Category:

Doggie toy box on a budget!

4/22/2014

Years ago I had a friend build a wood box with finial feet so I could make a footstool. I planned to paint the legs and upholster the top and sides. It was going to double as storage unit with a removable top. Well, that was one of those good intentions that turned into a big ole procrastination so the box ended up in the basement out of sight and forgotten for twenty years.

One day while searching the internet I came across a site that had unique, hand painted beds and toy boxes for pups. Although amazingly beautiful, the cost was astronomical…$400 plus shipping for a toy box was a bit out of my price range. I lamented a bit, being a princess, I want what I want and usually get it, but I just couldn’t condone spending that kind of money on such a frivolous purchase.

That’s when I remembered that wooden box in the basement.   All I had to do was throw away the top, cut a half circle in one side and I was in business! I used some house paints that coordinated with our house interior which covered the box itself and then artist paints for the highlights. Total cost....under $30.00!

It was a lot of fun to design and paint.....the proverbial labour of love. My four pups watched on as mommy transformed a plain old wooden box into a flashy, toy chest. Of course it was too small to hold all of their toys but it fit nicely beside their whimsical drinking bowl, filling the need to coordinate at all cost. We packed up some of the excess toys and threw out the well-worn, ragged ones. We bring a few of them out every now and then to re-introduce as new and put some of the older ones away for later.

You can’t show favouritism so every time I buy toys for my babies I have to get four of them. I let them choose which one they like by throwing them on the floor and they scramble to grab one, politely I might add, and that’s their special toy for the day. They love new toys! If anyone argues that they don’t understand about ownership I would argue. They know just as well as any two year old and share about as well. They coddle and covet their new toy to make sure they’ve marked it well with their own drool just to say, I had it first!

So now they have this great toy box that they pretty much empty every time we fill it back up. By the end of any day our living room looks like an explosion in a toy factory and that’s okay. The happiness of our pooches is all that matters.   We haven’t been able to train them to pick up after themselves although Jake, our youngest, likes to corral a pile of toys on his bed and lay on top of them.

I love to watch my babies go to the box, sniff for the right toy for the day, hour, or minute, whatever suits the fancy, and dig it out. I guess it doesn’t take much to amuse me. Watching my babies at play or sleep brings happiness usually reserved for winning the lottery, world travel, falling in love and chocolate. What can I say ? I love those pups no less than if I carried them for nine months and gave birth to them. Only other pet owners could possibly understand!

JAKE SCORED HIS TOY FOR THE MORNING. NOTE THE RECYCLED FAUX FUR BED ON THE FLOOR THAT WAS MOMMA'S LAST WINTERS GO TO JACKET. NOTHING BUT THE BEST FOR MY BABIES!

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Sometimes when things suck....it's good!

4/4/2014

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Domestic Goddess and my new Blue Beauty....love!

As I've stated many times, I’m no fan of housework. But, now I'm thinking maybe I didn’t have the right tools to do the job. One of the many excuses to avoid the drudgery of domestic labour, was the lack of a decent vacuum cleaner. I’ve been hauling around an ancient Electrolux and although the suction was still capable, there were things breaking that duct tape couldn’t fix. The beater bar gave up the ghost several years ago and having to push and pull the wood floor brush back and forth over the pile of our oriental carpets made it easy to ignore the dirt.

The length from the handle to the brush was never right, causing my back to bend in a touchy position that irritated my old sciatica problem. And then there's the sweat and hot flashes from exerting that much energy, especially in the summer months, that just wasn't conducive to my being a happy camper. Hubby never minded the strenuous workout, so I’d leave that job up to him; a little home coming present after working in Alberta. He’s one of those men who are comfortable with house cleaning and is always willing to pitch in, especially to keep me from turning the air a blasphemous shade of blue.

