Also caught up with the last season of Top Chef (Amazon Prime) which we enjoyed. Now watching current season.

We enjoyed the new cast!

We did not mind the cast changes. We have always loved Christian.

We thought the challenges were more creative. And the show was fresh and interesting.

We loved the most recent two seasons (Amazon Prime) and are now current with this series.

Great re-do! Their guest room turned into an arts/crafts homework room.

https://www.younghouselove.com/kids-art-homework-room/

Amazon must be a hopping and a bopping

The little things, that one is use to running out to grab, I assume nationwide, we now order from Amazon.

We have also been ordering from Best Buy.

To be honest, before seclusion, I use Amazon (and Best Buy) a lot, because most of the time I do not have a car. And if I go to a store, probably I buy more than the one thing I went to get. Ordering on Amazon, I just get the one thing. Yes, free Amazon shipping. And the cardboard boxes go to recycling. And I look carefully that I am buying from Amazon and not a third party.

Somethings, masks and wipes and tp, Amazon is OUT. (I had ordered masks, long ago, when I saw this coming, for youngest at college. Middle and I use masks regularly, crowds and planes. So we each  keep a supply.)

We now have two people working from home and one finishing a semester of college from home, so I ordered (Amazon) ink cartridges for the printer yesterday. I had one cartridge of each (4) color in my stash. I ordered two more black ones. That was my biggest concern. They should be here Wednesday.

We have 3 pleasant, spacious work stations set up in separate rooms with doors that close. No one is in the rooms that I use. Youngest’s bedroom and workstation are both upstairs. She does not have a separate kitchen, but it is like a little apartment. She has her own bathroom and “living room” with a TV and all the game systems are up there. So she is doing okay at home. Her friends are all going nuts at their homes.

It is very weird not to have any extra kids. One kid we normally would have had, possibly had been exposed (student teaching in a big town with cases). And the other kid had in person interviews and appointments scheduled, youngest told her if you leave, you can’t come back, and at the time, she wanted the interviews, so she is not here.

So all weekend, I barely saw the girls (or my husband) even though we are all under the same roof 24/7.

I hear from my brother via text every day. I hear from my mom via email on occasion.

Youngest has now been home for almost two weeks. Her college acted very fast. She was one of the first kids sent home, nationwide.

Great activity

“Robert Norman Ross was an American painter, art instructor, and television host. He was the creator and host of The Joy of Painting, an instructional television program that aired from 1983 to 1994 on PBS in the United States, and also aired in Canada, Latin America, and Europe.”

I happen to keep a well stocked supply of art and craft items.

So no shopping was required. My husband and both daughters had a very good time painting a Bob Ross project. (His videos are online).

(These types of supplies are probably available for immediate shipment from Michael’s, JoAnn’s or Amazon.)

Sinus surgery

I had major sinus surgery in 2005 when I discovered my left side was blocked and probably always had been.

A few weeks ago, I realized it was difficult to breathe thru my nose, particularly left side.

I had my routine 6 mos check up with my new GP on 3/10. He confirmed there was something wrong with nose and sent me to ENT. I saw ENT on 3/11 and had surgery on 3/16. So I am efficiently in isolation and recovery simultaneously.

One of my favorites / PBS

We no longer have cable.

New shows appear on PBS’s website and app for a short time when they are broadcast. Or PBS members have access to them all the time.

Forcing bulbs

I hunted very hard for a Valentines decoration for my kitchen island (this year and last year).

No luck.

By pure chance I was in a different grocery store and saw containers of forced bulbs a few weeks ago.

I got tulips to try. When they bloomed and were very fun, I also got a started container of crocuses, and I got an identical empty container and started my own paper white narcissus bulbs.

There is a plastic device in the bottom of each base to keep the started bulbs up out of the water. The two started containers came with the plastic piece. The extra vase was missing the plastic piece. My husband cut 5 quarter/coin size holes in a plastic oatmeal lid and it works perfectly.

So I have three sets of bulbs going, all at different stages.

We all think this is very fun. Even my husband thinks it is a creative and interesting winter thing to do.

I will order bulbs next fall, put them in the refrigerator, and then start them at a staggered pace after the first of the year. I will reuse these 3 vases.

