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Back To The 1960’s And 1970’s

When I was growing up, I had a very happy life. My mother left my father when I was 3 just before my sister was born. We had no money and my grandparents took us in. My mother got a good job, her college B.A. in accounting, and I lived with my grandparents until I married.

My grandfather didn’t make much money as a shirt cutter. But he owned his home( his father was a builder), a 2 story home with two flats. Relatives always lived downstairs. Most of the money my mom made was handed over to my grandmother for rent, food, and daycare. My mom was allowed to keep enough for transportation(2 buses each way) to get to her job, food for her lunches, money so that we could all go to the lake for the summer, high school tuition( everyone in the family had graduated from this private school because it was tradition), and just a bit of spending money. My sister and I wore hand me downs from my older cousin. I got my first bike when I was 12. It was a hand me down from that same cousin. I never felt poor but I knew money was tight for the things they wanted for themselves and us. My grandmother could make a penny stretch on food like no one else that I have ever known. Every meal was portion controlled. Rarely were there snacks or soda.

This way of life got me very interested in financial things in junior high and high school. I used to take library books out of the library that today would be considered frugality books. I learned about finances in college while I studied for my accounting degree. It was the first time I ever heard about a checking account. I just soaked up everything I could learn. The two biggest things I learned was to never spend more money than you earn and to use credit the proper way. It was okay to get a mortgage for your first home but to furnish it with credit cards was a bad idea.

When I married my Hubby, he came from a different background. He lived in a very nice suburban neighborhood that was considered one of the best places to live. But as I found out over the first years of our marriage, they weren’t rich either. They did pay their home off quickly so they owned it. That was a lessen that Hubby and I loved. We paid ours off early and the last two, we paid cash.

So when we married, it was the 1960’s. Hubby owned a car with a car payment and was paying off a small student loan. I did not work the first 6-8 months of our marriage. We found an attic apartment for $ 80. a month including heat and electric. We had a cheap phone bill because Hubby worked for the telephone company. I brought not $1.00 to our marriage because I worked long hours to go to college and every penny paid my way through those 2 years. Those years before I worked, I read every thing I could find in newspapers and books on finance and frugality.. My mother in law gave me a few cookbooks from the WWII era and I made almost every recipe from them. I had exactly $25. a month grocery money. We had no more in the budget because we had to pay all the bills and we were saving for two things that were very important to us: For Hubby to get his B.A. degree in Engineering and to save for a house. Living in that hot apartment made us want to get out of it quickly. So we squeezed every penny we could and made that grocery budget work. We saved money religiously every month for our two goals. I got a job at the telephone company too but not where Hubby worked. I bussed it. I had no driver’s license. Hubby went to school nights and we saved my income and what was what left in his for a down payment for a new home.

We purchased our newly constructed home in the suburbs 1 year and 10 months after we married. We had saved enough money so that we could purchase with cash a bed, a refrigerator, a sofa, and 6 unfinished chairs to use with the used table that Hubby’s mother gave us. I had used green stamps( does anyone remember them?) to get a card table and 4 chairs so we would have a place to sit in the kitchen and eat. His mother also gave us an old dresser. Hubby purchased a door that had been damaged and made and stained 2 end tables out of it to go on either end of the sofa. They were so sturdy that we used them for 32 years. We sold them when we moved to Arizona. I wish I still had them.

We furnished the house as we saved cash to do so. We never ran out and used credit. I worked and got a ride with the man next door who actually was my boss back and forth to work.

I quit my job due to a miscarriage just before Hubby was hit by a car while walking from the parking lot near his work. He had serious damage done to his knee and was in the hospital for weeks and home recovering for weeks. He had switched jobs and hadn’t worked long enough to get full pay for long so we lived on 1/2 pay for a long time. We made it through without borrowing a dime from anyone. But it was a big wake up call. We had some money saved besides money for furniture. But we used almost all of it up while Hubby was out of work.

That wake up call was our journey towards financial independence. We set up an annual budget that paid us first every paycheck. That has been a line item in our budget to this day. We never wanted to wonder again how we were going to make ends meet! We had always been frugal but we turned it way up after that. We still had money set aside for entertainment and things to make life enjoyable every month. We have never felt like we were giving anything up.

