Still on the Bathroom

The bathroom is finally back together after the making it right day because HeadUpHisAss guy screwed it up originally.
Isn't it weird to take photos of the bathroom?  It's such a personal place.
But I did.  And after looking at them, I'm kind of amazed that it is so Shabby Chic looking.  It was 10 years ago when I picked up the Rachel Ashwell cupboard and medicine cabinet. I'm thinking the Shabby Chic thing should have been real obvious at that point! I still really love the bathroom.  I just didn't know it was so Shabby looking the photo's.

 The Paris sign my friends picked up at a Yard Sale (YS).  They are YS Queens and find the best stuff. They are my YS heroines.  I've never known anybody who could find such great treasures from YSing.

 The green Jadeite vases are actually my Mom's that I begged for.  I already had one here at Gram's house because she had accidentally carried if off from Mom's to her house.  She did this sometimes to all of us with things she really liked and felt she needed to have.  I thought it was really funny. I remember as a child my mom's sisterinlaws' calling her in St Louis to tell her about Gram's visit and what was missing from their homes.  We never said a word to Gram, and let her enjoy her treasures.  I think maybe it might be something from back in the day when she was so poor.  Her mother passed away when she was only 2 years old. Her Dad remarried and the new stepmom threw all 6 of the sisters out of the house! Gram, Ethel Leona Arnold Stilts, was raised by her oldest sister, Laura Bell Arnold Beal.  She is the "Auntie" in my Auntie RooLoo's Cottage jewelry, facebook page, etc. Did I mention my Great Gramps was a bootlegger?  He also owned a "Baudy House" or Road House.  His girls would look after my Gram in the pre-wicked stepmother days. The story goes that he would load up the Model T with moonshine and throw Gram in the backseat with a blanky and make his deliveries.  I don't really know if it was a Model T, but I enjoy the folklore behind the story.  Gram would NEVER talk about that.

The little chandelier is from Old Timer's Antique Mall in Dexter MO. Not an antique but that's ok. The beadboard was a must to cover the ugly walls.
So that is the end of the bathroom story.  With some extra about my fabulous Gram that I love and miss so much everyday.  Living in her house is a blessing.

Headuphisass guy

  When I moved to this house 9 years ago one of the first things was to redo the bathroom.  It was pretty bad, after 50 years.  There are not a  whole lot of options in a small town for good, quality handymen/women. And having a tiny budget didn't help.  So now, I am paying for that.
  Did I mention last week was the air conditioning unit replacement???
  Sitting here waiting for yet another handyman to redo the tub surround.  The first guy had his head up his ass when he installed it.   And yes, I know that is mean.  But the first guy deserves it.  Of course, AFTER the remodel, everyone was very forthcoming with their opinion of head up his ass guy. And none of it was good.  ACK! Why do your friends do that?  Or wait, maybe "friends" isn't the right word anymore.
   There was no way to get a new tub/surround all in one unit in the tiny 1964 only bathroom in the house room.  So we had to go with separates. And 9 years after the fact, it became chrystal, moldy clear that head up his ass guy reallllly screwed up. The list of everything that was wrong is boring and complicated.  Suffice it to say that head up his ass man lived up to his reputation.
  Handyman #2 is a nice guy that does work for the school.  He'll have to come back tomorrow to finish  the trim.  You know, you can't get anything you need in a small town with 2 hardware stores.  So he will take the 60 mile round trip to the big city of Cape Girardeau, MO which actually has a Lowes and a Menards to get that trim.
  I am off to clean up a ginormous mess that includes having to rip down the drywall.
  Thanks head up your ass guy.  Your reputation will follow you from here on because I will not hesitate to share our experience together BEFORE your next job.

The Jewelry Beginning and Breast Cancer

   Jewelry designing came to me way after the first visit to the Bead Shop-the only one around back then-to learn to make bracelets.  A group of friends around a huge round table trying to thread beads was so much fun. Several more Saturdays were spent making more bracelets and I was hooked.
  I never thought about designing bracelets much except at that shop until my friend was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  As so many of us sadly realize, the best friend wants so badly to take "it" away from our dear Best Friend for Life. Feeling pretty helpless I just couldn't think of what to do for her...besides the obvious support.  
   We need a cure, is what I kept thinking.  I started my research and found myself at the Susan G Komen website.  Which led to how do we make money for research.  Which led to making bracelets and donating the money from selling them to SGK.  It was such a small amount at the time, but it was all I had. It selfishly helped me cope with her cancer.  
   I started getting requests for the bracelets for friends and family members. A small shop in St Charles, MO was interesting in selling them.  The bracelets were just simple pink and white beading with a sterling silver BC Ribbon.  All the findings were SS.  It was back in the day when SS was extremely resonably priced.
The BC bracelets led to more bracelets just for fun.  Gifts for everyone! I found that I was so enjoying creating.  It was fun. 
  The pianist at church was diagnosed and her friends messaged me for a bracelet ASAP. It was her teddybear during all the hard times. She traveled from MO to TX to MD Anderson, but sadly lost her battle.  She had told her friends to please make sure her bracelet traveled up to Heaven with her.  No words can describe how desperately I had prayed for a cure.
  Life and working full time got in the way and jewelry designing was on the back burner for many years.  I lost my dream job in St Louis and moved  to Advance where Gram had left me her home. 2008 happened, and jobs were scarce.  I started designing again and setup the studio in the spare bedroom.  With the obligatory loveseat for my dogs, HoneyMarie and Fred to be able to continue to bark out the window. My friend and I managed to find a cheap second hand 12' countertop and actually got it setup.  I organized, worked, created, and was so happy.  Found a wonderful shop in a small town that carried my work.  And much to my surprise, it all sold! That is, until she decided to only carry products from "juried" jewerly artists.  How do you become juried for junk jewelry creations? 

