Day 2 recap - trying to cope

Sigh.....ripping up carpet is dirty work.  This morning as the light streamed in the window I saw a heavy film on the dining room table.  Couldn't resist leaving a little message before I wiped it up :) So Yesterday was Day 2 of reno and can be best summed up by the word chaos.  When I came home they were just leaving.  Living room was done (except for mouldings), Dining room only 75% done and the den and back nook not touched.  And they are not coming back until Monday so the mess and confusion lives on for a few more days.    I started to put the living room back together last night, mainly so I could use part of the kitchen again.  It's not bad.  It's a start.

I can't do anything else until they come back.  Miss Abby has struggled with the chaos.  She's gone to doggie daycare for 2 full days which she isn't used to.  The disruption in her routine has really affected her.  She clung to me Friday morning and whined if I left her sight.  On the drive to day care she whined so pitifully it broke my heart.  She wouldn't eat at day care or at all last night.  She finally ate tonight at supper and then brought me a toy.  So she's coming around now.  

She's testing out the new area rug.  I think she approves.  

Day 1 - not smooth

Yes, I said Day 1. So what I thought was a 1 day job is far from reality.  My floor guy arrived late and with news that he couldn't start for a few hours AND he would be working alone as his helper phoned in sick.  So nothing happened all morning (which I took off work to help) I know these things happen and it was unavoidable so I'm not blaming him.  Just a tad frustrated.  He arrived at noon and got right   at it.  The first piece of carpet

And it revealed hardwood.  But it was in very bad shape.  Lots of large gaps and cracks with random shims placed here and there.    .   Now I know repairing it would be really expensive so covering it was the right choice. .  Actually it was a bit of a relief

Then we got to the dining room and it revealed another surprise - linoleum 

But the best was what we found under the carpet in the den.  Hold on to your hats......

I laughed so hard when we uncovered this.  I bet this was tres chic at the time and I'm sure all the neighbourhood housewives were jealous.  But WOW, that is some busy, ugly floor covering!

Unfortunately that's as far as we got today.  So those three rooms are currently uninhabitable, the kitchen is jammed with furniture and inaccessible. I have survived on a box of Krispy Kreme donuts and a pizza Abby and I are sequestered in the back corner of the kitchen where I hook rugs.  One chair, a tv and a puppy pen.  Needless to say neither of us is a happy camper tonight 

One more sleep

It's finally here.  One more sleep until New Floor Day!!  Almost everything is moved and shoved somewhere.  My small upstairs looks like it's ready for an episode of hoarders.  I can barely get to my bed.  Just keep telling myself " one more sleep, one more sleep". 

My experience with any renovation, no matter how small is not good.  I would hope that the next couple of days will be like this

But I'm afraid it might be more like this

Wish me luck! 

78 days

That's the number that stopped the streak.  For 78 straight days I hit (or exceeded) my Fitbit goal of 10,000 steps.   I even had a few days of over 25,000.  It really just started to see if I could do it for a week but then I just kept going and going.   It felt great.  And there was the added bonus of driving Cousin Joy around the bend. 😉 Lol

But in the middle of the week I got hit with a 2 day migraine.  It's rare for me to have one that stretches over more than one day.  And if you have ever suffered from them you know that coming off of one is almost as bad.  I have no explanation for this next part but when I have a migraine I crave fresh fruit.  Particularly green grapes.  Don't know why but I crave them and they seem to settle my stomach.  I wonder if there is something in fresh fruit that your body is lacking.  Anyway, I'm on the mend today and feeling back to normal.  Today I have to start dismantling the house, packing up the china cabinet and all the small furniture.  The floor guy is coming on Thursday.   

More changes

More household changes ahead.  Another little renovation is going to happen.  Ughh, this house is a money pit but I keep telling myself it will be worth it in the end. (Hope, hope, hope).   I want to get rid of the carpet on the main floor.  It's just not dog friendly and I'm sick of it.  I researched and researched, compared prices, and stressed and stewed over the decision.  It's such a huge investment and you have to live with it for years.  And then this morning I drove to the city and loaded the back of the Equinox.  I had 25 cases jammed in there.  And don't let the size of each box fool you - they are heavy.  So heavy in fact, and all sliding to the back that I worried all the way home on the highway that that back latch might give way and all my floor would be spread across the highway!

A

There it is, my retirement savings. Lol.  But I got lucky when it was time to drag it in the house.  I carried one box in and went to get another and a man was walking by with his dog.  He handed me his dog leash, told me to watch his dog and he just started carrying it all in.  Imagine!!  Nice huh

I didn't even mind the dirty foot prints.  I had 25 of those heavy boxes and only had to carry one  So in about 2 weeks I will have a nice light maple floor

Some of the dark woods are gorgeous but the front of my house is kind of dark so I thought this would brighten it up a bit.  

