Now We're off to Merry Lake

We usually stay at Papa Jack's for a couple of days, or until we keep finding him out in his garden. This usually means, for a guy approaching 90, "get the hell out of here!" So we gather up the kids, and off we go, to Merry Lake. The lake is in a town, Camden Mi. which is literally a tobacco spit from the Ohio line. Pioneer Ohio is the first town across the line. This is very important to the story I'm about to tell.
We went to some garage sales in Pioneer on our way to the lake, and I asked one lady if she knew Russ Lanius, he used to be the service manager at a Canon dealer where I was the sales manager back in the 80's. She said of course, they're on their way to NC for a vacation. I can call them for you. So, right then and there, she calls them and I talked to his wife, gave her our email address and she said they would get in touch with me. It was freaky! A few days later, I got an email from a Blackberry it was Russ, the message was "I just left Wauseon H.S and I'm on my way to Mac Steel, talk to you soon". The guys still on the same service call  I sent him on 30 years ago. Hilarious!

MacSteel had one of the worst driveways I had ever seen, that's probably why it's taken him so long! What's really freaky, is that we were traveling from NC to MI on the same weekend. I think we need to keep in touch, and yes, he has a daughter named Missy. You can't make this up!

Next post~Germanator shows up on Merry Lake vacation

Summer Vacation in Detroit, part 2

We arrived at Papa Jacks house, a neat little 2 bedroom, 1 bath home with a "Michigan" basement. I was a real estate agent for a time, and you couldn't count basements in the square footage, so it is less than a 750 square foot home. A "Michigan" basement was added well after the home was built, because you needed some more room. They would shovel underneath the house, raise the house. put it on rafters, and dig the basement. For me that task has "move" written all over it. They were affordable and built and designed for one purpose, to house workers who were coming in from all over the country, to get a great paying job, from the car companies. Henry Fords idea about affordable cars for the workers, took root in the housing market as well.The car companies hired anybody and everybody they could. The demand was incredible. Glass makers, housing, retail, if you relocated in the Detroit area, you were going to do well financially in a very short time. Back to the vacation, we had two grandkids with us, Zoe and Corgan, Butch and Zozo to Papa Jack.

Our arrival dinner was the usual, Caprara Pizza, right down the street on Northline Rd.(Nortline to the locals) It was a fresh dough ready to bake pizza in an aluminum pizza pan for $8.50. You took it home, followed cooking directions on the bag. and viola, dinner time.

Check out my first vacation blog, and play the parade video and the Detroit 2012 video at the same time, it is eerie. I did it by mistake, but what a story they tell.

Next blog, "Arrive at Merry Lake"

Today We Clean (don't say it) The Window Blinds!

We have rented this house for six years and have never cleaned the blinds. The kitchen, dining nook and living room are  one great space. All the times the smoke detector went off because of burnt offerings left on the stove. Jackie experimenting with a new stove top idea for her artwork. The numerous coffee explosions, from our beloved Corning Ware 9 cup perculator, and last but not least, her favorite blackened salmon in olive oil. It gets the prize for worst mess ever! Jackie's reaction to "Blind Cleaning?" Play both videos at the same time, hilarious!

64 ounces $1.00
Dollar Store

I was going to take a before and after picture but I'm only going to show the after picture. Let me put it this way, I forgot what color they were until I started the cleaning process. I yelled out to Jackie, "you owe me a dollar, they are white!"

$5.00 kiddie pool

The blinds were beyond the blind brush or vacuum stage. They needed a take down tub washing. If you are facing a similar task, I have a system that works wonderfully for me.

My process is called,

"One Blind at a Time"

Our blinds after cleaning

Things you're going to need, 2 /64 ounce refill bottles of Awesome Orange Degreaser, $2.00 gets you 128 ounces at the Dollar Store, a kiddie pool, everyone has one, if not $5.00 at the store of your choice.  Soaking mixture 2 bottles of AO into pool, add 3 large buckets of hot water into pool and you're ready to start soakin', You will need rubber gloves, by the way. Remove first blind, take to the "soaker", take a sponge to the blind then swish it back and forth a few tmes and let soak. While it soaks  I take the opportunity to clean the windows. After you get the window cleaned inside out. Remove blind from soaker and rinse with hose. I laid the cleaned shade on the front porch railing to dry. Take next blind out and repeat the process. Once second window is clean, you're ready to put the first blind back in place. They don't get mixed up and the window is completely finished!

I used to dump all the blinds in the bathtub at the same time to clean them, needless to say I could never match the blinds to the right windows. I had to go to"bed sheet" backup. This system really works well.

Til next time~

New Stuff on Etsy. Shop, itsasgoodasitgets

We have over a hundred items listed and growing. The response has been fabulous. Shop opened a month ago and we have sold several items already.