 I found several others who sold my jewelry, started a website-boy that was hard- and tried Etsy. I don't know what it was, but I just could't make anymore $.  So the studio sits in disarray. Lots of $ invested in parts and pieces. And my creative side is just...poof!  Gone.
Sharing some past creations just for fun.

This necklace was created for a friend with many Vintage/Antique pieces she had collected over the years.  She is an artist.

I have collected Vintage and Antique typewriters and Chrystals and had so much fun with them.

And the most fun ever was collecting all the Vintage Cracker Jack toys for this one!
I have albums of my jewels on my just for fun Facebook page Auntie RooLoo's Cottage.  Nothing is for sale, as it is all long gone!

Creature comforts vs thinking you are going to die part 2

  So, we drove and drove and drove all day.  I tried to come back home 2 or 3 times, but surprisingly, it did not miraculously get cooler while we were driving!
   About 7 pm I got a message from my cousin, I call her Sis, to come stay with her for the night.  She lives out in the hills and has 2 window A/C units.  And 2 small yappy dogs.  I was so desperate by then, I said yes.  I didn't think it was going to work out with her dogs and my dogs. But I was so tired of driving and so were the dogs. Don't get me wrong, HoneyMarie and Freddy are really good car dogs.  They love riding in the car.  But 12 hrs was getting a bit much for all of us.
  So we hauled it over to Sis' and introduced her dogs to mine.  Not so good.  They barked and yapped and barked and yapped at my dogs the whole time we were there. HoneyMarie was wild eyed and a nervous wreck.  Fred just wanted treats.  This is normal for Fred.
  Fred and I slept on the couch.  The couch had come from me to Sis when I moved down here 10 years ago.  It was my Gram's way before that.  It was a wonderfully cool place to be and I was very grateful. It was so nice to be able to sit somewhere other than the car. But again not much sleep for any of us.  The yappers (whom I love) yapped randomly all night and scared everyone awake. The couch was much appreciated but not very comfortable.  But again, we were grateful, so grateful, to get out of the car.  Thanks to my wonderful Sis for taking us in.
  We got up early and came home to wait for the A/C man.  And, OH, was it hot now in the house.  Good Glory.  We went back to the car and drove around Advance waiting for our knight in shining armour to arrive.  These are my kids, waiting in the car. Aren't they sweet?

  We were so grateful to be back home and cool.  And feeling like we weren't going to die. And grateful for the cool.  And our beds and chairs and couch and HOME.  And grateful for the cool.
  So I started thinking about creature comforts vs feeling like you are going to die.  I know there are people who survive without A/C and have to suffer other horrible circumstances in life. I wish I could fix things for all of them. And I'm so very grateful that we didn't die from the heat and had options.  And so very grateful to be back home.  And to have a home. Just....grateful.
  One last photo.  HoneyMarie finally embraced the fan when we got back into the house.  My babies were so good.

  I'm very disappointed that there wasn't anywhere for the dogs and I to go for shelter and cool.  I know this must be what keeps many pet owners in their cold or hot homes during times of need.  Praying that someone with the financial means will recoginze this issue and try to help. I love my woofies and appreciate their unconditional love and affection every day.

Creature comforts vs feeling like you are going to die part 1

   Everyone has stories about the time their air conditioning went out at the hottest time of the year.  This is my story.
   It was this past Sat. evening when the A/C quit blowing cool air.  Hobbled to the basement and everything there looked ok to me...which isn't saying much as I know very little about the way it's supposed to look. So I called Peter's Supply Co who had installed the furnace and hot water heater.  Did I mention the house is 51 years old and everything is wearing out at the same time? Anyway, the nicest young man said he would be right here, and he was.
   I think the heat index and temps were 100 and 90's.  It got hot in the house fast while he was working in the heat checking things out.  I really thought it was just that it needed Freon and all would be well. HA! I'm stupid! My friend brought a fan down and the dogs were scared to death of it.  They did NOT embrace the fan. The bad news was the A/C was shot.  And the worse news was they could replace but not till Mon. morning.
  In the meantime, I called my friend and my Mom to tell them the news.  Well, they both said, you can leave the dogs there and come and sleep here.  Neither of them have pets. If it's too hot for me, it's too hot for pets.
    OK, I thought.  We can do this.  I went and picked up another fan from Mom and settled in. HoneyMarie, Fred and I made it through the night.  There was very little sleeping. The temps were supposed to be even hotter, and it was when we got up.  I tried to get us all under both fans, but the dogs were panting, and my heart was pounding.  I am a short, round person.  The heat is not my friend, even in the best of times. HoneyMarie is 60+ and Freddy 91 in people years. I remember thinking, "we are all going to have a heart attack!". I was feeling very dizzy and very not right.
   The only thing I could think of to do was get in the car and drive.  There were no cooling centers in a 75 mile area that accepted pets. So we all piled in the car with a bowl of water for them and a bottle of water for me and drove...and drove....and drove.  All day.
to be continued