So far, not bothering my respiratory system.

This would make a great gift.

Silly project

I am a very good recycler. Better than average.

I use real dishes, we have stainless kanteens, not a plastic person.

One area where I could improve is paper towels.

Yesterday we bought a ten pack of white feed sack cloth kitchen towels from Walmart. We are cutting them in 1/4’s and hemming the cut edges.

Then these will be our kitchen paper towels for hands and washing counters and wiping up. I will probably still use paper towels to scrub kitchen sink and bathrooms.

My listening this week

Fleece dog bed covers

Yes, JoAnns always has coupons and sales, but fleece fabric is still fairly expensive and I am not a fan of the colors/prints.

Walking thru Walmart, I realized 90” x 90” fleece blankets were $10. That is a lot of fabric for $10.

I bought one tan blanket and made two dog bed covers from it. I made them like pillow cases, one end open, that slip over the dog beds. Super easy to remove for washing.

 

I have kept old beach towels on these two dog beds previously. It is shocking how dirty they get. And not very attractive.

Yes the dog beds are made with zip covers that can be removed for washing. But keeping original cover clean and using something else for wear and tear keeps the beds themselves really nice looking.

My third dog bed has a double sided/thick fleece blanket covering it. It is tucked out of sight and the pup really likes it. And it is a good use for an old blanket that was not big enough for anything else.

Yes, that is three dog beds for two dogs, but they all get used daily and the dogs really like them.

Surprising

Most people would look and think “Holocaust” which of course it is. But to me, the genealogy theme is stronger. And maybe that is why so far it is not sinking me. It is her hunt and what she discovers that I see. The tragedy feels like a long ago part of history.

This is not a book I would normally expect to like, but so far, I really do. I am on 11 of 17 chapters. I am listening on audible. The reader is very good. It is very well written.

Injustice and __________ (I will add the word when I think of it) are topics I usually avoid, but somehow here, as I said, I see “genealogy”.




I first heard if it here -

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-secrets/id1441824608?i=1000465492685

When I am finished reading, I will listen to this one too -

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/travels-through-time/id1447550574?i=1000463876625



Many moons ago, my niece, deep in the Harry Potter world of books, made a big character list. And when I used to go to my classic book group, I used to go in early and put a character list on the massive white board. The lists had all the names grouped in relationship order.

When I started this book, I thought for a bit that I was not going to be able to handle all the names. I almost started writing and then I just relaxed into it when I realized I really only needed to keep track of the main characters. When more distant relatives were mentioned, it was often fleeting, and I really did not need to know exactly where they fit on the tree.

Probably in the bound version of the book, there are all kinds of pictures and maybe even a genealogy   Chart. So while I am an audible girl, reading the hardback version might be better for a lot of people. Or having the hardback version open, looking at the pictures, assuming they are included, might be better with audible format. It is also possible they are online.

Walmart warning

This happened to me a couple weeks ago:

I ordered something online from Walmart and it was not available for shipping to store, it had to be shipped to my  house. It arrived in an Amazon bag. ???

It was not what I expected. I tried to return it at the store. They told me it was from a third party vendor and could not be returned to the store.

Customer service at Walmart directed me to Walmart's 800
 Number. I called from Walmart’s parking lot incase I needed to back in and find a manager.

The 800 number person was very kind. I was very nice but made it clear I was confused and not happy.

800 # person explained that Walmart now is a “marketplace” with third party venders. So like amazon, now have to look carefully to see if it is fulfilled by Walmart or is a third party.

This totally threw me. But it explained the Amazon shipping bag. It is a company that runs their business thru Amazon.

I like Amazon. I use their easy returns thru Kohl’s. But since I had not ordered my item thru Amazon directly, I could not return thru Kohl’s.

When I order from eBay or amazon, I expect to have to read carefully. I know to check about returns and who is actually fulfilling the order.

When I order from Lowe’s or Target or Kohl’s or Walmart - I expect to be able to return anything to their store.

I use ship to the store often, at Walmart and Target, my first clue that something was fishy with the Walmart product should have been that there was no option to have it shipped to the store.

