Whilst trying to sleep, I had an idea about the railing on the airing porch. About those screw holes that I did not really sand and had planned to just leave alone. The idea involved the first hammer I ever owned, a small gadget hammer I got when I was a teenager.
It was an advertising promo for one of the manufacturers at the showroom where my mother worked, with a screwdriver hidden inside. If you look at it, one side is this pointed end. I used a regular hammer to pound the smaller hammer's pointed end into the screw hole, pushing in all the wood bits and splinters. Then I used my DAP DryDex filler and putty knife to fill in the holes. Voilà! I will now have a relatively smooth railing with very little work on my part. And, importantly, the next homeowner will not have ill thoughts about my laziness on the airing porch finishing work.
Hopefully, I will be painting tomorrow (which is Friday, not Wednesday).
And Saturday.
Fingers crossed.
My neighbor introduced me to a quick and dirty dessert: Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies. Mmmmmmm. Who needs homemade when you can have such tastiness in just 20-25 minutes start to finish?????
I had to get milk before my next budget cycle on Monday, but I was using the rebate from Wal-Mart's Savings Catcher App. So, I went ahead and bought strawberry cake mix. Stir together the ingredients. Drop the dough by spoonfuls in a small bowl of powdered sugar. Place on a baking stone. Cook. Try not to eat them all in one sitting.
The cooking time my neighbor uses is 10 minutes. The first tray I let go to 12 minutes before panicking and pulling them out. They were not yet done. In my oven, these take 14 minutes to cook. These are from the second tray. They are soft and strawberry and just plain awesome.
Firewood Man came to mow today, and got started on the steps. Maybe. Maybe Saturday he might could come and finish. The lower posts are in, as well as all the treads. All but one of the vertical boards are installed. The sides and railing are still to go.
And the lattice.
And the red trim boards.
I miss parking in my garage.
After Tim left, thinking it was Tuesday, I went over to Menard's to get a smaller roller for painting the railing so that I could try painting on Thursday, when there was going to be nicer weather. I was trying to use my supplies on hand, but the four inch roller I have is just too large. There was lots of splattering from paint on either end where the roller was not in contact with the baluster. I am hoping having a smaller roller will actually make the process go faster. However, I would like to brush paint the sides and front of the balusters. I think. At least, that is my plan.
On the way home, I was talking with my sister and she mentioned that it was Thursday. I was stunned. But I was glad that she mentioned how full her Thursday are because Thursday nights are when I put out the yard trimming bags for collection. Since they are paper, I cannot put them out on wet days/nights. I have six of those ginormous bags crowding my garage. As I was driving, at a stop light, I wrote myself a reminder on a sticky note and stuck it to my windshield. That way, when I got home, I remembered to put the bags out for collection.
Anyway, at Menard's—that wildest of hardware stores I have ever experienced—I found some footie slippers that I think are the best things in the entire footwear industry ... save for my brown leather boots. The slippers are neoprene (isn't that what a dive suit is???), slip over the foot with a strap across the top, and have non-skid bits on the bottom.
I do not like slippers with hard soles. I walk around in socks all the time, before because I never went barefoot and now because of the Reynaud's (my feet turning blue from cold). However, my socks catch on the small nails that pop up in my old, old, old wood floors. I trip. My socks get holes. And I get frustrated. Those essential wool socks for cold months are $8 a pair.
I've been wearing the slippers atop my socks ever since I got home. They are flexible and comfortable and are barely noticeable. I have not, however, tripped once! Plus, the bottoms of my socks will not get so dirty!!
I got them for less at the hardware store, but these are the slippers I got: Nufoot Mary Jane Slippers. I have a rebate to Menard's coming. I think I would like to get a second pair. They come in GREEN. I chose black today, to be sensible and practical. Sometimes, it's good to be insensible and impracticable.
Thus far, I've had only two of those strawberry cookies that came out of the oven nearly five hours ago. How's that for will power???
3 comments:
I need new slippers. I bought a pair and they wore funny, so now my foot is at an angle and uncomfortable. Ilike what you have, but my ankles get cold even with my wool socks.
Nice fix for the holes on the railing.
Going barefoot outside (contact with the earth) is good for the body. Except not good for cold prone feet when it's cold out.
My wool socks from Target have this fluffy inner part and are crew socks. So, my ankles are never cold.
Still no tripping! I actually forgot I was wearing the slippers tonight!!
Maybe I should think about being barefoot in my backyard. In the dead of night, of course. With the lights off. Maybe you can remind me to try it next summer. ;)
I'll remind you. You could hang up laundry barefoot.
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