Ve Vant to Dance Vith You

Friday night brought more fun via another blow-out gala event at Robbin and Angelines house! Everyone came in a costume, and we all intoduced ourselves by our fantasy names. There was a squaw named Running Kick in the Pants, a lady who was most enjoyable to talk with. Another clever costume, fashioned by Rumpled Foreskin, consisted of gloves sewn to a bra and panties, kinda a map or directions to fun. As the light grew dimmer the base materials disappeared, making her costume look like just the gloves attached directly to her. Handy costumer, that! A couple of men of the cloth, who weren't so interested in me, Della Dumone, a high class call girl from Paulina, Oregon, as much as they were interested in finding a scout troup of little boys.

What I enjoyed most about this dress up party was the freedom of most people to borrow from the opposite gender, items reserved exclusively for defining feminity and masculinity. Several revelers crossed over that line with much success. The host stashed a small bottle of booze in his ample cleavage, clicking his castinettes and dancing seductively in his belly dance finery. The lady of the house wore her favorite leather chaps and black fishnet stockings, leaving a wake of adoring smiles as she'd walk past.

This party hearty fellow, TomTom, hailing from the Mardi Gras Indian nation tribe the Wild Tchoupitoulas picked up on Della Dumone by plying her with Two Buck Chuck, and enticing her with his subtle wit and engaging spirit. In the photo below she is luring him with a seductive pose in his lair.

I loved being Della Dumone, a high class call girl from Paulina, Oregon. Wearing a touchably soft sheepskin skirt and vest, with a sexy black boustier underneath encouraged my glimpse into my "new" profession. My thanks for the friendship shared with that afternoon with Jessica Vinyard who transformed my face from $100 to $1000, for my night of uncommon glamour. Here's to girlfriends!

Off to Seattle

After a drive that was too long to break up and too short to stay overnight somewhere, Chase and I arrived at Rob's in Kenmore, Washington, right about peak rush hour. Vibrating from top to toe I needed to stretch. Rob, Chase and I went for a long walk into the hills of Uplake, then down to the trail that encircles Lake Washington. We walked onto the abandoned slips in the Kenmore harbor to watch the lights twinkle in contrast to the dark water and the glow of the light pollution from Seattle. We hiked back up the hill, said goodnight and I slipped into a deep sleep on the most comfortable sofa ever made. Having Chase sleeping at the foot of the couch made it all the better. In the morning, after two solo latte's at Cafe Ladro, I picked up Rob and we drove through the most lovely hilly parts of Seattle. Above is a traffic calming device in the neighborhood of Phinney Ridge, that is beautifully tended by the neighborhood, although I suspect that the residents of "Mikeville" have made a larger contribution than other neighbors. Mikeville residents have their own lovely gardens, along with this guestbook, which I happily signed. Changing our minds about browsing the Woodland Park Zoo, Rob and I decided to tour the new Seattle Public Library,
we climbed to the top, rode the elevators from top to bottom and back up again, then explored the stairwell. Here are the workings of an elevator, along with a photo of the coolest relief globe I've ever touched! It is truly a beautiful building with green considerations everywhere, from recycled floors embossed in letters from different languages, to gently sloping floors that I can only imagine has something to do with sweeping floor debris downhill and off the edge of a floor onto someone's book. The place is a study in open space, with a surprising level of quiet, light, and personal comfort.

The Bathroom is Finished

Everything about making this bathroom change happen relied on asking friends for their help and opinions about everything. Asking my friends about selecting the right color, to purchasing plumbing parts from Grover's brought a smile to my face, it was truly a collaborative process. Without the help of my girlfriends and my sweetheart, Tom, I would not have enjoyed the process so much. With their help and encouragement I was able to: completely remove all old wallpaper; heat off all of the old lead based paint; remove the toilet & sink; rip up the old flooring; hang the new wallpaper; install a dimmer switch; install new valves for my toilet and sink; and host a long time planned party just 2 hours after I finished reconnecting the water supply. Whew!

The photo collage shows the new floor and linoleum that Tom installed; the paper on the walls that Gayle, Shirley and I hung; the toilet with its new birch seat (Patricia helped me lift it into the tub when I first started); and the cabinets with their mat inserts. I'd been hunting all over for chair caining, but couldn't find a place to sell me such a small amount. I remembered a set of placemats I'd picked up while vacationing in Fiji several years ago that had just been gathering dust. So, I removed the old punched tin inserts, whipped a zigzag stitch to the measured edges of my mat, and tacked the new mats into place. I LOVE MY NEW BATHROOM, it feels like an expensive spa to me. Armoatherapy candles, anyone?

