A mish-mash week

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It’s hard to believe July is almost over. Much of it was spent dodging super-hot weather. I wasn’t very successful. Not complaining though (really I’m not). Not a fan of January!

The beloved husband is finishing up a woodworking project on the fireplace wall. This is not a “contractor project” so it went as expected. Originally the house did not have a mantel or anything attractive on the fireplace wall. It is now complete with mantel, trim work, and a built-in cabinet for odd-ball TV stuff. Looks cool. We had to move furniture around. This old lady did pretty well hauling heavy furniture up and down stairs! No body parts were injured and that is a miracle! The doors aren’t on yet so no pictures. Soon!

Early this morning, all sorts of contents from the next-door basement were starting to appear on the back lawn. Lots and lots of boxes. Christmas decorations, briefcases from working days, framed artwork, old shoes and some stuff I had no idea what it was. The condensation pump on the HVAC system failed and flooded the basement. There is considerable damage. The basement was finished and beautiful. The floor will have to be replaced and some of the drywall. Those briefcases weren’t looking too good either, but she’s retired. They probably contained notes from a meeting ten years ago. Always something in the hood.

I stretched out of my comfort zone and had a mahjongg lesson this week. Oh my! I’m still at the overwhelmed stage but I enjoyed the camaraderie. I’ve never been about games but always about the friendship. Maybe except for racquetball. I had a little killer instinct there. There is another lesson next week. I’m working on my Chinese characters. The tiles really look all Greek to me! I have promised to play five times before I give up. Four more to go!

55 thoughts on “A mish-mash week”

  1. I’m catching up on your posts, so I’m going backwards as usual. I saw the references in the comments in your later post about the wood working project around the fireplace, and I thought someone made a joke about your husband doing it. But I see here he really did! That’s what I get for not reading closely. He’s very talented. I’m officially jealous. – Marty

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  3. I’ve never tried Mahjongg. I have never been much of a card player, except Solitaire. As an only child, I always had books or cards to amuse myself and had a very cool slotted, flocked board to put the cards in while I played Solitaire – you could look at all your cards at a glance without touching them. Nowadays I am addicted to Klondike Solitaire. Good luck with that Kate. Your poor neighbor. We had a flooded basement many years ago and also a big mess when the hot water tank sprung a leak.

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  4. I had to chuckle. My 90 year old mother just announced that she’s interested in learning Mahjong. I wish I could turn her over to you to guide into this intriguing game. I know nothing about it! But good for you for doing something out of your comfort zone. It sounds fun…and challenging!

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  5. ANYTHING that involves too much water is the pits. My sincerest sympathy. Going through the odd past can be rewarding, when it’s wet though, not nearly as much. Hope it get resolved painlessly.

    Mahjongg, eh-how cool is that? I’m guessing your strategy is more sophisticated than say a game of Battleship?

    Congrats on fashioning the mantelpiece. Bravo to you and your hubs. Looking forward to seeing pics of the finished accomplishment.

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  6. When we moved into our townhome we put in a fireplace and mantel as well. Makes SUCH a big difference. Congrats to you two. Horrors on the neighbor’s basement flooding. Something we probably all worry about. And good luck with the game – I know it would be “all Greek to me,” so I’ll stick with staying home and reading a good book. ;-0

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  7. Sorry about the basement. What a mess. I recently bought a mahjong set but when I looked at the instruction book I decided to wait. It looked soooo complicated. I do want to try to learn it though. I just need to push through reading it I guess. Was it fun?

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    • Fun? Ummm…well….wehn you don’t know what you are doing it’s not exactly fun. The afternoon was fun though. There was some non-related chatted that went on and it was a glorious day weatherwise. Maybe it was fun if you consider the whole picture.

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  8. A construction project you can enjoy – hooray. Looking forward to photos. Good luck with your new game. I’ve never been a good card player, but I can certainly appreciate the friendship. I’m sorry for your neighbor because besides the damage and expense, I’m guessing it involves a lot of work. Of course, as we age, everything is a lot of work. 🙂

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    • Yes, and there will be a huge pile of junk in her backyard. I feel sorry for the neighbor that butts up to our backyards. They had to look at the junk piles when my deck was being built and now they have carpets and boxes and stuff to look at. BTW it poured last night so everything is soggy too. We put a privacy screen on the side of our deck. I was up and down about it because I wasn’t sure if I needed one. Yes I did!

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  9. YAY on the completed fireplace project – I love a nice fireplace! I don’t know a thing about mahjong but always thought the tiles were super interesting. I’ll have to research it online. Too bad about your neighbors basement flood – we had one a few years ago and got rid of a lot of “stuff” that we didn’t need as a result. We called it “The Great Flood Purge” !

    Hugs, Pam

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  12. I used to play racquetball, too. Had a killer serve. Then the local courts were turned into weight rooms. Boo.

    I really miss mantels. And fireplaces, too, but mainly the mantel. Especially at Christmas. It’s not the same, hanging stockings from the entertainment center. Can’t wait to see a picture of yours.

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    • Mantels are the best at Christmas time! We had local racquetball clubs that were cheap and easy to belong to. Then they were converted to squash and then they went bankrupt. Not sure if there are any courts locally. Pickleball is the big thing now but I haven’t tried it. I need a partner and so many of my friends have mobility issues.

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  13. Gratz on the mantel project. Done as expected, eh? I hope you tipped him!

    I used to play mahjong on the computer. I don’t know whatever happened to that game. If the goal is to match all the tiles, I never got particularly good at it. If the goal was to match quite a few, I did okay. The one for the phone is too tiny. My old eyes couldn’t make out the characters.

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  19. Good luck with your Mah Jong lessons. It’s very popular around here. I prefer Bridge, but many people play both . . .

    Look forward to seeing your husband’s handiwork on the mantel and its surround.

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