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calliope_gw

Long Ramble warning

calliope
11 years ago

So, I've been sick (better now) and then busy and quilting got put on the back burner. So three days ago, I decide it would be ever so pleasant to head up to the sewing room and just relax a little for an hour or so at my machine in front of a sunny window overlooking the pond.

The window looked streaky with the sun pouring in, and I figured I'd enjoy it more if I just cleaned them off a little first. I gets the Windex and start but notice the storms are also dirty, and decide to wash them as well.

Well, these are ancient windows and they don't fold out, and to access the storms, one must take the windows out. Literally. So to get the windows out, one must start to disassemble the wooden strips holding them in. I get the hammer. Windows out! The storms are dirty on the outside as well, so that means they must come out too.

Then I have two large holes in the exterior walls open to the great outdoors. Put cat away, so she doesn't get ideas and procede to wash the storms. Notice the glazing on the windows is crumbled an mostly missing. Find push points because somebody else thought they weren't necessary. Then have to make trip into town to get putty.

Remove what is left of old putty, and reglaze windows. Notice the windows are black exterior and the putty is white. Hunt for black sash paint.

Day two: paint windows

Day Three: try to reinstall windows. rofl. Won't fit. Go to tool shed and get sander. Sand window sides. Finaly get back in with help of husband who then needs to make new strips to hold windows in.

I broke the legs of my sewing cabinet when I moved it away from the windows to clean them. Hubby repaired that yesterday. When it broke, my new sewing machine slid off to the floor. It bent an arm. I took the machine apart and got that fixed.

I never did get that relaxing hour at the machine. I don't know what the moral of this story is. But this all started with one dirty window. Pathetic.


Comments (14)

  • ritaweeda
    11 years ago

    LOL!! That'll learn ya!! Hey, that's no different than thinking you must replace a worn-out rug, then after you get one, you start noticing that the worn-out couch or chair really looks bad now, so you replace that and suddenly the drapes and paint or wallpaper look awful. Or you go out and buy a dress then realize you also now need a new pair of shoes and purse to go with that new dress. And to stay on the subject of quilting, you decide to buy just one cut of fabric for a project and use your stash for the rest, then you start looking at your stash and can't stand how it looks alongside your brand-new beautiful new fabric, or you don't have "just the right thread" to finish it off. It's never-ending.

  • murphy_zone7
    11 years ago

    thank goodness I am not the only one that gets caught up in a "this leads to this too" kind of mind-set. I sometimes just have to stop myself, call a friend or sister and say "stop me now, this is getting completely out of control". LOL
    My brief rant....went out to the front porch one day to water my plants, before IT (the out of control do this too) was over I had pressured washed the entire outside of my house.
    Good heavens....can you imagine. My family STILL talks about that episode. sigh!

  • msmeow
    11 years ago

    Oh, my, Calliope! I'm so glad you were able to fix the machine. And now you have shiny clean and painted windows! :)

    Do you have curtains in the room? Next time you think the window is dirty I recommend closing the curtains! LOL

    I wonder if men have episodes like these or if they are immune? My DH never seems to notice when anything needs cleaning!

    Donna

  • bev2009
    11 years ago

    Oh, my. That was too funny! I do the same thing when I go out for "just 15 minutes" to garden. However, in that case I appreciate one thing leading to another. If I look at the garden as a whole, it seems overwhelming, but if I just let one thing lead to another, I can stay out for hours without feeling stressed.

  • geezerfolks_SharonG_FL
    11 years ago

    You girls are much too active! But your activities are sure fun to read about! LOL

    SharonG/FL

  • lola99
    11 years ago

    Oh no - my laughter turned to wide-eyed surprised concern as I read about your machine sliding to the floor! I am so glad you were able to fix it...and the sewing cabinet and the windows. :)

  • mary_c_gw
    11 years ago

    Ah, Calliope, it happens to us all the time! I'm really glad you were able to repair the sewing machine.

    Here's my long ramble, LOL.

    This reminds me of the time we tried to change the light bulb in the dining room fixture. We only been in the house a week, LOL, and we knew it was in bad shape, but sheesh!!

