Friday, May 25, 2018

The Long Weekend Has Begun



Hello dear friends.  It's Friday afternoon here and the weekend has started with a boom!  The pool replaster guys arrived with their jackhammers and have begun attacking the pool.

In August, we will have lived in this home for eight years.  It's the first home we've ever had with a pool and hopefully the last.  It's basically a hole in the ground that takes a lot of money and upkeep.  We are "do it yourself" people but this time, we had to hire a proper company to replaster the pool.  You can see the total discoloration and erroding of the plaster.

The plaster team arrived just a little bit ago, all five of them with their air driven jackhammers and they are getting the job done of taking off the old plaster.  Unfortunately, the whole pool system of heater and filter are over 25 years old, so we're having that system replaced too.  This is for a couple (myself and husband), who maybe get into this pool twice a year.  It reminds me of the boat we once owned.  Luckily, we sold that boat.  The pool I'm afraid is here to stay :)

I had a lovely week as my daughter took me to tea.  It was part of my Mother's Day gift.  I didn't tell you but my dear husband was in the hospital over Mother's Day.  He's fine now - long story short he had been prescribed too many doses of antibiotics and it effected his system.  Thank goodness for great medical care.  He is fully recovered.  It was scary.

My daughter and I enjoyed a lovely tea at the Tea House in an old house in San Juan Capistrano.  We've gone there before and my it was a busy place that day.  

On Saturday, I attended my Daughters of Norway lodge meeting.  It was held at the Women's Club House in Dana Point.  I love going to this club house as it's so old school from many, many years ago.  Our dear member, Myrna, wore her Mother's bunad that was made by her family in Norway back in the 1960's.  It's all hand embroidered; such fine detail, too.  I loved the jacket that she also has as part of the ensemble.  Myrna will be wearing this lovely bunad to the Grand Lodge Convention later this summer.

On Sunday, I hosted a dinner for some dear friends.  We had a good time and my husband bar-b-qued steaks but the bar-b-que decided not to cooperate.  No fear, as we finished them in the broiler.  It was a nice evening.

I'm still working on finishing my knitted scarf but in the meantime I started this little needlepoint.  I'm so late in coming to discover this wonderful needle art.  I absolutely love needlepoint!  However, the canvases can be quite pricey.  So far, I've bought them on eBay and have had great luck.   This is just a smaller one that I'm making from leftover tapestry wool.  I changed up the colors a bit as I don't like bright colors.
                        
I found this canvas design on eBay through two different sellers.  It's a very large canvas and when I decided to purchase it, it was gone.  Luckily, after looking on the web, I found the exact same canvas at Goblen.com which is a Turkish website of all things.  It is 60 cm x 125 cm.

                         
And I also bought this little canvas as I love the oval design.  In addition to the two shown above, I bought one more for my daughter.  And, guess what I paid for all three?  $61.00!  It was a steal.  Here's the catch; Goblen offers free shipping in Turkey so I had them shipped to my son's home there.  But, if I were to have them shipped to the US via DHL, is would have been $24.00 shipping.  It is still a great deal as the large swan canvas above was $99.00 on eBay.

The company offers all types of needlework products.  I didn't buy the tapestry wool as I wanted to see if I had some of the colors in my stash.  As it turned out, I was in need of some black tapestry wool and I hate to pay shipping charges.  I found DMC Laine Colbert tapestry wool online at WalMart and had it shipped to my local WalMart store for free where I picked it up. It's quite puzzling to me why WalMart would carry such an item such as French tapestry wool?  

Anyway, that's the update from Lilly My Cat.  Lilly is as sweet and sassy as ever and she sends you all her meows and good wishes for a safe Memorial Day holiday!

With my best wishes,

Pat

PS - I hope I didn't bore you with my last two blog posts about investments and buying a home.  I just have a real passion about these things and if I can ever help someone in some way then that's a good thing!


12 comments:

  1. Hello, Dear Pat - I am so happy to hear that your husband is doing well. That must have been so stressful and worrisome. It's so nice to catch up with you and see what you have been doing. My- you have been busy! Love seeing your lovely photos of you and sweet daughter having tea at the tea-room. Such a nice way to celebrate Mother's Day. Oh, pools.....my parent's had one when I was young and my chore was to skim and 'vacuum' it every day. I don't miss that. You do have a pretty pool - maybe once it is done you will enjoy it more. Your dinner looks lovely and the needlepoint's are going to be so beautiful. I love seeing the Nordic costume, too. So special that it was her Mother's. I hope you have a relaxing and fun holiday weekend. xo Karen

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  2. what a lovely table you set!!! So nice of your daughter to take you to tea! I am so sorry your husband was unwell! Those cross stitches are so beautiful! Wishing you a peaceful long weekend! God bless!

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  3. Hi Pat! I enjoyed your two posts about property investment. You did what my husband and I talked of doing, but ended up moving 15 times and parenting a small crew of children instead 🙂I also enjoyed this post and seeing the result of your thrifty shopping...beautiful projects to tackle! I'm glad you and your daughter enjoyed tea together and that you husband is now well!
    Happy Weekend! xx

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  4. What a lovely way to spend mother's day. I can't imagine having a pool, it's quite rare over here as we just don't have the weather for outside pools except for perhaps a few weeks in the summer. You've chosen some lovely tapestries xx

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  5. Oh how lovely to have a pool. In the UK there are comparatively few houses with pools as we just don't have enough warm weather.We also have fairly small gardens with most houses. Your daughter looks lovely and how nice it is to spend a few mother & daughter hours together. I treasure the times I spend with my daughter - just the two of us.
    Glad to hear that your husband is Ok. I was hospitalised due to an antibiotic reaction some years ago - not nice.
    I admire your patience with cross stitch. It's not something I've ever done.
    I love the traditional Norwegian outfit. I have visited Norway (Flam, Bergen & Stavanger and been up Mount Dalsnniba from Geiranger). It is a beautiful country.

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  6. As much as I'd love to have a pool, and have dreamed and wished for one for most of my adult life, I have to say... this post cured me. While I still admire houses with beautiful pools, I appreciate this honest look at what owning one (especially, an aging one) can mean. Thank you, Pat. You are going to have a beautiful pool again when all that work is completed!

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  7. I'm also glad to read that your husband is doing well. Sorry to read that he had been ill. My elderly FIL recently died after contracting C-diff after being on antibiotics for pneumonia. We look at antibiotics and miracle drugs, but they have a scary side, too.

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  8. I am scared to even put a small water feature in my yard for fear of the upkeep, so I would never want a pool.
    So glad your husband is feeling better.
    Hugs to you,
    Andrea

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  9. Glad your husband is feeling better. I love that your blog is dedicated to your cat. We had a lovely cat that passed away and I can tell you I will never forget that cat. No other cat has been able to be like he was. Glad you had a fun Mother's Day.

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  10. I love the photos of you and your daughter having tea together. I'm sure you enjoyed your meeting with your Daughters of Norway friends at the club house. Needlepoint picture making is a relaxing hobby. The designs you've chosen are very attractive. I'm glad to know your husband is better now.

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  11. I am a swimmer and so I'm very jealous of your pool.. I hope you might enjoy it more once it's all spiffed up.. and I hope you show us a photo of it when it's all done. Your daughter is gorgeous.. what a nice tea you had. Lovely. Enjoy your weekend. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  12. You have such a beautiful looking pool! I love the plants and shrubbery around it. Looks like you guys had a wonderful weekend. Hope you are enjoying your summer.
    World of Animals

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