Bad Math

Danged it all. I didn't do good maths! Had to stop having fun with Gayle, who was helping me to hang my first few sheets to determine the final status of my green trim paint color.
The paint color is too yellow, now that the paper is up, and it clashes with the vinyl floor. I'll get some blue added to my green and repaint the moulding around the floor. The cabinet will just have to stay the way it is. I'm getting tired of the fuss, the humongus mess, and I wish that I'd spent extra money on paper and paint products that are the self applying kind. To the left is the bathroom, partially hung. And, below is the lower wall in the kitchen. I can definitely see the need for a black exhaust fan and a new shiny black gas range. Gotta get a job if I'm going to do that.

Hanging Some Paper

Many big changes this week, best of all is the floor in the bathroom is down and I have use of my shower again. When I get that paper hung behind the toilet I'll put that back and won't have to run upstairs (or outside) as the urge strikes me. Everything is coming together in little bits, but I'm making progress. Tom's help has been crucial, sweet man that he is, and I'm very happy to have him in my life. His advice is always correct and accurate, too!
I'm set up on the back deck, with one of my drop leaf tables supporting a sheet of pressboard for cutting.
And, finally I get to hang some paper. Although it's been decades since my last paper project, I'm ready to hang some short pieces in the kitchen just so that I can put my knives back in their place on the wall. What a mess it's been to get to this point. I'm quite happy with the result.

Destructo Woman!

I can see the original hardwood floor peeping out from under some glued down paper. I'm removing two laywers of floor covering and pressboard stuff and a canvas looking fabric under it all. I'm almost finished - but I'm stopping for a breather to do this, then I'll go to see my helpful friend Daniel at Grover's to buy new angle stops for the sink and pull it off the wall. That should make the space much easier to work in.

WHEW! This smells really awful.

Here's the latest photo of my bathroom. It's very white and smelly with its fresh coat of oil based primer. I took off the toilet, which is resting in my bath tub, so that I could paint and paper more easily. Tom suggested that I replace the angle stop for the toilet, since the one that was in there was very old. And he suggested that I take off the base shoe and replace the floor. That idea rocks! Now I'm hunting for a destructo tool to take up the particle board, which has melted in places from leaky plumbing (which I hope is now totally and completely fixed). Swimsuit hash tonight at a lovely and undisclosed spot...should be a perfect night for a run and a swim.

Preparing the Kitchen for New Paper

Aargh! The kitchen wallpaper isn't coming off as easily as the bathroom paper did. It looks like there is damage to the wall which was covered by a paper underlayment to even out the surface. So, it's like stripping the kitchen twice! Once to get off the out-of-fashion paper, and again to pick up the remnants of the underlayment. I'll need to repair the wall and resize it before I can even get close to hanging my new paper. It's almost discouraging except for today I picked up the trim paint. Looking at the new colors and patterns remind me of how much I'll love the effect in the kitchen and bathroom when I'm done. In the above photos you can see the bare white wall, the light brown underlayment, and above the cabinets remain the old pattern, which you can't see very clearly. The dark green cupboards through the doorway will be painted the trim color, a light green with a shiny finish.

I'm writing this because I just needed a break (and proof that being retired is "hard work.")

Papering the Bathroom

Last evening I began stripping the old wallpaper in the bathroom. Starting at 5 pm I took down all the hardware and fixtures, then began scoring the paper with a curry comb looking tool. Using a sponge I applied a product to the wallpaper to break down the paste, and lifted off the old paper which came off in huge, wet sheets. I was completely finished, cleanup included, by 9 pm. Today I'll be stripping the years of paint off the moulding and cabinet, which is behind the shower wall. The space is so empty that it echoes! Time to buy trim paint!

Lake of the Woods

After a quick afternoon getting the Allante running after a long sit, Baggy and I headed for the hills in the Rogue National Forest. What a lovely surprise for all when we showed up unannounced at "The Bad Boys" campout. Cheers!

The Van Dyke 4, a mixed quartet of good fun. 

Posing for my friends. 

ChaseMan's Second Birthday

Today Chase turned two. We celebrated in Jacksonville at Grady's house on his new deck. Then we came home to celebrate with pound cake and juice when Hilde, and her mom, Gayle, and Patricia, visited this afternoon. Cockers look so good in pointy hats, don't you think?

Air B. Dog and TreyMus celebrate my college graduation 

Welcome to my blog

Today is June 2, 2005, and I'm celebrating my first post to my first blog with an aspirin and cough syrup. See, there are many fun things you can do while you are down with a cold.