The end of the story was Walmart immediately gave me a $25 certificate for my trouble. I heard from the third party vender by that same evening. They gave me a full refund and told me to keep the item.

Miss and a hit

Gretchen or Elizabeth mentioned both of these podcasts.

Gretchen did warn that the first one would not be for everything and she was right. It was not a hit with me.

ADDED LATER: It turns out, this is a staged bit/routine that the radio show writes and then dramatizes. That explains a lot. And it makes me feel better. So it is not irresponsible as I first thought. Instead it is just stupid. . .

I felt several of these could easily turn into bad stalker situations. I could not stand the laugh track guy in background. So I listened to several on Tuesday and then deleted the whole thing.




I loved Dani Shapiro’s book and I also like her voice and the quality of the podcast editing. Diverse stories. Enjoying it so far.

I wondered how Dani tracked down the family secret guests. In the beginning, first of her podcasts, they have a book or a documentary or are a speaker. This is a bonus. If the story is of interest, can track down the person for a more in-depth story. For example, Steve Lickteig’s Open Secret and Lacey Schwartz’s Little White Lies are both on Amazon Prime. I can see from the titles that once she got going with her podcast, she started hearing from listeners and airing their stories.

🐱

Friend saw Cats many years ago.

She just saw the new traveling production and said SO GOOD. Much much better than original.

Middle and I got tickets for later this year.

And then I just happened to read this :
https://www.amalah.com/amalah/2020/01/a-cat-so-clever.html

Austen

I discovered all of Sanditon was available on Passport/PBS. So my husband and I finished series and  really enjoyed it.

My husband commented he was not sure he had read any Jane Austen or seen any of the movies. So I pulled up a list of her books in order. And I looked for the BBC (what used to be called miniseries that are now called seasons) multi part versions. I would rather watch 3-6 hours/parts instead of a 2 hour movie. And I love BBC.

I appreciate the fact that one can pick up one month of Brit-box on Prime or Passport on PBS for $5-6. Sign up and then immediately cancel it and it runs for 1 month and does not automatically renew.

So we watched Sense and Sensibility and I do not think I had seen that version previously. Very good. Fabulous scenery.

Pride and Prejudice is next. Rewatching THE version, Firth/Ehle.

I guess Sanditon should be added to that list, only as BBC series, not a book.

Black History Month - Bobby Kennedy Speech

http://tal.fm/72

Bobby Kennedy’s speech is at the beginning of this podcast.

It was new to me. And very clever.

I found it last fall, working my way thru the This American Life archives.

Feeds

Somehow I got hooked up to a feed again. It looks sketchy, so I took this blog private again and switched a lot of blogger options to “no”.

If the feed stops, great, solved.

If the feed does not stop, I am not sure what a next step would be.

Surprise

I have ended up with a lot of old, extended family pictures. I add many to Find a Grave as a means of sharing.

I have also found news clippings and photos of non-family members. If I know who they are, I stop and add them to Find a Grave. When I do, my name is attached to the entry. The owner of the memorial, and anyone else looking at the site, knows who added the picture.

I had a woman contact me yesterday. I had added a birthday picture of this woman’s great grandmother to her memorial. I did not know it, but it was the last birthday the grandma had before she died (early 1960’s). And the family had never seen the picture and did not have a copy.

She wrote to see who I was and how I had the picture.

I also have an antique bed and a quilt from that family, who was a close family friend of my paternal grandparents. My grandmother had given me the picture to say - that is who gave you the bed and quilt.

So I sent the great grand daughter (who is about my age)  pictures of the bed and the quilt.

And that has led to a big hunt. Because somewhere there is a note of someone who was born in that bed. And I do not think the name meant anything to me, but probably it is someone from this woman’s family.


PS
A few of the photos, I have added to Find a Grave, have been gravestone photos. Those have been particularly thrilling. My aunt had taken pictures of very old gravestones in the 1970’s or 1980’s. The stones were just barely readable in the pictures, they were so old and weathered. (These photos were in with the family pictures she sent to me.) I looked each up on Find A Grave. I scanned and added pictures to the memorials that were missing pictures. So at the time the memorials were added to the website, the stones were gone or unreadable. I added pictures that were taken 40-50 years ago. A major surprise for someone.

