Today, I conquer the power miter box. This thing scares the hell out of me mostly because the instruction manual has disappeared and I never read it.

Yes, I read those things and carefully go through a products features. Otherwise, I feel as if I'm operating a black box. The product controls me rather than I control the product. Computers have become this way. There are no detailed instructions and therefore when problems happens I am lost and I panic. The item is usually turned off and never touched again. 

I have a love affair with 1920 through 1950 technology. I wasn't even alive then, but I seem to understand these items.

I'm off to answer these questions.  "Do we even have an instruction manual?" or "Does the manufacturer assume the user magically comes with prerequisite knowledge?"

See you soon.

Repainting the bathroom was supposed to be a weekend project. Wash the walls. Paint. Done.  The room threw me a curve ball.  I started by washing the walls and removing all the loose paint.  The room revealed itself to be a much larger project.  I was stopped dead in my tracks for about 12 weeks. The despair was overwhelming and I froze.  We had a bathroom without a towel rack or loo roll holder along with scraped paint and holes for 12 long winter weeks. 

I felt like a deer in the headlights. There were many skills I had some knowledge and practice but I was hardly confident.  I started slowly. I patched the holes, then sanded.  Stripped trim, patched more holes and more sanding.  It felt like the room was falling further into disarray.  The dust was creeping into the rest of the house.  The common room, bedroom, and hallway were filled with renovation flotsam and jetsam and drywall dust.  Finally, I turned the corner.

I could paint.  First coat was a primer sealer and even with the window open, the fumes nearly killed me.  Next came two coats of wall paint, the color is light green peanut butter.  Yep, light green peanut butter is the wall color.  Don't come for me. It matches the tile which stays. This room had too many colors and textures for me. Everything was slightly off because items had been replace one at a time over decades and everything was a "that's close enough" match. So instead of contrast between tile and wall, they now match more closely.

The trim will stay the original color, "french lentil" but some of the trim needs to be replaced and the vanity is going to be painted. The vanity was knotty pine and it's brown clashed with the Spanish tile flooring. The flooring stays. I hate it. It was installed poorly, but taking it up means a wholly different level of DIY. This is just a refresh job. The goal is to make the bathroom livable for 5-7 years.

Today: Empty the vanity, remove the hardware, and wash it down. Sanding is next and oil-based primer should be used too seal the pine knots from showing. 

Let's see how far we get. "Come on you can do it"' I tell myself, "This is just cleaning on steroids."  Actually, I have to face the hoarding in this house first. Empty the vanity! Give me strength. See you soon.

 

Now, it is nearly March. The winter was a tough one and it is not over yet. Weather and health were the two main foci. The snow and ice have piled up over six weeks to glacial proportions and a winter viral cold laid us low for two full weeks.

In that time, JoAnn, my favorite  only sewing supply store has gone under. I shouldn't be surprised. I've visited five or six times in the last year with a list of simple supplies that should be in stock and each time walked away with less than twenty percent of the list. White Gutermann thread was never in stock and neither was bias tape, zippers, sewing machine needles and more. My sewing ground to a halt. The room was a dump zone anyway.

Then I found an independent sewing store that was not a machine dealer or a quilt shop, it was 1.5 hours away. I organized a trip around finding the bits and pieces to finish 9 projects. I found EVERYTHING!

Maybe if I clean up the room, I can find a new use for the space.  If things remain as they are in the retail environment, I will have to wind down my sewing of garments and take up quilting or knitting full time. I like both but they are not my passion. Knitting does take up less space and is more portable. As it is I have many projects to finish before I close the door. Let's see how it goes.

Today's project is new apron strings for my 1930's cherry apron. 

Yesterday

 Yesterday was successful, but not the the ways I expected. The external chores, those pertaining to shopping, banking, and the pharmacy went well. The internal chores less so. The cold weather certainly isn't helping. 

Today is colder still. We have cleaning of the bedroom still to finish. The 2025 household budget needs to be completed. Our monthly budget is broken five ways to Tuesday as corporate inflation has taken over. 

We have cancelled all subscriptions. Cancelled the house phone. Yes, we still had one. There is no TV and its needs. The cat has lost its healthcare insurance because it doubled in price. 

