Random 5 for September 27 – Projects, wallpaper, TV, instinct, loss

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Another project? – We painted another back hallway in our house. I like the piece by piece strategy. We aren’t living in chaos. (I don’t do well in chaos, especially kitchen chaos. Let’s just say it makes me more than a little cranky!) After much reflection, we are going to replace the wallpaper on one wall in the kitchen and declare ourselves done with house projects for now. Wallpaper is a sticky thing (literally and figuratively). Most people aren’t doing it much but I like a dab of it here and there for texture and effect.

Mom and Pop stores – The wallpaper brought me to my moral dilemma. There is a wonderful paint store nearby. We often get paint, advice and odd supplies there. They have a large wallpaper selection (which is hard to find these days) but they stopped the steep discount that they used to do. I found what I want but I can get it on-line for half-price. I patronize local businesses when I can but the lure of saving a lot of money draws me in. I couldn’t select wallpaper strictly on-line without seeing it so it’s important to keep the local brick and mortar stores. How about you? Do you pass the locally owned shops in favor of saving money?

The new season – Well, folks. The new TV season is back in full swing and I’m already disappointed. The first Castle show (one of my favs) turned out to be a 2-parter with the first part not making sense. I have a few more on my dvr that I haven’t seen and I’m hoping they didn’t go in for the sensational (or ridiculous). I saw the Mysteries of Laura and Debra Messing did not disappoint.

Go with your instinct – I bought a pair of inexpensive bi-focal glasses for reading. My eye doc said that the progressives have a smaller “reading” area and that’s been the cause of my eye fatigue. (Hey, better that than old age!) I was able to get a stripped down pair reasonably but I always get the silicone eye pads. My nose skin is like a greased pig for glasses. Somehow (and I don’t know why I didn’t go with my gut) the optician talked me into trying the hard plastic first. I had to go back because by the time my glasses settled, they were somewhere between my navel and my pubic bone.

Thank you all for your kind support – My post on grieving received a lot of views. Many of us are working through grief for all different kinds of losses. It was a part of my journey. It wasn’t as well written as I would have liked. Unlike Taylor Swift, I don’t do my best work when I’m in pain. She has a real talent. Wish I could turn tragedy into $$. If you missed the post it’s here.

38 thoughts on “Random 5 for September 27 – Projects, wallpaper, TV, instinct, loss”

  1. Taylor Swift! You made me laugh. 🙂 I relate very well to the on-line versus local store dilemma. I don’t have a hard and fast rule because I can’t seem to land either. I go back and forth, I’m afraid. Sometimes it really does come down to whether or not I have had a lot of unanticipated expenses and whether I have the extra or not! Sometimes it’s almost painful to make the decision in either direction! And I have had similar responses to the new TV season. I’m afraid to find new ones I like–the ones I like end up getting cancelled after I’m hooked. And my old favorites are getting a little tired. What’s this world coming to! 🙂

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    • Taylor Swift made a fortune writing songs about her heartbreaks and most of them occurred when she was barely 20. I bought on-line. I justified it by thinking of all the purchases we make at the store. Still had a niggle of guilt.

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  2. I gave up on wallpaper years ago. Too much trouble. I used to buy it at a Mom & Pop shop so I get your quandary. Will be interested to learn how you resolve it.

    I have to wear eye glasses with silicone pads, too. The bridge of my nose is narrow so those plastic frames never work. Pity because I’d love to have some.

    I’ve only seen Castle in reruns. At first I loved it, but lately not so much. Maybe it’s jumped the shark?

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    • I bought the wallpaper on-line. It was 50% less. I couldn’t resist as wallpaper is not cheap. We buy other things at the mom and pop store (or so I rationalize). Tried those plastic frames. Don’t work on me either. I love some Castle shows but in the past few years they have run multi-show story lines that I’m not fond of. I like a show to be complete in one session.

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  4. I’m also a fan of Castle and Mysteries of Laura. It was nice to have them back. A little wallpaper is nice for some variety. I haven’t had any for a dozen years, but I remember the pleasure of choosing just the right pattern, leafing through book after book and finding most of them unacceptable until the right one appeared. I do like to shop locally, but I don’t hold myself to 100%.

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    • We went through a house yesterday that had a lot of deep, dingy grass paper on the walls. I like grass paper but it’s more fragile and this looked like it had been there for at least 20 years! I went with the internet with my purchase. Hope I won’t be disappointed.

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  5. Andy and I wallpapered a bathroom together. The experience nearly made our marriage a short one. I am really impressed with couples who can manage projects together cheerfully.

    I try and patronize local businesses.I’ll even write them one letter if I have a bad experience. If they respond, I’ll usually keep going (especially if they apologize, fix the problem, and send coupons). Andy is strictly a bottom line kinda guy, though.

