Bedroom Day 4

Not much to report. Took the carpet and padding to the dump so that is gone. Then before I painted the blue wall I took about 1/2 cup of the paint I am going to use on the walls and added it to the primer to tint it a little. So now the walls and the closet door are all primed and ready to be painted. Tomorrow I have to take the towel rack on the back of the bedroom door off so I can prime it and then start painting the walls with the final color (well one coat of it, Barbara wants two coats on the walls). If everything goes well I should start putting the new floor down by Sunday. No pictures today, just not that much of a change.

Bedroom Day 3

Time for the daily update on the bedroom project. After getting back from the Cardiologist (everything is fine) we had lunch and then I started working on the bedroom. Well seeing as I am going to be putting down a new laminate floor I needed to take the baseboard off the wall. On the one wall were the heat is I needed to remove the heat so I could get at the baseboard and we decided to replace the heating unit instead of me painting it again, much easier. After I got that done I washed down the walls and smoothed out all the patches with a damp sponge (much easier and cleaner then using sandpaper). I was going to stop there but I decided to continue and got my paint roller and brushes out and started putting the primer on the walls. By 4:00 PM I had three walls done and I was also done so I wrapped the roller and paint brush in plastic wrap and called it a day… Here are a couple of pictures of what it looks like so far.

Day 2 of Bedroom

Well I got the carpet up and the tack strips removed. Who ever put the tack strip down along the outside wall really did not want it to come lose, There were extra nails that were way longer then needed. For those that may not know what I am taking about tack strips are a thin piece of wood, between 1 and 2 meters long, studded with hundreds of sharp nails or tacks. The tack strips are nailed, tack side up, to the perimeter of the area being carpeted and then the carpet is stretched over the tack strip which holds it in place. I also put a second coat of spackle over the holes that needed it. I hope to get started with putting primer on the walls tomorrow afternoon (I have a doctors appointment in the morning). Here are a few pictures so far.

Bedroom Day 2 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Painting the Bedroom

Well since we got new bedding for the bed the walls need to be painted and while I am at it with all the hard furniture out of the room I am going to put down a new floor. First step is to fix all the holes in the wall from nails holes and other holes from a shelf and mirror. I also fixed all the sheetrock nails that were popping out, you know it makes little bumps were the nails that hold the sheetrock to the studs start to work there way out, there were a quite a few of those. Well with painting the walls and trim and doors and then putting down a new floor I am in for about 2 weeks of work. Today with Barbara’s help we got the dresser and the other two cabinets out of the room (they are in the living room for now). After that I exposed the nail heads that were popping out and set them into the wall with a nail set and hammer and then went around the room and spackled all the holes. Then it was time to go to art class. Tomorrow I hope to get the rug up and put a second coat of spackle on any of the holes that need it. Here are some pictures of the room after the furniture was moved out.

Bedroom 2010 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Grounds for Sculpture September 21, 2010

Today Barbara and I went over to the Grounds for Sculpture just outside of Trenton, New Jersey. We have been to the Grounds for Sculpture before so much of what we saw we have seen before, but some were new. Once we got there we went to the water garden. There were all the familiar sculptures but one was missing (see above), one of my favorites. Well one thing that happened in the water garden that would not have in the past, Barbara crossed the water by stepping on the cement blocks set in the stream (see pictures). Before her Physical Therapy she would have been to unsure of her steps and would never have tried to cross using those cement blocks but now she is doing so much better. After lunch we went into the Toad Hall Shop and Gallery were she fell in love with a purse that is made in Vietnam. It is lovely and is all hand made and also some of the purchase price goes back to Vietnam to the women who make them. Now we just need to go someplace were she can use it. Well enough of this just enjoy the pictures in the album. Were I could I have labeled the Pictures with the name of the Sculpture. The first two pictures are the map of the Grounds for Sculpture and each of those numbered circles is a sculpture so you can see my problem of trying to name them after the fact. First I had to remember were I took the picture and then find the number on the map and look up it’s name, etc.

Grounds for Sculpture Sept. 2010 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Philadelphia Art Museum

Today Barbara and I went to the Philadelphia Art Museum (http://www.philamuseum.org/) and to the Perelman Building for a members tour of the display of the newly restored Thomas Eakins masterpiece The Gross Clinic (http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/299524.html). This picture at the time of it’s painting was not received very well do to the subject matter. Most people during that time did not know what went on in a surgical theater, and certainly did not want to have it hanging on the wall. Over the years due to bad restoration technics it was in bad need of repair. One of the things they had to do was remove the canvas from a piece of plywood that it had been glued to. They had to turn it canvas side down and remove the plywood one layer at a time back down to the canvas. The story of the restoration was most interesting. After that we went back to the main building for lunch. After lunch we went up to the second floor looking for the Arts of Bengal exhibit and then to the Art in Revolutionary Philadelphia exhibit. After a snack in the Gallery coffee shop we headed home. Here are some pictures of some of the things we saw.