Success and random bits

Still obsessed with hot cross buns I planned on making my own this morning.  I had recipes and raisins but unfortunately I was lacking ambition.  So I went to the downtown local foods market and found these

And they were perfect.  Exactly as I remembered and no crazy fruity bits.  Happy girl!   I also sold my sofa bed.  It was picked up this afternoon.  It was awkward, in the way and just didn't work anywhere.  So now I need to find something else for the den maybe my sewing machine might find a permanent home, or maybe a little office.  Everything is an option right now.  It's an odd little room.   Most of the rest of the day belonged to Abby who was exceptionally clingy today.  She HAD to be touching me

And if I dared to move or readjust myself I got kisses until I stayed still

She's so hard to resist.  I can assume that since she was cuddly and snuggly most of the day, she we want to run wild all night.  But the Easter bunny must have been here while we were out walking.  A new sweater was peeking out of the mailbox

I have to share this little Abby story.  Whenever I take her to aunties, she's a brat.  She always does something she shouldn't.  We went there to have supper with Auntie on Good Friday.  We were there 10 minutes when we looked in the living room

While we were setting the table Abby found Aunties laundry and had gathered a pile of socks "to play with".  Auntie was not amused.    P.S.  I thought it was pretty funny 😛  

The Hot Cross Conspiracy

I want to get to the bottom of this.  Easter hasn't been the same for years since the hot cross bun got all fancy.    I remember how happy we used to be just before Easter when the grocery stores started having hot cross buns.

They were special because they were only available for a short time.  They were soft and moist, with a few raisins and of course that yummy frosting cross.    My mother and I would only want to eat the tops, much to the dismay of the rest of the family who would find just the bottoms in the package.  We would sneak them together when nobody else was around.  Lol Then about 10 years ago or so, something dark and disturbing happened.  We purchased our annual buns, sliced one open, and saw bits of foreign objects.  Yellow and orangy fruit bits or something.  Yuck!   Not being people to concede defeat we assumed it was some weird new trend just at that store.  We went to several other stores and low and behold ALL the buns were contaminated with these little fruity bits.  

  We even tried to pick them out before we ate them.  Yes we really did this.  But it wasn't the same.   They had been ruined by some kind of societal twist.   I want my soft, simple hot cross buns back.   Help!!  Just raisins, no funny stuff.   Stop the madness people!

Spring!

I really started my "spring dance" first thing yesterday morning.  I came downstairs, grabbed Abby's leash and bent down to put on my shoes and.........spider!   Giant spider on the wall about 2 inches from my face.   I screamed like one of those people in a cheesy horror movie.  I screamed so loud Abby took off and hid in the living room.   So after I whacked it with a shoe and coaxed Abby out of hiding, I went on a spring cleaning frenzy.  I hate spiders!   We did notice another sign of spring this morning.  Peeking out from the  dead grass, a little volunteer baby crocus

And some new sprouts peeking out from under the old dead leaves in the back garden

Unfortunately the weatherman is calling for a small snow storm tomorrow so these will all be covered in white tomorrow.  But at least it's not like last year.  Here's a little flashback reminder from this date last year

So I'm not complaining about a few inches tomorrow.   Even Abby is doing a happy dance.  This was taken St. Patrick's Day at doggie daycare.  So I suppose she was doing an Irish jig??

 

 

 

Crushing

It would seem Abby has her first crush.  Much like a children's daycare, when you pick up your pooch at doggie daycare you get a little report on their day.  When I picked up Abby Friday the owner was laughing.  She told me Abby set her sights on a little Maltese mix named Charlie. 

The only trouble was Charlie was not interested.  Not-at-all.  But Abby, being a typical girl, found his hard-to-get game to be quite alluring.  She tried and tried to get his attention but apparently with NO success.  (I guess he was "just not that into her") So apparently she changed her tactic and tried to make him jealous, mingling with the rest of the pack

There she is, in the middle, probably looking at Charlie 💔.   Well, when all else fails what is a girl to do?   Try to make him jealous of course!  She found a handsome Doberman (yes, a Doberman) to hang out with for the rest of the day.  I'm sure she is hoping Charlie went home jealous and filled with regret and maybe will show her a little love next week.  

Shocking!

Ok, something truly horrible and shocking happened today.  I am shocked and appalled to say the least.   Those of you with tender hearts may want to sit down for this.  Ok, I'll just say it....... Today I stopped at the pharmacy at noon and.........oh dear, this is harder than I thought.........they gave me the "seniors discount".  (Shudder). The SENIORS DISCOUNT,!!

