"Sandy" has arrived, (a work in progress)...

Since I was a little girl I have always dreamed of owning my very own coin operated horse. I have so many memories of being at the grocery store when I was little and riding the one in front of the store. My favorite memory is one time I was about 5 or 6 I think and my mom was in the store shopping. I was out front sitting on what I considered "my" horse, but had no coin to enable me to ride so I was just sitting there, lovingly patting the horse's head. (Times were different then, no one worried about a little girl of that age outside the store by herself!) Anyway, a man walked by, smiled at me and as he did he dropped a coin in the coin box and I galloped to my heart's content! At the time I was sure he had to be the nicest man in the whole world!!

Back to "Sandy", we found her on ebay at a great price, unrestored, and Ed got her for me for my birthday. I am so thrilled and can't wait to begin the task of restoring her to her glory days and allowing my grandchildren to gallop to THEIR heart's content. Nothing will bring me greater joy than watching them have that very same experience. Abby actually had her Dad text me this morning to ask if "Sandy" was home yet, I think these little ones will love her too.

"Sandy" is actually called a coin operated "Sandy horse", this particular one was made in 1947 and takes a dime to ride.

Here is phase one of "Sandy", her arrival at her new home. As we work on her we will post her progress. I am so excited!!!






Erin asked what she will look like when done, here is a picture of a fully restored one that matches her original look. We will be restoring our "Sandy" to this...



Isn't she beautiful???

Seriously??

This morning Ed had to put two new batteries in his truck, he has had to jump it to get it started the last few days. I was doing dishes a little while ago, turned on the garbage disposal, it ran, stopped and a horrid burning smell came up from the drain. Oops, think I need a new garbage disposal! Then, I walked past the downstairs bathroom, happened to look in when I walked by and noticed the floor was covered by an inch or more of water!!! (don't know if you can see the water in the picture).

Okay, time for this unwanted visitor to go visit someone else!!

TA DA!!!

May I introduce you to my new closet ceiling??? YES!! Now all I have left is to sort through and put all the clothes, shoes, etc. back in the closet. So excited to be nearly back to as normal as we ever get!

Phase 3..

Ah, on my way back to normalcy! Paint and drywall guy came out today, gave me a price, I said go ahead and he did! Will have finished tomorrow!!!! So "glad" Cal Air recommended him to me!! Thank you , thank you, thank you!

And Then..

A few minutes ago I heard a loud crash from upstairs. I ran up to see what else had happened, and found more of the ceiling had come down, taking out the light bulbs in the closet on it's way. Now I not only have insulation and drywall all over the place, but broken glass as well! If I want to play the "glad game" I can say, at least i didn't have those fluorescent bulbs with mercury in them in my closet, or I would also be calling out the Haz Mat team to deal with mercury contamination!!!

Phase 2

Last spring we had an insulation contractor spray foam insulation into our attic. Apparently unbeknownst to us, the installer stepped on the condenser unit drain pipe for the air conditioner which is up there, and broke the pipe. We turned our air conditioner on for the first time a couple weeks ago, and it has been cycling on and off ever since, with the pipe draining into the attic instead of outside. Once the insulation and drywall became saturated with water, yesterday's scenario developed (see yesterday's post). I called our air conditioner company and they came out this morning and confirmed my suspicion about what was going on, and repaired the drain pipe. We have been fighting with the insulation company all day today, they claim there is no way we can prove they caused this, and said they would come out and take a look, IN A WEEK!! I refused, insisting they come immediately because I have an attic full of wet insulation, drywall, wood, and my ceiling is about to come down. They refused to come any sooner. So, I made a quick call to the State Contractor's Board investigator this afternoon, he told me what to tell them and what to do, and Ed called the contractor back and explained that we had spoken to the Board investigator and we would be having the repairs done immediately at his cost and if he did not pay the bills in a timely fashion we would see him in court. He suddenly became very agreeable and asked that we get receipts and take pictures and he will pay. Aah, such a change of heart so quickly! Thank you State Contractor's Board! Anyway, I have a drywall contractor coming out tomorrow, so Ed decided to take down all the support boards he put up. Let's just say, oops!

