Home Grown

 

Here are a few photos of our home grown tulips on this bright spring morning.

 

What makes these photos unique is that they were all taken from indoors!

 

1. I have been limited in my movements due to a bad back.

2. It was very cool and breezy outside and I did not care to bundle up.

3. The flower bed was muddy right here and I did not want to track any mud back into the house.

4. I wanted some close-ups from low down.

 

So I opened the windows in our basement and took the screens off from the inside and there were the tulips staring me in the face with some great lighting as a bonus.  

 

And that is how you get outdoor photography from indoors.

Grass Cloth

 

We have been doing a lot of work in Chilliwack lately. We are the only paperhangers working out of the Chilliwack Paint and Decorating store.

 

 

 

This homeowner was going to attempt to hang this grass cloth on her own but was strongly advised against it. Grass cloth has a weak paper backing and when it is soaked, it tears easily. Also, it expands greatly when wet so the edges are not so easy to keep clean and adhesive does not wipe off the surface at all because it is real grass.

 

Many years ago, I devised a simple and effective method for hanging grass cloth and for me it is actually fun. I make sure the customer realised that grass cloth gives a panelled look as there is much discrepancy on the seams. It cannot be helped, although after seeing these photos, I realise we could have reversed every second panel. This shading effect was not evident as we were hanging it but on these photos is quite obvious.

 

We did this for a young couple with a family on the way and she told me that that their winter beach vacations were on hold for a long time and having a beach theme in their master bedroom would have to suffice until they could return to sunnier climates.

 

Besides the ocean blue walls surrounding the wallpaper, she had other beach accessories in the room. I hope this works for them.

Rosedale Feature Wall

 

When given an address for a small job, I do not go and look prior to installation, but look it up on Google Maps and 'street view' and find my way there. I also ask a lot of questions so I do not have any surprises when I get to the job. This one, in Rosedale, close to the bridge, was a long drive but was worth the time and effort. It was an elegantly restored farmhouse, very spacious and in a beautiful setting on a dairy farm. The 'paper' was commercial grade fabric backed solid vinyl, overkill for an application such as this when you only want a decorated wall, and not something you can drive a tank into.

 

 

 

The lady of the house was gracious and friendly and even served us a cup of coffee with some awesome strawberry cheesecake. The finished result was exactly what she had been after and we left another very happy customer in our wake.

Townhouse Package

 

This is the kitchen/dining area of the townhouse project we have been hanging paper for, in Cloverdale. Each unit has the option of a wallpaper feature in the master bedroom and main floor washroom. Apart from the two show suites we have done, this is the 5th unit that has chosen this option.

 

All fixtures have been previously installed so we have to work  around everything. The mirror is fastened to the wall with adhesive and the vanity is heavily silicone to the wall. Not fun. The seams do not come in good places no matter where we start and finish so these are frustrating units to do, and do well. It is always a cost/plus job so I do not mind the time spent, but it is not easy to do the best work possible.

 

Going around toilets is not a problem when they are clean and new.

 

This company pays on time and is happy with our work so we will continue to go back as long they need us.

 

Feature Walls

 

I purchased the paint by colour number only and did not see the actual colour until I opened the can. Wow! This was one of the brightest blues I have ever worked with and the above photo shows it in natural light. The lower two had some incandescent lighting and it softened the colour quite a bit

 

There was a feature wall in the living room and the whole kitchen done in this colour. The place was being renovated and now that the cabinets are in and some other features are installed, this actually looks really good. This job has been ongoing for at least three months now, and tomorrow, I am going to complete it.

 

Blocking, whether with a wild paint colour or some exotic wallpaper, is a very popular thing to do these days. I really enjoy using colour and drama in my work.

Call Back

 

I have found over the years, that if you do something right, you do not have to do it over. We did this job 'by the book' and it backfired on us.

The house is more than 100 years old, built by a pioneering family in the Bradner area of the Fraser Valley. We have re-decorated this home a number of times, for the Grandmother, and when the granddaughter took over the house, we re-wallpapered in a bit of a country theme. The grand old house is on a farm so that is OK.

The walls had multiple layers of wallpaper from way back, so instead of stripping the multiple layers, we decided to apply a super-adherent primer which is recommended for such things. We let the paint cure and then proceeded to hang the latest paper.

Over the next year or two, with fluctuations in temp. and humidity, the paper began to loft off at the seams. We were called back and I was surprised. We get maybe one callback every 10 years.

We discovered that the paper was not hanging on anywhere, but would flick off with the greatest of ease. The worst paper was the bottom below the border chair rail. Andrew peeled it back and taped it to the wall. He then applied a different primer, re-glued the paper, and we have not heard back, but I think it worked.  

It is disheartening, to say the least, when you see your hard work falling to the floor of its own accord. I still think there was a problem with the manufacturer's adhesive on the pre-pasted wallpaper.

'Best Before Date'

 

As I took my truck in to get it serviced the other day, I was grateful that it was still in such great shape, and everything was working so wonderfully. However, it still needed maintenance, and its regular check-up.

