T is for Tilly

We went to NJ for a long weekend. First we started in Cape May and celebrated the graduation of a young man that joined the United States Coast Guard. It was a beautiful sunny day with cool breezes. Later in the afternoon we went to the beach at Wildwood and it was quite cool. I wore a hat, sweater, sweatshirt and jeans. If I had my way I'd have had a scarf and a blanket, too. The winds were very cool near the water. But, it was beautiful being by the beach and walking along the shore.

On Saturday we spent the day at Asbury Park. Made famous by Bruce Springsteen. Interesting history and it has made a name for itself as a music mecca. It used to be a huge success as an amusement area but has had a great decline. You can read about it here -- Asbury Park History -- and here -- Official Site of Asbury Park .

 

Tilly is the local iconic image used for Asbury Park and is painted on the Wonder Bar building. A place where many bands over the years have played. I had to have this shirt with him on it. My souvenir. I also had to get a Harley Davidson shirt while in Wildwood. A tradition started with a friend years back when we started riding, and now it continues with R. It is a requirement to get a shirt from where we vacation. Typically, Harley Davidson shops have their name and location on the back of the shirt with the HD logo, those are the shirts we buy. It's a way of marking where we've been. If one is not careful, you can end up with more HD shirts than other clothes. I get chided because I don't own an HD, yet I wear the clothes riding, my bike is a Honda. I finally found a Honda shirt last year! OK, not quite as impressive as HD, but overall a Honda is a heck of a lot less expensive, less problems, and lower insurance rates. Hmmmm, I win!! But, if you are caught up in image (and I have to admit I am guilty of this once in awhile) then only a Harley will do. I do like the two-tone Deluxe model. My bike looks GOOOD, though, and many people like it over my Harley riding friend's bikes.  

We went for a ride the other night and it was so nice. It had been 94 during the day so the early evening ride was very comfortable. Being on the highway at 8:30 pm? Not so much. I was getting blown around and my glasses kept getting loose. Oh, besides the fact that cars have a hard time seeing you during the day, never mind at night! Yiyyyy. I got off early and took back roads to the final destination of home.

HAPPINESS IS

I've finally gotten my floors refinished. It has taken me very long to get this task done and they look great! Rick and Josh from B&B Flooring did a fantabulous job. They are a two brother team and very detail oriented. I don't know how they got so close to my baseboards with equal depth of sanding/stripping as the rest of the floor and no dings!! They don't tape the boards either for protection. The first of my few contractors that did exemplary work and didn't leave a mess behind either! And they were very fair and competitive in their pricing. Yeyyyy for me. Aren't they pretty? 

This is the living room, the kitchen and dining room were done also. I had them use a low odor, environmentally friendly water based poly. Hardly any odor and you can walk on each coat a few hours after it's done -- with socks. It takes only a week to fully cure.  

I'll just be a little bit of a freak now when my dogs come back from the sitter's and when I get a new foster dog on Sunday. Watch out!

So now I have no excuses to get the walls finished. I have to patch an area in the living room and will eventually do some art on the walls, but the kitchen has big plans for a stencil and it will be much easier to do with everything out of the way. The unfortunate thing is that my basement, garage and office... 

...have collected my belongings and I've been walking over and around things for a few days. The fridge is in my tiny hallway, but hey, it makes it quicker to get that bowl of ice cream before going to bed!

Speaking of getting things done -- the chores are calling -- the walls, the gardens, the emptying of the car, the washing of the car...oh, the list goes on! 

Hope you are having a wonderful day, it's been beautiful here with sun shining and temps in the 60's.