As I have walked thru cemeteries and found unreadable stones for my own family, I always have the same thought - probably there were pictures of these stones. I wonder what happened to them.

Simplified laundry tub

If I had to do it over, I would probably have put a laundry tub in garage with faucet that could have hose attached to it.

We even went and looked at laundry tubs that are just the tub, with no attached faucet, to set under the spigots in the garage. Two problems: They do not sit close enough to wall. They were too deep. A hose from under the sink to a drain was doable but awkward.

I fill a deep dish pan with water several times a day to wash dog feet. It is heavy. It is awkward. My hands are not good. I tried a hose but that created its own problems.

While we were looking, it occurred to us that a board might work better, than a sink with sides, in lifting the full dishpan.

So that is what we did. We had the plank. We had the can (which has hoses stored it it and is very heavy/secure).

So it was a free and simple solution.

Skirts

It is very ironic.

I have made many beautiful Christmas tree skirts over the last 30-35 years.

And now I use plain upholstery fabric draped around the tree stand as my “skirt”.

Because I put my very skinny 6’ tree on a wooden box or the living room window seat, a traditional skirt will not work. Besides the upholstery fabric, I have also used draped tulle or burlap.

I am in the process of cleaning out my studio. One very painful week I sorted a lot of fabric. And then when my tree was set on the window seat for the first time (ever), I remembered a piece of gold upholstery weight fabric and it worked great.

There was another piece of gold that was nearly the same size. I sewed the two together. So the ends will not fray and I have a reversible “skirt”. This blends with my gold tree decorations.

I did the same thing with a piece of red and a piece of green I found in my stash. And this blends with my box of traditional decorations.

And I bought a white fabric and an aqua print for my third box of decorations.

You might remember, it only takes 50 ornaments to decorate my 6’ very skinny tree. I now have three full sets of ornaments/picks/ribbon that I can alternate different years. Traditional set, gold balls, white/aqua/silver balls are each packed in a separate small bin. White lights stay on the tree.

It would have been expensive to buy all six pieces of upholstery fabric at the same time. Using four from my stash and only buying (50% off coupon) two, felt really good.

The fabric (below)  folded back (gold, white, red) are my first choices on these “skirts”.

I could have put muslin or duck on the back of these pieces, but it the white would have shown around the edges. I could have just serged the edges, but they drape better with the fullness of the two fabrics. 

I had most of the fabric, and reversible seemed like a very smart choice. I took care to use six  different fabrics so I can have very unique  looks each year.

Wild Game

I am looking forward to Gretchen interviewing the author on her Happiness podcast, Gretchen wrote:
“Adrienne Brodeur will join me in the studio in New York City to talk to us about the book, and we'll air that episode on February 5, 2020. So get reading!”

I listened to this book on Audible. The narrator was very good. There is a bonus interview at the end between the author and narrator.

I also listened to
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/otherppl-with-brad-listi/id472152554?i=1000456693820
AFTER I finished the book. I enjoyed that podcast, but it had too much detail/spoilers for a before-read listen, in my opinion.

I did enjoy this book very much.  In my opinion the writing was very good. And it was very thoughtful. It was definitely different. Generations of dysfunction.

To be honest, I was not sure until Chapter 18 that I liked it. I was afraid it was a little too ABC network TV for me for a while. The author pulled it off in the end. The last three hours (listening on audible) were excellent. And it did have to have the story to get there. I am sure there are others who might like the story better than the ending.

The author feels like she is the line in the sand (breaking the cycle). I hope so.

FYI - The author and her mother and father have their real names in the book. Everyone else, the names have been changed. The author does not have a wiki page. Her father does, with his literary work, but no family is linked to it.

I very much want (author’s stepmother) Margo’s book list!

Heating pads

NEVER sleep with one. Very easy to get burned.

I use one in the living room. I use the heating pad on my upper back, a cherry pit hot pack on my lower back and two cherry pit hot packs on my feet. Makes a huge difference (arthritis).

I had a long one. But it did not hit my critical shoulder/neck area. The long one is now in my travel bag, on the road it will be useful.