It was time. We needed to invest in a new machine.  So Wednesday afternoon we headed to Bridgewater. We like supporting local, independent small businesses and Dave’s Vacuum Shop was our destination. They are very knowledgeable and pack 29 years of experience in their well stocked shop. They took the time to answer all our questions about the various options of each machine so we could best match one to our needs. We walked out with a Germany built vacuum called the Miele. I checked on the net and it came with a very high rating but I will admit the attraction first began with the colour. My eyes landed on the blue beauty and it was love at first sight. My body gravitated toward it while the shop gal described all the units around it. There were many makes and models to choose from and each one offered different options, some with downsides while others did more than our little house would need. Coincidentally, the little blue Miele was the perfect match for our desires.....like connecting on a dating site she seemed to be made for us!

Happy with our purchase, we treated ourselves to fish and chips at Waves Restaurant because there wasn’t enough time to get home and make dinner before the hook-in that evening.   I was torn, I really just wanted to fire that puppy up and clean the house. I wanted to see how she handled. After the hook-in it would be late and dark, and cleaning with only house lighting is never enough to see all the dirt in the shadows, cracks and crevices.

Most of the gals left the hook-in early to get home and watch American Idol so by 9:30 I was home and we were plugged in to go! We could hear the dirt and debris being sucked up the nozzle....to be fair, the house had gone three months without a clean so there was bound to be a mess. A lot of work for our little blue diva but she rose nicely to the challenge. Nothing about this little vacuum sucked, except of course for the suction! It has various setting strengths for carpets and Persian rugs and we had to lower it to keep the beater bar from sucking out all the wool.

We cleaned downstairs, taking turns to get the feel of it. My only complaint about the machine was that I had to wait my turn!   Next we headed to the bedroom.   The ceiling fan was turning fuzzy from the dust so we cleaned that first and then moved to the drapery and blinds, making quick work of each chore. The princess canopy over the headboard never looked so good.    Then we tackled the cobwebs around the crown moldings.    We sucked up enough webs and their manufacturers to put the common house spider on the endangered species list.   So slick and smooth, the canister rolls behind you like an attentive puppy and the telescopic arm on the handle allows for the perfect height so my back wasn’t bent in painful angles.

Even though the vacuum has a powerful motor its whisper quiet. We always had a problem using the old Electrolux because it was deafening and the dogs didn’t like it. Henri would hide in another room and Honey and Fiz would take runs at it and bark. The real craziness happened when we pulled out the cord or retracted it back into the machine. Honey would lose her mind, and then the rest would bark at her. A four dog circus! I think maybe the cord had the appearance of a snake, surfacing the ingrained fear that most animals have for the coiling, cold blooded reptile. She would attack it with a vengeance, biting at it as it slithers and winds back into the machine.

When Honey was young it was cute. A little pup pouncing on the cord and all her funny antics made us laugh, but as she got older and then passed this annoying quirk to her sister and then Jake, it grew tiring.   So this new machine provided us with the perfect opportunity to break the old habit. Honey watched us pull out the cord and ran toward the machine to receive a firm “No”. Voila, habit broken! She sashayed to the sofa and watched from her perch as the humans cleaned her house.   Fiz and Jake, not having the usual neurotic show joined her to watch us work. Henri hovered close by but didn’t show the normal signs of distress. That alone makes the purchase worth every penny and means I’ll be able to clean on a more regular basis without losing my mind from guard pups trying to protect me from the loud beast.

So the rugs and floors are clean, the walls and beams are dewebbed and the horizontal surfaces are dusted. The house sparkles! Now my little Blue Beauty sits quietly, waiting for her next call to duty….if only the house would get dirty so I can play domestic goddess again........

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Today, my world is a snow globe.....

1/22/2014

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Well, here I sit with winter brewing another cup of demon liquor. There’s a blizzard building momentum and by evening there should be a predicted 30 cm covering the ground. In my little piece of the planet, that assures four feet high drifts in the most inconvenient places. I live by the sea and the winds whisk the snow into sculptured waves in various areas around the house, a stark contrast to other spots of wind swept, bare ground. Today I feel like I’m inside a snow globe as Mother Nature shakes the clouds, sending flakes of silvery white to the ground.

The storm is pretty spectacular really and beautiful from a window seat while sipping a freshly brewed coffee, but not so much an outdoor kind of day.   It would be nice to feel content, but through the serenity of being in this Currier and Ives painting, I’m feeling annoyed, begrudging this forced day off. I have a list of things to complete with a deadline of the end of this month. I’ve set goals and now there’s only a week remaining so I can’t afford to lounge around in jammies all day and play.

