life — Page 307

Chalk Paint? Not So Much.

February 4, 2013 at 9:42 am by Claudia

chalkpaint

I know everyone in blogland is on the Chalk Paint Bandwagon. I’ve read countless posts on how wonderful it is. And I’ve seen beautiful results. But so far….I’m not a fan.

I have a few pieces in our bedroom that are wood. For the most part, the wood is dark. This piece is from our Craftsman days in San Diego when the trim in our house was a darkly stained wood and so many of our pieces of furniture were, too. I’ve been wanting to paint the various pieces in some sort of cohesive color and, hopefully, brighten up the bedroom in the process.

You can see the dark finish this piece had originally if you look at the top of the blanket chest.

One of the selling points of Chalk Paint is that it goes a long way. The instructions always point out that you don’t need to use a primer. And one (or two) coats of paint is enough to cover the piece. I had to use 4 coats of paint. Believe me, if I had known, I would have primed the piece first. At $36.95 for a small can of paint, 4 coats of paint is pricey.

I was frustrated. A small project that I thought would take a short amount of time took much longer than expected. I’m still not entirely happy with it.

I don’t get what the big deal is about Chalk Paint. Has it been overhyped? It’s awfully expensive. If I thought it was worth the effort, I’d rather make my own. There are plenty of recipes for it on the internet. But is it worth the effort?

And I wonder – why not just use regular old paint like I normally do? Why go to all the expense of chalk paint if I can use flat latex and some wax and come up with this?

tvcabinet

It isn’t a great photo, but this is a $5 cabinet that I painted and aged and waxed. For the price of some latex paint and some paste wax (which I still have) this ends up being much more affordable.

I don’t know about you, but if I’m spending $36.95 on a quart of paint, it had better be fabulous.

So far? Not fabulous.

I know that some of my readers use chalk paint and love it, so maybe I’m missing something? Or doing something wrong? If I am, please let me know! I’ll be happy to adjust my current attitude.

By the way, has anyone else received a Malware warning while on PicMonkey? This morning I was editing a photo and was about to save it to my computer when I got a big old Malware warning (I was on Chrome.) I quickly closed that window and ended up editing in Ribbet. I wonder sometimes if these warnings are real or are the result of an overactive and extra vigilant browser. So now I’m running my virus software to make sure everything is okay. Edited to add: Saw this explanation today. PicMonkey and other sites must have been advertising partners with this site. All is okay now.

And my wireless router appears to be acting up.

Happy Monday.

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Ice Station Zebra

January 25, 2013 at 8:03 am by Claudia

pinecone

Greetings from Ice Station Zebra! Don started calling the cottage, in this frigid, stuck-in-the-house, worried-the-pipes-might-freeze weather, Ice Station Zebra (after the movie of the same name) when he was dealing with it all by his lonesome 4 years ago. At that time, I was working in sunny San Diego. Now, the tables are turned and I’m dealing with it all by my lonesome. I get it. I feel like I’m in some cold, lonely outpost trying to stay sane.

Incidentally, I turned on TCM last night and what was on? Ice Station Zebra.

After I wrote and published yesterday’s post, I went to turn on the cold water in the kitchen. Nothing. The pipe had frozen. Trying to ignore the more than slight feeling of panic that was trying to take over, I grabbed a hair dryer. Sometimes we have to go down into the basement to thaw the pipes. But I thought I’d try the pipes under the sink first. After about 5 minutes of work, I saw the stream of water from the tap get a little stronger. Eventually there was a nice, heavy flow as the pipe thawed.

Phew!

Our pipes in the kitchen and bathroom have a history of freezing. They are on the outside wall and I suspect there’s not quite enough insulation there due to some mouse activity in the past. Since the next 2 or 3 days promise to be just as frigid, I am now dripping water which has turned into a steady stream, all the time in both the kitchen and the bathroom – hot and cold. I might just go mad. I’m also keeping the heat at a higher temperature than I like overnight. Monday, when the temperatures are supposed to be warmer, cannot come soon enough.

