Bigger is Better

Bigger is better when it comes to TVs. Just ask my husband. We discussed purchasing a plasma TV for over the fireplace in the family room/library/study. He sometimes feels left out of a lot of the decorating/remodeling decisions, so I said, "why don't you research that and get some prices." Well he hopped right on that assignment and before I could say, "what did you decide would work best?" we had this..........Don't look at the mess, this room is used for storing lumber, cedar shingles, and apparently 2 Christmas wreaths that have yet to make there way to the basement.

You can imagine my surprise when I realized that we were now the proud owners of 55 inches of plasma HDTVness, oh and least I forget.....plus Bose surround sound. Gotta have a sound system......what better way to hear the Detroit Lions lose with....than surround sound.

So imagine my surprise again when yesterday morn (10am) there came a pounding on the front door that about knocked me out of bed (didn't get home from work until 5am). When I opened the door, I was met by a startled DHL driver....he acted like he had never seen a sleep deprived woman in pink flannel pajamas at 10 in the morning. What could be so important that he couldn't leave the package on the porch???? Well, it was my free LCD TV. In all it's 23 inch absolutely free glory. Twenty three inches???????? I thought it was suppose to be 19 inches. Instead of sending a 19 inch LCD Samsung TV...they sent a 23" LCD Samsung TV. I did a little price searching online. This particular TV's cost is somewhere between $529 to $699. Not too shabby for free.

So now...this fall when R is watching the Lions lose and apparently the Tigers this summer (grrrr) on his 55 inches of TV, I will be able to watch America's Test Kitchen in the kitchen on my 23 inches of free LCDness AND burn something on the stove all at the same time. All will be right with the world.

TVs....where would we be without them?????

The theme for today is raking

I've decided that when possible I will post on all my blogs (3) using a theme. Today's theme is raking.

Raking.....as in raking it in....and that is what I did today.

Today I turned in my Coke Points for a 19" LCD TV that I will use in the kitchen at The Gear. Free stuff must come in threes because I also cashed in my Speedy Rewards for another $25 gift card from Lowe's. And last but not least, I cashed in my Pepsi points for 5 free DVDS.

Not too shabby......

I Feel Like David Letterman

Sandy, a fellow Michigander and blogger of Curley's Corner fame, bestowed upon me an E for Excellent Blog. Thank you very much. Wow, first time in my life I was thrilled with getting an "E"!!! She asks that by accepting this Excellent Blog Award, I agree to award it to 10 more people whose blogs I find Excellent Award worthy. I can give it to as many people as I want but that I please award it to at least 10.

So here goes. It was very difficult to narrow it down to 10 because I read a wide variety of blogs. Some I read for the knowledge I can gain from them. Some for design inspiration for my own home. Some I read because I'm intrigued with their decorating style even those it may not be my own style. And some I just like to read.

The blog that got me reading blogs, Casa Decrepit. I am so happy that Ayse is done with school so she can blog more often. I just happened upon her blog several years ago and spent days reading about their troubles with a contractor hired to do extensive foundation work in earthquake country. I can honestly say I would not have been able to handle it as well as they did. Ayse and Noel are hands on people with two of the cutest dogs. Check out their blog and their new irrigation system totally designed and built by the two of them.

DYI Diva. Damn...this chick does it all without losing any of her femininity. So young to have already figured it all out. Check out her blog and her etsy site to get an insight into her artistic abilities. Don't forget to check out her BADASS pergola. Don't worry Mom, that's what she calls it. Also I promised myself that I would buy myself one of her handmade brooms as soon as I finish my kitchen. The girl is talented.

One Woman's Cottage Life. Oh my, she has the most gorgeous red kitchen cabinets imaginable. I love her ceiling. Now how many times in your life are you probably going to tell someone "I love your ceiling."??? Probably not many, but I love hers. She also has this little white ceramic bird that shows up in a lot of her photos. It took me a while to realize that she didn't have 52 of those little birdies. Check out her blog and now her esty store. She's the purveyor of the most delicious looking faux desserts on the planet. I gained 5 pounds just looking at it.

Curley's Corner. Sandy always has the most appropriate joke. I don't know if it is because we are about the same age and from the same area but I can relate to everything she writes. Check her blog out for inspiration.