I mean how could this happen?  The best explanation I can think of is the cashier was seriously vision impaired.  I went back to work deep in despair.  I immediately went to the washroom mirror to look at the wrinkles around my eyes!  I mean she didn't even ASK,   .she just gave it to me

And it wasn't like I was buying geritol or Depends!  How could this happen to me??      I ask you, my lovely followers, does this look like a woman who should qualify for a seniors discount??

My own little trash can

Of course I'm talking about Abby, my furry little garbage can!  She will eat anything.......anything!   I swear at least once a day I am sticking my fingers in her mouth and it's NOT pleasant.  (Somethings I don't want to talk about.....ewww) With the mild winter there is no frost in the ground so the snow plows have left clumps of torn up sod everywhere.  And she eats them!  I see them up ahead on the lawn or sidewalk and I "think" I've got a good hold on her and then she friggin pelican dives to get them

I ate lunch today in front of the tv and left a napkin on the coffee table.  I left the room for no more than 30 seconds and returned to find a thousand shreds of paper on the floor and pulled a wad of it from her mouth.    Nothing is safe.  NOTHING We have a box full of dog toy corpses, naturally a little light on stuffing.  Dog toys do not survive.  I've started buying stuffed baby toys at the thrift store for .75 cents each.  These survive.  This is what I don't understand.  Dogs have teeth.....babies do not.....so why are baby toys sturdier??   Ughhhhh She's a furry little garbage eater!  Help.........

Sunny Saturday

I know it's just a weather tease but it was a gorgeous day.  Cool temps but lots of gorgeous sunshine.  It was the kind of day that being outside made you just wonder "could spring be right around the corner?"   I know we will have a few more blasts of winter before it's over but today I sensed Spring and I loved it.  After brunch with a gal pal I came home and hit the dye pots again.  I'm so loving dyeing wool.  This time I wanted to try out a little mottling.  So 2 pots, same color formula in each.  One pot I stirred and the other I just gently poked.

What do you think?  I have to say, for a first attempt I'm pretty pleased.   Next time I think I'll use less water in the mottled pot I had some other colors I wanted to try but didn't have the right dyes.  Guess I'll have to make another list

Another first

There have always been some things I felt were beyond my many talents. (Ok stop laughing). In the last few years I've learned to make tea biscuits that do not taste or feel like hockey pucks, I've figured out that neat tight little roll of a perfect cinnamon bun, I've figured out how to fix countless house maintenance issues and I've learned how to dye my own wool.   But making bread has always seemed out of reach.  Some mystical kitchen magic only special people blessed by the baking gods can attain the perfect loaf with a slightly chewy yet crispy golden brown crust and soft fluffy insides.   Then I saw a recipe link on Facebook --- 4 ingredients, easy directions.  Should I dare be so bold as to try?  What did I have to lose? 3 cups of flour?  Just try it

Mix the four ingredients, cover the bowl and leave it overnight.   That's my kind of recipe -- mix and leave it. Into the oven and soon you get this

It sure looks pretty.  But how will it taste?  Chances are it can't be pretty AND tasty.  Or can it?

I slathered that piece in butter and it was incredible.  And it was so easy it was almost criminal.   http://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/2016/02/12/homemade-artisan-bread-easiest-bread-recipe-ever.html Try it

Early Spring isn't all sweet

After last February, one shouldn't really complain about early spring-like weather but this is me so here goes..... My first gripe started in the middle of the night.  I woke up and I was seriously overheated.  My first thought was "oh great, a hot flash" so I threw the duvet on the floor and went back to sleep.  

When morning came I got dressed to take Abby out.  My typical February early morning outfit.  Boots, scarf, gloves, parka with the hood up.  I opened the door and it was friggin tropical out.  Like almost 60 degrees and I was dressed for minus 30. (I must have looked like a moron).  Then there was the other obvious reminder of spring - the unmistakable smell of skunk

It was strong and it was close.  I never did see him but I almost got whiplash checking over my shoulder multiple times. And again this evening but now it's dark so I was even more afraid.  I just have this feeling that super social Abby is going to try and make a new friend some night.  Ughhhhh This is some seriously weird weather

All the cool pups are doing it

Ok, it's finally happened.  I've become one of those obnoxious Gen Xers who takes their dog to doggie day care.  

I'm now one of those people I used to laugh at........ But just look at how happy my baby was on her first day 

And she even made a little friend.  Awwwwww

Now before you think I've completely gone over the edge this is not going to be a regular thing. Maybe a couple of times a month where Abby can get better socialized with other dogs and get some exercise.  And it will help me out when my work schedule is heavy.   When I bring her home she is worn out.  She goes right to bed for several hours which is a nice break for me