12 Oakdale

I varnished the porch doors after we moved in. I do pride myself on how good a varnisher I am, and the doors looked great. However, even under cover of the pool screen, our bedroom door has gotten enough sun to ruin the finish. The lowest part was missing varnish so the wood had weathered. Yes, I should have put another coat on every year, but I didn’t, so here we are. My first thought was to give up on the varnish, since I believe I can’t hire anyone to do it as well as I can. Probably not true, but that’s my claim. I also didn’t want to have to do all the work the door would need to look good if I revarnished it: sand to bare wood in some areas, stain, sand, varnish, sand, varnish, etc. I decided to paint it a royal purple which I thought would go with the blue-gray walls. The doors under the lanai are still in good condition, and I decided the purple and the varnish would complement each other. Then I decided it would be a waste to buy paint, when I have almost a full can of varnish...

The DoGe bros continue to decimate our national government, laying off/firing thousands of workers, not knowing what anyone is doing, including themselves. Oops, fired those who watch over our nuclear arsenal; perhaps better rehire. If only we hadn’t closed down their federal email so we could get in touch with them. Our bad. There is a measles outbreak in Texas, 124 ill, so far 2 dead. However, RFK Jr assures us it’s “only” in the Mennonite community and that outbreaks happen every year. He cancelled the meeting of experts who make the educated guess about which strain(s) of flu next year’s vaccine should tackle. All good? My current schlocky novel is a mystery (perhaps true) that involves White supremacists and their crazy beliefs. Fairly scary. I went to retina specialist Dr. Kraut who assured me the only thing he found wrong with my eyes is a small wrinkle in my right retina, too small to bother operating on, which might be the cause of my poorer vision in that eye. Pr...

I am so pleased with how my painting the flamingo bathroom turned out. I’ve been thinking about doing it since we moved in. It had to be done. We’d hung our art on existing hooks and ignored the holes left when anchors had been removed.   I dithered about what color to pain the walls. Pink? What about FLAMINGO PINK? Too cliche? What about green as a counterpoint to pink? The glass tiles are grey, as are the floor tiles. I brought home paint chips and dithered. My friend Kathy suggested a brown to match part of the shower curtain. That would be different. I brought home more paint chips. I love my flamingos, but they need to be contained. Spaulding’s piano teacher, who also accompanied Patten and Mary at cello competition, was a flamingo fanatic. Her whole house was filled with flamingos. At Christmas, she staged a reenactment of the nativity scene in her front yard, using flamingos, with a flamingo Beany Baby for baby Jesus, who didn’t appear in the manager until Christmas Day. At ...

With the help of Gracie, I painted two walls in the living room (Sherman Williams Soft Green). Two coats on one wall Wednesday; 2 coats on the second wall Thursday. She inspected the paint, thought about climbing the step-stool with me, and attacked my brush when I was cutting in the baseboard. She was uninvited after that. Only one small painted paw print to wipe up, but I could imagine disaster. Still such a curious kitty. After I’d offloaded the bookcase, we scooted it out of the way to the hall, then shoved the rest of the furniture to the west end of the living room. Today it all gets put back without my culling any of the stuff I longer need or want. I don’t have the time right now. I’m in a frenzy to get the house and yard in as much order as possible before our Rocky Mountaineer trip in June. Two days after we get home, we host Grant’s 80th birthday party. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize. When our new living room furniture arrives, the living room is ready. Yesterday, Grant ...