 

How much like a vehicle we are. Most of us are born with a reasonably healthy body and the latest technology to help that body function. (liver, kidneys, stomach, glands and other organs) OK, here is where the analogy breaks down. Vehicles have ever improving technology built on board, whereas, our bodies have amazing technology that has been around forever and it never changes. Back to the metaphor.

 

My truck needs regular fuel-up and oil changes and we could call that proper nutrition. As the vehicle ages, new brakes, a muffler, some gaskets or filters, together with belts and hoses will need replacing. Fluids are vital to proper functioning, as are our bodies. But, as more time goes by, what happens are what we call major breakdowns which translate to expensive repairs or maybe scrapping of the vehicle or at least trading it in for a newer model.

 

These thoughts were going through my head as I marched from one doctor to another, the x-ray clinic to the blood clinic, and the eye doctor to the allergist. I have reached my 'best before date' and some semi-major maintenance and repair is required. As wonderful as the human body is, it does wear out. We can neglect or ignore the signs of a breakdown, or we can be preventative or proactive when there are danger signals. If we are not, a catastrophic event could be in our future.

 

Apart from the usual blood work that is requested with a physical check-up, I also went to the clinic armed with a requisition for an x-ray to determine the extent of wear and tear on one of my knees. The two clinics are in the same building so I got the imaging done first. The bio-medical lab, where they take the blood sample, was just upstairs, so I took a number and prepared myself for a 45 minute wait. I was 10 minutes away when I began to read the requisition for the blood work. What I did not realise, or perhaps had forgotten, was that one of the tests was a glucose test, meaning that I was required to fast for at least 10 hours before giving a blood sample. The waiting room is very crowded and there is nothing to do but observe other people and see how slowly the numbers are coming up. So how do I exit gracefully, or in such a way as to save face?

I began looking at my watch frequently, while checking the electronic number read-out on the wall. I began to look and act impatient, and finally in a huff, got up and walked out. Why did I do that? I suppose I did not want anyone to see that my mental faculties are also wearing out. We get very creative when we are covering up for our deficiencies.

 

This morning (after my fast), I was checking in at the counter of a different blood clinic (there is that effort to creatively cover-up again) and was asked if I wanted to register with the service and receive my test results on-line. "Yes", say I, and after being told that I could register at the .com address on the form, I told her she would need my e-mail address. Duh! These clinics are frequented by mostly middle and old aged folks so she did not miss a beat. She probably thought, "Oh boy, another one."    

How to Buy a Bed

 

     We decided, one day in December, that our bed needed replacing. I was all for a new bed, but not up to the daunting task of shopping for it. I checked the sales flyers and eventually went to the internet to do research. I wanted a good deal, a good bed, and good testimonials.

 

     I learned a lot, but mostly that shopping for a bed was a bit of a crap shoot. And what can you learn about a bed by laying down on it for a few seconds in the show room of a Sleep Store? I dug deeper and started to head in the direction of high quality memory foam beds. I had wanted a Tempurpedic last time but the 5K price drove me off.  Then I found a bed that was as close to Tempurpedic as you could get, but the price was 1/5 as much. Moreover, it was a Canadian Company and was skyrocketing to success.

Not only was the price good, but it included shipping, 2 memory foam pillows, and a 120 day guarantee with free return shipping if we decided to send it back.

We could not lose so I ordered from the website and a few days later it arrived in very heavy box. We opened the box near the bed with the old mattress already removed, and flipped the squashed contents onto the bed. It was icy cold and flat like a pancake. The instructions said it would take about 6 hours to 'fluff up'.

 

As it warmed, it slowly started filling out the baggy mattress cover. The two pillows were almost cardboard thin. In fact, one of them took three days to expand.

 

We slept on it that night and knew there was big difference from what we had. We no longer rolled to the middle as if magnetized, and we were lying straight, and level. It took getting used to, but in a few days we loved it and my back ache that had come late in the year was now gone completely. The 120 days are soon over, but we decided some time ago that it was a keeper. This bed has our complete endorsement.

You can check it out here if you are in the market for a new bed.

Cleaning Out the Memory Card

 

Between Christmas and New Year, I posted a few photos of this puzzle as it was in progress. Then I photographed it when it was completed and forgot that I had done so. I took a few spring flower pictures last week and as I exported them to my computer, there was the puzzle photo. It was a very difficult puzzle but very beautiful when completed. The scene was taken from somewhere in the Colorado Rockies. I am done with puzzles until next Christmas.

 

These Daffodils are very early this year, but because they are in a sheltered location close to the house, they should weather anything a late winter storm will throw at them. It is amazing how a splash of brilliant yellow will enhance the mood after a winter of nothing but gray and dull greens.

 

Our front lawn is infested with these Sweet Violets, but we do not mind. They are very pretty as the early morning sun hits them at an angle that sets them among diamonds and jewels as the light reflects off the morning dew. I set my camera right down in the grass to get this worm's eye view.