    I was up on the ladder, and realized the simple act of unscrewing the light bulb was enough to detach the ceiling plaster from the lath! Shut the power off, removed the fixture, and then we supported the ceiling with some sheets of plywood and a bunch of 4x4 posts. Luckily we had the supplies around, because we knew there were a lot of repairs to be make.

    But we were determined to save that ceiling - beautiful coved cake-frosting type plaster in an original Craftsman bungalow. The original light fixture survived, too!

    It took months to get to that repair - other things were much more dire (like a functional bathroom!). But eventually we got some metal lath over the original wood lath, and re-keyed the plaster.

    We also reglazed a couple of window panes a month for the first year. I got quite good at the glazing, but left the wood repairs to DH.

    I miss that little house! We we had to sell for a job transfer, I was heart-broken. The new owners remuddled it into something unrecognizable as Craftsmen style.

  • quiltnhen
    11 years ago

    A real belly laugh up 'til the sewing machine crash! Sure glad it works ok. This happens so often the the original thing I thought I would complete never gets done. Now back from our trip with a group of twenty coming Thursday and where am I...on the computer!

  • polardream
    11 years ago

    I agree with Valarie that it is a belly laugh until the crash! Seems like this happens to me all too often. I, however, resist the urge to clean windows. Mine are really bad right now so I will call someone to clean them - I don't do tall ladders and that is required for mine. I just refilled the bird feeder by the kitchen window so I justify the dirty windows by thinking it helps keep the little songbirds safe from flying into a clean window! :)

    Sue

  • bozogardener
    11 years ago

    This reminds me of the time I took pictures of the sewing room to show on here. Looking at the pictures, I realized my windows were filthy! A few hours later, I got back here to put the pictures up in here. :)

  • littlehelen_gw
    11 years ago

    Calliope...thank you thank you for sharing your adventure...it's so nice to know I'm not alone! I go to do one thing and end up spending hours on something totally different because I saw it needed to be done; where did this female gene come from and how can we rid ourselves of it for future generations?! LOL
    Glad to hear the important stuff ...Your Machine...is functional, what a scare that had to be!
    Now go have yourself that hour and enjoy!
    Valarie
    Valarie

  • aquadragonfly
    11 years ago

    I saw where it was all headed, shaking my head in agreement thinking, yeap I totally understand. Was right there with you until you said you broke the legs on the table and I instantly said OH NO....I was so hoping you were not going to say what you said next but you did. THEN my eyes got wide on the machine fell to the floor and bent the arm, I was thinking oh no, poor lady...then you said, I took it I was thinking to the shop but out you came with apart and I actually EEKED! lol, but then you said you fixed it I was like shew! Good thing....

    YOU had me all in suspense the whole story, cuz I do that too. I see one thing needs to be done, start doing it then that leads to something else and so on and on and on....
    I go outside for something tell him I will be right back then I come back sometimes a LOT later and he says I thought you were coming right back....well I went to the garden!
    Thank goodness that is over with for this year...ANYWAY, I was feeling it until the machine fell!
    I hope it didn't do any damage an it still functions correctly, I personally would have been ranting about maybe breaking my machine.

    At any rate, I hope your relaxing hour or two comes and you can actually sit down an sew for a while.
    I am with Donna on that closing the curtains thing, out of site out of mine, you can look at the pond while you are outside lol.

    :) Aqua

  • calliope
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I can't close the curtains. I washed them this morning and because I hung them to dry and it rained, perhaps by day six, they'll be dry and back up to the windows. ;-)

    Mary C. love the Arts and Crafts houses. My parents lived in one. Yes, they are worth every ounce of work to keep the integrity on their style. It grieves me to see people 'update' homes into style oblivion. How sad. I have had a lifetime of house renovation including doing my own wiring and plastering, but this is the first time I ever glazed windows. It was a better job than the one done by whomever did it before me, but I won't quit my day job.

    I was actually not too rattled when the machine did a nosedive to the floor. Even though it's less than a year old, we have a love/hate relationship and I have had fantasies about helping it take one. Glad to hear the other gals take those little side excursions with their projects too. I get in pickles with it sometimes because in addition to doing that, I'm usually a time optimist about how long it will take.

  • petalpatsy
    11 years ago

    My goodness! It sounds like a nightmare-it really would be for me, since I wouldn't be able to fix any of that stuff. A good reason for me not to wash my windows.