We are about to lose our healthcare coverage as our carrier is not going to including our local providers in their covered network. We will have to find all new providers along with many, many others. We are a rural community and there are few providers as is. I think most of us will not be able to reestablish primary care physicians and therefore have no access to healthcare other the emergency room.

We power down in the evening and go to bed, because electricity is 16% more costly. I'll bet water is next. I worry about the house insurance because of national problems. Gas is still $3 a gallon and eggs are $5.50 a dozen. The system isn't working any longer.

And yes, I am complaining. My bootstraps are stretched to the breaking point and I know that other folks have broken their bootstraps years ago. We have been lucky up to this point, but no longer.

The dark ages have come again.

It is colder than a ...

The icicles have stopped dripping. I shall see if the car starts and the list of menial, but necessary, chores feels like it's a mile long. I'm going to want soup and tea for lunch today, chicken soup and linden tea. 

Today's cleaning focus is the bedroom. Clean sheets and dusting are the main chores. That takes time as the washing machine must run through its cycles. There is time for multi-tasking. I don't do multi-tasking very well. 

 Is this an opportunity to practice? I've been practicing for years. It doesn't seem to get any better. I need to accept my weaknesses.

Look to My Own Plate

It is Monday. Monday is bathroom cleaning day. It is time to make my bathroom shine. No matter how small or large or old or new, it is time to look to my bathroom. What do I need? Cleanliness and no clutter. 

I must go and get that done. I begin with tossing the trash and transferring laundry to the basement. Now, I clean the surfaces. After the cleaning, the reset begins. I set out clean towels, check toilet paper, and the trash liner. After resetting any products that are needed on a daily basis, everything else is tucked away. 

I start with cleaning and end with organization. I begin with removing the trash and follow through to putting everything away. I look to my own bathroom, not anyone else's.  I do the best with what is in front of me and in my house.  I clean according to my needs. 

Now I can begin the rest of the day. 

January Ramblings

It is the middle of January. How is the no-buy year going? Well, I've made two purchases. A sorting tray for the workshop and a self-help book. In my defense, I did go to the library website to see if anything in the was available for the book.  We'll see how the next two weeks evolve. 

Planning and budgeting meals is a big undertaking. I'm doing about three extra hours of work per day for the meals. Low budget shopping, cooking, and planning food to fit within two different dietary guidelines is a lot of work. If dinner arrives hot and on time, thank the cook profusely and help with the clean up. Help with the kids and pets. Help reset the house so that the morning goes smoothly. Pick up the shoes and socks! 

Since, I'm on a food tirade, ask before eating the last nibble of cheese. That bit of cheese wrapped up and languishing in the corner of the refrigerator has really been hidden. It was hoping to make it to the topping of tomorrow's casserole. 

Ask! There probably are other choices for snacks. Where budget meals are concerned, if a key ingredient is lost, the precision meal planing becomes chaotic. When chaos in the cupboard rules, tuna and olives over pasta accompanied with blanched cabbage is served for the last dinner of the week. THINK! THINK of us all!

Today, is clean the bedroom day. That's the bedding being washed and floors mopped. All clothing is put away, furniture is dusted and calm is restored. That's the goal.

After that, I have a small job in the workshop to complete and then I'd like to get upstairs to my sewing studio. There are a few mending jobs that need to be done. I'd like to sort that room out and make it more usable this spring. That is a future plan.

Enough for now.

 We are preparing for a no buy year. This is the first time we will have to think about EVERY THING we need including groceries. We started by developing a budget and worked on reducing things like utilities and insurance. We are taking the savings here and putting it away to handle the increased deductibles. 

The tough part is finding the ability to repair items rather than tossing them. I just spent nearly $10 on a spool of white thread for repairs. I know that used to be under $5. What has happened to the price of things?

 Breakfast: 2 HB eggs, pesto toast, coffee with 2% milk

Putting the Garden to Bed

 

 Two days left before winter rains arrive. This is the promise we've been waiting almost six weeks for. The garden must be dug. The leaves must be raked and the acorns gathered. This will be a busy two days.