Fast forward one year and my first son was born. Fast forward 2 more years and my 2nd son was born. Now we had 4 people in our family so we had to up the grocery budget. It went up to $80. per month. But it included all food, OTC meds, cleaning products, all soap products, cat food, and and personal care products. I only purchased Pampers to use when we went out somewhere. I washed diapers and hung them to dry for years. That saved us a fortune. Up until just before my first son was born, I went to the laundromat every week. But we had saved and set aside money for a washer and dryer. It was our first scratch and dent appliances and with babies I was so grateful for them.

As our money grew, we found places to invest it so that we could make more money. We continued to save every month and it just kept growing. The best part was all of the passive income we made every month.

Yes, we had emergencies come up but we always had the money to pay for them and we still do.

This is getting long and I need to prep our chicken parmesan that we are having for dinner, so I will continue to write more tomorrow. This is a blog post that I decided I was going to do way back when I started blogging in 2007. Now is the time!

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Every Day

Use What You Have And Don’t Waste Money

There is nothing I love more than using recipes from old cookbooks. This recipe is from The Children’s Hospital of Buffalo Cookbook published in 1962. My sister-in law gave me the book for a bridal shower gift. This is not my original copy. Mine fell apart from using it all the time. When we moved here, I figured someone out here in Buffalo would have a copy they were selling and sure enough I found this one. It is in much better shape than mine was although the binding is coming apart. So I may take it to get it rebound. That is how much I love this book. We have used many, many recipes from it. I think the reason is because most of the recipes use simple ingredients, are easy to put together, and taste so good.

So tonight, we are having this dish. But for the first time, I am not following it exactly. I am not going to bake it at 300 degrees for 3 hours. I am going to cook it in the crock pot to save energy. But I will use the electric skillet to brown it and then transfer it all to the crock pot and add the other ingredients.

I did not have a round roast in my freezer so I thawed a chuck roast which I will cut into pieces. I always have flour, salt, and pepper. Since we eat a lot of bacon, I save my bacon drippings to cook with so we have those. The only other ingredient that I will substitute is the cooking sherry. I don’t have it but I do have red cooking wine.

We will see how this comes out. If it doesn’t taste as good as when I roast it in the oven, I will try to cook it in the toaster oven next time.

My mouth is watering just thinking about serving this on rice for dinner. I will try to remember to take a picture when we eat it and show it to you in another blog post. We should be able to have this for at least two meals.

I try to use what I have when I cook all of the time. I don’t always have all the ingredients so I substitute. I definitely don’t run out to the store for a couple of ingredients and waste time and gasoline. If I have a substitute on the shelf, I would much rather use that than spend money on the proper ingredient.

When I was a kid, my grandmother was the cook in our home. She made a roast almost every Sunday. Usually it was a roast beef or a pork loin with whatever vegetables she had on hand at the time. I never really learned how to cook from her but I do remember her using up all of the food. She and my grandfather had a young family during the Great Depression and they never wasted anything. She knew how to stretch a roast into other recipes like beef stew, or beef or pork chop suey, etc. Nothing ever went to waste! So over the years, I have done what she did. I try never to waste a bit of food and to serve the proper portions. For a meal, we would be served a small piece of meat, a small piece of potato and a couple of spoonfuls of whatever vegetable was in season. There were rarely seconds.

We also rarely had any kind of treat. A quart of soda that my Mom would buy would last at least a week for her, my sister, and I. And she would not buy it every week. Once in a while, she would make a dip(Catalina dressing mixed with cream cheese) to go with a bag of potato chips or make popcorn on the stove. We sometimes would share an apple or an orange. And ice cream was a treat that I looked forward to but that didn’t happen often either.

There wasn’t a lot of money when I grew up, but there was always food made and served with a lot of love. The difference between then and now is remarkable. 99% of our food was made from scratch back then, most people weren’t fat, and people really knew the value of a dollar. Today we have an obesity problem, convenience food is the norm, and people waste food and money without even giving it a second thought even going so far as to put food and their wants on a credit card that they can’t pay off each month. If you have to put food on a credit card, go to a food bank. Quit buying wants!

