janbhan

I had a good day. Solved two problems at the bank much faster than I expected because I was face to face with the man who knew it all and not some faceless voice on the phone.

A nice lunch with my nephew, then we went off together to buy lampshades, two twin lamp holders with a tiny scroll on the branch for a bedroom, then to look at doors. Some I saw in the wood, so to speak, but mostly I looked thru the computer catalogue, finding that three doors I liked had sufficient in stock to fit my work plan. Now to find out if we can afford them. They will need to be stripped and polished, and the main thing will be whether he does it or my polisher does it. I suggested that the vendor stripped them and we would polish them ourselves. It doesn't save money, but my daughter will have to approve the colour. Her call.

Came home and collapsed on the bed, only to have a deputation of lonely cats wanting love and food. They climbed on the bed (not allowed; I am mildly allergic to them and they make me sneeze) and rubbed my feet, my knees, my belly, and finally when they were about to get to my head I got out of bed and went to fix their food. That was when I realised that the dishwasher was waiting to be emptied and so was the washing machine!

Hung out the washing, made a cup of tea while I put away the dishes, and went back to bed. Cats were back. Please play with us. We have a makeshift fishing rod with a feather on the end of the line. Good cat toy. The hook has long gone, but it has caught a surprising number of tiddlers in its time. The other toy is also a tiddler-catcher - a cane with a coat-hanger shaped into a circle with an old nylon stocking sewn onto it. This comes from my son's young days, but has entertained countless visiting children in the monsoon. For some reason this also entertains the cats, and my son used it to trap them when they were kittens, uncatchable!

Time to shut down and fix dinner. I forgot to mention there is a hungry husband competing with the cats.

Rina, I used to paint and one day painted a sunset so lurid everybody thought I had made it up! I hope your pains are getting better. It's terrible when it keeps you awake. I once had a bad patch where I was on sleeping pills, but finally went for pain shots and got off the pills before I got addicted! I still have the sleeping pills, sometimes take a half if I can't get to sleep. But my pain doctor has now given me sos pills and they so seem to work. I hope you have something like that.... And now, goodnight to you all.

I take magnesium for night cramps, but I don't know that it helps me to sleep better other than not waking because of cramps. What does happen is that on days when I have been more physically active than usual, or have been traveling, I seem to get more discomfort and find it harder to get off to sleep. My legs get twitchy and I can't find that sweet spot in the bed. Chances are hubby is lying on it anyway. He sure takes up a lot of space. Sometimes I get up and sleep on his side of the bed because there's more room there! My sos pills are probably sedatives. but they ARE only sos, so if I have to take them more than two nights running I call my doctor.

I had a really busy day today, on the move all day, and then just before I went to bed it started to rain, so I pulled in all the washing and hung it on the rack to dry under the fan. That really woke me up! The washing mostly hangs outside the window, and there is a projecting ledge above the window that keeps off the rain as long as it's not windy. But yesterday the wind got up at sunset and had not died down by 11pm. And I was tired, but wide awake and looking for something to do. I took a shower and read for a while.

Went to bed but woke at 4 am listening to rain pelting down. Thought about my washing. Then I remembered I had brought it in. But after a trip to the bathroom and a drink of water I was even more wide awake! Now it's 5 am, no point going back to bed. Another busy day today, the AGM for the building, which I have to attend as past secretary, then birthday lunch for eldest grandson, then a reading of our short stories for the month, then off to my daughter's to babysit overnight, so have to give the grandchildren cats extra food and make sure the litter tray is really clean. They will be fine, though bored. On Monday the contractor is coming in to look at our site and tell me when he can start. And now I find that my daughter has not taken permission from the building secretary to start work! They will stop work unless she has permission, except for emergency work like a pipe burst. So don't know, now, whether they will let her start.

Turmeric is an old remedy for pain in India and is also used as a mild antiseptic, but note that it can upset your stomach if ingested in large amounts. It's part of Indian cooking so we are probably used to it. If it works for you, that's good. It is used for colds, in warm milk with some honey and ginger juice. And mixed into a little warm oil for small wounds and burns. When my kids were small I used to dye easter eggs with it! (Another easter eggs dye - onion skins, you wet them and tied them onto the eggs with thread before boiling. Gives the eggs an interesting marbled effect. Same with beetroot skins. A lovely red colour.)

I'm a leftie! So is my daughter, and so was my husband. However son is right-handed. I was pleased, because the MIL was convinced our daughter was a leftie because she saw us using our left hands! But yes, I think there are more lefties among creative people. And Houzzers are creative. The average is 25% of any population will be naturally left-handed, but culture may force them to change. You can find out who is a leftie by tossing something like a paper ball at them, and see which hand comes up. However if you look at an art college, you may well find the average has gone up to 35%! I notice Obama is a leftie...so is Bill Clinton.

Ok, now I feel a little sleepy. back to bed.
G'night.

