Greetings! We're no longer painting. On Valentine's Day we declared victory, put the painting supplies away and tidied up. The primary bathroom still needs to be painted, but that's on hold for awhile. For an activity that does not work up a sweat, painting is amazingly tiring. It was putting a crimp in the workout schedule, we were back at it last night and it was fairly difficult.
Tuesday we had a sales rep out from Budget Blinds. They seem to have policy of not giving a caller any idea of what something might cost over the phone. So, the young woman came out, measured the two windows for blackout cellular shades and gave us a quote. It started at $1,000 for both windows. But wait! there is a 30% discount that can be applied. Installation is free, but there is a $25 per shade shipping charge. All told it came to $800 and some odd dollars. I'm a little fuzzy on the exact numbers because I was in such shock at the price. She allowed as how they've been hit with some substantial price increases, and I commiserated with the fact that paint prices are also going through the roof. Anyway, we will not be spending that much money on two windows. That's just crazy.
There was a sunset Tuesday, it was kind of nice. Not AZ quality, but pleasant.
An artist we like a lot is Walasse Ting. He was fairly recent, living between 1929 and 2010. I first became aware of him when I bought a framed print of parrots at Ikea, decades ago. We have no memory of when that came into the house. Anyway, the mantel area is huge, because it's in the corner, and the other wall needed something. Art.com has a fair amount of Walasse Ting, much of which is out of our price range. However, the framed lithograph was doable so we got that. The Ikea print is on the right, the new one is on the left. I think that part of the living room is now well and truly anchored. There is a post card on ebay I might get, I am still thinking about it. The guy on the mantel is a reproduction of a Chinese roof tile I got at Gump's in San Fransisco a very long time ago.
Costco is selling chair mats - the carpet we have is thick, the pad is thick. Wheeled chairs sink and do not roll. It's aggravating, the first round of chair mats were a complete and total failure. The Costco mat is thicker and does not dent the way the first mat does. This carpet is treated with some sort of super stain resistant chemical. Duct tape will not stick to it, nor will painter's tape. Fortunately we will not be painting base board that is over carpet, masking would be difficult. Everything moves, including the first chair mats. The new ones have ridges, so maybe they'll stay put. My next task is to organize the multitudes of paper the new health and drug insurance companies have sent us.
Here is news from Texas.
I guess this is one more method to keep Democrats from voting, just delete their records.
Other than this, I have zippity doo dah all to report.
Hooray for the end of painting, at least for awhile. Lovely sunset!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm one of those weirdos who prefers natural light. I removed the old slat blinds on the windows when I painted two years ago and I'm not replacing them. I'll let the new owner do that if they want.
My next life time I want to come back as your house.
ReplyDeleteI love the ducks.
The sunset is a mazzzing!
I do like the sunset photo!
ReplyDeleteI had to buy a mat with points on the bottom to stay anchored on carpet. Worked great.
That's a beautiful sunset; we've been having some pretty ones on the west side too. Glad the house is coming together and that the hard work has paid off. There is always something to do in a house! Sigh.
ReplyDeleteWell, our governor did say he would do everything he could to keep Texas red despite what the residents want. Texas also says it can't print anymore voter registration cards because of a 'paper shortage'. Nothing but a bunch of liars and cheaters.
ReplyDeleteYesterday I heard a story about California conservatives who are moving to Texas to be with "their kind".
ReplyDeleteI like your bird prints and that IS a nice sunset. Congrats on finishing the painting -- at least for now!
ReplyDeleteIt's almost comically absurd that the Republicans are screaming about Democrats cheating them out of the last presidential election (with NO EVIDENCE) and meanwhile they're cheating like crazy.
Classic projection, something the orange wombat has perfected to an art form, as have many of his peons.
DeleteGlad your painting fun is over. Mine will be starting very soon. I had to buy a mat too and wish it was half again as big.
ReplyDeleteHave a look at selectblinds.com. If you are able to measure and install yourself (and it's not difficult, I promise), you can save a bit of cash. We had great luck with everything we ordered from there. We did our entire motorhome with a couple of different types of blinds and have already started ordering for our house. They are nice quality and reasonably priced, and the only time I had to have one replaced, customer service was great.
ReplyDeleteI love your colorful prints. And the sunset was gorgeous!
Congrats on the painting, which is certainly good exercise. Perhaps your workout felt hard because your bodies were already worked out! You are embarked on making your new home, and you its really becoming your own in a beautiful way. I empathize with how expensive things are. And the other day I walked into Bed Bath and Beyond, which used to be a pretty high end store in these parts, and it was bare and unwelcoming, and now looks like a picked over warehouse. I was there for curtains, but they all seemed so sad, and expensive to boot. I bought none. As for voter rolls being purged, these public officials have no moral center.
ReplyDelete