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If you follow Stella's blog, you'll know she'd make an awesome president!
Click here: Thru Stella's Eyes Blog
Happy Friday, all!
Have a fantastic weekend! Remember to get outside and enjoy the beauty around you!
Smile, too!!
It's good for the soul.
:> )
I don't want to see other families go through what mine had to this past weekend.
I know there is and will always be intentional evil in this world. But when it hits close to home, it takes on a whole new meaning.
My beautiful niece and nephew in law were married on Saturday. It was truly a picture perfect day.
Little did we know evil intentions were to take place at their reception.
A "couple" (alleged thieves) dressed for the wedding reception arrived. Their intent was to steal the wedding cards. Period. As you well know, wedding cards are filled with cash for the new bride and groom.
As the DJ announced the wedding party, this "couple" or as I like to refer to them as POS grabbed what they could out of the wedding card box and left.
Not only did they get the money my sweet hubs and I gave, but the money from many other generous family members, too. This happened to another couple who were also married on Saturday but their reception was at a different location. Obviously these POS know what they're doing.
Thankfully, they are on video surveillance and the police are involved. Please pray and/or send positive thoughts that these criminals are caught.
I do not want to see this happen to another young couple celebrating their new beginning together with family and friends.
So PLEASE... if you have a grandchild, child or even you yourself are getting married be sure your gift/money box table is in the banquet area next to the bridal party table or somewhere very visible.
Also have a trusted family member or close friend be in charge of making sure that table and box are secure at all times.
Finally make sure whatever businesses hired, whether it be your videographer, photographer, cake maker whatever... Insist these businesses do not post on their Facebook page your name, the date of your wedding and the reception venue. (Unfortunately, not all reception venues have security cameras)
As much as the businesses want to advertise and you want to share the big day with everyone, intentional evil pieces of sh*t lurks around us. Preying on good, unsuspecting people.
Like I said, I don't want to see this happen to another couple.
♥
My one and only niece is now a Mrs!!
We couldn't have asked for a more picture perfect day, too! Beautiful, sunny and warm!
Although my parents weren't here to celebrate this very special occasion with their only grandchild, we know they celebrated with us up in Heaven.
Now bring on the babies! I want to be a Great-Aunt!!
:> )
to enjoy nature’s beauty ~ it’s the handwriting of God."
~Unknown
♥
and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John 1:5
♥ Be the light. Shine brightly.♥
So I had to get it.
Man, how I wish inanimate objects would stop speaking to me.
Happy Saturday.
;> )
wrestled the 300 lb. wood stove back onto the hearth, with Stella under our feet and the WORST humidity to date, little Gracie comfortably "supervised" from the other room.
Hey, she's no fool.
:> )
Where just down the road you can get farm fresh eggs and home grown blueberries.
Truly there is nothing better than this.
I take that back. Actually there is...
Farm fresh eggs, home grown blueberries and your furry best friend.
♥
Rural living and a furry best friend. I highly recommend both.
Oh! And an old, Jeep YJ. That, too!!
((giggle))
Happy Wednesday, all.
Remember to enjoy and be grateful for all the little things in life.
:> )
One room down, one to go. I still need to put the room back together. Or as my sweet hubs would say, "Fill it up with your sh*t er I mean clutter."
But I wanted to share a few photos.
Overall I am very please! But this is not a satin finish. No way, no how. Either the can was somehow mislabeled or their idea of satin is shiny-glossy. I can't imagine what their gloss looks like. Probably have to wear sunglasses in the room.
The wood stove needs to be put in place but since it weighs (what feels like 1000 lbs.), I want to wait a week for the poly to really cure. Besides, I have to load up on spinach to help my sweet hubs lug that back in place. Man, what a job!!
This time around we're going to put the wood stove in the corner instead of directly below the vent hole. I'm not sure why we didn't when we first had it installed. My pea brain must have not been working that day.
To get it to go into the corner, I have to get the proper "elbow-connector-pipe-thing-a-ma-jig." I'm sure the guy will know exactly what I'm talking about.
Finally, here's a photo of the division line. Man, I'm not sure I can live with this for another few months. Eeek!!
That's it for now. I need some time to recoup after this one.
Have a happy week, all!!
:> )
Woo hoo!! Finally got it done!! Better yet, the second coat of poly made all the difference in the color. So I am very pleased!!!
But no pics yet. I still have a lot to do. Like put all the baseboard back on. I'm also going to add shoe molding. But I've gotta make a HD run. I've got a list a mile long on what I need. Man, I really should buy stock in that company.
Soooooooooo, you all have to wait!
Sorry!! **snicker**
Happy Sunday, all.
:> )
cannot stand."
