Pictures

Grandpa Preli's trunk he brought from Italy with my beautiful new scrapbook (thanks again, Barb) and " My History of Concerts" album on top.

Jim lined the trunk with cedar for me.

I planted morning glory seeds in early spring and babied the little plants along and this is what I got! I had to chop the hell out of it before the washers tournament because you couldn't even walk under it. I got many compliments on my yard & plants which made me very proud.

The Washers Tournament

Jim & I hosted our annual washers tournament yesterday and the weather was great compared to last year when it got up to 90 degrees. We decided to have it a week later this year because I was very disappointed last year when we weren't able to have a bonfire because it was too darn hot! Unfortunately, Ron & Janet couldn't come because it was the weekend of her family get-together at Sam A. Baker Park. Ron is usually the scorekeeper and keeps the losers & winners brackets straight for us so when Jim found out he wouldn't be here, he took charge. He did a pretty good job but was harassed continuously by one person or another. I made a big pot of chile which I proceeded to burn (and I'm boiling soapy water in it trying to get the gunk off the bottom as I write this blog) when I tried to get it hot too fast. Pretty much of it got eaten and I told everyone not to scrape the bottom when they served themselves. Everyone brought a dish so we had lots of good food. Jessica & Mike stopped by with little Max and he is so cute and so tiny. I made sure to hold him before I got too many beers in me!

Although the invitation said to come over at 1:00 for practice and the tournament would be starting at 2:00 sharp, we didn't get started until well after 3:00. Jim put a new spin on the game this year by making everyone (or shall I say the guys) draw for a female partner. When he first told me his idea I wasn't too keen on it but said it might work. It ended up working very well and it was alot of fun mixing it up a little. Matt drew my name and we did pretty good. About an hour after we started, we heard the big machinery from the farmer down on the bottoms and Jim & I thought it was only a matter of time before there would be a big cloud of dust & alergens descending on us as we experienced the first year we held the tournament in our new house. I don't know why, but it never happened and the games went on. There were 7 teams and it ended up me & Matt played against Gene & Mary for the grand prize. It was a close match and it was pretty dark when we finally finished with an overtime score of 24-22 but Gene & Mary took the money. Mary was a first-timer so I was glad she won although I wouldn't have minded winning myself!

Jim lit the bonfire and we sat around talking & laughing and had a great time. I think the temperature had only gotten into the low 70's so it cooled down alot and the party was a success.

Gene & Mary are holding the trophy backwards & I didn't realize it when I took the picture!

The Trunk

When Barb was in town back in July we had the opportunity to go through Mom’s trunk and discovered some pretty good stuff on which we based our Zimmermann competition. A month or so afterwards when I was at Mom’s one evening, she asked me to help her clean the rest of her paperwork out of the trunk. As we were working, she mentioned that the trunk had belonged to Grandpa Preli and that he had brought it with him when he came over from Italy. You would’ve never guessed it was that old the way mom had painted it bright orange and lined it with orange-flowered shelf paper. But when she asked me if I wanted it I jumped at the chance (you got the punch bowl Barb!) to have something over 100 years old that had belonged to my Grandfather and held up not only on the voyage all the way from Italy but for years and years afterward. I was very excited and told mom I would cherish it.

I brought it home and my mind was reeling at how I would get rid of the orange. I thought about sanding it but knew it would be a huge job and I’m not that motivated. I decided to paint it and I knew I wanted it to look old so I went to Home Depot and bought some spray paint that had a finish that wasn’t shiny. Well, I placed the trunk on top of one of Jim’s infamous rugs in the garage, pulled it out onto the driveway and proceeded to spray and within about 4-1/2 minutes, the can was empty, my finger hurt really bad and the trunk wasn’t nearly covered. So, needless to say, I was very discouraged and pulled it back into the garage where it sat for a few weeks while I racked my brain on a new strategy. I didn’t want to spray it anymore because not only would it take 20 cans but I didn’t think my finger could take the pressure!

In the meantime, I asked Jim to line it with cedar, we bought some planks, he did a good job and there it sat just waiting for me to ‘git er done’. I finally figured out what I wanted to do so Jim & I made another trip to Home Depot. As we were standing there looking at the paint selection, I told Jim that I also wanted to get some new handles for the sides of the trunk as I wanted some that were bigger & more antique looking than the ones Mom had put on it. Jim proceeded to tell me that I couldn’t switch the handles as he’d glued the cedar into the trunk and it would be impossible to get to them. I couldn’t believe it; I was very upset and pretty pissed off. I told him that I had tried to get the handles off but couldn’t and that was the only reason they were still on there. Blah, blah blah – didn’t do me any good so I steamed. I ended up buying a quart of Ralph Lauren’s suede paint along with some supplies.

This past weekend I got all set up & ready to paint but when I opened the can, the paint was white. I read the label and it said base for tinting so I went back to Home Depot and had the guy tint it tan for me. I came back home and painted the trunk, trying to follow the instructions on the can. When Jim came home a little later, he exclaimed how great the trunk looked. Now, I’m not sure if he was over-doing it because he knew I was upset about the handles but whatever his motive, he made me feel good about it. I told him that I needed to get some paint for the latches, locks & hinges and, of course, he disagreed. He said I shouldn’t mess with it anymore and it looked great the way it was. Needless to say, we went to Michael’s later on and I bought a little tube of metallic paint and painted the latches, locks, hinges & the metal things on the corners.

I finished up Sunday evening and it is now in my hearth room for all to see. I think it looks pretty good but I’m anxious to get other opinions.