Its Rough Without A Bathroom!!

  At about 7am, Mark and I were discussing the plans for the day while we leisurely sipped a cup of coffee.  "Well, we really need to check that toilet. It is starting to have a tilt." I mentioned.  Mark agreed and said he would run to the nearby home store to get parts.  He and Son started in on the project within the hour.  Thinking it was just the wax ring that seals the toilet, they carefully removed the thing.  Well, that was the beginning.  Here it is 9pm and I still do not have a bathroom.  There is a huge gaping hole where it once was.  One thing led to another and the small task turned into a major ordeal.  This would not be so bad except...we only have the ONE bathroom!

  Once the toilet was removed, the menfolk noticed that the floor boards were a rotten.  "Lets pull it up and fix it right." Mark said as he started out the door to the store.  Son started removing boards.   I made the comment that "It could be worse!  We could find termites!"....Yep.  Big mistake.  While we did not find any active termites, the damage had already been done.  Son kept pulling boards.  I kept hauling boards out the back door.  That led to us pulling out the vanity.  Uh, oh!  The pipes had corroded and were crumbling!  So, now I had no commode nor lavatory.  I did however have an "open air" look to the bathroom.  Without the floor boards, the ground was now clearly visible. Mark ripped out the pipes and headed BACK to the store for lavatory parts. He came back with a new vanity and toilet!

  So...one thing led to another and the bathroom is now receiving an entire makeover..not that I wanted one.  We are all exhausted.  The menfolk are working diligently to get the room at least critter-proofed for the night and to get us a working toilet.  The rest can be done tomorrow.

Project Time! My New Passion!

  I am not one that can sit back and not have several irons in the fire, so to speak.  My days usually see me jumping from project to project.  Right now, I am in the process of painting the beams in the living room, repotting the potted plants, ripping out old gardens, creating props for the Clue Hunt on the Bayou (in October) AND delving into my new found hobby...clock repair!  I have long despised these newfangled digital clocks and especially hate electric clocks (for obvious reasons...one burned our first house to the ground!)  The old style pendulum and spring wound clocks have fascinated me for years now so it is only natural that I want to own a few....or a few dozen!

  Years ago, Pop gave me a Black Forest cuckoo clock that ran by weights.  He had said that the clock was around a hundred years old at the time.  That aforementioned house fire took that beautiful clock along with everything else we owned.  I was devastated.  Then, I inherited a mantle clock from my grandparents.  Glee once again reigned!  I was elated until suddenly, the clock stopped, never to run again...until last month when I finally worked up the courage to tinker with the thing.  It has been ticking along nicely!  Mark was given a pendulum wall clock that created the intense interest in the clocks.  I NEEDED to learn clock repair!  

  Fast forward to this week and my new additions.  I found a lovely pendulum clock that some folks were wishing to sell.   It was a bit steep in price since there were definitely some issues with the clock that would need attention.  I refused to pay the full $75!  So, the owners decided to "give" me a second clock that was not in working order.  Yep!  That was much better!  Two clocks for that price was doable even if they needed work.  I wanted something to practice on while learning and these fit the bill perfectly.

  After tinkering with the clocks, they are both ticking away happily.  Neither would chime when I first got them but that was remedied by flipping the chime spring around in the proper position.  Both clocks had the chime springs installed backwards!  Which is odd since both clocks were seen by a professional clock repair person who told the owners that they could not be fixed!! The clocks both need a good cleaning and oiling but that is easy enough.  Now, all that is left, is a few cosmetic repairs on one of the cases and I have two beautiful clocks for my collection!  The search is on for a few more "broken" clocks for me to use as practice pieces.  Hopefully, this is something I can learn and I will soon be able to restore clocks fully.  It is a great feeling...to learn something new and to bring something old back to life!