Because of this we have a credit crisis in this country today. Both our government and so many people are collapsing our economy by their frivolous use of credit. Most people didn’t have credit back when I grew up. If they wanted something, they saved cash for it. We would be so much better off if we lived like our ancestors and saved cash for our needs and our wants. Don’t use your credit cards unless you can pay that bill off each month.

Our government tells us everyday that things are just fine. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. Things are not fine. Our government is trillions of dollars in debt that we have to borrow from countries that don’t like us. China has started to sell the debt that they bought from us. China, Russia, India and some other countries are no longer using the dollar to buy things. The value of our dollar is going down every day. Soon it will be so inflated that we will be paying $10. for a loaf of bread(not me, I will be baking my own) or $ 15. for a gallon of gasoline.

Please don’t waste food or your money because bad times are coming. I don’t believe that we have seen the worst yet. I follow a person who has dealt in commodities for many, many years, and he is predicting a bad recession globally by 2025 which will go into a depression that could last 7 years or longer. He believes it will start around April of 2024 when the stock market will crash. At first I took his word cautiously but I am seeing more and more bank CEO’s warning us and many economists too.

So I will take them at their word and you should too. I have no debt but if you do, get it paid off as fast as you can especially your home. During the great depression, many people not only lost their money but they lost their homes. I have been beating this drum for years but I don’t know how many people have listened and it is just scary for me knowing that this will happen to people.

The only other advice I can give you is to stop spending on anything except food and other items that you will need to keep your home and car in good running order. If you can find some room, stock up some food and medicine. Don’t waste any of it. If your furnace or any other appliance needs some repairs do them now. If we do go into a recession or depression these things will become extremely unaffordable.

I apologize for getting somewhat off topic but my heart told me that I need to warn you. If you would like to see the video from the man I follow here it is but I will warn you that it is not for the faint of heart:

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Every Day

What I Haven’t Told You Over The Past Year

So many of you have wondered why I disappear so often and don’t post for days. Well I am going to come clean today.

First getting old is a pain in the rump! If it isn’t one ache or pain, it is another. I had another birthday this week and I will soon be 80! To get there is a few years but time flies.

Last Fall, I ended up in the hospital with severe sciatica. I could not walk for 4 days. That pain comes and goes and right now it is giving me a very hard time. I found out at my Dr.’s appointment yesterday that it may have caused another issue. I need to go to physical therapy so I will be setting those appointments up today.

But that isn’t the worse part. Just a year ago I was diagnosed with a terminal lung disease in the ER of one of our hospitals. This lung disease took my mother’s life. I immediately found a great lung doctor. He looked at the cat scan and has been following me. So I have a lot of appointments there too. He does not believe that I have this disease. But now that it is a year later, he has ordered and gotten approved a specialized cat scan that should tell us for sure. I am having that done next week and following up with him a couple of weeks later. This doctor is good and in high demand so appointments are a wait.

So if any of you pray, please pray that my CT scan does not show that the area involved has spread. I am having it done on next Tuesday. Thanks for your prayers.

Meanwhile, I post when I am up to it and when I actually have anything of value to say. I have to go to pick up some prescriptions today(pain patches are a big help when going out) so I will stop at the market and let you know what I got later.

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Every Day

I Wanted To Let You Know

I need to take some more time off. I hope to be back posting after Labor Day.

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Every Day

It’s Been A Long Holiday That Didn’t Go As Planned

My son was going to have us for Christmas. He lives about 1 and 1/4 hours from us. However, between my illness and Mother Nature’s wrath, we couldn’t get there.

It started raining on Friday which turned to ice and then snow. The temperatures dipped down to about 7 degrees. The windchill was about -1l We got so much more snow than Buffalo. The snow band sat over us for two days. The winds which gusted up to 71 mph were horrid and lasted 2 days. A State of Emergency was declared all weekend. No one could go on the roads. The blowing snow made it difficult for even an ambulance or anyone else to drive. Sadly a number of people died because they couldn’t get emergency vehicles to them in time.

