Hola! I'm still home from work - going stir crazy! Milwaukee is in the deep, deep freeze for the second day in a row and Milwaukee Public Schools were once again shut down because of dangerous windchills. The forecast promises the beginning of moderating temperatures later this evening, and I understand that the windchills outside right now are in the low teens below zero instead of 35 below zero as they were this morning.
It is so deceptive looking outside. The sun is shining brightly (it was yesterday, too) and the winds are not as strong today as yesterday, but the air temperature is colder today than yesterday so the net result is the same.
My house has been snapping, crackling, popping and groaning all week as the temperatures plunged - I'm amazed it's still standing! During the day the sun is strong enough to evaporate away all the frost built up inside the windows (it comes back, as if by magic, overnight).
So, enough about the weather. I'll be going into the office tomorrow to start to make up for lost time and so I've been working like a maniac yesterday and today trying to get my new room and the guest room in order. The Christmas tree and all Christmas decorations are still standing...
Changes since my last redecorating recap:
- My favorite old still life print came down from my room - I just could not reconcile the reddish orange and orange flowers in the bouquet with the red in my new comforter. But I am not banishing the print back to the closet - I think it will look great in the guest room.
- Following P's advise about using the back-up new stuff in the guest room, the black and cream paisley print comforter and pillow shams that have been piled in one of the closets for over two years now reside in the guest bedroom, along with one set of the striped curtains that formerly graced my new bedroom. I made up the bed last night; hung the new curtains this morning.
- I also moved the black/white gingham check sheet set to the guest room, minus the pillow cases, which remain in my room for needed geometric contrast with the red/black/white plaid comforter and the traditional black/cream toile curtains. I substituted plain white pillow cases on the guest room pillows. I also removed the white piquet bed skirt from my bed to the guest room where the 14" drop fits just right on that bed, the bottom hovering just above the carpet.
- My room is temporarily without a bedskirt, but not for long! I just checked the mail and a new black 18" drop bedskirt arrived via priority mail, over which I will install the 14" drop black and cream striped bedskirt pilfered from the paisley print "bed-in-a-bag" set. Once ironed and wrestled into place (anyone who has ever put a bedskirt on a bed with mattress already on it will know what I mean), they will complete the look of my bed emsemble to perfection!
At present, the three bookcases and filing cabinet from the former den have been emptied and dragged/pushed/carried into my former room, which is a gigantic mess, albeit a roomy mess without the bed, and soon it will seem even bigger when the triple dresser is moved into my new room. (Photo:
Some contents of the bookcases temporarily stashed on the floor in my new room).
While cleaning out the bookcases, I discovered old bank statements some dating all the way back to 1984 - six years before I moved into this house! (Photo:
Rearranging one's house means drinking lots of cheap boxed wine and keeping a constantly replenished glass of same close to hand - here are some of the ancient bank statements stashed in shoe boxes and laying lose on the counter in the kitchen). I suspect, although I can't prove - that they illicitly bred and multiplied like rabbits some time during 1996...
There are bags of my old Regency romances, adventure and mystery paperbacks stashed all over, including the upstairs bathroom. I will sort through them, keeping only my absolute favorites, freeing up valuable shelf space for my ever-growing collection of chess books and tomes on ancient civilizations and history. (Photo: In my former bedroom with its pink walls, where the desktop computer and digital t.v. now sit, s
ome of the paper bags filled with paperbacks, historical and topical research in manila folders, a collection of archaeology magazines, and various tomes and papers on ancient history and chess).
Feeling frisky today (as I said, stir crazy), I decided I would attempt to move the triple dresser from my new room into the guest room all by myself, despite its size, and also move the triple dresser from my former room into my new room. I figured, how heavy can a dresser be with all the drawers removed? Well, the dresser in the guest room wasn't too heavy once I got my hips into it, except I ran into a slight problem. As I was shoving it along toward the door suddenly it stopped - the top of the mirror hit the top of the door frame! The mirror is taller than the door frame! Eek!
After fortifying myself with a big glass of wine and a couple of microwaved White Castle cheeseburgers, I tackled the impediment. I was able to easily enough loosen the bolts holding the mirror on to the dresser, but I was not prepared for how HEAVY the mirror was! I mean, darlings, I knew it would be heavy but I swear this thing weighs 100 pounds, maybe 200 pounds (well, all right, 100 pounds). Thankfully, my back was hard up against a wall when I pulled out the last bolt and gingerly worked the mirror off the top of the dresser toward me. I expected weight, but not a TON! Amazingly, I did not drop the mirror and therefore all my toes are still on my feet. There is not even a dent in the wall where I rammed back with the weight of the mirror. I don't know exactly how, but I did manage to get the mirror safely to the floor. Whew! No longer a joke, I guess I
must have arms like Popeye, or am strong like bull.
