I am a Victorian Soul, who lives in a small townhouse that was built in the mid 1970's, not a huge Mega Mansion!! I just recently lost my Hubby Joe, who was a Retired Letter Carrier. I worked night shift as an RN on a Hospital based Rehabilitation( Physical Medicine) Unit for 37 years before I had Knee Replacement Surgery and officially Retired in 2019 after 41 years working in Direct Patient Care ... I am so glad that we retired at 62 years of age and got to spend that time together before he passed....I still do love Retirement!!!!

I DABBLE IN A BIT OF THIS AND THAT!!!!

" IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN"
George Eliot
George Eliot was actually a pen name for a woman named Mary Anne Evans......

BLOGGING FOR FUN AND FRIENDSHIP!!!!!!

Monday, September 4, 2023

A Few Projects and an Amazing Sunset!






 

  Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

 
I am so happy you decided to stop by!!
 
 
 I now post 3 TIMES A WEEK on MONDAY, WEDNESDAY and FRIDAYS!!!!
 
 
As always, click on each picture if you would like to enlarge it....
 
 
 
 A NOTE ABOUT COMMENTS
 
I enjoy reading your comments and will return the favor by visiting and commenting on your blog or reply to you directly here if you do not have a blog but I do have my comment section set to Moderation due to spammers and hackers so your comment will not appear immediately...
And since I have a very busy life, like most of us do, it may take me awhile to return your comments but I promise I will....
 
 
 
 PINTEREST
 
If you would like to Pin my pictures, please click on them to enlarge them to do so....
 

 Today I will be sharing a few projects that I had been busy working on.....


In my last post, I shared some Falloween Crafting....


 

 

 

 

 

 

Click HERE if you missed that post!!

 
And now for a few Personal Notes...
 
 
Happy Labor Day!!
 

 Especially those who have to 'Labor" today and also this past weekend....

The best thing about being retired is that I no longer have to work the Eve or the Day of every Holiday, never getting a full holiday off because Hospitals never close....

It will be a quiet Holiday for us since Jim and Danielle are among those workers who do not get Holidays off, let alone a weekend off ( they work at Target, overnight shift) they will not be coming over for Labor Day....

It is the last day of a 4 day stretch for them in a 40 hour work week and they also have an appointment to take the pups for haircuts today so it would be too tiring for Danielle, who is a little over 5 months pregnant with the Twins...

So "Debbie Door Dash" will make a trip to them to deliver their Labor Day Cook In food....

And it will be just Joe, Joey and me here for the Holiday this year...


 
This is what I wore to Mass on Sunday morning....

 
The capri's are new but are identical to ones that I donated because they were 3 sizes bigger....


The top is older than the hills bought years ago at Value City which has long gone out of business
 
The tank top underneath it is about 10 years old....

I just could not fit into them for a very long time....

I only wear tank tops under a jacket of some sort....
 


Today's post is all about a few projects that I have been doing....
 
 


This is the 30+ year old Congoleum Flooring walkway from the Kitchen door way through the Den to the back door....
 
 
 
When we had a dog, we had it installed to save the rug in this room....

The high gloss shine that it had when it was first installed it is LONG gone and so is the Future Floor Wax that I used, like my my Mother before me, to make my floors shine again!!

 
After scrubbing it with a scouring pad and lava soap, I applied another "Old" floor care product to make it shine as you can see in these pictures...

 
Mop N Glo!!!

 
I applied 3 coats by hand with a cloth....

 
It did the trick as you can see by the pot lights in the ceiling reflecting off the floor....


This project was on my 3-5 Year Post Retirement To Do List ( formerly my 2-3 Year Post Retirement To Do List)!!
 
Now I just have to remember to not let it go dull again!!


Now we do not have a Basement or a Garage so I am frequently asked where do I store everything....

When we first moved in, my Den was a patio that was open to the back yard and on the left when you walked out the back door in the Kitchen was a door that went into a big Storage Room that consisted of 2 sections with the back half actually being inside of the house and the front section being outside where the door to enter it was...

When I had my Dad turn the patio into our Den 2 years after he had made it into an enclosed Patio, I had him rip the wall out to include what used to be the outside half of our storage room as part of our Den......

This corner where I sit to watch TV when Joe is watching his Hockey Games in the Living Room , was once that outside part of the Storage Room....


In doing this, I also had my Dad build me a Pantry Closet which is the door on the right......

 
 
 
 The pantry closet , along with storage in our washer and dryer closet in the Powder Room is Joe's domain as he does the grocery shopping so he puts everything the way he wants it....

 
My Dad took the door to get into the original storage room, built a wall and used that door as the door for the remaining part of the storage room...

The door to the remainder of the storage room is on the left....


3 years ago, when I first retired, I organized and labeled where everything was in this Storage Room....

This room is my domain as the paints,tools, some garden things and most household items are stored in here...

Things that would be stored in a garage or down in a basement.....

I also went through all paints and stains at that time and tossed out what was bad or what I did not think we would use...

For the most part, it stayed that way until now but I have used up more things and we also got rid of a few things, passing some things on to family, so I felt it was time to re-do everything so to speak....
 
I am not going to mention what is stored where and if you want to see in more detail, please click on the link that I previously provided to the initial post about this storage room....