Check us out!

www.etsy.com

Shop name/ its as good as it gets

See you there!

Jackie

Some Memories to Share on Mother's Day

I bought something the other day at an estate sale and the memories of my growing up just exploded in my brain. Not the bad stuff, the good stuff. I got plenty of bad ones, maybe I'll share those on "Father's Day."

Quickube Ice Cube Tray

This whole post is about a certain summer, when I was about seven. Growing up in a family of twelve, there was one sound you heard but were helpless to respond to. It was a beautiful sound, it was like the Pied Piper of Hamlin. Children would run screaming through the streets just to be the first in line. Yes, the dreaded, Ice Cream truck! My mother had a remedy for that, the old frozen Kool Aid pops right out of the Quickube. Back in Boston we didn't get near Kool Aid, it was the heavenly nectar in the glass bottle, Za-Rex. I know the makers of the stuff originally named it Zarex. They figured we would murder the name with our accents, so Za-Rex it became.

Original Bottle

I remember the M.D.C. swimming pool I used to go to every sunny day during the summer. On a hot day, the line to get in was so long, an official would come out and count the pool capacity and send the over flow back home. It cost a penny to get in, and do you know what a penny can do to soft brick on a building,while people get bored waiting in line?

M.D.C. building wall

I also remember if a Red Sox game was on the radio, you could hear it all through the neighborhood.Everybody just sitting in their  homes,or on their porch, with a big old fan running, just trying to stay cool, and listen to the game.
Blueberry picking, when my mother would get in a pie baking mood, and I would get Poison Ivy. Picking flowering weeds for my mother, I thought  were Violets, and just give them to her, even when I wasn't in trouble.
Sometimes, I would sit in the kitchen while she was cooking, (her spaghetti sauce smelled wonderful, it just didn't taste very good) and tell her "corny" jokes, even though she's in her 90's, she still remembers.
The Kids Day at Pomeworth Park. The City of Stoneham where I lived used to have a kids day, three legged races, watermelon, ice cream and fun games. My brother Joey and I hooked up for the wheelbarrow race, I was the wheelbarrow. We won it, I felt like  a super hero! I think that's the last time I talked to Joey. Let's just say "Some people mature, some just get old"
I remember getting into a pretty serious fight with one of my brothers, and my mother lovingly yelling, "don't hit him in the face!" The time I was trusted to go buy the bread at Hanks Bakery and was told that I could buy some candy for doing this chore. The bread was 2 bucks, I spent all the change on candy, ouch! 3 bucks worth of candy back then? One night my brother Henry was locked out because he stayed out to late. He snuck in through a window and I heard him quietly sneak into his bed and breathe a sigh of relief. Next morning, at dawn, my mother came in and beat the hell out of him with a broom and yelled, "I know about the cigarettes, too!"
My most touching memory, when my mother would sit down at her old, half of the keys didn't work piano, and practice the hymn she was going to sing at Sunday mass.
I don't think I ever told her this, but that's where the love of music was given to me, from my mother. I still remember like it was yesterday. Don't forget, visit us on www.etsy.com  Shop, its as good as it gets. Father's Day is on the way!

Happy Mother's Day!

All we did was hit each other in the face! I wouldn't bet on the brother with the pink gloves.

R.I.P. Goober

Take a look at our store etsy.com

With Mothers Day coming up, why not get Mom some Vintage jewelry. Take a look at our store, all the prices are fixed. No auction hassle, no getting beat out at the last second by someone's that had a gazillion transactions.
The site is easy to use, and you never know, you may have a bunch of stuff laying around that you can make some extra money on, in these tough times.

Quiet evening at home

Some rules that apply, items must be vintage, (25 years or older), handmade by someone, and spare parts. If you're not a "pack rat" hit some garage sales, church rummage sales and become one. As you can see, Jackie and I are enjoying a quiet evening at home. The paper I'm reading is dated May 20th 1978, the Wyandotte News Herald. This picture was taken in 2002. As you can see, we do have some extra things laying around. How would you like to see our storage rental?

She loves books

wife's recurring
nightmare

She really loves books, one time I asked her about getting a "Kindle Fire" She said," the landlord asked us not to use the fireplace," I said no, it can download all your favorite books and you can read them anytime you want. She laughed, "Yeah, right!" and left the room. Seriously though, take a look at our site, and maybe It can help you "de-clutter."Go to  www.etsy.com Our store sites name is,  its as good as it gets, just type the name in the search box, watch a few tutorials and ask some questions. My next post will be around Mother's Day, our Anniversary is the same week. Happy Mothers Day. One whole week of lavishness! Til next Time~

I don't work for 1-800-flowers but this video is very touching and entertaining.