It stopped Christmas morning. By that time we had about 5 ft. of snow on our front porch which the wind had picked up and deposited. The same against our garage and about 2 ft. everywhere else. Fortunately, we never lost our power. It blinked a few times one day but we never lost it.

Our snowplow driver showed up about 2pm and got all of the snow away from the garage doors and then plowed the driveway. At least we had a way out in case of an emergency.

I had nothing thawed for Christmas dinner. So I took a small pork tenderloin out to thaw and I made a hoisin sauce concoction for it. Hubby was happy and so was I. We had about half of it leftover so I froze it and a small dish of the sauce to make a meal in a week or two.

My son and granddaughter are on their way out here right now. The trip is usually 4 and 1/2 hours but it is snowing here and has been for about 5 hours. The Thruway was still closed this morning from Exit 36 to the PA border but it is supposed to open soon which will make it easier for my son to drive here. I don’t know what kind of snow they will encounter on the way out. So I am praying they get here safely. My son has a class to teach for his business in Brockport tomorrow so we always look forward to them coming out after Christmas.

I had planned on baking a ham for them for dinner tonight. However, my son called yesterday and he had baked a ham for he and Alexa. So I didn’t want to feed them ham again tonight. I took a large turkey tenderloin out to thaw and I will roast that and serve it with mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, corn, and honey carrots. I have ice cream and cookies for dessert. All of this will be easy for me and Hubby will help.

The 13.44 lb. ham will get baked later in the week to give us a nice dinner and I will use the food saver to make many meals with the leftovers.

Our Christmas with our other son has been moved to the middle of January barring any snow storm. He is going to have us and Katie’s parents and brother for the fondue dinner that we always have there because we all missed Christmas. He is even keeping the tree up. Katie’s parents live in NH and they couldn’t get there either. We will exchange all of the presents then.

One more thing: Walmart cancelled my delivery order that was supposed to come today. They did that on Saturday due to weather. It had all the special things in it to treat my son and granddaughter. I was very disappointed but understood it was because of the weather. Luckily, I was able to get a delivery from Top’s this morning with what I needed. Top’s was closed from Saturday until this morning. Wegman’s is still closed and I have no idea if Walmart has reopened.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I just wanted to check in while I had a few minutes before my family comes. Stay warm and stay safe. I will be back posting on Thursday to talk about the New Year.

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Every Day

I Have To Ask Why?

I don’t normally publish anything like this but I think everyone should see this https://www.foxnews.com/us/boston-university-lethal-covid-strain-lab

I looked at the news at 4am when I got up this morning and this is what shocked me. I have to ask why would they do this and on our soil? And why put the information out there so close to the midterm elections?

Perhaps now some of the conspiracy theories out there don’t look as outrageous.

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Every Day

Why I Have Been Missing in Action For Most of The Summer

I thought long and hard about writing this post. Should I or should I not? But even if you don’t read it, I will feel better knowing that I have told the people who have been my readers for years what has been going on in my life.

I am sure that some of you thought I might be ending this blog. Or perhaps, you thought that because I am getting older that I just couldn’t do it anymore. Wrong on both accounts. Even though I will be “very old” this week, my brain is still functioning! I thank the Lord for that!

It all started a few weeks before the 4th of July. I had not been feeling well. After watching the neighborhood fireworks, I went to bed that night about 11PM. About 3AM, I woke up with horrible chest pain and could hardly breathe. I woke Hubby up and he called an ambulance. They took me to the local hospital ER pretty quickly. After hours of being there and waiting for tests to be done, I finally was taken for a CT scan. Getting the results took hours.

The nurse practitioner in charge of me finally came in and told me that it wasn’t heart but that she and the doctors determined that I had pulmonary fibrosis which was showing on the CT scan. That diagnosis hit me like a ton of bricks! I was well aware of that disease because my mother died from it. It was a slow agonizing death that took over 6 years. There is no cure.

Hubby and I were both in shock on the ride home after they released me. They told me that I needed to get a good pulmonary doctor and to follow up with my primary doctor.

When I got home, I tried to pull myself together so that I could call my sons and my sister and let them know. Of course I fell apart after I told them. They all knew what this disease is and that it is terminal.

