Thursday, September 20, 2012

Yellow Things


They began painting our house yesterday! Well, one guy with a roller and a paintbrush.

This is gonna take awhile.

With just one wall painted in only one coat of yellow, not even finished-- already I love the change. The color's a bit more yellow than I'd wanted, but oh! It's actually hard not to smile when you look at that wall. And too, we're bringing our house into the 21st century--that 1980's blue so dated it.

But choosing the shade of yellow --what a test. Eegads. I'll spare you the drawn-out, frustrating details.
Then there've been the Sammy Tests. The past three days he's stubbornly done just about everything he's not supposed to.
In fact, he knocked a large, heavy mirror down our stairs at night (don't ask me how) which put two holes in the walls and scratches in the lovely-stained stairs. Gah.
Then yesterday our next-door neighbors had their front lawn dug up and the sewer worked on and now it's all one hill of dirt with a big pipe sticking up about two feet out of the ground (???). We have company coming from California on October 6th and that's what I get for wanting everything to look perfect. (Didn't I just blog about that?!)   :)

Tests! But we all have them and once you realize what's going on--that God is trying to iron the wrinkles inside of you and make you more like Him--well, you start cooperating and learning and changing. And that's a Good Thing. A Grace Thing.

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Speaking of yellow houses..... Shhh, don't tell anyone, but I still love reading the original Boxcar Children series of books, the ones Gertrude Chandler Warner wrote in the 50's, 60's and 70's. I just finished reading The Yellow House Mystery and thought it one of the very best. It had everything a good kids' mystery should have.

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My best deals from the supermarket this morning:



The paper towels were free.
The 6 boxes of kleenex were .50 cents each.
The laundry detergent was $2.25 each.
The fruit bars were .90 cents each.
The canned beans were .49 cents each. 
The Jello mix-ins were .50 cents.

A major thing I love about combining sales and coupons? The prices I pay remind me of grocery shopping in a California mountain town 30 years ago as a young married woman. Good prices, good times back then--and the same now, too. 


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Oh! Almost forgot. Did you see the little yellow sun at the top of this post? That was a yard sale find. I love those whimsical kinds of faces--I think it all began with Grandfather Clock on Captain Kangaroo.  :)

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"Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands."  ... Deuteronomy 8:2

5 comments:

  1. Remember Lanette Jennings television show from the 80's, 90's? She used to talk about how difficult it was to choose a shade of yellow. Looking forward to seeing pictures!

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  2. Bonnie--thanks for reminding me where I first heard that! I've quoted to friends over the years that yellow is the hardest color to get 'right' and it's nice knowing where I first heard it. I had very few choices from the painter this time and then trying to choose one from a tiny square held up to the side of the house in the sun--and then after choosing one, he came back and said 90 percent of those colors he'd given me couldn't be chosen so I had to choose from even a smaller amount, etc., etc. I finally just chose one and prayed all will be well. And it will be. Thanks for commenting! Blessings, Debra

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  3. How funny that you are reading The Yellow House Mystery. I have it on my tbr pile. Were you influenced by the little discussion of yellow houses on the maud list as I was?

    Our first house had every room a different shade of yellow and we called them by the name the paint had. The only one we didn't like was "the poet's room" which was a yellow with strong green undertones we didn't like once it was painted on. I like all the warm buttery yellows.

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  4. Kristi... Oh! You will love The Yellow House Mystery. Like I said, it has everything you could want in a good kids' mystery. One of the best of the series, imo.

    And all the talk of yellow houses on Maud-L felt wild because I'd just recently decided to paint the house yellow and to order that Boxcar Children book. Talk about deja vu or great minds thinking alike or whatever!

    I still need to read that other yellow house book which you recommended. It's still safely on my kindle cloud reader. :) Blessings, Debra

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  5. I love my yellow house and my yellow kitchen. My husband thought it strange I'd choose yellow both inside and out. I told him when I'm standing in the kitchen I can't see the yellow siding. So I'm twice blessed with yellow. And my grand daughter in Georgia called me Yellow house grandma.

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