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    • The only person I can wallpaper with is my brother and that hasn’t happened in 20 years. I have to do it myself. My husband will help set up and clean up which is very helpful but I am really good at it. I can’t have someone making errors because I never buy extra. For the projects we do together, at the beginning we decide who is the project lead and who is the servant. Depends on what is getting done as to who is who. I am very handy so for some stuff I am the better lead. My husband is excellent with wood and he is always the lead on trim or wood projects. Of course there are some projects we muddle through because neither of us know what we’re doing.

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  6. I prefer the Mom and Pop stores unless their prices are way out of line. I don’t want to be overly dedicated. Castle is my favorite show also but last week’s episode was disappointing. The 2-parters always have too much unnecessary “filler.” Progressives work well for me for reading but I finally got another pair of glasses just for the computer. Bifocals are impossible for that!

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  7. Are you sure we aren’t related? While all the critics pan “Mysteries of Laura,” I love that show! Watched it last night, as a matter of fact! And I have the first new episode of Castle on my DVR. But after what you said I might hold of watching it until I have the second part ready to watch, too. The only new shows I have watched so far are the Muppets, which was hilarious, and Best Show Ever with Neil Patrick Harris, which I enjoy up to a point.

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    • Don’t know why Mysteries was panned. I love that she doesn’t wear “babe” clothes in her role as a detective. Seriously, how does a detective catch their guy when they are running in stiletto boots with their boobs bouncing out of their clothes. Debra Messing mostly wears sneakers and occasionally had kid barf on her clothes. I like that about her. It’s more believable! Yes, watch both Castles back to back. Hopefully it will really end tonight and won’t drag on (like Red John on the Mentalist).

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  8. This is why I don’t watch series television…then I’m not disappointed. As for the mom and pops, I try to support them, as long as they’re not ridiculously overpriced. Have a great week, Kate. The Eagles are trying to eek out a win…let’s hope.

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    • I like the progressives for everything but reading for a couple of hours. I can even adjust to reading the computer just fine. I haven’t had enough experience with the standard bi-focal to issue an opinion. I have a friend who says she can’t wear progressives and only wears bi-focals. Then some say that you have to get used to them or the trip you up. We’ll see.

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        • Do you wear glasses all the time? I found I could get a cheap pair of bi-focal glasses under $200 that I will use just for reading. I had already gotten progressives with my new prescription so it was either that or wait another few years until my prescription changed. Good luck on your decision and put a post on your blog!

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  11. I love when you post pictures of your house…it’s so lovely, and restoration is a wonderful outlet for grief, since it restores you too as I sit here polishing silver.
    I’m glad you’re feeling better about Jake who I’m sure still follows you around in spirit….you just can’t see him is all 🙂

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  12. We also try to shop locally whenever possible, especially when we’ve visited the store to research the product. Many are willing to bargain if asked, but I also realize they have to cover their overhead. It’s probably not practical to expect them to match an online price. When I was in the market for a DSLR camera, I did a lot of online research, then visited a local camera shop to make a final decision. They were so helpful that I didn’t mind spending more to purchase the camera from them. I looked at it as “insurance” to make sure they were around for me in the future.

    Is Mysteries of Laura a new show? I like Debra Messing so I guess I should check it out.

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    • Mysteries of Laura is in it’s second year. It’s a detective show without the crazy car scenes and near death stuff. It’s about solving the crime with the background of her personal life issues going on. Locally it’s on our WCAU but you can google for your area.

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  13. When we purchased our cottage in 2007 the decor was GROSS, as each had a different colour scheme (bedrooms bright yellow, purple, terracotta), lounge green (everything, it was like walking into a field), bathroom peacock blue, dining room blood red (curtains, carpet, walls, even the doors were stained a dark burgundy). We did one room at a time, stripped off all wallpapers and painted either white or magnolia. Like you, we prefer to give our business to local tradesmen, but sometimes it’s not practical. We approached them by putting everything on the line and asking the local guys for their best price. They delivered free (savings of £25 to £50), and if they couldn’t match it, they’d still give us some kind of discount, so in most cases there wasn’t actually much difference.

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    • Your cottage reminds me of a house I had in the 80s. Each room was different with a different genre. One room was Mediterranean, one was early American, cottage French, on and on. It was a small house. What a mismatch! Off with everything and I painted it all a creamy off white. Ahhh…much better. We recently bought a piece of lawn equipment locally. The price was close enough but even better, they put it together for free. Definitely worth it. Bargaining is a good idea.

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  14. Wallpaper….ugh….after taking too much of it down, which is a messy process, I swore I would never have it anywhere in my home again. And I’m sticking to it..:)
    I like to support Mom and Pop businesses as much as possible unless their prices are significantly more than I can find elsewhere.
    Castle was confusing, wasn’t it. Too bad, that’s usually a fun show.
    I disagree about your post on grieving. I thought it was very well written. Sometimes raw is better than edited.

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