I called my primary doctor the next morning and was given an appointment for the next day. Meanwhile they gathered all of the records from the hospital and the CT report. Hubby and I went and saw my doctor and he listened to everything that had happened.

He told us that he was more concerned about 3 heart blockages on my CT scan than the pulmonary fibrosis diagnosis at that moment. I said they never told me about that in the ER. He also told me that I have a nodule on my thyroid.

He said we needed to take one thing at a time starting with the heart. He said I needed to go to my cardiologist. I told him that he had retired 6 weeks before all of this. I did not have an appointment with the new doctor until November. He told me to call the cardiologist when I got home and explain about the ER visit and what the CT scan showed and that I needed to see the Dr. asap. He told me if they wouldn’t fit me in that I was to call him and he would find me a cardiologist who would see me quickly.

To make a long story shorter, I called and they couldn’t fit me in until October. This was in July. UGH! So I called my primary and he got me a new cardiologist who would see me the next business day.

Hubby took me to the new cardiologist, who I love, and he set up a stress test and ECHO test for two days later. I had those done and they told me that I should hear from the doctor by noon the next day. That if I didn’t, most likely there was no major problem. But if I wanted the results, I could call his office after 1 o’clock that day and his nurse would give me the results. The nurse told me that my heart was very strong and that the blocked arteries were non obstructive. In other words the blood finds other pathways in other arteries. I followed up with the cardiologist the next week. He told me basically the same thing but that they had determined that I have ” a sticky valve”. What that means is one of the valves is slow opening and closing. He said he didn’t want to see me for two years and at that time I would have another stress test and ECHO test. Meantime, he put me on what he said was a better cholesterol drug which made my feet and legs swell up. I evidently was allergic to it. We have gone back to the drug that I have been on for years for now. So if the doctor isn’t worried about my heart then I didn’t need to be either.

Next my primary set up an appointment with the pulmonary doctor who he said he would go to for himself or his family if he or they had my problem. I waited about 3 weeks for that appointment. All the pulmonary doctor had was the report from the hospital describing the CT scan and the pulmonary fibrosis. He told me he was going to try to get the actual CT scan from them. He also told me that he wanted to run two tests on my lungs. The office set me up for those the end of September. I had those tests done and went to see the doctor to get the results the next day. I had waited so long but this one day in between doing the tests and getting the results seemed to go so slowly. I was a nervous wreck to put it bluntly!

I went to see him and came home with very good news. He said my breathing tests were pretty good. He said my asthma which I have had for 45 years needed better treatment than I had had over the years. He put me on a new drug which he said would help. Let me tell you, that drug is a miracle. I haven’t felt this good in years. I have never been a good sleeper at night. I usually wake up in the middle of the night and get up for my day very early. Since I have been on this drug, I am now sleeping 7-9 hours a night and getting up usually around 7AM. I haven’t felt this rested in years.

Then he went on to tell me the best news! He said he got the actual CT scan and he does not believe that I have pulmonary fibrosis. He said between the CT scan, chest X ray that was done at the hospital, and the breathing tests, he is 98% sure that I do not have it. He said there is a small amount of scarring in one lung but that could be caused over the years by pneumonia or even bronchitis. They have set me up for another appointment for breathing tests in December to see what difference this new drug makes on these new tests.

I have not gone to a thyroid doctor yet but will soon. That seemed to be the least of my problems.

But anyhow, my mind and time have been elsewhere. I have been very upset during these months and tried to keep up with the blog but just wasn’t motivated to do it.

We had a lot of visits from family during the month of September and that helped by just enjoying everyone even though I was very tired and my mind was kind of on my health. Them visiting helped me tremendously.

After company left, I needed to catch up on some work in the house that had been neglected. I am still working on that a little at a time now but with my newly found sleep and energy it shouldn’t be long before that is done. And I guess I need to do my Christmas shopping. At least everyone seems to be saying do it now.

I am also planning for Thanksgiving. My son who lives across the state will be coming this year along with a friend or two. So I am praying that we will be able to find a suitable turkey at a decent price.

I didn’t want you to think that I was disinterested in the blog anymore and that is why I decided to tell you. I also want you all to realize that none of us know when our last day will be so spend as much time as you can loving your family and friends. That is what is important in life! Nothing else compares.

