Reality Guest Room

I'm linking up with "Reality Shot Thursday"  with Claudia at http://mockingbirdhillcottage.blogspot.com/.  She had this great idea that we should just take a picture of something in our home as it really is ... no staging, no fixing up ... just life at home as it really is.

Recently I got my guest room ready for my sister and her husband to visit and I thought it looked pretty inviting.

But when company is not here it seems to be a place where I "tentatively" put things while I'm finding a home for them or while I'm in the process of doing something with them.  Now I'm getting ready to go on vacation to the east coast and Bermuda with my husband and I hate packing!  So I start early laying things out that I may want to take so I can visualize how much stuff I've got to carry.  So here is my guest room now ... and I know it's going to get worse before it gets better!

And that's only half of it.  My husband works at home so he has a room of his own for an office; since he's on the phone a lot I found it difficult to work in the same room (to say nothing of thinking) so I took the other half of the guest room for my little office area.  That too, has it ideal look and its everyday look.  Think I'll show that one next week ...

Take a look at Claudia's site and check out our real world -- http://mockingbirdhillcottage.blogspot.com/.

Blessings,

Great cleaner ...

Here in Lake Havasu our water is loaded with minerals.  Our rental home has both a water softener and an RO water system to deal with the hard water.  And I still get spots and mineral buildup on faucets, sinks, etc.  I've tried any number of various cleaners made to remove mineral deposits and find them lacking -- the spots stay in place.

While cleaning my glass top stove with Weiman's Glasstop Stove Cleaner -- I decided to give a swipe to my refrigerator's in-door ice and water dispenser area since the little tray that catches water had done its job and caught the drips of water and left hardened minerals behind as a little "gift" for me.  To my surprise with a bit of elbow grease the built-up minerals disappeared and the frig has returned to its original shiny condition.

Amazing ... doesn't that look nice?

Well, since it's gotten a bit cooler here I've taken to sitting on my patio for breakfast and lunch and sometimes a reading break.  We have one of those curley-q hose misting devices and I had it turned on for added cooling.  The mist covered my glass-top patio table and left a dull mess and some mineral deposits even though it was left only overnight.    So I tried Weiman's cleaner on it and voila -- a really shiny table that reflects everything around.

I like this stuff -- next stop will be my bathroom sinks and faucets and if the fiberglass tub surrounds get dull, I'll try it there too.

Just wipe it on with a paper towel, scrub a bit on the stubborn places and wipe off the residue with a clean paper towel.  If any gets onto surrounding surfaces that are textured and it remains, use a damp cloth to wipe the residue off.  I haven't tried any other brand although I do have a couple of different ones in my pantry but I've seen Weiman's in Walmart so it should be readily available for anyone who wants to give it a try.

That's it -- hope it works well for you.

Make it a happy day --Blessings,

We can go outside!

Yeah, beautiful weather has come to Lake Havasu ... temps are in the 70's in the morning and rise to low 90's during the afternoon.  Perfect!  We're able to spend some time outside again.

This weekend Havasu hosted Aquapalooza (whatever that means) but the result was a lot of boats, people, music, food and fun at a beautiful resort on the Island.

And today we went "out on the range" for some target practice earlier in the morning before it gets too warm.  You can see a wee bit of the lake between these two hills.

I am surprised there are no houses up here yet -- the view is great and the mountains are right behind us.

Taking aim ... 

Both guys like this gun the best.  I stick to my "lady-size" pistol! No pictures of me -- the headgear is not attractive!

Blessings on your week,

Remembering ...

The images are engraved on our minds … the pictures are still devastating to see.  The world as we knew it will never be the same.  America is vulnerable as is every place that embraces freedom and liberty.  May we find our way back to the great country we were meant to be and in so doing be a light to a world in darkness and despair.

Bright Lights, Big City

We had a whirlwind trip to Las Vegas ... must admit I'm not a big city girl anymore.  I lived over 30 years in Boston after having grown up in a little town in Vermont.  I liked living in the city and from Boston we moved to San Diego where we lived on our sailboat for five years and I liked San Diego, too.  Then we lived in Tucson -- much smaller than either Boston or San Diego -- and Tucson is just about the right size city.  Now we're in Lake Havasu and it's a wee bit small in that we're very limited in our store selections but we are getting a Ross store soon and that will be good.  It is SO easy to get around here though that I'm getting spoiled ... just hop in the car and everything is ten minutes or less away.

So here are the bright lights --

And this is just the best -- the fountains at the Bellagio -- just click on the arrow

The casinos are noisy and smokey ... there was a good band at the Indigo Club at Ballys playing 80's music but we couldn't stay long because hubby had to leave for work at 10 PM.  He got back to the room around 2:30 AM -- one tired puppy.  Dinner was nice at La Provenchal in the covered strip between Bally's and Paris -- Italian food nicely done and singing waiters.

Back home in Havasu it's getting a wee bit cooler here most days ... staying below 110!  Have a great weekend!

Bits & Pieces

We had rain!

Real storm clouds with real rain in them!

Oh, how nice!  Woke up to a thundershower around 4 AM and when I got up to have my tea on the patio it was only in the low 80's!

My oldest son and I went to lunch on Monday to celebrate his birthday and I want one of these waterfall walls in my house.  It's so cooling just to walk by it; how nice that would be in my living or dining room.  I need a bigger house and more moola!  (Just click on the arrow to start the video -- it takes a minute to load)

On to another subject -- my laundry -- noticed recently that my whites weren't quite as bright as I would like them and I hesitate to use chlorine bleach unless I absolutely have to so I tried this washing powder as an additive to my laundry load and it's great. Everything is fresh smelling and bright and it's safe for colors, too.  And it's reasonably priced.  I plan to use it every few weeks to keep things sparkling.

You use it in conjunction with your regular laundry detergent -- I happen to have Arm & Hammer at the moment because it was on sale and works fine but you can use the washing powder with any detergent.

Also, for years I've used the Spray & Wash stick to pre-treat my laundry for stains -- works especially well on food and grease stains BUT it seems to have disappeared from the market so now I'm going to try Resolve spray made by the same company.  Hopefully it works as well.

We're off to Las Vegas this afternoon; my husband has to work on a firewall up there at midnight tonight (yuck) and I'm going up for the ride and the night away.  We'll have the evening together for a nice dinner and maybe some slots, then he'll have to take a nap to get ready for his nighttime work while I read, veg out and snooze.  Tomorrow we'll have some time for him to rest in the morning (I hope), a nice lunch, some shopping and an safe ride home.

Make it a great day!

A Sad Oops

I just got a call from my real estate agent this morning that the wife of the couple that are buying our house is in the hospital with an aortic aneurysm so the house is back on the market.  I feel so sorry for this couple ... they were really excited about our little house and I'm sure they would have been happy there.

Storm clouds have arisen in their lives and for the moment their lives are on hold as they deal with this health issue.

My heart and prayers go out to them that all will turn out well and they can find peace and comfort to continue on their journey of life together.






In the meantime, our house is back on the market and we're expecting another happy buyer shortly.

Blessings,