Annie B’s Buzz

Today I am introducing a newbie to the world of blogging.  She is my real life friends as well as my virtual friend.  Her name is Ann and she is very talented when it comes to yarn work. 

She is just starting out in the blog world and I hope that all of you will go take a look at her fledgling blog.

I love the way she is embracing new technologies to increase her knowledge about her craft and she shares how to use those technologies.

She gave a great review of The Continental Stitch.  I thought the Continental was a dance step but apparently not.  I could not begin to describe it so you will need to dance right on over to Annie B’s Buzz to read about it.

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She also posted about knitting her first pair of socks in a hilarious way.

So if you or anyone you know likes knitting you need to check out Annie’s Blog, you will not be disappointed.  But you will most likely giggle a bit when you read her take on knitting.

Traci

Surf Shack Evacuation Plans?

If you are a regular reader of my blog you might remember that my daughter lives in what she calls “a surf shack” in the Mission Beach area of San Diego, CA.  The place just down right scares me.  Built in 1929 it looks like a strong wind would blow it down but my daughter loves being near the beach.  She is really just across the street from the beach.

Unless you live under a rock or are stuck in bed suffering with the flu you probably know where I am going with this. 

I am just a bit jumpy about fires, earthquakes, tornados, and any other natural disaster.  I had me kids exit their windows in fire drills (you can read about it here) and I frequently remind them of the location of the gas and water shut offs in case of an earthquake.  They thought it was fun when they were little but as teenagers they rolled their eyes at my attempt at disaster preparedness and I am sure they thought I was totally nuts. 

But today I finally have proof that at least my daughter has been listening.

Last night I watched the coverage of the earthquake in Japan and was about to turn off the TV when they announced that Tsunami warnings were in place for the western coast of the US.   I stayed up until 2:30 am monitoring the situation in case I needed to call my daughter.  She was surely asleep but has no land line phone or TV so I figured she did not know about the possible tsunami rolling up the beach and washing the “surf shack” away.   I googled the tsunami warning system for her area, watched all the major TV news channels and  by 2:30 I finally felt I could go to sleep without calling her to issue my own evacuation order.

Of course all my worrying was for not,  no tsunami arrived at the front door of the shack.  But my girl knows I worry so she called to let me know she was okay.  She told me how she had gone to the gym early this morning and seen the devastation in Japan while on the treadmill.

And then the most wonderful thing happened.  She said, “Mom this is so scary.  Tonight I am going to come up with an evacuation plan for me and Mike.” 

It looks like I prepared her well.  Does this mean I will never stay up worrying about her?  No way.

Thanks for reading,

Traci

Brush up your painting!

I went to visit my parents for a few days so there has been no progress on the jinxed bathroom so I thought I would post one of my favorite painting tips.
Your finish is only as good as your brush but your brushes need special care if they are going to continue paint well.
Here are two of my brushes.  The one on the top has been well cared for, you can see that the edge of the brush where the bristles taper is still sharp and clean.  The brush on the bottom is less sharp.  It also has paint on the bristles near the ferrule, the metal part of the brush.  While this will not result in a visit from the paint police it really cuts down on the life of your brush so it is best never to get paint near the ferrule.

These are not the best brushes I own but I like the brushes with the short handles because they cause less cramping in my hands.  But even less expensive brushes need to be cared for properly.

If you look carefully you can see that of the two brushes I am holding in this less than stellar picture the one on the right is wider and more frayed looking.  If brushes are not cleaned properly they loose the ability to paint a nice scarp edge.

Start with a good cleaning.  First I rinse as much paint as I can and then I use a gentle soap working it into the bristles while keeping the brush pointed downward.  I bend the brush by pressing it down on the sink as if I painting letting the water pressure removing the paint.  If you do get paint on the ferrule, where it dries quickly, you can use a toothbrush to help remove the paint by brushing down the bristles.

When all the paint is out of the bristles I fling the brush to remove the water.  Then I pat the brush with a towel to make sure it is as dry as I can get it.

Next I coat the lower half of the bristles with the same soap I used to clean it making a sharp edge on the brush.  The soap dries stiff and keeps the edge sharp even after the brush dries.  You don’t need to rinse it off before using the brush, the soap does not effect the paint.

Happy painting,
Traci
I will be partying over at

No Progress in the Jinxed Bathroom

I know I keep saying it over and over, but I really thought that today’s bathroom project would have taken 20 minutes.  When will I learn?
Touch up paint was the project on today’s list.  So what happened you ask?
The trouble started when I opened the can of semi-gloss to touch up the baseboards.  It opened way too easy.  And this is what I found.

I don’t know what happened but apparently I didn’t seal up the can well enough.  But never fear I have another can.  I retrieved it from the paint cupboard and opened it up.  Thank goodness it was not dried up, in fact it looked a like watery. 

I stirred it well and decided I just thought it looked thin after seeing the dried up paint.  So I painted the first baseboard and then started on the baseboard on the opposite wall.   When I turned back around the paint was dripping down the baseboard onto the floor.
I wiped it off, it dripped again.  No pictures of this because I was too busy wiping up running paint.
And because I was in the “jinxed bathroom”  I assumed that there was something wrong with the paint and so I wiped off all of the paint I had just put on.  Then I headed for the Home Depot, or as we call it the Home Deposit.
While at Home Depot I realized why the paint was so thin.  If you are a regular reader of my blog you probably figured it out a few paragraphs ago because it is the can featured in my review of my new paint sprayer.  Nothing was wrong with the paint, I had just thinned it to use it in my sprayer.  Mystery solved.

I returned home with a new gallon of paint (and $45 worth of other stuff) and no energy so the painting will have to wait until tomorrow.  Please wish me luck tomorrow, I would like to finish this bathroom sometime this year.
Thanks for reading.
Traci

Valance for the Master Bathroom

Work on the master bathroom continues.  While I really like the dark moldings on the mirrors they seem a bit masculine to me.  So I have decided to add a bit of femininity back with fabric to balance out the look.

And this is where I will be adding it.  This window and small chandelier are above our sunken soaking tub.

And here is the fabric that I have picked.

It was not what I had in mind upon walking into the fabric store but when I saw it I fell in love.  And better yet it was on the clearance table for $8 a yard.   Then I started looking at trims to match.  The first one I found was $30 a yard.  No way am I paying $30 a yard, so on to the next trim.  I found this one for $8 a yard.  Sold.

What a great match!  So off to the cash register I go with my bargains.  The sweetest clerk helped me with my purchase.  She told me that the fabric was originally $42 a yard, and when she scanned the fabric it was on sale for $4 a yard.  Yippee!  And then she scanned the trim, it was on sale too, $4 a yard.  Four must have been my lucky number that day.

So now all I have to do, besides make the valance, is to decide how I want it to look.

I saw this lovely valance at Savannah Granny and was inspired.  You need to check out the beautiful silk drapes she made to match.  The are gorgeous.

I love the box pleat but I am not sure how well it would work with my fabulous fabric.

I folded the fabric into a box pleat but I am not sure if I like how it cut across the pattern.  What do you think? 

I have only some touch up painting left to do which I will tackle tomorrow so I better decide quickly.

If you have a suggestion please leave me a comment with your idea.

Thanks for reading.

Traci