The grass is always greener than the pool?

Or at least it should be.  But not at my house this week.  My pool is greener than my lawn, which is pretty green.

It all started when my husband had a few days off of work and decided that the pool filter needed to be cleaned out.   We have a very clear delineation of work in our home.  Hubby goes to work, pays the bills, and does large projects under my direction , my son takes out the garbage and mows the lawns and I do everything else.  And the pool and water features comes under the heading of "everything else."  I even get mail addressed to the pool manager.

Now I don't like anyone messing with my jobs and after 25 years of marriage my husband is totally aware of this fact.  But a husband with a few free hours on his hands is a dangerous thing and clearly not able to think clearly because he that is exactly what he did. 

Realizing he was no longer resting on the couch I went in search of my husband only to find him hunched over the open pool filter with a very large wrench in his hands.  Unfortunately my realization that he was missing from the couch had come too late, he was using the wrench to tighten the fitting that was clearly labeled hand tighten only. 

I am sure I must have asked, "What are you doing?' even though I don't remember because he answered, "I am fixing the leak."  To which I am sure I must have responded, "What leak?"  That is when my dear sweet hubby launched into the explanation of how he came across the leak in the filter.  The filter that is under my jurisdiction., the filter that he has not touched in three years, the filter that has a fitting that always leaks about a cup or two of water after I clean it and start the pump again.  The filter that now had a broken fitting due to the over tightening with a wrench.

If you have or have ever had a pool you know where this is leading.  The parts have to be ordered and reordered before the pump was up and running again.  In the meantime we are enjoying perfect pool weather here in sunny Southern CA.  But not in our pool because with a leaky filter you can't run the pump to circulate the chlorine  that keeps the pool clean and safe to swim in.  Without the chlorine the pool has turned a lovely shade of green similar to that of new spring grass.

About $250 later the pump and filter are up and running and my pool is becoming less green and more blue with each passing hour.

My husband has now come to the understanding that any foray into  my areas jurisdiction will result in me taking his place in sensitive business negotiations. Now that might be fun.

So hopefully tomorrow the pool will be its original blue and the grass with be even greener.
Thanks for reading,

Silks, and Satins, and Wools, Oh My!

When you live in a smaller town shopping can sometimes be a challenge.  Luckily we have a wonderful discount fabric store here in Bakersfield and I thought I would share a few pictures with you.   We only have three fabric stores in Bakersfield and for obvious reasons this one is my favorite.

Not only is the selection huge but their prices are low, really low! 

Some of their stock dates back to the eighties, I am sure that all that blue and pink upholstery fabric is truly vintage, but that adds to the fun.  Fabric bolts are stacked all the way up to the warehouse ceiling creating the feeling that you are on a fabric treasure hunt.  Those of you who love fabric like I do know what I am talking about.

 

This would be a dangerous place if the prices were not so low. 

I paid only $7/yard for this embroidered fabric.  Here in California that is less than a third of what you would pay at Joann's Fabrics.

And did I mention that they have tons of gorgeous trims at crazy low prices?

Who want to come visit and go fabric shopping with me next week?

Thanks for reading,

Fall Fix-Up Part 2

I lead such an exciting life that not only did I clean up my pantry this past weekend but I put batteries on my shopping list.  Why you ask?

Because one of the most important appliances in your home will need new ones.  Which one is it?

This one of course.

And while you have it down, check the expiration date on your smoke alarm.  Most smoke alarms are only good for 10 years and then you need to replace them.

The date your smoke alarm was made will be posted on the back of the alarm.

Keeping your smoke alarms in good working order will keep your family safe.

Thanks for reading,

Fall Fix-Ups Part 1

I cleaned out the pantry on Saturday, I know I live an exciting life.  I like to spend Spring in the yard so it is Fall Cleaning for me.  Even though we have only lived in this house 5 years I found all this expired food.  Some of it dated back to 2003.  Who knew Peanut Oil expired?

Thanks for reading,

Double Duty Chalkboard Table

My daughter has been fixing up her "surf shack".  For any of you who don't recall, when my daughter told me she was renting a surf shack I thought that was a euphemism for "beach cottage".   No euphemism here.  It really is a shack.  No pictures of the shack because I am afraid that I won't forget what it actually looks like in between visits.  But she loves it and that is what matters. 
So I decided I would help with the mini make-over that the shack is receiving.  The shack is tiny.  I mean really tiny so furniture really needs to do double duty.  She had to give up her really cool pink and black upholstered coffee table when she moved there leaving her with no place to put drinks etc. while sitting on the couch. 

I bought this wooden TV tray at Goodwill for $5 and I thought it would work really well at the shack.   When I realized that it folded up flat I figured that my daughter could hang it on the wall when not using it as a table.

Entry chalkboard paint.  I spray painted the base of the already black table and I was well on my way to my first chalkboard painting project.  (I try to get one of my three dogs in each post.  Tasha is the star of this post.)

I might be a little late but I am finally jumping on the chalkboard bandwagon.  The paint was much thicker than I imaged so it took quite a bit of stirring to mix the paint.  It went on a a bit thick and I was concerned that my brush marks were going to look terrible.  But thankfully they settled out and the final coat was pretty smooth.

Finally I stenciled a quick permanent message on the table top and it was off to the surf shack.

She can hang it on the wall when not using it as a table.  It looks great in the surf shack and she loved it.

I will be partying at














Thanks for reading,