As Ash. Turns Out3

Welcome to As Ashtabula Turns Out, a dia-blog series brought to you by Babka’s Polski Kielbasa. Cmaaaaar says, “Nie mogę w to uwierzyć!" and Cmaaaar is never wrong!

As we click to our story, Mary E. has arrived to help paint and Babka is showing her the utility room, while Pop carries things in and down the hall to the end bedroom. Let's listen.... er... read in on their conversation.....

Babka: Well, Mary, what do you think of what we have done with this room?

Mary E.: I don’t know. It is brighter in here. Why did you paper?

Babka: Pop hates to paint. He said that he, "...did not want to sand this dark plywood wall, prime it once or twice, then paint it."

POP: (entering) That paper was the worst I’ve EVER used!

Mary E.: Hi Popie! (They hug)

Pop: What do you think of the paper?

Mary E.: I’m not sure. I think I like it.

Pop: Oh. (Sigh) I’ll be getting ready to put up the paper in the end bed room. (Exits)

Mary E.: Weren’t the walls varnished?

Babka: Yeah, he sanded them down, washed them off and put a coat of sizing on the walls?

~~ With What? (Pop goes through for an second load)
~~ Mixed stuff in a bucket and put it on with a paint brush.
~~ Oh
~~ It took us all day to paper these two walls and the little corner over there. Then Mike called us that evening to tell us about a bunch of bad spots. (Pop goes by thinking, "paint showing through and all. Bobka is the sloppiest.")
~~ So kind of Mike. What bad spots? I don’t see any.
~~ I wanted to smack him, but then, that would have meant getting up off the couch. We were tired. Sure enough, when we checked the next day, some nails had rusted right through, plus the ceiling paint I slopped and some gunk on the wall were bleeding through. (heavy sigh)

Pop: (from the other room) She is the messiest Painter!

Mary E.: (yelling down the hall) Yeah, well, you haven’t seen my work. (to B.) How did you fix it?
~~ We painted over it all.
~~ Let's see, you sanded, washed, sized, papered and painted, so you would not have to sand, prime and paint.
~~ You got it.
~~ You are your father’s daughter.
~~ Yeah, Longie Lives on!

That’s all for today friend. Click in next time when Pop and Babka try to paper a whole room together with out fighting, while Mary E., (wisely out of the way) paints the middle room from pink to neutral beige.

Or Not!

As Ash. Turns (a dia-blog series)

As we last “clicked into” the old fart and fart-et they were discussing the paper and switches in the “utility room”…

Pop: Quit’n time! I’m tired.
Babka: Me too. The papering that should have taken a few hours took all day. Let’s go eat.
~~~OK.

After a shower and supper the NSD duo (Not-so-dynamic-duo) are relaxing in front of the TV watching one of their favorite shows, Holmes on Homes when the phone rings…

Babka: Helloooo

Mike: Hi, I’m thinking that we need to take one of the chairs out of the living room. You two seen to be relaxing too much.

~~We were just trying to make the place a bit homey for your weeks up here. You going South this week end?

~~I’ll be real tired, but I’ll make the effort. The warehouse is all cleaned up and back to normal. Everything is back in place. I got hit with a bunch of trucks just as I finished up, so the lawn is not mowed yet but the tractor is by the door. I’m keeping all the papers for Mom so don’t use the good pages for painting.

~~ That’s good. How do you like the wallpaper?

~~What paper?

~~ In the utility room!

~~Oh! I didn’t even notice. Just walked right through. Well you can see all the seams, there is a spot up in the corner where the paint is showing through, I can see where all the nails are, ….

~~ (making faces at the phone) Other than that, how do you like it? (sarcastic) Don’t hold back. Just say what you think. (grrrr)

~~I’m not kidding. I can see where all the nails are, and there is a big dirty spot right here by the light switch, by the kitchen, and another one by the door frame.

~~(call waiting beeps) Mike I have a call coming in.

~~ I’ll wait

~~ Oh goody. (Switch to other call) Hello? Hello Carmen. I have been wondering how your chemo has been going. Just a minute I have a call on the other line. (Switch) Mike I have to take this other call…

~~ As I was saying I got the warehouse all cleaned up and I’m going to see Mom this weekend. You don’t need this phonebook do you?

~~No I don’t. Take it with you. Have a good rest tonight…

~~ I’m not kidding. You can put your finger on each of the nails. I can feel them trying to make their way out…

~~Mike! I have to take this call!

Will Babka get to talk to Carmen? Will she smack mike next time she sees him? Is she wishing that Popo had left the switch plates off? Do you give a *@^^ ^? Click in next time and find out….
~~~Or Not…

As Ashtabula Turns (A dia-blog series)

This is the continuing story of two old people making their way in a world of limited income, aches, pains and home improvement.

