WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR APRIL 2024

Quick painting with new brush markers. I like these brush markers - they're much more like paint and paint brush than other brush markers I've used.

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Getting closer to organising flooring and paint.

Back to work tomorrow!


Machka in Oz

Machka9 wrote: »

Yesterday, I dug up bulbs ... some of the bulbs. We have quite a large bulb bed so I only got about 1/3 of it dug. I haven't done a lot of digging in the garden just recently and my glutes are feeling it!

I also pulled weeds at the new place. It's been empty since January, so there are a few weeds around.


Question about flooring:

What is your preferred flooring?
- carpet (thick, thin?)
- vinyl
- laminate
- engineered hardwood
- hardwood
- tiles
- stone
- bamboo
- cork
- concrete

And why?

I'm thinking I would like to get rid of all carpet for allergy reasons and because I see carpet as dirty in the sense that it collects and hides all sorts of things.

Concrete wouldn't work where we are, but I also see it as cold and industrial.

Tiles have grout which (in my experience) ends up looking grubby over time.


Machka in Oz

Machka,
Coming from someone who used to co-own a flooring store. It really truly depends on your lifestyle. I agree with you that carpet is the worst option. It never really is clean. I hear your complaints about tile. It's also cold and hard on the feet. So here's a run down on my top options from your list:
Vinyl, specifically LVP (luxury vinyl planks): This has really come a long way, and this is what I have in my home. Granted, it came with it, but we are in the process of ripping up the carpeted rooms and putting in matching LVP. There are a lot of options and it holds up to just about anything. A really great option if you have pets, kids, grandkids.

Engineered wood: Does OZ get humid? If so, this would be your best bet if you want a wood floor. Engineered wood flooring will not expand and contract as much as a solid wood flooring. And while you can't sand and refinish it, it can be screen coated if needed. The top layer is roughed up and a new finish is applied. The factory finishes are also better than anything you would apply to solid wood with UV protection to prevent fading and resist scratches. That said.. if you have animals or littles running around, nothing is scratch proof. You'll have to accept living with that.

You have cork and bamboo on your list. I know these are very environmentally friendly options, but some things to consider. Don't go cheap on either option. China particularly puts out some cheap subpar products that you will regret in the long run. Cork is soft. It will dent. You cannot have heels or anything sharp on it. Bamboo is technically a grass. Cheap products can shred into sharp slivers.

Hope this helps!

Linda
Jacksonville, FL

Sue ... Glad that your tenant is finally gone!

Eclipse Day ... Yesterday Buffalo had crystal clear blue skies. As I expected, today it is cloudy and gray. We'll see if we get any breaks in the clouds around 3:00. Son left an hour early for work this morning. I don't think he had any problems getting into the city. The commute home might be a different story.

My mom.
Beth near Buffalo

Good morning, Friends,

It’s 60F here in Jacksonville, FL this morning.

Machka: I used to fence with Tim. He took it up in middle school. He started doing tournaments where, as a loving and dutiful mother, I would carry his equipment around from piste to piste for him. One time he said that I must do that because I can’t fence. WELL. Challenge accepted! Must say it was very therapeutic standing on the opposite side of a piste with a foil in my hand aimed my son. LOL

Also, I think I missed a conversation about doing flooring yourself. When my ex and I ran our flooring store, I have to say about 30% of the jobs we took were customers who started doing it on their own or even completed the project and realized they didn’t do it right. There are lots of specialty tools involved depending on the flooring that some people don’t think about. For example, an undercut saw. You’ll probably want the flooring to slip under the baseboards and door jambs. An undercut saw will saw off the bottom of those so the floor can do that. Even if you use a shoe moulding on the baseboards, the door jambs will need to be cut. Is that something you really want to take on yourself?

Michele NC: Sorry to hear about the fall. If the glasses were the only thing broken, I’d take that as a win. Be careful.

Lisa: Love that planter! Sounds like you are having fun buying plants. Can there ever be too many?

Sue in WA: Yay! She’s gone. Did she have a security deposit? At least you could keep that to help make repairs. Keep a list of everything you do and spend cleaning up. It will be helpful if she either does sue or tries to ask for the deposit back.

Heather: Keep your eye on the future being pain-free after surgery! Sorry you are going through so much pain now.

Had a fun weekend with Jack! Made a spaghetti dinner Saturday when Jake and Mason also came over. When I say made, I made the pasta, sauce, and meatballs from scratch. However, did toss a froze garlic loaf in the oven. Jack was tickled watching the pile of dough become spaghetti.

Yesterday, I washed my Crosstrek at home for the first time. “Maggie” came out looking gorgeous. Love that car and I’m kicking myself for not discovering Subaru’s earlier in my life. Anyone else name their cars?

Capped it off by taking Jack to his first live theatrical show. A local church performed "The Sound of Music". He did pretty well for a 5-year-old. Granted, I had a stash of M&Ms that I was handing out. He wasn’t really thrilled with the nuns, but for the most part enjoyed the show. After the show, came out to the car… and there was bird poop on it. Oh well, my grandfather used to say that was a sign of good luck.