 

Philadelphia Art Museum 2010-9-18 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

My day at the hospital

Yesterday I had to go to Jersey Shore University Medical Center for a scheduled placement of a fourth stint. My cardiologist when I had my last heart attack had said that there was a 70% blockage that he had not done anything about. After the stress test, which seemed to confirm the blockage, he suggested that I get it taken care of so we scheduled me to have a cardiac catheterization done. Well Sunday night Ray Jr. came down and stayed overnight so he could drive us to the hospital in the morning and drive Barbara home that night, as I would be staying in the hospital overnight. After getting all prepped for the procedure the doctor came in and told us that seeing as I had drug coated stints already he would be putting in another drug coated stint to open the 70% blockage. They wheeled me into the Cath. Lab and I got myself onto the table then they got me all ready and called for the doctor (I was freezing even though they had blankets on my legs and my upper body, I just could not stop shivering). When the doc came in they gave me something to put me to sleep and the next thing I remember is waking up and having a nurse putting a wad of cotton where the incision was and holding it down for a few minutes. Then it was back onto the gurney for the trip to my room, or so I thought. Instead I was brought down to the outpatient recovery area were Barbara was waiting for me. The Doctor told her and she told me that he did not find any blockage so I would not be staying the night. The explanation the doctor gave Barbara was that maybe the artery had a spasm and that is why he thought it was blocked. This was the best results and well worth the loss of a day. We are all relieved that there are no more blockages and that all my stints are staying completely open. Around 5:30PM they let me get dressed and wheeled my out the door in a wheelchair were Ray Jr. was waiting for us. He drove us home and then after putting the garbage out he left and went home to Parsippany. He was wonderful all day and his help was very much appreciated. Well last night and all day today I got to lounge around the house and Barbara, my wonderful and loving wife, took extra good care of me. This evening after supper I took a shower and took the bandage off (just a wad of cotton covered with that sticky plastic stuff they use to cover IV needles) and saw the tiniest little cut. I also want to say that all of the hospital staff was kind and helpful throughout the whole day. Thank you to all my friends and family who kept me in their thoughts and prayers.

New roof for 5B Arkansas

Well today we got a new roof put on our duplex. The roofers showed up around 7:00 AM this morning and started taking the old roof off. Around lunch time they had most of the old roof off and had the new shingles delivered. They finished putting the new roof on around 5:45 PM so just under 11 hours for a new roof, not bad. Of course I had to take some pictures.

New Roof VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Chase Me, Comrade!

This is the name of the play we went to see yesterday at Hedgerow Theatre (http://www.hedgerowtheatre.org). This play is a farce by English playwright and actor Ray Cooney. It is set in the home of an English Naval Commander’s house. The list of characters are:

• Nancy Remington (commanders daughter) played by Tara Haupt
• Commander Remington played by Bob Liga
• Hoskins the gardener played by Bob Meenan
• Alicia Courtney played by Rachel Holmes
• Petrovyan played by David Polgar
• Gerry Buss played by Carl Smith
• Mr. Lavar played by Zoran Kovcic
• Constable Pulford played by Jim Fryer
• Janet Remington (commanders wife) played by Susan Wefel
• Bobby Hargreaves played by Thomas-Robert Irvin

The Play starts with the Commander just coming home from the Russian Embassy were he saw Petrovyan dance with an English dancer, who is Nancy’s friend, Alicia Courtney. Unknown to the Commander Alicia has smuggled Petrovyan away from the embassy in the boot of the his car. When the commander says he is going fishing Nancy and Alicia have to stall the Commander while they get Petrovyan out of the car and into the house. After the Commander leaves to go fishing until midnight Nancy’s fiancé, Gerry Buss, arrives and tells them they are in big trouble as he is a civil servant in the British Government (the PA to the PPSS to the PM) and they have to send Petrovyan back to the Russians. Well Nancy will have none of that and talks Gerry into helping them. The real fun starts when Mr. Lavar arrives with a coded message for the Commander. Well Gerry puts on the Commander’s uniform to try to get rid of Mr. Lavar and Alicia pretends to be his wife with Nancy as the nannie to their children. Well it just gets funnier and funnier as the Commander comes back and Gerry has to pretend (just to the Commander) that he is Commander Davey Jones-Locker. As more characters are introduced the story line just gets better. I do need to say that the energy and skill all the actors showed was excellent but I have to point out Carl Smith (Gerry Buss, Commander Remmington and Commander Davey Jones-Locker) who has more energy then a 90 MPH fast ball. We saw him last year in One For The Pot another Ray Cooney farce and he has not slowed down one bit. It is an excellent play done by excellent actors/actresses and we have not laughed so much or so loud in a long time. If you ever have a chance to see one of Ray Cooney’s farces (there are 40 of them I believe) do go and see it, you will not be disappointed.