When last we read about our less-than-dynamic-duo, Step-mom Clare had, with the help of family, loaded most all the possessions from the Zima-House in to vehicles and moved to Sycamore Valley to set up house keeping near her children.

Since that time:
~~We replaced the floors in the kitchen and utility room.
~~THEN we painted the ceilings. (clever)
~~The ceiling is painted in the Dad’s room.
~~The electrician is coming Monday to take care of anything illegal or dangerous in the wiring.
~~Pop has vented the Kitchen Sink, and cleaned the screen and drain.
~~Pop has shaved down the doors so that the move more easily. We find that the front door is too short to replace easily. A new wooden door would have to be ordered and then we would have to try to figure out how to install it right against the block.
~~ The front and basement doors will be painted.

To brighten up the “utility-room”, our duo put up paper on the plain walls. It was the worst paper to work with. There was much inaudible as well as audible swearing. (Expletives deleted) Finally, the paper is up. Let’s see how it’s going….

Babka: What’s that in the corner?
Pop: What corner?
~~Above the window.
~~Damn! It’s not sticking…yes it is… Oh Shit! The paint from the ceiling that got on the walls is showing through. (Thinks) She's the sloppest painter I know!
~~Maybe it will go away after the paper dries.
~~I hope so! This paper was the worst stuff I have ever used! (23.69th time that was said) (Pop looks a bank of 4 switches)

Pop: Hey! I know why Dad built this out so far. The electrical boxes don’t fit in the wall and this is block right here. The walls are right up against the block, no insulation or anything!

Babka: Yup, looks like Longie work. Bless him. I told you not to take the trim off those switches. Sigh! (Another “I told you so,” she thinks) Shit! I was going to stop that. (Aloud) Let me Prime and paint the new trim before you put it up, please.

Pop: Sigh! I have to get this up today so Mike does not kill himself when he comes home tonight!!!!!

~~~OK! OK!

Does Pop get the switches fixed? Does Babka get her wish on painting the trim? Does Mike get a shocking experience when he comes home?
DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT THIS GOVNO?

“Click” in next time to find out what Mary E thinks of the work. Or Not.

The Surprises of Life with Babka

When we moved here to Ashtabula, we just needed a house close to my dad’s home. He was ailing and we wanted to be of help to him and my step mom. We bought a “century house” across the road that had 1 ½ acres, and lovely fruit and black walnut trees. We knew the house needed some work, but we thought we could handle it. SOME work was an understatement to the max. After replacing the roof, heating, wiring, windows, doors ceilings, plumbing, floors, curtains, kitchen counters, and kitchen sink; then adding cooling, shower in the basement, plaster, wallpaper, paint, molding, a sink and shelves in the pantry and a dish washer in the kitchen; Oh, and heating, insulation, doors, roof, and air cleaning to the 3 bay garage (in which there are no cars or lawn equipment, but that’s another story); Oh, and putting up a fence for the 4 dogs, taking out the 21 foot above grown pool, replacing the deck and building a garden shed; my husband, Pop, declared the house done! He did not plan on his wife, me, Babka.

You see he had asked me if I wanted to change the cabinets in the kitchen. I said, “No, I’ll just paint them.” Well that was when we were just going to “flip the house” and move after my dad did not need us anymore, which he does not as he is now with my mom having game night parties in heaven. Now that he wants to stay here, maybe FOREVER! I will need more storage in the kitchen and a ½ bath in the pantry. Pop said, “WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THIS EARLIER!” To which I responded, “You didn't tell me we were staying so long.” The long and short of it is that the kitchen is a mess again and my semi-retired husband is very busy in the shop making cabinets and shelves and trim and molding. Heaven knows we do not want Pop to pop from boredom with so much time on his hands.

I’ll let you know how it is going.

I cover you all with the Blood of the Lamb