pinterest board  for more fun where we eek out every last 4 letter word we can think of to describe the creations.

ETA:  I deleted the linky.

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This month I have run out of time to show you my Inspired creation- another ring - due to the house move prep, the sprained foot which made me take a 3 Day Time Out and now, getting a Jury Summons.  Is the Universe telling me something?

I got the Jury Summons last week.  I won't know if I have to go to Jury Duty until next month.  I do have a feeling that I might get called this time.  Ever since I moved here, I have been sent the summons nearly every year, but have not actually had to serve.  Since I have so little breathing room left before the move, I hope that this summons will not have to be acted on.  I'll let you know.

I guess you could say my inspiring 4 letter words this month include:   Jury, Duty, (sprained) Foot, Time, Rest, Move, More (boxes), Able, and Pain.   I'll be round visiting and thanks for being here!

Your Nearly Free Wall Art Idea a Poetry Inspiration

Do you have $1.00 (plus tax) and an empty picture frame?  That's all you need for this look.

This is the follow up to Paint Your Own Wall Art, A Home Seller's Tip.

While decluttering to prepare the house for sale, I found several wood picture frames.  The glass was gone as well as the backing, I had been saving frames to make a Vision Board or Inspiration Board.  I'd also thought of making message boards or just framing groups of aceos or other small works with these frames.

Just hang your empty frame and place the vinyl wall decal inside. That's it.  If you want to decorate the frame or put the decal under glass, those are nice additions.  I'm running down the clock, so just framing it was the way to go for me.

I first saw these decals in one of those $1.00 stores, although in this store, most prices were higher.  I didn't get my first choice of decals since I didn't buy it when I first saw it, but this one seems to have an appropriate message.



The decal came as one connected phrase with the little bird, flower, and butterfly separate.  I moved these around until I got the look I liked.  You just easily peel it off the wall, there's no mess or sticky residue.

I made these wall art pieces because I took down the paintings and photos to get my house ready for sale, but the ideas would suit anytime.  Are you saving broken things for those "some day projects?"

Paint Your Own Modern Art Directly on a Wall, Free $$ a Home Seller's Tip

That is one ambitious blog post title, "Paint Your Own Modern Art Directly to a Wall, a Home Seller's Tip." If I can do it, you can do it.  Maybe stripes, maybe swirls, maybe circles, whatever you like- give it a go. Why do it?  I did it to have something on the wall, instead of bare walls, thinking it was better to have a lived in look instead of a house with no soul look.  Also, I had the supplies so all it cost me was time.  There will be a follow up post on another nearly free wall art  coming soon.  The next one doesn't involve painting and is fast and easy.

Don't sweat the colors on the wall.  Make the house clean, tidy (as much as humanly possible), in good repair overall, and cross your fingers that the tide will bring in that one buyer who will make your next move possible sooner rather than later.  If it's meant to be, it will be- eventually.

Here's the deal.  If you have recently read the blog, you may recall that I am in the throes of decluttering, emptying boxes long stored, repacking, and setting aside stuff for yard sales and donations.


Added to that list are all the normal life routines, plus unexpected surprises (mostly pain in the neck ones) and others.  Now you know that I will not repaint my house inside and out.  It's already fairly neutral as I knew this day would come and I planned for one less job. So, let a buyer visualize their own colors, use the imagination God gave you.  Ranting at anonymous persons on HGTV!  


Which brings me to:   After several days in a row of being in the basement among the boxes I needed to come up for air and light, plus my mind needed a break from all the decision making of the fate of so many sentimental items.  Even the non-sentimental items were getting to me.

I had already taken down all of the paintings in the parlor and had this one blank wall that was nagging me.  I taped off a section of the wall and after cogitating on it while doing other things I decided to go ahead and paint it.

I used ordinary acrylic paint from craft supplies. After painting the stripes, I didn't like the starkness and so I blended colors together and decided not to paint a border or frame, the floatiness looked better to me.   I used about eight bottles of paint, so that's eight fewer bottles to pack.  (Always intentional, lol.)


To make the wall even more memorable, I hung two mirrors off center over the stripes, first the round one and then the rectangle.  It's hard to take a photo with mirrors, these are the best I could make.  The rectangle mirror has the reflection from the table and window.




Now, you may not like this painting at all, but my question is, "Which one do you like better- the one with the round mirror or the rectangle mirror?"   I'd like to know your preference.

Do you have a favorite house selling tip?