♥
Got the first coat of poly down. All done with a 2" bristle brush. Yeah, I need my head examined. But I prefer a small brush to a roller.
I must admit I'm a little disappointed. I found out after the fact that an oil base polyurethane has a "warm glow."
Well to me, "Warm Glow" = Orange-ish
But with the high traffic area that it is, I felt I needed an oil base poly.
Oh well... It does look really nice and my hubs loves it. So all is good.
**under my breath** But it ain't that good. Hmpf!
I decided to keep the flagstone or slate (not sure which it is) threshold. During the week I gave her a good scrubbin' and she shined up like a new penny. ♥
Although after all that sanding, she's going to need a good scrubbin' again.
So that's it for today.
Now I must go spend some time with Stella. She's been walking around the house all day with her little, pink, rubber ball in her mouth.
:> )
Got the stain down.
Zar's Colonial Pine is a great color if you have old wood floors and want to bring out their character and charm.
I thought about putting down a wood conditioner first. I actually had the can in my hand when I made a sandpaper run. But then I thought... with a 150 pine floorboards, why would I want to even out the stain? Heck, I want to enhance and embrace the marks, stains, knots, streaks, dings, blotches and digs. If we were 150 years old we'd have marks, stains, knots, streaks, dings, blotches and digs, too! So I put the can back on the shelf and walked away. I'm glad I did.
After seeing this photo, I just realized I need to swap out that brown outlet with an off white one!
I've gotta dig through my stash of outlets. Yes, I have an outlet stash.
Sad, but true. ((giggle))
Tomorrow I'll apply the first coat of clear, satin poly. I need to do that three times. In between the drying time I'll need to lightly sand. It's a lot of hard labor, but it's so worth it. Especially knowing I did it all myself. Very rewarding.
But this heat and humidity we're having is rough. After applying the stain by hand with a cotton cloth for three hours, I removed my latex gloves to find dripping wet hands with prune fingers. Pretty gross.
So I've decided to refinish the living room pine floorboards in September. It's just too dang humid. Now there's no guarantees I'll stick to this plan. Seeing one side done and the other side not will drive me batty.
I didn't realize clear poly on old pine floors turns them an amber color over the years. Which is why I went with a stain this time around. Don't get me wrong, they are nice. Just a little too orange-ish for me.
That's it for now.
More at eleven!
(Nah, I'm just pullin' your leg. I'll be counting sheep at eleven.)
Happy Thursday, all!!
:> )
and I've finally finished the first round of sanding. I was able to rip through the poly I put down the first time I did them. Thank you, 40 grit sandpaper.
Tomorrow I have to sand yet again with 120. Vacuum. Then I can stain. Then the first coat of poly. Then a light sanding. Vacuum. Then another coat of poly. Then another light sanding. Vacuum. Then... Well you get the drift. It's gonna be awhile.
But first I need to clean up all the sawdust on the floor... and then on myself.
Happy Wednesday, all!!
:> )
Camo and sawdust... It doesn't get any better than that. ((giggle))
Did you notice all the cheaters on the window sill? I have them all over the place. Yet when I need them, I can never find them. Go figure.
Man, I forgot how hard it is to hang onto a belt sander. I'm pretty sure my grip strength could make me the next (doing my best Matt Iseman impersonation) American Ninja Warrior!
Okay. Probably not.
I can say this time around I don't have achy knees or back pain like I did when I refinished the floors years ago. I can attribute that to staying away from wheat and grains in general. But that's a whole other blog post!!
I have a lot more sanding to do. More than I want to. But since I don't have any sanding elves to do the job, I'm stuck doing it myself. Unless of course you know where I can find me some sanding elves... No?
Well then, back to work!
I'll try to check back in when I can. Since I'm refinishing the pine floor in the keeping room, I had to disconnect my computer. I'm using a laptop. Have I mentioned I don't like laptops?
Wishing everyone a terrific and productive week!!
:> )
P.S.
Remember to get outside and enjoy the beauty of nature that surrounds you!
I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend!!
I'll be MIA for a bit since I decided to tackle this...
I'm sanding and refinishing these beautiful, 150 year old pine floor boards. Yep, I'm also doing it will belt sanders. No need to tell me I need my head examined. I already know.
But there is a reason for my madness. Pine is a soft wood. If I used a big floor sander it would tear up the wood. It must be done this way.
So I'll be covered in sawdust and poppin' Advils for the next week. YaY!!
Funny, I did this 13 years ago but for some reason it's a lot harder to do now. Couldn't be because I'm 13 years older, right?? NAH!!
((giggle))
:> )
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:
Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton
Just a friendly reminder of how important Independence Day truly is.
Wishing you and your loved ones a happy holiday weekend.
Now go grill up a hamburger and have some potato salad.
((giggle))
:> )