Not to worry - before I attempt to move the dresser from this room (the new den/computer room/library), I will measure how tall the combined dresser with mirror is against the height of the doors - just eyeballing it I think I will make it with half a foot to spare - piece of cake! More heaving, shoving, tugging and pulling is on the agenda - but I'm nearly finished with the hard stuff in the bedrooms, yippee! I've been doing fun stuff in-between times while resting (lots of heavy breathing and aerobic workout of the heart muscle is involved when moving furniture by one's self, and that entails lots of rest breaks) -- shopping on the internet for new accessories and art work! It seems not a single thing I have had hanging in this house for nearly 20 years will go with the new color schemes in the bedrooms (other than the lovely old still life - see above). What I am going to do with all the old, accumulated stuff? I dread the thought of a rummage sale. Maybe I'll just hang it all on the walls in the den/library/computer room wherever I can fit it in (I have lots of maps I constantly consult that will go up on the walls first) and be damned with color and style coordination -- after dondelion finishes repainting the room when he visits in May.
At present, the three bookcases and filing cabinet from the former den have been emptied and dragged/pushed/carried into my former room, which is a gigantic mess, albeit a roomy mess without the bed, and soon it will seem even bigger when the triple dresser is moved into my new room. (Photo: Some contents of the bookcases temporarily stashed on the floor in my new room).
While cleaning out the bookcases, I discovered old bank statements some dating all the way back to 1984 - six years before I moved into this house! (Photo: Rearranging one's house means drinking lots of cheap boxed wine and keeping a constantly replenished glass of same close to hand - here are some of the ancient bank statements stashed in shoe boxes and laying lose on the counter in the kitchen). I suspect, although I can't prove - that they illicitly bred and multiplied like rabbits some time during 1996...
There are bags of my old Regency romances, adventure and mystery paperbacks stashed all over, including the upstairs bathroom. I will sort through them, keeping only my absolute favorites, freeing up valuable shelf space for my ever-growing collection of chess books and tomes on ancient civilizations and history. (Photo: In my former bedroom with its pink walls, where the desktop computer and digital t.v. now sit, some of the paper bags filled with paperbacks, historical and topical research in manila folders, a collection of archaeology magazines, and various tomes and papers on ancient history and chess).
Feeling frisky today (as I said, stir crazy), I decided I would attempt to move the triple dresser from my new room into the guest room all by myself, despite its size, and also move the triple dresser from my former room into my new room. I figured, how heavy can a dresser be with all the drawers removed? Well, the dresser in the guest room wasn't too heavy once I got my hips into it, except I ran into a slight problem. As I was shoving it along toward the door suddenly it stopped - the top of the mirror hit the top of the door frame! The mirror is taller than the door frame! Eek!
After fortifying myself with a big glass of wine and a couple of microwaved White Castle cheeseburgers, I tackled the impediment. I was able to easily enough loosen the bolts holding the mirror on to the dresser, but I was not prepared for how HEAVY the mirror was! I mean, darlings, I knew it would be heavy but I swear this thing weighs 100 pounds, maybe 200 pounds (well, all right, 100 pounds). Thankfully, my back was hard up against a wall when I pulled out the last bolt and gingerly worked the mirror off the top of the dresser toward me. I expected weight, but not a TON! Amazingly, I did not drop the mirror and therefore all my toes are still on my feet. There is not even a dent in the wall where I rammed back with the weight of the mirror. I don't know exactly how, but I did manage to get the mirror safely to the floor. Whew! No longer a joke, I guess I must have arms like Popeye, or am strong like bull.
Not to worry - before I attempt to move the dresser from this room (the new den/computer room/library), I will measure how tall the combined dresser with mirror is against the height of the doors - just eyeballing it I think I will make it with half a foot to spare - piece of cake! More heaving, shoving, tugging and pulling is on the agenda - but I'm nearly finished with the hard stuff in the bedrooms, yippee! I've been doing fun stuff in-between times while resting (lots of heavy breathing and aerobic workout of the heart muscle is involved when moving furniture by one's self, and that entails lots of rest breaks) -- shopping on the internet for new accessories and art work! It seems not a single thing I have had hanging in this house for nearly 20 years will go with the new color schemes in the bedrooms (other than the lovely old still life - see above). What I am going to do with all the old, accumulated stuff? I dread the thought of a rummage sale. Maybe I'll just hang it all on the walls in the den/library/computer room wherever I can fit it in (I have lots of maps I constantly consult that will go up on the walls first) and be damned with color and style coordination -- after dondelion finishes repainting the room when he visits in May.
No comments:
Post a Comment