Blackbirds

 

Monday morning found us in Chilliwack working with a specialized wallpaper and then some Grass Cloth. I was only told that the paper was non-pasted so not knowing anything else about it, I quoted an hourly rate instead of guessing at the time involved. Good thing!

 

This material came untrimmed and un-pasted. The end result was supposed to look like a mural so pattern match was and was not an issue. The seams all met on the black tree trunk but the birds could not line up in rows. Making our own seams on a black background does not work so each panel had to be overlapped and double cut, care being given to keep the tree trunk as wide as possible and as much like the next one as possible. After a few pieces this paper was stressing me out.

 

Because the tree trunks were so pronounced, we had to map out the room before we installed the first piece as it was important to know where each and every tree trunk would be in relation to the corners and the window. To make things extra challenging, it was a reno of an older home and the corners were not plumb or square.

 

Four hours later, the customer was very pleased with the result and I was pretty proud of most of what we had done. Time will tell if anyone else has a paperhanger's eye and spots the small mistakes I made.

 

Note the window framed by tree trunks and tree trunks centered on all the walls. This was partly planning and mostly luck. I hung something similar, but with Peacocks, in a psychologist's office and was instructed to be very certain that there was not one single Peacock's head cut off at the neck as it would freak out some of her clients. I got lucky on that one too because once you start, the pattern is set and it will come out how it comes out.

 

One last thing to do on this job was to hang two panels of Grass Cloth on a sheet of primed MDF, which was to  be mounted on the wall as a backdrop for some kind of Chinese artwork. That took about ten minutes and then we were off to another job off Annis Road in Chilliwack. We will be there for quite some time.

Easy, Not so Easy

 

I have been getting positive feedback regarding my work posts so here are another 3 jobs that we have done recently. This one is glittery wallpaper in a hair dressing salon. The owner had us do her other studio about two years ago and called on us again for this new venture.

 

The glitter only shows up in certain light at certain angles. The seams totally disappeared on this product and she was more than happy when  we had enough left over to cover the walls in this small alcove.

 

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I have become quite leery about pre-pasted wallpapers as there is little control that the hanger has over the many things that going on with this obsolete kind of product. This pattern was shiny black on matte black and when it was wet, it was all glossy, making it literally impossible to see and match the pattern. A bright halogen lamp held at a certain angle was the only way to see what I was doing.

The seams were cut wavy at the factory so they were open and closed, open and closed. Not much I could do.

 

I felt bad for the customer and gave her a big discount on my hanging fee even though the problem was not anything to do with me. I suggested she get a supplier rep in to see the flaws for himself and refund her the money both for the paper and for our fee. It has been 10 days and I have not heard back from her.

 

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Doing this job was a pure pleasure. There were no floors, no baseboards, and new crown mouldings were going to be installed so we simply rolled the walls twice and then mapped, taped, and painted the vertical stripes. Dark grey on light grey is a winning combination and the final result was stunning.

 

Using the new Frog tape for delicate surfaces, we were able to tape and then peel the stripes all within an hour. For those not familiar with this tape, it has a chemical in the adhesive that is activated by the paint and forms a perfect seal on the tape's edge. There is zero bleeding with this tape and the stripes were razor sharp.

 

In and out in 4 hours and another very happy customer.

We Are In a Shadowland

 

After a brief hiatus, I will make an attempt to post a few items in the next few days. I met one of my faithful readers a day or two ago and he was wondering if something was wrong with his computer because he was no longer getting any new posts on this blog. After 2200 or more posts I do suppose I was conspicuous by my absence.

 

busylizzy and I took in a live drama presented by the Gallery 7 theater group here in town. It was quite a few years ago since we saw the movie and also saw the first presentation of this drama by this same production company but in a different venue and with different actors. It was fresh for me not only because my memory about such things is not sharp, but the passage of time and some maturing on my part gave me a different perspective on the issues in the story, this time around.

 

For those not familiar with this story, it is about CS Lewis and his brief marriage to an American woman, Joy Gresham. 'Jack' Lewis was an avowed bachelor and indeed felt awkward around women, but was quite smitten when he met and fell in love with Joy, an effervescent and life-loving, yet divorced woman. They start out as friends, end up in a marriage of convenience so Joy could move to the UK, and after she is diagnosed with bone cancer, they truly marry and spend three wonderful years together before the cancer takes her life.  

 

The first scene shows Jack lecturing an audience on pain, suffering, loss, and a loving God. He is confident and has all the pat answers. Near the end of the play, Jack is again giving the same lecture but his beloved is on her deathbed. You can see, hear, and feel the doubt and questions he has as he utters the same words of several years ago. Now theory has been replaced with experience and he is doubting.

 

For me it was a very moving scene as I could identify with Jack, as I am sure many others could. I was glad to come away from the play encouraged instead of with further pondering of this important life question. The casting and acting were superb. Although the play has now run its course, I would highly recommend at least seeing the movie.