I also would be remiss if I didn’t call out Chris. Chris, who some of you may know from her great comments, has been a true online friend for years. I have never met her but she is a genuine, loving and caring individual. It comes across in her comments and her e-mails to me.

She was the only one who comes here who I told what I was going on these past months. She has been praying for me for months. She checked in with me almost every week. Chris, your prayers and caring was so important to me and I thank you for that! You are the best friend anyone could have.

Soon I will be back blogging like I used to. Just let me get caught up a little.

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Every Day

I’ve Been Really Busy

These past few days I have been very busy trying to take inventory and fill in the gaps in the pantry. So that is what I have been up to. I had a few appointments and then didn’t get out much later in the week because of the snowstorm.

I spent a total of $172.00 on all of this but it is all things that will eventually get used up. So it will never be a waste of money. It is just a matter of spending money now rather than later. This was all done after my regular grocery shopping had been done last week.

Preparation is key! The inventory took a long time but I wanted it to be very accurate.

Other than this project, there is really nothing new or that moves me to write.

Many of our stores’ shelves have been stripped of certain items. The only thing I could not get was tall kitchen garbage bags so I ordered them online.  

Are you guys stocking your supplies?

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Every Day

Grocery Shopping This Week

We are still working on the garage slowly but surely. I went to Valu Home Center yesterday to pick up 4 packs of LED 75W and 60W bulbs. One of the bulbs in our garage burnt out and with the dreary weather, it was making it hard to see out there. We also needed to replace one in the kitchen. Yes, they are all under warranty but it takes a while to get replacements. However, I will be calling the manufacturers today.

I hope all of you are having a good week. It is nice that Fall is finally here in the Northeast. The tree leaves are changing and it is so pretty. 

I did just a small shopping trip this week. We have built up quite a stockpile so didn’t need much. This is what I got at Top’s:

4 pkgs. of Mama Lucia Italian Meatballs – $ 2.99 each after $1.00 off Q’s

2 dozen medium eggs – $ .69 each

Total was $ 13.34. Hubby took back a bag of soda cans to Fash Cash and got $ 3.60 back in deposits which went right back into my grocery budget. 

I almost always make homemade meatballs. But I couldn’t resist the price on these meatballs. We have had Mama Lucia’s before and they are very good. The bags were 26 oz. each. Considering the cost to actually make homemade, these were a no brainer. They work out to $ 1.84 per pound and include all of the spices. But the best part is they will stock me for the winter and I can use our stockpile of organic ground beef for hamburgers, chili, meatloaf, etc. 

We go through eggs like water. I eat two every morning and Hubby loves egg salad for lunch. Between those things and cooking eggs almost every Sunday for our family, I can never have to many eggs. I like to keep about 3-4 dozen in the refrigerator at all times.

I promise I will be back with my frugal things post tomorrow.

Did you get any great deals this week? Feel free to comment and tell us all about it.
 

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Every Day

What’s Going On At American Dreamer’s Home?

We have been very busy this month. I have been doing a bit of purging and fall cleaning. So far I have purged and organized my kitchen towels and dishcloths. They are located in a drawer just to the right of my sink.

I also keep my very long handled scrub brushes in that drawer so that Hubby can reach them easily when he is doing dishes, scrubbing potatoes. etc.

I purged my microfiber cloths and organized them. They are in the drawer under the kitchen towel drawer. Various cloths for various jobs.

I have also purged a utensil drawer, our nightstands, our bed linens, our board games and DVD’s, our bathroom vanities, and my spice cabinet which is right next to my stove. 

But the biggest thing going on around here is that our garage floor is being repaired, cleaned, and painted with an epoxy paint. We have contractors here for at least three days.

They spent one day grinding down all of the rough edges, cleaning the floor, and repairing the concrete with more concrete in the places that needed it. That had to cure overnight. The floor is only 9 and 1/2 years old but is chipping in spots. We believe it is because the builder’s contractor poured the floor in January and it froze before it cured. Not much we can do about that but have this work done. This is what it looked like the first day when they were done. 

I will have more pictures as we get to the finish line.