I now have this one (below) and it is very nice. It folds over my shoulders and the tab reaches my neck. There is something like rice/pellets in the rolled edge, so it keeps its shape.

I turn it on high until it gets hot and then turn it to low.

The living room window seat got a mini make-over

The tree went back to the attic today. So six weeks seems to be about how long I enjoy it.

This is how it looked between Thanksgiving and Christmas, after Christmas it just had the lights and the “skirt”.

Today the window seat got a mini makeover.

If I had taken a picture of the inside of the living room window seat six months ago, it was full of things that did not belong there. Mostly big toys we are saving. Doll beds and cradles, large plastic horses, a doll beauty parlor chair that are now in their proper place in oldest’s closet.

If I had taken a picture of the top of the window seat two months ago it would have been piled very high with pillows, blankets, and three yoga bolsters.

The huge pillows went upstairs to the loft for use there. I also put all the comforters up there for the kids. They are colorful old college ones. Everything is neatly stacked on big ottoman with a dust cover over it.

The extra quilts are now clean and IN the window seat. So are a couple pillows and the three yoga bolsters. They are all plastic bags to keep them clean. (The inside of that window seat is very clean, my husband cleaned it twice, first when we emptied it and then again when he took down the tree).

I could no longer open the lid on this seat (arthritis). It was hard for the girls to open too. My husband made a loop. And now I can open it easily. The loop lays very flat under the cushion. It is now easy to get in the window seat to get something and it looks clean and tidy. That is a 7’ cushion, so when it was full, it looked really messy, and blocked the view.

Corner cabinet

This corner cabinet and the oriental dishes came on the truck when my husband and his brothers cleaned out his mother’s house after her death in 2010.

It got stuck behind the backdoor next to the laundry room door because it was the only empty corner in the house.

A couple years ago it almost was sold/removed because I really wanted to put a floor to ceiling shoe rack in that spot. We ended up building shoe rack right outside the backdoor which pleases me hugely. So that solved that.

https://baby-steps-v.blogspot.com/2019/11/cubbies-in-use.html?m=1




The corner cabinet matches/blends with four other pieces that came from husband’s mom, and everyone else convinced me to keep it. And there was no where else to move it in the house. So it stayed and it was useless.

It sat with the oriental dishes (that came with it) in the top and silver stored in the bottom for 9 years. (I have been slowly selling the silver. I don’t use it, the kids do not want it.)

And one day it occurred to me that my odds and ends like phone carrier and sunglasses could go in the (now empty) bottom of the cabinet.

As you can see, hard to find containers that really fit/fill the area. I went on to try other bins and even oval buckets. But I got used to putting my things away in the bottom of this cabinet. I realized the value of the spot  and the cabinet. And I also started condensing things I had stored other places.

Several weeks ago I sold the 3 oriental dishes and their stands. I had one more set in the living room that I sold too. And I channeled that money into baskets.

I had to hunt a lot of places to find four oval baskets that were the right size. I had the one round basket.

This area is now a very functional/useful station. The top basket holds all my winter socks. The top/center basket is currently empty, waiting for a guest. Middle uses the big round one for her purse and sunglasses. My hats, gloves, foot warmers, phone holder, fleece jacket and other things are stored in the lower two  baskets. A lumbar pillow and blanket I use in the car are also stored below. So I take up three of the five baskets. But I no longer have anything setting out in the backdoor area. I eliminated the hooks that used to be on the backdoor, a basket that use to sit on a bench, a bag that hung on hooks by the backdoor and a bin of socks in the laundry room.

If you are wondering about the heavy metal bucket in the lower left of the cabinet picture, it holds dog toys. I had the bucket.

Super pleased with this little redo. I ended up $30 ahead between the selling of the dishes and the buying of the baskets.

When I was in 6th grade, I read the biography/autobiography section of my school library

I changed schools many many times.

When I made the move for 6th grade, I knew I was only going to be at that school for one year and then would move again, to junior high.

It was a tough year.

The school librarian pointed out the biography/autobiography section of the library and said I could probably get thru/read the whole thing that school year. I am pretty sure I did. I have loved a wide variety of topics and people ever since.