Play…..that’s a poor choice of words…who am I kidding? There is no play for the woman of the house when the dishes are piling up and the laundry is even higher. Being forced to stay home today is bringing on guilt. I have a system that’s been interrupted. I leave the house in the morning and lock the door on the mess; out of sight, out of mind all the day long. By the time I get home at night I’m too tired to care and usually go for a short nap. Then I make dinner, write a blog, watch a show or two and then it’s time for bed. So I skip over the chore duty smoothly, I'm busy so no guilt.  But there’s no escape from this Alcatraz today! I’m bound here and the mess is bullying me into feeling badly.  I’m foiled! I can’t ignore chores when I have to wallow in the mess.   Damn you storm, now there’s laundry and dishes and maybe despised vacuuming calling on me.   It’s no secret I’m not a fan of housework, it serves little purpose in my life as there are greater things of importance. I’m determined that my tombstone won’t read, “She kept a tidy house”, I want it to read, “She created beautiful things everyday!”

But….luckily, there’s no one here to chastise my laziness….so maybe I’ll suppress the inner, irritating, domestic voice and play hooky from both work and house. Maybe I’ll just hook. I have a project I’m working on so why not just spend the day having fun. It sucks being an adult and all the rules that ensue and way too many responsibilities. Maybe for today I’ll pretend I’m a teenager with fewer concerns like zits and school work.

Ironically, I’ve got the zit part in the bag, another side effect of menopause. The red and pulsating aftermath from partaking in a rather delightful Zucchini cake brought into the shop by Nancy, our new employee. After tasting a few of her wares I must say she’s an exceptional baker. Her Chocolate Brownies were the best I’ve eaten, so sinful you need to pray to the Diabetes God to spare you.   I had to warn her though, I like seafood….if I see it, I eat it. I’ve got the willpower of a cadaver. So if she treats Shane to her homemade goodies it has to be on the sly, not a whiff or a crumb to tempt me, kept away like kryptonite from superman. We both grow weak and lose all powers when exposed.

From that momentary lapse in judgement, I was punished with a colossal zit on my chin, which I might add didn’t need further extenuating. I’m no Leno but there’s a possibility I’m a distance cousin. Nancy drizzled a lemon glaze over the cake and once that hit my taste buds wham….I was a goner. Anything that boasts a hint of lemon is lethal. Within two days I devoured all eight hunks, thank the stars she didn’t bring the entire pan or I might be writing my own obituary today, in preparation for that boney finger rapping on the door.

The fact that eating refined sugar can manifest itself with acne has always annoyed me. A dermatologist once told me that it’s impossible to get problematic skin from food. Bullcrap to that! This was about 20 years ago so maybe they’ve caught up with reality now. Back when I was suffering with Environmental Sickness, I argued with him for years if I ate sugar I got rewarded the next day with a breakout. He wouldn’t believe me and told me it was hormonal.   Sure blame everything on hormones, the easy out when they can’t explain why it happens, just take this drug and live with it. For my case, no one could convince me otherwise and now it’s back with a vengeance. Since the onset of menopause, whatever my body is doing or not doing, if I eat refined sugar I get a zit, like clockwork, 12-24 hours later.

So when my skin is clear that’s the reward for abstinence. When you see a little something, I’ve been naughty. I can’t lie, the zit is my Pinocchio’s nose, the more I sneak, the bigger it gets. When a lone pimple reaches its pinnacle, then it separates into two or three with equal ferocity.   I’m weak, I break down every now and then because everything that tastes good is temptation and I’ve got a bit of Eve in me. Sweets are like a drug, the yummmmm factor makes you feel good as the heavenly delight passes over your tongue. But, you don’t feel so good after you eat it, the worry sets in and the guilt for being corruptible and knowing the dreaded zit is on its way makes you entertain the idea of Bulimia but that’s a whole other bag of crazy that I don’t plan to practice.