Traveling to MN this week for my niece’s baby shower. Gotta get everything ready to Tim can take care of the animals while I’m gone and get myself packed. I was just going to take a bag I could carry on, but then I had to go out and get a bottle of locally distilled whiskey for my sister, so a check-in bag it is.

Make it a great day,
Linda
Jacksonville, FL

Beth - I'm so sorry. All the hugs in the world coming your way.

Carol - So sorry about your brother. Not looking forward to getting the news on my older brothers--two of the three have serious medical issues. Will you attend the funeral or memorial?

Machka - Looking at the paint samples, one of the things Corey and I decided on is keeping the paint colors bright white in the areas where we need to see well, like the bathroom and the kitchen, and then light ivory elsewhere. All the color in the house is brought in by furnishings of one kind or another, other than the kitchen, where the original lower cabinets are a deep teal. Paint, for me, has to do with maximizing light as I get older, other than in the bedroom, which I want to be able to completely darken. Regarding the floor, sounds like you have good advice.

Sue - I'm so glad the terrible tenant is finally gone, and you're doing everything you can to ensure she can't return. It seldom seems the litigious nature of this society works well for the good guys, just the bad ones. Honestly, it would be less energy if people just acted like decent human beings! They have to work so hard at being rotten.

Michele - Sorry about the fall, hope there are not issues arising from it.

Heather - I cannot imagine crawling up and down stairs as an option. Sounds painful in and of itself. I do not doubt that you'll come out of the surgery exceeding all expectations for recovery time and extent. The differing advice on different sides of the pond is a little unnerving - every message you can find here says to walk as much as you can before hip replacement, but you're being told not to walk over there. Who's right? Maybe both are right and what matters is what you do after? I don't have a good answer for that.

Linda - What a great smile on that boy! Sounds like you had enormous fun with him. Well done on you making all that from scratch. You're tougher than I am on the pasta front. I've made it, but it was one of many things I've done in this life that, while I CAN do them, it doesn't mean I ever want to again. Like laying bricks. 👀😀🧱🙃 I'm OK with a $1 box of spaghetti noodles from Walmart. I have to admit, I like the idea that we can make them if we want them, though.

The eclipse - Totality here will be 1:50 pm. Corey dragged his welding helmet out for me in case I want to watch it and got it charged up for me. I might put an alarm on my phone, but if I'm outside, I figure I'll know it's in progress... pretty sure Egg won't care, but I could be wrong. That's usually her naptime.

Slept soooo well last night. Already got my "good morning" call from Corey, and we got dinner sorted out (taco salad for him, just a taco for me), and I'm eating leftover copycat Malibu chicken for lunch, chopped up and made into a chicken salad slider for me. Leftover chicken is a recipe for getting stuck unless I get it a lot moister with some kind of sauce or dressing.

Right now, in order - have to get my flex-tape on my knees, left it off for 24 hours to let the skin recover. Then to get my meds in order for the week, then a little laundry folded. Then yoga and outside to get some work done on cleaning up that bed. After that, it's what my energy will let me do.

Corey got his raised beds planted out yesterday, now all he has to do is put up his hogwire trellis. Then he finished the backsplash for his sunroom kitchen and grilled shrimp for me and steak for him for dinner. One of my favorite meals.



Above is the kitchen - he extended the tile on the right side as well after dinner and just left the paver bricks at the very back of the grill. He'll be picking up some trim to finish the backsplash this week. I'm pleased with it, I think it's a very olde-worlde kind of design and picks up the teal in the back wall. There are still a few things to get done, but it's a comfortable room already.

And the fern will go at the far end of my flowerbed once I've got some dirt in it. I might have to cover it in the winters, but I think it will look gorgeous in there for the spring and summer. We'll see...

Off to the races, kids, lots to do...

Love y'all,
Lisa in AR

Lisa, sun room looks so nice and inviting.

Beth, sorry to hear about your mom. Difficult for everyone involved.

Carol, condolences on the passing of your brother.

Stressful week. Been waiting for daughter to get her results regarding breast cancer test (ABUS). She was told results were sent to doctor April 1st but never received. She's been calling trying to find out what happened and finally has a doctor appointment for tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully it is just a fluid filled cyst but ridiculous it has taken this long to find out. When I was diagnosed nine years ago, the mammogram didn't show the tumor but the ultrasound did. Got the results the next day and the following week was in for a biopsy. Everything followed quickly after that. I'm hoping she doesn't have to go through that.

We are in for a partial eclipse. Edmonton is at 34% so probably we are about the same. Not planning on viewing and may be silly but keeping dogs/cats indoors until it is over with.

Machka, good decision on floor installation. For us, we built the house entirely on our own except for electrical and we also hired someone to tape/texture after we put up all the drywall. Surprised we stayed married after a lot of loud discussions as we were building. I recall one incident in particular was the built in closet that hubby framed out in the master bedroom. I was at work when he did it and had asked him to hold off until I got home. He did it himself which annoyed me and when I got home I took the tape measure and measured it out. He was out by 1 1/2 inch from one end to the other. I insisted that he rip it out and redo it. In retrospect, that 1 1/2 inch would probably not even be noticeable. Poor guy dealt with a lot during our "building" years.

Joy