This Old Crack House. Another one of the first blogs that I read. Gary's been going at it for 7 years restoring a very large Victorian in Dayton Ohio. He does the vast majority of the work himself and if you need to know ANYTHING about shellac...well, he's the guy to ask. And whatever you do...do not click on that button.

The Petch House. Here's another guy restoring a Victorian era home and doing the work himself. Read his blog to hear about how he salvaged floor tile and bead board from old buildings to install in his home. He is currently in the progress of getting his home on the National Register. Read his blog and you'll soon see he has an eye for detail.

Redemption In Corktown. Another home restoration blog from a fellow Michigander. Read his blog to hear how he is bringing an old neglected home, in Detroit's Historic Corktown District, back to life with the help of some wonderful friends. Read about the maze of paperwork needed to restore this beauty in a city that has had it's fair share of woes lately. You'll be inspired.

Bangor Bungalow. Shhhh, don't tell them...I'm stealing their shelf design for my kitchen. If you're into bungalows check out theirs and don't tell them I'm taking their shelf design idea.

You Grow Girl. Here's a gardening blog written by a young women who can grow anything in anything. Check out her blog for gardening tips and ideas or better yet, buy her book titled, You Grow Girl.

And last but not least, another blog I've read for a long time House in Progress. Aaron and Jeanne not only have a great blog about the restoration of their Chicago bungalow but they are the originators of the Houseblog Network. How they take care of a website dedicated to home improvements blogs, restore their own home, and raise a cutie called Grace is beyond me.

OK, there you have it, my top ten blogs. Hopefully all those that are mention will continue what Sandy asked me to do. Congrats, keep writing, and I'll keep reading.

Did it go according to 'The Plan'?

I have been so busy, I haven't even had a chance to read all my favorite blogs lately.

Thank you Sandy for the 'This blog is rated E for Excellence' award. I truly appreciate it. I have been mulling around my top ten list in my head. I almost feel like David Letterman. I will post my top ten favorite blogs this weekend. It will be very difficult. I read a variety of blogs. But thank you again Sandy.

Waaaayyyy back just before Easter weekend, I made a bold prediction of what 'we' were going to accomplish during our time off. Let's see how we did. But before I give you a run down, I want to remind you of something. It was a 4 day holiday weekend but by 3:10PM of the first day I still hadn't done a thing. Actually I think when I wrote that I was still in my pajamas. So in all actuality it was a 3 day plan not a 4 day plan.

1. Do a walk around and see how well 'The Gear' survived. Done.

2. Take new photos for future reference. I have a few new photos but it was so windy and cold that I just wanted to get warm.

3. Check for buds on fruit trees and inspect for damage. Done. Trees look good, no broken branches or apparent dead branches and all trees are still standing straight so they must be rooted fairly well. We removed the remaining stakes and twine.

4.Trim fruit trees. Done. Removed all downward growing and crossed branches.

5.Looked for signs that tulips made it through the winter. Done. They were just barely poking their little pointy heads out of the ground.

6.Work on windows. Well we did and we didn't. We worked on different windows. We had removed the 3 bottom sashes in the dining room earlier in the year. They are stripped but the glazing is like concrete. R remarked that it didn't even smell like the other glazing we removed. We both feel that it is not glazing compound because it just doesn't appear nor smell like the other glazing we have removed. So the answer to item 6 is yes but no.

7.Sort through tools and organize. I'll answer that one when I quit laughing.

8.Measure for wood for deck. Nope. Couldn't find tape measure. See item #7.

9. Buy cedar shingle bundles. Nope.

10.Load stumps. Ahhhh no...they were still frozen solid.

11.Pick up twigs and branches. Done.

12. Burn twigs and branches. Heck yes. That's how we stayed warm enough to work outside.

13.Remove center wall in potting shed. Nope.

14.Burn wall with twigs. Nope.

15.Rake leaves out of flower beds. Yes yes yes and I even trimmed 50% of the rose bushes. See garden blog for verification of said raking.

OK...let's tally this up. 15 items on the list. 7 completed. 2 were iffy. 6 were a big NOPE. Just a quick calculation (guesstimation) and I'd say that was around 50%.


All in all not too bad for a late start and brutally cold weather.