Because of all this, I have truly lost track of what day it is. I was all set to do a big post today on Decorating on a Flea Market Budget in the Kitchen. But then as I emerged from a restless sleep, I realized that today is Friday. Not Thursday. Friday. And my posts on Friday are usually not big ones because I also post A Favorite Thing on Friday evening. So I’ll hold off on the kitchen post for a day or two.

In the photo, a few treasures: my dad’s toy, a Model T made out of cast iron that still has remnants of its original yellow paint, and some things I’ve gathered on my walks – a pinecone, a feather, some pods and some acorns – sitting on a brown transferware dish.

And I made another scarf:

greenscarfblog

I love this color. If you were interested – and why would you be – you’d find several items in my wardrobe in this color. It’s made of silk and bamboo – very soft and silky to the touch.

I’ll be back this evening for A Favorite Thing. In the meantime, I’m running some quick errands and getting ready for the snow that is supposed to fall overnight.

Why am I not in Southern California at the moment?

Happy Friday.

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Reading Rules, Frigid Weather & Sick Husband Update

January 24, 2013 at 9:21 am by Claudia

coldriver

May I say one thing?

It’s friggin’ cold here!

Yesterday I had to run an errand or two and I thought I just might be walking around with a frozen face. I wondered if everyone was looking at me and thinking, “Poor girl, her face is totally frozen…how sad.” Right before I left to run those errands, Scout had been hopeful that my putting on my coat meant she might get a walk, so when I came back home I figured I would walk her around the property. Let me tell you, that was the fastest walk we’ve ever taken. I couldn’t wait to get back in the house.

Too cold.

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A curious thing has been happening. I think I will now call it a ‘rule’ of my reading life. I often reserve books through our library’s loan system. We have a little branch here in town but the loan system covers several counties. I put three popular books on reserve quite a long time ago – I’m talking months.

A Wanted Man by Lee Child: On the waiting list for a few months. I finally broke down and asked for it for my birthday. Received the present on November 21st. A week later, I got a notice from the library that the book was on hold for me at my local branch.

Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young: Don’s a big fan of Neil Young and we had talked about how much he’d like to read this book. I signed up for the waiting list a few months back. Nothing. So I gave it to Don for Christmas. A week later, I received a notice saying the book was on hold for me at my local branch.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: On the waiting list for the longest span of time. Figured I’d never get it. Broke down and bought it last week. This morning I received an email from my library saying it was in the library waiting for me.

You see? This is the rule: If I want the book I’ve reserved to appear on my local library’s Hold shelf, I have to buy it first.

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Don is still sick. For some boneheaded reason, the theater doesn’t have understudies during the main season, only when the Shakespeare Rep is going on over the summer. This decision was apparently made several years ago. When I worked there, the MFA students routinely understudied all roles throughout the year. There are MFA students in the cast of Pygmalion. So on Sunday when he came down with the flu, the theater had to cancel two performances. Don’t get me started on that. Why a huge theater doesn’t ensure that a performance can go on if an actor is sick is beyond me. No actor should have to feel guilty about being ill.

On Tuesday, the powers-that-be decided to rehearse one of the MFA students in the role, just in case. Don was sick but prepared to go on but those same administrators thought he should take one more night off and see a doctor the next day. The MFA student performed that night, script in hand. (Audiences usually love that sort of thing and they cheer the understudy on.) Don went to the doctor yesterday where it was confirmed that he had the bad strain of flu that is going around. (Don calls and says: I’ve officially got the flu. Says me: We already knew that.) He’s been on antibiotics since Sunday and the doctor gave him some Tamiflu yesterday. He went on last night.

He’s getting better, slowly but surely, but he says this is the worst flu he can ever remember having.

For those of you who are also dealing with this deep freeze, stay warm. I’ve been taking a break from quilting to crochet some scarves, but I may go back to quilting today just to have those three extra layers on my lap!

Happy Thursday.

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Chalk Paint? Not So Much.

Ice Station Zebra

Reading Rules, Frigid Weather & Sick Husband Update

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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