And that brings me back to the weather. Sugar and snow are both bad for us. They are both pretty but deadly. Snow causes car accidents and sugar causes illness. It’s white death from both! During a snowstorm I look out of the window and think of the unfortunate people who will get into accidents, maybe I should apply that philosophy to sugar. The older I get the less I find comfort in food so I am able to sustain longer periods without being seduced by the memory of those comfort foods. Because that’s what it is for me. Memories of my mother and her fabulous pastries and baked goods. Yummmmmmmmmmm!   Only certain foods tempt me and they can all be traced back to my childhood.

So I’m in for the day with a big crackling fire in the stove. There’s good and bad waging war in my brain. Housework or hooking?   There are a couple of movies taped on the DVR, the dogs are fed, played with and are now napping at my feet while I write. There’s a comfort in the air that begs for relaxing. One of my new Christmas stocking designs is on my frame and I’m swaying toward fun for the afternoon. As long as the snow keeps winter in business, I’ll work on the stocking patterns and put them away in the spring. Snow on the ground reminds me of the holidays so hooking Christmas flavoured designs seems fitting. My goal for this year is to have 50 stocking patterns available for next season. I’m at the 24 mark now, so it’s not an unrealistic ambition. Considering they are only three day projects I hope to hook a bunch as well.

I’m no clairvoyant, but I predict I’ll be holding a shovel sometime today……the winds are bitter at -12, face freezing weather, so I won’t be going out until there’s a lull. And….once things calm down I’m going to make that snow angel!

To Charlene who is currently in Florida…..enjoy sista!

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Cranberry Glass Pendent...checked off the list!

11/13/2013

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Where is the time going? Already we’ve turned back the clocks, started burning wood in the stove and scraped a few windshields. We’ve barely put Halloween to bed, Remembrance day is here and gone so now Christmas will bear down on us like a freight train without brakes.

Sure Christmas is fun but it’s a heck of a lot of preparation for five minutes of ripping and tearing on Christmas morning. Sort of like a wedding, months of planning for five minutes of "I do". But hey, twinkling lights and foil paper wrapped treasures, decorations and the once a year holiday feast is something to look forward to.....a highlight from our mundane daily routines. Children are filled with awe and adults dust off their best manners. People are kinder during the holidays as if they worry about that lump of coal.

But, as each holiday or monumental landmark passes, so does time and I feel like it's running out on me!   Let’s face it, there’s more sand in the bottom of my hour glass than sifting down from the top. With my mom dying at 58, that's only three years older than I'll be next month! Time…slow down, allow me to prepare....I want to be ready for old age if I'm lucky enough to see it. I swear the earth is speeding up on its axis, pushing the days through as if late for a very important date.

I have so many things I want to do and at this rate I won’t be scratching much off the list unless I make them a priority now! In the big picture of life, my desires may be small, but I’d like to take a crack at a few of them, after all what are we here for if not to experience things. Most of my stuff is doable too. I’m not hankering for world travel, or extravagant purchases.   The stuff that brings me joy I can accomplish at home. Spending time with hubby, writing the great novel or maybe two, adopt more pups to love, cover my floors in hooked rugs, dabble in a bit of painting, gardening, sailing and spend long periods sitting in the white wicker chair on my back deck captivated by this amazing planet we're visiting on a temporary pass.

I am filled with good intentions...my cup runneth over with them. What I lack is time. It’s eaten but not chewed, swallowed up in a gulp and gone.   The past 54 years were a blink of an eye and now I approach one year older, I begin to wonder what might be next.   So far my life has been a droplet of rain in a torrential downpour, a split second out of eternity, I’m feeling small and insignificant knowing there's now less time ahead than has already past. I need to make best of what I have. Do things now...stop waiting for tomorrow because time waits for no man or woman. I need a 'rest of life' itinerary so I can allot time to get things done so it doesn't overtake me in this one way race to Too Late. No time like the present either because who knows how much is left....we aren’t all following the same plan and have different stops along the route. I'm not trying to be a doom sayer, but jeesh, if the next half goes as fast as the first I might not get through this blog!

