Handicap Accessible?

My sister, Tina, has always been physically handicapped. Because of that, I grew up being aware that there were places she just could not easily access. It is wonderful that now so many places have made their businesses more handicapped accessible. It has made life a lot easier for her and others for whom mobility is a challenge.

I'm thinking not everyone quite understands this whole accessible thing, though. As it turns out, just putting up a sign saying a place is accessible does not make it so. I don't want you to think I'm just some weirdo that takes photos in bathrooms but I did it once again. I couldn't help myself! 

This is the view coming out of the women's restroom. Down and to the right goes to the restaurant. The other step up leads to the men's restroom.  Either way, it is a small passage, around a corner and with two steps involved.

This is the sign on the bathroom door.

Duh?!

Love Notes on the Wall

I've been painting one of our bathrooms.  Actually, that bathroom has been torn up for weeks and weeks.

First, we discovered the shower was leaking into the basement below.  So, we set up for our plumber friend to fix that but decided to replace the whole shower stall.  We waited for the new shower to arrive and for the plumber to be available.

Then, the plumber saw that if we took out an upper cupboard next to the shower we could upgrade to a larger stall.  Our old shower stall was, shall we say, close.  As our plumber friend put it, if we dropped the bar of soap we'd have to open the door to pick it up.  Think about it.

So, they ripped it all out.  The first night I realized I could sit on the potty and look into the attic...

as well as the basement...

That was fun.  

You can't really tell by the photo but trust me, I could see into the basement and the basement could see up to me.

The day the plumber had the new shower installed he contacted a local sheet rocker person to come fix the hole in the ceiling where the cupboard used to connect.  There was some wait time until she could come.  As it turned out she was a single mom doing her sheet rock business after her day job so it took more than a week for her part to be completed.  She warned me ahead of time about that and I agreed to it so it was ok.

Anyway, now, for the first time in a long while, we have no workers inside our house on a daily basis.  So, now it is time to paint!  

 And, as is my custom, I painted a message on the wall.

It was a good thing I took the photo as no one saw it but me and Bode before I was ready to paint that wall.

I like knowing my little love note is under that last coat of paint, though.

Craft Fair Wrap-Up

So, we were a part of our first craft fair Saturday.  We survived!  Actually, we had a fun day.  It started our quite slow.  That is a HUGE understatement.  What I mean to say is, we sat there for maybe and hour and a half before we saw the first customer even walk by!  We vendors wandered around looking at each other's stuff.  One of the vendors near the front door told us she saw people come in and when they were told it cost $2 to enter, they just turned and exited.  I couldn't blame them for that.

We entertained ourselves just fine, though.  Maria and I had time to crochet and visit with each other.  That in itself made it a good day!

I laughed when I used the restroom (I know, here I go talking bathroom talk again) and saw the name of the company imprinted on the giant toilet paper holder.  Well, it was funny!  Here, see for yourself and enjoy at least an inner chuckle.

Eric, my son-in-law, came by for a visit and to drop Cordelia off with us for a bit.  We'd been sitting there for about 3 hours at that point and we'd STILL only had maybe 10 people in to look around but STILL not one sale!



Not long before noon Maria took Miss Cordelia to get some lunch and to watch her Daddy's band do a performance at a park.  Cordelia said she was going to "rock out" and wanted to know if Grandma was going to "rock out".   I really never did do that.

Maria had been gone just a few minutes when quite a few people came at once and we finally had our first sale and then several more.  It was kind of a fun little rush.  By the time Maria returned after Cordy's nap the rush was long over but we did have more sales throughout the afternoon.  It was never a very well attended craft fair but it was good enough to make it worthwhile. 

I asked permission to take pictures of a few of the little cuties. This first little one, Riley, is the daughter of my friend, Kerry.  This picture doesn't quite capture the beautiful blue of Riley's eyes but she looked just heart-meltingly cute in the little hat Maria made and the little poncho I made.

This little babe, Brynna, went home with our purple bear hat and also a purple poncho that matched it.  It looked like they were made just for her!

The childrens' animal hats were probably our best sellers.  Two women chose the same owl hat but thankfully they graciously worked it out.  One took it home but first I took a photo so I'd remember which it was so I could make another for the second lady.  Since we make up the face hats as we go along (no patterns) I was afraid I'd forget exactly how I'd made that one.

We took orders for several other items, including an adult poncho, so we've got some serious crocheting to do this week!  That's not a bad thing at all!

What's Up With the Walmart Bathroom?

I don't really want to go into all my qualifications right now,

but trust me when I tell you that I am an expert on bathrooms.

I have done my research on many public bathrooms.

This photo was snapped in one of our local Walmart bathrooms.

I hope that wasn't wrong.

I had not planned to take a photo;

it was a spontaneous decision.

I had just exited one of the stalls.

Mike is probably reading this and worrying what I might say next.

He says I am sometimes too "earthy".

Anyway, no one else was in the bathroom.

I went up to one of the faucet areas and waved my hands...

nothing.

I wriggled my fingers around in front of that little automatic window 

that is supposed to notice me and provide cleansing water.

Still nothing.

Eventually, after doing a lot of sign language type movements,

I got water.

This happens all the time!

It's frustrating and

it's annoying to have to work so hard

 to get that little spray of water!

 

So, I washed my hands, using a thorough scrub technique.

I sudsed up really well.

I even took time to rinse under my finger nails.

That's not really the point of this story

but I thought you'd like to know.

When I was satisfied with my wash and rinse I

turned and headed to the paper towel dispenser.

Guess what happened?

As I passed by in front of all

of these little wash areas, on my

way to the paper towels,

the water came on in each!

It was as though they were

laughing at me!

After quickly drying my hands I

simply couldn't resist pulling my camera out

of my purse and snapping this photo.

Just as I turned and rounded the corner

I literally ran into another lady.

Thankfully I don't believe she saw me taking

a photo of the Walmart bathroom!