True Story: My Mother, the Ex-KGB Agent

Unrelated photo of a "car phone" at the gas station about a mile from my house.

My mother's cover has been blown and my parents have since moved, so the story can be told now...

Al had a new Cadillac. Every now and then, he'd hobble into his garage to find the trunk of his car had been popped open and the interior lights on. Sometimes the garage door would be wide open! This occurred regularly, and he knew why.

What would happen was that my mom would use her KGB spy brainwaves to do this, rather like a remote control. This is just what Russian operatives do. I think it is their primary mission, actually.  Popping elderly Americans' trunks open, as well as leaving interior lights on and garage doors open, are huge priorities under the Putin administration. Every Russian espionage specialist knows that it leaves the victims vulnerable to theft and/or dead car batteries. 

I'm not sure how Al acquired this special knowledge, but he saw right through this whole scheme and what's more, he had had enough! He courageously shuffled over to my parents' house, armed with his broom. Al shouted several statements about how he knew what was going on, and shattered a brand new window.

Admitting that my mother was a spy at this point would be the rational course of action. But my parents called the police! Al made a daring but feeble grab for an officer's weapon, vowing to "take care" of my mom and her spying ways. But the police were younger, way faster, and in on the whole spy ring themselves.  They even turned Al's family against him! His adult son showed up and arrangements were made to take the old fella away for an involuntary evaluation. This nefarious way of dealing with people who see truths others don't is called "The Baker Act" in Florida.

Years later, Al died and all of his estate went up for auction. There, amongst the bric-a-brac of his life up for sale, was his broom.

Kittinger Buffalo Spanish Renaissance Table Makeover!

Isn't it gorgeous?? It's even better than the picture.  So soft, so pretty... and there are nuances in the stain and the woodgrain you don't see here.  It's a good sturdy size too.

A detail to show you how intricate it is.

But when I got it?  I paid $20 and felt I might be overspending a bit, but I was inspired by this YouTube channel to go ahead and give refinishing a go.  Someone decided they were going to make this their arts and crafts project and went absolutely nuts with the paint.  That's not brown stain... that's PAINT.  And it's painted over with garish red and silver and...

Some crazy Christmas pointsettia design.  Nope, nope nope nope.  

I used Citristrip and some Saran wrap.  After it settled in a bit, I'd wipe off the paint with cloth I never would use again, wipe again with mineral spirits, use a bit of 0000 steel wool and some more Citristrip... repeat repeat repeat.

Lots of work and bunches of sanding later, the walnut table looks like this.

The final thing to do before wiping the table down and applying an "espresso" stain is to get tiny bits of sanding paper and a seam ripper and really get in those grooves to remove junk and clean the table up.  I'm very happy with the result, although it was a LOT more work than I thought it would be.  If you want a pretty much identical table of your own, they're actually for sale here with the original stain.

 

Bathroom Freshen-Up

I worked on my bathroom and freshened it up.  This is the "before" picture featuring the mirror with that globby water stain in the corner.  Old 1980s wooden towel rack.  Plastic toilet paper dispenser.  Chipped off-cream cabinet that has yellowed a bit....

 

Soooo much sanding.to get the old paint off and rough up the cabinets.  Soooo much sanding.  Many days of work wearing a respirator, sweeping, more sweeping and then just taking a bath in the bathroom.  No one could really use the bathroom for about four weeks because I couldn't possibly get it all done in a weekend.

After:  Here's a view looking toward the door.  The walls are no longer beige and I hung about a million of those Dutch Royal Copenhagen plates old ladies like to collect in the bathroom because... I like them.

The mirror doesn't look so crummy now!  This is sticky tile from Amazon.  It's sort of like a textured Contact paper, but much more sticky and much better for this project.

I used cabinet paint and added new knobs!  I also cleaned the floor after I took the picture... oops.  Sometimes you get so involved in a project and there are so many steps you miss little things.  It's all finished now and I'm enjoying the results very much - it's a much more updated look.

National Roller Dance Competition!

Woodjie went to nationals in Cedar Rapids this year. If you're interested in seeing some of the outfits and various events in the competition, you'll see Woodjie roll into the camera view at about the 4 hour 51 minute mark at this link.  The USARS event went on for several days.  Many skaters were actually well above 55 and some in their 70s and 80s, all sparkly and still dancing.

Star Trek Roller Skating!

Woodjie LOVES the audience.

 I made these little outfits for the children and they danced to the Star Trek: Next Generation theme song together at a recent skating competition in Union, Missouri!  They came in second for the regional pairs dance in their division. 

Hello!

 I've been neglecting my blog for a bit and doing about 50 different things (none of them too very well, but I'm busy nonetheless).  I've finally found something for Rose's hair when she skates.  She's supposed to have her hair up but she has a bunch of sensory issues and she sure doesn't like ponytails or buns.  But this handy item from the Hair Jeweler *really* works and I hear no complaints from the kid about it.  Eventually (after a few hours) it does fall out or start to bother her scalp a little, but this is the best solution going by about a million miles.  I actually bought the Mommy-Daughter set and she has more hair so she's the mommy.

Here's one of the smaller sizes.  I have to fluff up my hair a bit and use a ponytail to keep the pins in. 

I've also lengthened this skating dress by cutting off the sleeves and adding a panel up under the skirt where it won't be noticed.  Rose and Woodjie have outgrown the $200 skating outfits I bought new in September.  Oh well.  Doing it cheaper by making it all myself this time. 

Something interesting happened to D today.  He was travelling on the highway and minding his own business when some guy on a yellow ATV nearly hit him head-on going the wrong way.  He said it was quite the chase and maybe it would be in the news?

Yep.  But D never noticed the guy was naked.  I guess when you are in fear for your life because of oncoming traffic and whatnot you don't bother to look at what sort of pants the other driver is wearing.  Or not wearing.

My Great-Great Grandmother

This is my great-great grandmother, Catherine Cavanaugh.  She was born in 1860 and this photo (which I have digitally filtered from the original, which has yellowed) was taken in 1865.  Isn't she cute?  Both of her parents were born in Ireland, so for this little branch of my family tree, she is the first to be American from birth.