So I pledged to make a pendant with a piece of that broken Cranberry glass that I’ve been holding on to for 22 years. The deadline was last evening and I made it by the hair of my chin, but made it I did! Writing about my mother’s death brought the desire to the surface so I said no more excuses, no more putting it off for later. Tempting fate is a fool's game because life doesn't come with any promises, except of course that there will be death and taxes. This pendent will scratch one item of my 'To Do' and that's a feel good accomplishment.

I've been a jewellery maker for a few years now. Well, I suppose I'm a creative assembler. I don't actually make the beads or the findings, I just gather and string them all together. I enjoyed working with beads but I got a little carried away with buying them. The parcels were arriving so quickly the inventory got ahead of me and I became overwhelmed. Now there are thousands of dollars hidden away in cupboards that I'm not sure what to do with. I'm toying with the idea of a pop up shop to sell them off to other bead enthusiasts who will love them and put them to good use. No bead should be hidden away, they need to be out and worn, bead all they can be!

The beads I hoard are exquisite. Sometimes one of a kind, and all made by self representing artists from around the globe....no spit out of a machine, Made in China stuff for me!

The Blue Willow wire wrapped pendent was the first project I ever made to learn the technique. Then I wrapped a Pink Peruvian Opal and added fresh water pearls for accents. For the Cranberry Glass I added pearls and made petals from silver springs made by wrapping the wire around a stick pin. I used Pink Swarovski crystals in the centers of the pearls to look like flower centers. The piece of glass I selected was the bottom of the broken vase. The next pink or white shirt I wear will be a backdrop to my new pendent, the memory of my dear mother caressing my heart.

Below is some of the wedding jewellery I've made in the past and pictures of a wedding show I attended. The necklaces are made with real pearls or Swarovski glass pearls. I had a great deal of fun during my brief fling with bling, but rug hooking's my main squeeze!

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Where there's smoke, there might not be fire.....hopefully....

10/28/2013

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I mentioned a few blogs back about being
called out to my son’s apartment for a potential fire.

Shane and his girlfriend had been out walking the dog and returned to find their apartment hazy with smoke and smelling of burned wire.

Being both his mom and his landlord I was called immediately and we did all the normal checklist things. Felt the walls and ceiling for heat, sniffed to locate a point of ignition. Nothing panned out. The smell continued to thicken the air and we needed answers to sleep peacefully, so we called the fire department. They arrived with lights flashing and sirens blaring at 11:30 pm so the neighbourhood probably wasn't impressed but most assuredly curious.

Shane and his girlfriend mentioned hearing a periodic buzzing sound in the one wall so they concentrated their investigation in that area. The fire department have this thermal heat reading thingy to detect hot spots between the studs. They found nothing but the smell persisted. They left after an hour of searching every square inch of that area and the electrical panel that resides on that particular wall, telling us to phone if the smell worsens or new signs of smoke.

After they left I started thinking that maybe we should test all the plugs so Shane got out the blow dryer and tried it in all the bedroom outlets. Everything seemed to work fine until we got to the lamp by the bed. He tried the switch and the light didn’t come on and when he lifted the lamp I could see the compact fluorescent bulb looked burned at the base. Culprit found! Sure enough it stunk to high heaven but because it was under a stained glass shade it pooled there and leaked the odor out through the shade vent holes slowly. We never even thought to look at bulbs, just concentrated our search in the wall with the panel that was close to the door. After the initial blast of smoke from the bulb giving up the ghost, everything in the room had been permeated with the stench so it seemed to come from everywhere and fooled us.

So we carefully disposed of the bulb and cleaned up the area. That made for an easier sleep, so much better than thinking there was a wire shorting in the wall.

So today, Shane said the buzzing sound occurred again last night and was even louder so I called an electrician to check it out. They couldn't find anything and of course the sound didn’t happen while they were there....like a ping in the engine that vanishes when the car reaches the garage. So the only recourse was to take a gyprock saw to the walls, open them up and have a good look inside. Well. There’s a gash about five feet long and a foot and a half high traveling across the wall. Every plug and switch was checked and the panel was closely examined. Nothing seemed to be out of place short of a hive of bees in the wall. They did notice one circuit was overloaded and they added a few new breakers to distribute the load evenly...since then no buzzing has been heard. Fingers crossed!