Good morning folks. The rains came -- an hour of downpour, thunderstorm, and awe-inspiring hail. Not big hail, praise be, but in massive quantity and coming down like bullets and richocheting off the roof. Awe inspiring. So I guess that should take care of the phosphate. (And incidentally add lots of nitrogen to the soil; hailstones are high in nitrogen.) I think it's also probably signalled the end of spring blossoms around here.

B, it's the woman who has control of that email address who is going to hunt it down, and cut and past to me. But it's a work address so probably not this weekend.

Big family crisis -- G got up the courage to tell ma about her boyfriend, who is not a boy and is her somewhat unofficial fiance. Ma went Vesuvius. G very upset last night, considering moving out, Ma saying that man will not darken my doorstep ever. I gave G a sleeping pill to get her through the night. She feels things very keenly. Ma's lack of wisdom over this is truly extreme and she's massively stubborn. What will be will be.

Oh Ma's just come in, greeted me in a very relaxed and happy manner.

Yes, I'm on arnica and everything I have available except the antiinflammatories; don't feel strong enough to risk the stomach upset. Legs good the morning. Hallelujah. I'll research tumeric, thanks.

Jan, I also take magnesium for leg cramps and restless legs. Very effective.

Hi all! I have been absent because of Internet issues and I don't even know if this comment will post although it did let me like a comment. I am on the app, browser would not connect. If I knew I could get on the app I would have commented earlier.

And the kiddos were over and that always takes time away from my stuff as the oldest loves Minecraft. And then Costco had a school fundraiser from 7-9. It was packed with people and they even had the food court open and the food sample people giving out yummies. The little went with us as well as DIL. And at one point a man appeared with a tray with little cups of ice cream with a nice sized chunk of churro pushed into the ice cream. The little was delighted. The fundraiser was for every $100 spent, Costco would donate a ream of copy paper to whichever school you designated. And the school's represented also handed out Wish List papers for items they need. Those could be left in the school's cart after you paid. I would say it was successful for all the school's represented.

Yes, I am left handed but my maternal grandfather would constantly put things I was holding into my right hand, thus I am not truly a lefty. Most things I do with my right hand.

I had better see if this posts or not. Later. :)

I wondered that too.
Update on my de-cluttering: it has got nowhere! I have two projects on the go and no time to do more than try to keep the clutter down. the desk looks like a paper shop. it is covered with plans and drawings, my income tax papers have to go to my accountant so there is a basket sitting on the floor. The basket has a cat on top of it. The other cat is on top of the shredder...which fortunately has a safety cover. cat baskets hide behind the sofa along with plastic boxes full of papers. yes, i will sort them out sometime. Just not yet...

sharonna misha designs, I was "trying out" the taller one...for six months and then forgot about it. Not two days ago my husband said, "I think we can get rid of this lamp, Sweetie."

I can totally relate.

We have a separate toilet in our new house but there is no sink. We are thinking of putting one but hesitant since plumbing will be costly. Do you have any idea how much this will cost and how long will the project take before it's completed?

can you put in a plan? How small is the room? You do get very tiny basins but you need to see where it will go, whether the door will get in the way, do you need to make a pocket door or have a double shutter?

Nope. It didn't. So will have to wait till i get home to my big computer. we are still at my daughter's, having had a blessedly peaceful stay. No drums. Leaving today as my son-in-law is back and will take over baby sitting!

Today I went to buy everything! All ordered except the granite for the door and window frames; I don't have the exact measurements. Tomorrow will put in the plans and the hoped-for layouts for the shower - there are four options, to use the 6" x6" tiles as a border in the shower and put the big blue tile in the middle, which i think will look best; lay a "carpet" in the shower with a cream border all round, and a few others which it is easier to post a picture than to describe. There will be a niche where the old door used to be, and we plan to use the same multicoloured tiles at the back. Glass shelves. A big big mirror to make it all look bigger! Work starts on Monday. more details tomorrow. And guess what - I lost this thread and had quite a hunt for it.

Yes, we have a large formal living room in that it is always ready for visitors, we use it a lot and in fact having a large family gathering next week too so even guest room will be used too.

We have a formal dining room next to it and a bathroom and vanity area in between them ( connects the rooms ) each have sliding doors.

When any family member has visitors, they go in there without having to 'uproot' other family members in family living room which is a more casual area and where you will find newspaper on coffee table or children playing with their toys- so formal room offers a quieter area too.

The style of our living room isn't more formal than other areas, but we use it primarily for meetings with tradespeople, service people, etc. When friends and family visit, we use the "family" room downstairs. So, yes, I'd say our living room is formal in purpose.

Navy draperies and cushions would be very pretty and would be a nice change from all the grey and yellow rooms.

Try turquoise and white - that plus mustard in combination for wallpaper, white walls, turquoise accessories. I love the idea of a purple wall but it's a dark colour, and can look awfully dull in artificial light. You don't want to change the curtains... so you need to play them up by putting them against white or a very pale mustard wall.