Must It Always Be On a Holiday??

So, Ed was in the bathroom this morning getting ready to head out to the Summerlin 4th of July Parade, when he thought he heard it raining.. He checked to see since we had thunderstorms yesterday. Nope, no rain. He started following the dripping noise and discovered it coming out of the ceiling in our closet!! Not only water dripping but the ceiling about to collapse! He quickly moved his clothes (the only ones getting wet!), and put a plastic box under the leak. The water had been dripping into my pile of empty laundry baskets, but was then leaking out the holes in the baskets onto the floor! He got a ladder, some pieces of wood, and propped up the ceiling, and off we went to the parade and back home for swimming and bbq. We'll save the crisis till tomorrow when it won't be time and a half for whomever we call out!!

WELCOME HOME!!!

I have been gone for a week on a road trip to Washington to visit Chris, Erin and the Cox crew. I got home this afternoon and this is what I found when I walked in the door. Maybe I should leave more often if I get a welcome home like this!! (Not only the flowers, but a clean kitchen too, wohoo!!)

What Does It Mean...

when there's a crack in the street with water bubbling out of it? It means that I really hope my water storage barrels are full because soon there will be men and big trucks digging up the street and we will have no water on a hot Las Vegas day!! I wonder if I'm prepared?

WORN OUT!!

After a very long day having a yard sale and sitting in the spa to recover, Poppa was playing Princesses with Abby. He quickly fell asleep, and she quietly lined the dolls up to nap with him!! May I present to you.. Poppa and the Princesses!

OOPS!!

We stopped by our storage unit tonight to grab something. When I put in the code the gate went up, I started to drive through, and it suddenly fell down. i slammed on my brakes and it went down right in front of my car and was just hanging there!! Ed got out, lifted up the gate and held it while I drove through. When we went out the exit gate the entrance gate was still just hanging there. OOPS, SORRY!!

All in All...

This morning I picked strawberries from my strawberry patch and made freezer jam, then a loaf of homemade bread. While that was rising I found a second cousin on Ancestry.com I didn't know about. All in all, a very productive morning!!

It's your birthday!!

For many years Ed always sent his Mom a bouquet of flowers on HIS birthday. She would always call, wish him a happy birthday and tearfully thank him for remembering her role in his life. She is gone now, but still, when it's his birthday, my thoughts always turn to her. How grateful I am for the boy she (and his Dad), put up with and raised to become such a great husband, father, friend and, last but certainly not least, grandpa! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, THIS IS YOUR LIFE, at least a few snippets of it.

Saturday Morning Fun..

We have been having a problem with our pool losing water for quite some time. Then recently we discovered our pool vacuum won't run, even though it is working fine. We had a leak detection company come out the other day, and they ran some tests and the tech put on his head phones and took his machine and ran it along the concrete the pipes are under, stood up and said, "your leak is right here under the concrete". Today Ed jackhammered up the spot, and though we found wet dirt, we couldn't find a pipe issue. So, while I got right down with my face in the hole, he ran the hose in the skimmer and pressurized it, and whamo, the water sprayed up into my face, WE FOUND THE LEAK!!!

A Great Loss..

My 20 year old granny smith apple tree had become so distressed by age, disease and pest infestation it needed to be removed, and today was the day. I have loved this tree so much as it has grown up with our family from a little sapling in a 5 gallon pot to one that has produced bushels of apples every year that we have harvested and enjoyed throughout every year, as well as sharing with family, friends and neighbors.
I am so sad today to see it go.

Let It Snow!!

What a way to welcome 2011, a snow storm in Vegas! Should make for an interesting time for family pictures in the park this afternoon, hmmm. It sure is beautiful though.