Thank goodness both Shane and I are skilled in the gyprock department. I’m a mudder from way back. Hubby and I have renovated two houses so I’m no stranger to spackle. I claim to have several inches of mud dust in my lungs, probably why I weigh so much! I can do a seam smoother than a baby’s bottom. That reminds me of a story of renovating and painting the dining room at our first house and the disaster of breaking the wedding gift my mother bought me. I should have packed it away but she had died a few months before and it was a comfort to have around. Big mistake and a story for another time.

So what we’ve learned is that the compact fluorescent bulbs end their lives in a bit of a meltdown. I looked it up and they are designed to go out with a burn and a bad smell.    Of all the CFB’s in my house I’ve never known this to happen. They last a long time so I guess they’re all still in their prime. In the future if I smell something burning and detect an acrid smoky stench I’ll check the lamps and open the windows immediately. The smell of burning plastic gave me a headache and my glands were puffed for days from the toxins. I’m sharing this story in case you don’t know this. If you smell smoke or something burning, check your bulbs before calling in the fire brigade.

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How I spent my day off....

9/23/2013

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Well, slap me on the back. I’m so proud of myself today. I could have sprawled on the sofa, god knows I wanted too, and lazed the day away but I decided to do some things around the house that needed doing so at the end of the day I could feel a sense of accomplishment. Sundays go so quickly and I didn’t want to waste it napping!

I mentioned before I can’t serve two masters so the shop is looking great and my house is in shambles. The laundry, oh the laundry. If only I was rich enough to hire help or throw away dirty clothes and buy new. I had an uncle who did that. He was too lazy to touch water so I don’t think he bathed for twenty years. The billboard says, "the army will make a man of you" but it can destroy you at the same time.   He splashed aftershave on top of aftershave until it created a thin layer of crust and he bought a new set of clothes each month when his pension cheque arrived. He threw his old set in the living room of the house he was staying in, the pile was four feet high! Then he would present himself as a man about town in his new duds, as proud as a peacock. It’s a good thing he was handsome in a debonair, Howard Hughes sort of way, but coincidentally, maybe just as weirdly eccentric. I can’t say he ever smelled badly, just hummed like old aftershave and cigarettes.

He lived in an drafty, old, uninsulated house so we invited him to stay with us during a particularly cold winter. After months of observing his lack of hygiene, I demanded that he bathe and give me his clothes, that practically stood on their own!    The man had passed away now and I'll spare his memory the graphic filth of his attire, but just let me say that I saw things that day that I’d never seen before and hope to never see again.

His laundry took three cycles in the washer to make the clothing wearable and oh the bleach...well there was a lot of it!   I knew he was lying when he told me he bathed the following afternoon because the tub was void of a brown ring when I got home from work. In his condition it would have taken several bath waters to soak off the extra skin of dirt that had accumulated and harden over his body and I knew he wouldn’t have had the wherewithal to clean the tub, never having lifted a finger for domestic chores in his life. I decided not to humiliate him and he smelled fresh enough with his old spice, so I let him think I believed his story. The end of his stay was nearing so I left him with his pride intact. I decided to burn his mattress as I wasn’t going to go there.  I understand the homeless man's excuse of why bathing is no longer a part of a daily routine, but when facilities are available, how they can be dismissed I don’t quite know. How some people live!

Now I might not sound like a domestic goddess myself, but I'm the kind of person you'd want to clean your home. I know how to strip away grime and polish to a sheen that will blind you.  I've more than my share of elbow grease and I'm not afraid to use it! It's just that I don't do it regularly because I'm exhausted by the time I get home from work. If I was a social butterfly, that might keep me in check, but months go by without company crossed my threshold so there isn't any incentive to be on top of things.   These cleaning skills came from my mother either through genetics or learned from watching her work but all I know is I can clean with the best of them, I just choose not to on a daily basis.

I’ve been avoiding the laundry room. Luckily I have enough undies and clothes to go a month or so without having to be a slave in that department.   So today I tackled the piles that were spilling out into the hall. I’ll take my towels to work with me tomorrow as I don’t find the front end loaders really clean them well. The heavy weight, commercial machine at the shop beats them to a white I can’t achieve at home.

