My house. Well, you could eat off the floors. No literally, you could eat off the floors! It’s such a mess. Me, who prides herself on a clean abode…

Now this: have you ever heard of lipovox? Me neither, but here you go, live and learn!

I should have spent the day cleaning house or working on dolls, doing something useful, but I just couldn’t do it…and tomorrow it’s back to work.

The moment I saw this Indoor or Outdoor Swing Chair it was love at first sight. Imagine how wonderful it would be to sink into this swing, a cold glass of tea, or maybe some wine, a gentle breeze, some relaxing music. Suspend it from a tree, patio, porch, or use it indoors. The cushions are poly-fill, with zip-off, weather resistant cover for easy care.

Here’s another relaxing idea; a shower stool…I know it sounds strange, but I discovered this when I was pregnant and prone to dizziness and fainting. Now I love to just sit and let the warm water cascade over me…

I’m pleased with the color and the texture so I will set the piece aside and let it dry thoroughly before I do any more painting. My next step will be to mix up an olive green to shade in over the mustard color, but that’s for another day. It’s best to keep the coats light and very dry in between. Otherwise they will look like plastic and may even peel. Peeling is bad, very, very bad.

Now here is something for you to ponder until we meet again, ever heard of Orovo? And no, it has nothing to do with birth control or bug spray…

Next I mixed and matched paint until I came up with a close match, kind of a dark mustard color. The fact that I mixed my paint in a mustard jar is of no significance…it would work just as well in a mayo or baby food jar. The paint will dry slightly darker, so take that into consideration when mixing.

I then gave the vase a coating of the mustard color, using a very soft paint brush. I didn’t worry too much if I got into other areas, because dark mustard is the base color of this vase. After the coating I sat it aside to dry. Once it is dry I will be able to see any missed spots that I was unable to see even with my super magnified old lady reading glasses, and do further repairs if necessary. I will likely be adjusting this color many times as I add layers, until I am completely happy with the results.

I may have mentioned I’m working full time now…don’t know quite how that happened, but here I am, gainfully employed. The pay isn’t that great–hubby didn’t get a Rolex for his birthday–but it’s nice knowing exactly where and from whence my next paycheck will come. The only problem is that working has definitely has slowed down my repair work and blogging. My house is none too clean either.

If you would like to come clean my house, let me know.

I don’t know if it’s related but I’ve been nauseous all morning, it wouldn’t take much to send me running for the bathroom. Probably nerves…we aren’t used to this sort of thing in Illinois!

And now this; are you interested in a natural acne treatment?

In the past I have both bought and sold, but with the new changes I’m pretty sure my selling days are over and possibly my buying days as well. As of May, sellers will no longer be able to leave buyers, no matter how dishonest or deceitful, anything but positive feedback.

Paypal can also hold a seller’s money up to 21 days if they decide, (in all their infinite wisdom) that the transaction may not go smoothly….ahh, all those lovely fees, lovely interest. The monies are only released when the buyer has received the item and is “pleased”. Sellers are forced to ship goods without any payment, buyers are then free to complain about the item, get their money refunded, then send back an empty box and keep the item. Sellers have no recourse whatever.
Ebay has also recently begun encouraging buyers to leave unwarranted negative feedback against sellers by sending the “unhappy” buyer generous discount coupons towards their next Ebay purchase. And, per new changes, sellers with too many negative feedbacks will be forced to accept Paypal… ahhh, all those lovely fees, lovely interest.

Seems to me, most of the new changes were designed to force all sellers to use Paypal!

As a seller I bent over backwards to please my customers, and as a result I experienced a lot of great transactions. But there were also a few not so great experiences–buyers who wanted something for nothing, buyers who were simply impossible to please, buyers who started out with the intention to scam, to extort shipping fees, etc. For these minority of buyers, feedback was my only protection. Now, with the recent changes, Ebay is giving these buyers a license to lie and cheat and extort.

Does this seem fair to anyone? I’ve read that Ebay stock has been steadily dropping in value, I can’t help but think these latest changes will cause a further erosion in confidence…I’m no futures broker, but I think that the powers-that-be at Ebay have really screwed up this time.

Normally, we go to a place called the River’s Edge in Fredericksburg. It’s deep in the country, basically out in the middle of nowhere. I know we’re close when we come to a really cool old abandoned stone house. I’m always tempted to jump out of the car and go explore it! It’s such a neat old house, ancient, with old rickety balconies and and a battered metal roof, unfortunately, it’s in the flood plain and probably inundated every year. The restaurant is also a great old brick and stone affair that was once a mill. It sits above the Gasconade river and you have to take a ferry to get to it. It’s strange, we usually go late in the evening and there always seems to be a big ole moon as we ferry across the dark, silent river to the opposite side. The restaurant is also very atmospheric, with stone everywhere, antiques and primitives, leaded glass and such. The food is excellent too and not overly pricey. We didn’t go this time because we’d been told that the river was up and the ferry was out.

Below are some photos of the Wurstfest, taken during a respite from the gloom and rain. Most of the photos taken inside didn’t come out. Like many of the little old towns in missouri, Hermann is really quite scenic.

Speaking of Missouri; land for sale Branson! Interested?

Tuesday after work, I got my laundry done, my bags packed and everything laid out for the dogs. Then Wednesday we headed for Peoria for three days. We got home late Friday, unpacked, played with the dogs, then went to bed. It felt good to finally be back in my own home on my own mattress!

I’d love to hear from you, any comments, questions, any dollops of wisdom you may have been hording for years, just waiting for the right audience…Write me and I promise I’ll do my best to answer!

And now this brief message; are you interested in endless hot showers, more space and lessened operating costs? Then check out tankless water heaters!