The Envelope Please...

The envelope please... and the winner of the contest to guess what I had done that I had never done before in my life is............................

Yes, I was tired of my thin, gray hair and I dyed it. When I was young, dying your hair was all the fad, but my parents would never allow it. I guess they ingrained that into me and throughout my adult life I just never did it. Besides, I loved my thick mop of auburn. However, after my accident in 1988, I began to loose my hair and it got thinner, and thinner and... well, you get the idea.

When I got my hair cut the other day, the hairdresser, whom I've gone to for years asked me why I didn't dye it. She told me it would look a little thicker and would look fuller with a bit of color. So yesterday I went to the drugstore and bought some hair dye. She was right. It does at least look like I have hair now. See below. I'm quite pleased, though I don't look forward to having to dye it every six weeks or so. But when I had to choose whether to look bald or like I still have a little hair, I choose the latter. Even Jordan noticed. He kept looking at me oddly and then asked me if I'd dyed my hair.



So Anni, in the next few days I will send your gift off to you in the mail. I will send you an email when it's on its way.

In renovation news, the lathe and plaster are still upstairs. In yesterday's post I explained that I had called 1-800-Got-J*unk. They had quoted me a price of $215 to $300 for removing all the garbage. They were to be here at 2pm.

About 1:45, the man called and said he would be about one hour and a half getting here, as they were halfway between here and Niagara Falls. I understand things happen, so that was fine. When he did get here, he looked at the mess upstairs and told me it would be $750 to remove it. No way was I paying that much if I have to carry it downstairs myself. So I sent him on his way and called the company. I heard every excuse in the book from them. The only thing I have to say is that I will never call them again nor will I ever refer anyone to them.

So, the plaster and lathe is still upstairs and we can't paint a thing until it is gone because of all the dust. We can tape and mud though, so we will get that done. This afternoon another man, an independent, is coming to give us a price. If that is too steep, we will end up doing it ourselves, but that will cause things to be delayed once again, so am keeping my fingers crossed that this man is reasonable. Oh, the joys of renovations, but at least it is moving forward, albeit slowly.

Take care and have a wonderful Friday. And to all my American friends and readers, Happy Independence Day.~Blessings, Mary~

A Contest and Renovation Updates

I did something today that I've never done before in my life. See if you can guess what it was. The person who guesses right will get a little gift from me in the mail, which I won't disclose until the winner receives it. I will announce what I did on my next post, along with the winner's name. Remember though, you have to be willing to give me your mailing address in order to receive it. You don't have to have a blog to win. Everyone is eligible. Have fun!

We have all of the wallboard on the bathroom except one sheet. This has to be left until after the plumber moves the pipes for the sink. I have taken a couple of photos to let you see how very green it looks. The green wallboard is a bit more expensive, but we decided to bite the bullet because it is water resistant. Well worth it in the long run. It will keep moisture at bay. We are going to install a new ceiling fan, which will also help.

This afternoon, 1-800-Got_J*unk is coming to take away all the lathe and plaster and other garbage that we took out of here, including the old sink, tub and toilet. It would have cost me a fortune to get a disposal box in here - almost $500. That is out of the questions and these guys do all the work. Hopefully by the time the sun sets tonight, all the garbage will be gone. Once all the dusty garbage is gone, we will tape and mud the cracks between the wallboard and then prime and paint before the plumber comes in.

In other news, hubby had his tests on Wednesday. He goes to the specialist on July 11th to get the results. Please keep him in your prayers.

It was a beautiful day yesterday with no humidity and a great breeze. My type of summer day. Humidity and I don't get along. I hope you are having great weather in your area. We are to have more rain and thunderstorms starting later today. However, the rain doesn't bother me as everything is such a beautiful green when we have sufficient rain. ~Blessings, Mary~

Monday at My House

Good morning to all my friends and readers. I hope you are enjoying the start of the new week. It doesn't seem like June should be half over. That means the year is half over and it seems like we just entered the New Year. Time flies.

I am tired. Monday morning I went up to the apartment and gave the wall unit that the tenant left a coat of paint. When I had that done, I came downstairs, put in a load of washing, swept the floor, paid some bills, cleaned the bathroom, switched the laundry to the dryer, put in another load and then went back upstairs to give hubby a hand trying to disconnect the old bath tub. It has been there for years and it was quite a task to get it disconnected, but we wanted it ready for when Jack got here.

Once the bath tub was ready to be taken out, I folded laundry, switched the second load to the dryer and put in a third load. Seems like I was going the entire day, but I got a lot done, which is very satisfying. A good day's work.

Jack didn't get here until 3 pm, as he worked Sunday night and had to get some sleep. He and hubby took the old tub out and then he pulled some nails that had to be taken out of the joists and swept the bathroom floor. Hubby stripped wallpaper while Jack did that.

You aren't going to believe this, but the tub didn't have a regular floor under it - just a piece of wood - not even plywood. It was very thin. I couldn't believe it myself. The tub was mainly sitting on the joists. However, the joists are in good condition, so that is a plus. I will try to get some photos of the hole in the floor. It's amazing that the tub has sat there all these years without anything more under it.

This afternoon hubby is busy and I am going to check out prices on plywood to lay a sub floor. Hubby also has to drop in and talk to a man who did previous work for us. He has retired from the contracting business and now has his own fish and chip business. Since we are inexperienced in renovating bathrooms, we need to find out what comes next. So, we are progressing, though very slowly. Of course everything costs more than you expect it to.

Jack can't come back this week but I have lined another man up to help on Thursday. I don't know him very well, but he seems to be a good worker. He's done work for our neighbor and his rates are very reasonable, so we will see what happens there.

Have a wonderful day and rememeber to do an random act of kindness. Even a smile can make someone's day brighter. ~Blessings, Mary~

What's New on Tuesday

Good Tuesday morning, to all my friends and readers. I thought this graphic was so cute and a great way to say good day to all of you.

Well, the excitement from the storm has passed. I thought for a while today that we were in for another severe storm. Toronto did get it, but it passed us by.

It was HOT today. 33.3 degrees Celsius, which is 91.94 degrees Fahrenheit, but with the humidex it was 40 Celsius, which is 104 Fahrenheit. We surpassed a record that was set on the same day in 1959.

The neighbor lady and I spent a few hours stripping wallpaper in the biggest bedroom of the upstairs apartment. We quit about 3pm because it was just too warm, even with the air conditioning. Hubby wasn't feeling good, so we had him go and pick up a couple things for us but wouldn't let him do any work. I think part of his problem was the heat and the air quality was poor as well. I don't need him taking a heart attack because he's working too hard at that apartment. I told him it will get done when it gets done and he's not killing himself to do it. I expected an argument but I got none - another sign that he wasn't feeling well.

Jack is coming tomorrow, so he will get all the mess cleaned up and we will go from there. It will all get done in it's own time.


I would like to introduce you to a blogging friend of mine. His name is Paul and he is 93 years old. He is the father of Denise at Samaritan Women. He is a great poet and tells some great stories of his younger years. Please visit him at The Poet. I love visiting his blog, reading his poems and walking with him down Memory Lane. Be sure to stop by and say hello.

Please continue to pray for Denise at Shortybear's Place. She lost her brother on Sunday and she is going through a difficult time. If you would like to send her a card, please let me know. A card shower is a lovely way to express our sincere condolences in this time of sorrow.

Have a great week and remember to do a random act of kindness. Kindness brings hope where all hope has been lost. Blessings, Mary