Then I tackled the bedroom. Changed from cotton to flannel sheets as the nights are getting cool! The settee was piled high with clothes still clean, just got tried on and cast aside. I’m a dropper, where it lands it stays and the art of bending over to pick it up doesn’t occur to me. I swear I was meant to have servants, someone to pick up after me so I can waddle around in my head and not have to worry about incidental things. The bathroom was in hard shape so I got down and dirty and when I left that room it was sparkling like a new penny.   Don’t think too badly of me, I do clean the toilet on a regular schedule but the shower was looking a little sad.

I've been putting off cleaning the stove flue so I cleaned out the pipes to prepare for the burning season rapidly approaching.  There have been a few nights I toyed with the idea of starting a fire but I’ll hold off as long as possible because once you start it seems to become a regular routine. The chimney sweep guy came last Wednesday so I’m cleared and ready to burn.

Then the real nightmare, the fridge. There were things in there unrecognizable and closer to a science experiment than edibles. All in all it wasn’t as bad as it could have been and only took a few minutes so I was off to clean a few downstairs windows. Living by the sea, the salt air leaves a sticky film on the panes so it’s a constant struggle to keep them clean. I like this job, the reward is instant and the glass sparkles like diamonds. I sure like things to sparkle! I also cleaned the glass on the outdoor carriage lamps. They were filled with spider webs and dead bodies, I think they hang there to catch the bugs attracted by the light. What a mess they make with their poop and webs. Terrible house keepers those spiders, just dropping things and never picking them up!

Then I cleaned off the old chairs from the basement that Sue is going to paint for me after Steve glues them back together. I used steel wool to rub them down and then wiped them with a damp cloth.   The dampness did a number on the seats and they’ve all split into three parts. He’ll have to take them all apart to put them all back together. They are slated for the back room at the shop so customers can hook or sit and look at the binder filled with designs. Each one will be a different colour as that’s what my shop is all about…eclectic colour!

I wanted to do a little painting on the back deck posts but the wind was too strong and most of it would have blown on the deck or me and the pups. Another day!

I’m saving the vacuuming for later in the week. I’m pooped and there’s still a few dishes left and dinner to be made. A nice big salad with my favourite homemade dressing. The best olive oil I can find, red wine vinegar and garlic. Something about those flavours makes me want to eat it every day, all day long....great for keeping the ole blood sugar down.

So that was my day off.    I didn’t even turn on the TV or the radio. I got caught up on some much needed home care, listened to the birds chirping, watched boats sailing by and played in the yard with the pups.   Oh...hubby tells me my blogs might be too long....he said it’s okay to be novel, just don’t write one......

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Small bathroom gets a big look.....

4/9/2013

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The bathroom is to the right of the picture behind the blue and white lamp. Sitting in the larger part of the living room, behind the camera, and looking over you would never guess there was a powder room behind the wall.

My mother-in-law Wynn and Jim who is now gone.

We have the smallest bathroom ever...I've hook bigger rugs! But it does the trick and that's all that matters! The room is so small it was difficult to take a picture so you can't see the beams in the ceiling or the hardwood flooring but now that it's all said and done, we don't know what we ever did without a downstairs facility.

Although our house has a very large full bath upstairs and an an ensuite off the master bedroom, we didn't have a powder room downstairs. We're still youngish and hoofing up and down a full flight of stairs didn't raise an eyebrow until my mother-in-law was coming for a visit. Panic set in as to how we were going to handle the situation when she can't do stairs with her bad knee. We bought a twin bed that covered the sleeping arrangements but the question of a bathroom facility had to be addressed. The choice came down to washing up in the kitchen sink and a commode chair, a chamber pot or a chemical toilet and although she said it would be fine, none were appealing to me, as they all required some kind of emptying. How well do you need to know your inlaws? I've worked in a nursing home so I'm no stranger to cleaning up behind (pardon the pun) the elderly, but maybe that is why I'm more adamant about not doing it now. So, I called a plumber and a carpenter and in one week we had this little powder room up and functional.