When I heard Dolly Parton had a podcast, I thought it was Dolly interviewing and talking. No. It is put together by other people, with Dolly as the topic. She absolutely participates. So does some of her family. But mostly it is a wide variety of topics centering around Dolly, music, the south, feminism, tact.

There are nine episodes and two bonus pieces with music clips. It is most excellent in my opinion.

New Jane Austin Masterpiece series running on PBS now, I watch thru app

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/sanditon/#

We watched the first two episodes, we think it is quite good so far.

If you are not familiar, PBS only leaves shows up for a short time on its app and website (for the general public). So if you are interested, catch it now before it is too late.

Finding Your Roots

Current season (6) just resumed on PBS.

Season 6, Episode 3 is now available on their website and app for a short time.

If this show is new to you and you love this episode, there are 5 previous seasons available a couple places (PBS members and maybe Amazon Prime). Wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and family stories covered. Sometimes episodes have a theme (African American performers in this one for example).

Monday’s theme was Light Bulbs

I did not really understand about the color/hue of LED bulbs until last week. The electrician explained it to me. And his recommendation was to stay below 4000.

Here is John Petersik explaining it very well:
https://www.younghouselove.com/best-led-light-bulbs/




In my white kitchen fixtures, a 2700 LED bulb (that John Petersik prefers) looks very yellow/brown.

A 3500 LED looks white, but it is not so bright/white that it is uncomfortable. A nice clean white. And great clear light for cooking, reading, playing cards or doing a puzzle.

I know this because (as I said) my electrician suggested I stay under 4000. And the lady in the light bulb department suggested I buy a package of each (2700 and 3500) hue in 60W, go home and try them, side by side in the fixtures over my table, and return what did not work.

That is exactly what I did.

I waited for my husband. We agreed on the 3700 in 60W for all the kitchen fixtures. (75W LED was too strong even in 2700).

And this 3500 blends nicely with the two small LED can lights above the island. Which I bought before I understood LED’s at all. I have no idea what they are. (Previous old/regular bulbs looked very weird next to the island LED).




So we went back to the store, returned the 2700’s and bought more 3500 LED to cover all the regular kitchen lights and we also bought 3500 floods (which are 65W) for the canned lights in the kitchen and front entryway.

My kitchen is now so nicely lit that I do not have to have every kitchen light and all the hallway lights on to see.

And entry is now nice and bright, I am realizing it was really awful.

So we have two areas done. Entry way and kitchen/pantry are set with 60W and 65W 3500 LED’s.




The front hall, area by the backdoor, stairs (all cans) will also get 65W 3500 indoor floods. Those will be next. Watching for good sale.

I think the bathrooms will also get 3500. But it may be 40W because the mirror reflects the light and there are multiple bulbs in each of the 2 fixtures.

I think My studio and the computer room will get 3500 60W too.




I am waiting until the girls are both home see what they think about the rest of the house.

Because, we think the bedrooms need 40W or 60W 2700 LED’s, the ones that looked brown in the kitchen, seem like the right amount of soft in the bedrooms.

I think the living room and loft might also need 40W or 60W 2700’s.

I started out thinking “one hue for the whole house”, which is exactly what John Petersik did, but now I think it might be two hues, 2700 and 3500,  with different areas getting one or the other (but not mixing hues in same room).





So, what am I doing with the old light bulbs?

First, I got every bulb/package out of the cupboard above the dryer and sorted them on the kitchen table.

I had 2700 LED in a variety of watts and bulb styles. (So I took back the ones I had just gotten to try.)

Had outdoor flood 2700 LED 75W and so we checked the porch. The porch was a hot mess. Of the 4 cans, two were regular old bulbs and two were LED. My husband got the ladder and now the whole porch is 2700 LED and I have two extra 2700 LED for the one above the door which is used all night every night. I labeled the box “porch”.

I was also able to return some full packages (of the wrong bulbs) that were in my cupboard to stores. (I told them I had paid cash and did not have receipt and they gave me gift cards/store credit).

I gave all (3)  new Packages of (Non LED) incandescent bulbs (in cupboard) to my mother for her stash.

I started a box of regular size screw in used bulbs for college kids who do not care what they are.