 
I hang my ladder, a step stool and a spare folding chair on the door on bike hangers that I had Joe install many years ago....

 Looking to your left....
 








The Living Room and the Den air conditioners will go in these boxes around October 1st when we take them out of the windows.....


 
 The back wall shelves....




On the peg board....


 
The right side....

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 



Above the door way.....



My step stool, downstairs sweeper and 3 gates for the pups when they come are also stored in here....

 

 
 
 
 
 
I was able to have a bit more room to breathe in here.....

With that step stool, I can reach everything and everything is easily seen as nothing is stored behind each other...

I do feel that my Super Power is organization but when you live in a small 1325 sq. foot townhouse, it has to be!!!!



This is an unfinished wooden crate that Joe rescued from our dumpsters....


I have used it out on the front porch for the past 3 years in the Fall....

I decided to stain it....
 
 
 


 
 And then put 2 coats of Polyurethane on it......


I am not sure where I will be using this for Fall this year.....maybe in the house.....


I also stained a piece of molding.....


It looks like a rope....


In a previous post, I shared this cabinet above the toilet in the upstairs Bathroom....


Over 12 years ago, I added a piece of wood trim, that I bought on Clearance in Lowes for $2, to the cabinet to match the wallpaper border that had a rope design on it....



I finally sent Joe down to Lowe's to buy another piece and this time it was $15!!


I wanted to add more pieces to create a more finished look....


Now, it is finally finished....



Much better.....




It is not perfect but this is a bathroom that no one really sees s I am good with it......



I finally got to cross off yet another item from my 4-5 Year To Do List....


The doors are papered with anaglypta wall paper that I had stained....

This is the border in the room.....

 
 Since I also installed a new floor a few months ago in this bathroom, I am now finished with updating it!!!


 
 
And the last project is that I did a bit of baking!!!


We have quite an abundance of various pine cones in our development and in the apartment complex where both my sons live.....

I have been collecting them for some time.....

I happened to be looking through my collection of Falloween magazines and in this 2017 issue....



I found this article....

 
So I baked 2 batches of pine cones.....
 
 
 
 They were right when they said that they open up more because of the heat!!
 
 
 
The small ones can be used as filler in bowls, apothecary jars, wreaths, etc.


 And these long ones can be used on Wreaths....
 

 
 They really look very nice I think and you can not beat Free!!....


 
And I will leave you today with this Sunset from our front porch......





 
And taken from the back yard.....



I hope you get to spent Labor Day with those that you love!!!!

And I hope you will stop by to visit again on WEDNESDAY!!!! 
 
 
 Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE  give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment.  If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......


I am linking up to these parties:
 
 
  THURSDAY
 
 
 
 Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!
 


11 comments:

  1. I have never heard of baking pinecones! Very cool idea!!!!! What a lovely sunset.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Tuesday, Deb. Such a wonderful photo of you. Congratulations on your weight loss. Your storage room is very organized . Great tip on hanging the step ladder. I just moved mine today in hopes of finding a new spot for it. I enjoy picking up pinecones this time of the year. Have a wonderful day. Happy decorating.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fun projects! Hope you had a lovely Labor Day weekend.
    Amalia
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  4. I did not know about baking the pinecones. Thanks for the tip.
    Your storage closet is nice, super organized, love the labels! I keep a step stool in or near every closet in this house. With 9-foot ceilings, the temptation to add shelving higher than we could reach was too strong.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Debbie!
    Your outfit is so pretty. A couple of weeks ago I wore a little light weight sweater (with a tank top) to church that I've had for about 18 years. One thing about getting older, being "in fashion" isn't a priority. And besides, I truly enjoy wearing older clothes, as well as handbags.
    I really admire your and Joe's organization in the closets...a place for everything..
    The sunsets are gorgeous.
    Blessings, Linda

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Linda,
      Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks for your sweet words...Hopefully, I gave you a few tips on organizing....We do get to see some great sunsets from our front porch....I hope you are having a great weekend!!
      Hugs,
      Deb

      Delete
  6. Love that rope trim-- I have the exact same stuff decorating my shelving in my nautical bathroom except I bought mine at Home Depot.
    I get a kick out of seeing a 1325-square-foot home described as "small" LOL! I raised 2 kids in our family of 4 plus 2 and sometimes 3 cats in an 800 square foot cottage. Daughters grew up and bought a duplex together in a rural area that is 1100 square feet total, and we all call it "The Big House in the Little Woods"!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks so much for taking the time to visit!! I guess I call my house small because it is a townhouse and many times, people make the comment that I must live in a big house to store all my Season decorations...So that is why I mention the square footage of my house because usually the people who say these things have houses twice the size as mine...I hope you are having a good weekend!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey there!
    Popping Over from the Homestead Blog Hop to just say thanks for sharing your post with our readers!

    Have a wonderful week!

    Laurie

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you for sharing your post with our readers at the Sunday Sunshine Blog Hop! Every person brings such a unique personality to the party, including you!

    Have a wonderful week!

    Laurie

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hello Debbie, you are always so busy and doing something wonderful! I love your organization skills! Thanks for sharing with SSPS, have a wonderful week ahead, take care!

    ReplyDelete

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