We have a large L shaped living room and we took a corner of the top of the L, and you would never know that there was a bathroom there. Friends have come by and couldn't find it. Our house isn't very large so I was happy it didn't jump out as who wants a bathroom in the living room no matter how cute it is!   The plan someday is to build a downstairs bedroom on and then that part of the house will become a hallway to the addition and it's perfectly suitable to have a bathroom off a hall.

The layout had to be well planned. We had a pocket door installed so the toilet and sink had to be the right distance apart to open the door and enter. I had to do a lot of measuring to come up with the size of 60" x 28" which is the inside dimensions for the room, making it so small you have to step outside to change your mind but enough room to take your elbows in and your knees don't touch the sink when sitting on the john.

Because of the confined space, I tried several very small pedestal sinks but they were still too big and in the way. Finally I spied this very expensive corner number that fit perfectly although I found it weird the smaller the sink the higher the price. And then on top of that, the facet had to be a certain size and a one holer, so that turned out to be rather expensive as well but you only go this way once and it's only money.

We don't have any wallpaper in our house but 22 years ago I found this delightful blue and yellow print that I hoped to fit in somewhere and bought three bolts of it. It was a perfect match to the Blue Willow themed fabric I'd been holding on to for the last few decades so it was time to bring them out of storage and get our money out of them. The paint on the wainscoting was a match to one of the blues in the skirt. Paint samples can sometimes fool you. I tried three different cans of paint before I found the perfect match. They  all looked good on the sample but on the wall it was three strikes and out!

The little Blue Willow pattern cross stitch pieces were done by me once again, twenty or so years ago. (I get the feeling I was a shopaholic in my thirties) and I dug them out and had them framed. Small room big art. The mirror was the only one that would fit over the high chair rail. Once again it's an oversized piece for the area so that makes it work even better. It pivots like a Cheval mirror, doesn't have a frame but is beautifully beveled. A yellow and blue tassel completes the look. I wanted the wainscoting extra high because of the size of the room. Exaggerated elements fit better in a smaller space.   My opinion and I'm sticking to it!

I looked around for an antique wall cabinet to house the toiletries but there was nothing that could be modified to fit the space so I design what I wanted and had a chap make it up. I painted it a soft yellow and then crackled the outside areas with white paint over top. This was my first attempt at crackling and I think it turned out very nicely. I bought some large knobs from Lee Valley that matched the colour theme.

If you lift the sink skirt you'll find reading material and a waste paper basket. There is a cute little stool next to the sink with an antique blue and white chamber pail that also holds an extra roll of toilet paper. Speaking of which, the room was too small for a wall dispenser so I bought one of the free standing ones and it's tucked nicely by the sink.

When my mother-in-law arrived she was so surprised and probably relieved. Of course it wasn't painted or pretty like it is now but it functioned beautifully and all she had to do was roll out of bed and there it was. And in case you are wondering what she did for showers, we took her to the pool every second day for Aquasize so she used their facilities for bathing. At 94 she exercises at the pool three times a week at home in BC. She believes exercise is key to optimal health in older age and she's living proof it works, accept for that troubled knee she's in excellent health!

This is the rug I designed for the floor. The actual yellows and blues blend perfectly with the decor so the photo is a bit off. I took elements from the Willow fabric for the design and added the big central Chinese Shou to tie in the cross stitch Oriental theme.

Done in all yellows and blues the rug will be a perfect match for the room. I've hooked the Shou and the background and now it is time to get started on the birds. I'll probably hook one to work out the colour pattern first and then work at the other three all at once. It is a very light rug so I don't think I'll put it on the floor unless company pops in, just leave it curled up on the toilet tank top until it's needed.

Working in a #6 cut it is making for fast going. I stylized the tail feathers to incorporate the border for more interest.

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Doggie toy box on a budget!

Sometimes when things suck....it's good!

Today, my world is a snow globe.....

Cranberry Glass Pendent...checked off the list!

Where there's smoke, there might not be fire.....hopefully....

How I spent my day off....

Small bathroom gets a big look.....

Archives

Categories(Click on the categories for past blogs)

Categories
(Click on the categories for past blogs)