I am going to list the (non LED) incandescent indoor (and 2 outdoor) flood bulbs on marketplace. 4 are new, most will be used. Will sell as set. I will wait to do this until I have switched out the whole house so it is a big set. And I am waiting to catch a very big sale on bulbs.




***I don’t know what think about the weird twisted fluorescent screw in light bulbs. I think I might sell all of them as a set on Marketplace too. ***

https://greenamerica.org/green-living/cfls-vs-leds-better-bulbs

One well placed security light

I called the electrician months ago to see about installing a security light. He referred me to local supply place and quoted a HIGH price (for this light).

When he was here last week, installing the kitchen lights, and I asked again and specifically talked price, he found the right motion detector light for the back corner of the house, on Amazon, for me.

I ordered it that day. It arrived Saturday. He came Monday afternoon to install it.

I waited to get bulbs until he got here. He sent me to the store with these requirements:
Led, Flood, 75W, Outdoor, approximately 3000 color


The sensors are set to turn (2) lights on if there is motion on the driveway by the basketball hoop and air conditioner. And it also turns on when a neighbor (or dog) is on the back path to our house.  So it covers a wide area.

I saved the box it came in and the box the light bulbs came in (attic) so I can duplicate if needed.

Sensor requires it be dark outside, and there be heat. So a car, person, dog, bunny, deer, fox, raccoon, bird will turn on lights at night, but blowing branches will not.

This will be extremely helpful when the dogs are here late. The old dog is a problem because she is going deaf and she is very hard for us to see/find in the dark.

I thought carefully if lights were needed on other back corner of house, but did not think so.

Balloons to lights

I mentioned we replaced the top of our kitchen table, expanding it to 8’ x 4’.

At the same time we pulled it away from the island to provide for seating on all four sides. I now keep four chairs on each side. I keep a bench on the end closest to the island. I have another bench that can be pulled up to the opposite end. So it seats 10 all the time and can seat 12 easily.

All this combined to put the ceiling fan with the light fixture at the very far end of the table. My youngest walked in the door at Thanksgiving and noticed the light issue immediately.

The opposite end was so dark that we had to plug in desk lamps on extension cords to do puzzles and play games over Christmas break.

So clearly we needed more lights on the ceiling. And I was eager to get rid of the tired/old ceiling fan (which is never used).

I found white pendants on cords so the height was totally flexible at Lowe’s. They are not an exact match to the lights over the sink, but they blend nicely. I bought extra globes just in case. I routinely do that for light fixtures. (At the old house I had to replace the whole kitchen light after a globe was broken and replacements were no longer available.)

In the process of looking for pendant light fixtures, which took a while, we debated light placement. We had to work around where the ceiling fan was located at the far end of the table. So the answer seemed to be one light at each (far) end and one in the middle.

The guideline seemed to be 36” up from the top of the table, but with lights at the very end of the table, that was a head banging risk. So we thought they needed to be higher, more like you would hang lights over an island. But it was hard to know how high.

My middle suggested balloons. We got white balloons, tied them with strings and taped them to the ceiling, hanging down like a pendant light. The balloons were the right color (white) and also the right size. So it was very very visual and we adjusted until we got the right placement.

Then we lived with those balloons for a couple weeks, and when I was sure, I called the electrician.





Since we were all confident I had correct placement, electricians wasted no time. They took down the old fan/light and measured to get precise placement, and started as soon as they walked in the door. We did not have to debate or figure anything. (If we had not used the balloons, I am guessing it might have taken an hour, with the meter running, to figure out where to put the lights).

Luckily the kitchen ceiling studs were running the right direction. And they were able to cut two new holes in the ceiling and run the wires from the old box from the ceiling fan and hook all three lights up to the same switch system as the old fan/light.

The old ceiling fan now has the blades removed and is with another old fan in the attic. We have had two young males break blades on upstairs ceiling fans. One guy was messing around, the other was helping move a king size mattress. With the first break, I had to buy a whole new fan. With the second break, I had spare parts saved in the attic and it was a free, five minute fix. I routinely save broken fixtures. I also use the same style fixtures over and over in the house for this reason. 

The electrician bill was 3X the cost of the fixtures, so this was a pricey project, but it really needed done.

And I am very pleased.