Sunday, July 20, 2008

The great big decor options post... part one

So here's where we are so far on flooring, paint, etc.

Flooring:
Hall, Dining Room, Closet and Bathroom
: We're looking at this, sealed saltillo tile. I want to lay it in this pattern, at least in the dining room, because it emphasizes the irregularity of the tiles. I may get out voted, though.
Bedroom and Loft: We're looking at this, wide-plank, hand-scraped Alder in the finish called Merbau. Here's what it looks like in a room.

Paint Colors:So this is our color pallet. Valspar puts out a color trends book, usually every season, and this is the one that we like. I love the way the colors go together.

I'm not sure what color is going where yet. Perhaps that will be for the next post.

What a difference a day makes...

Seriously...

From here
to here
in 13 hours.

Miguel and crew arrived yesterday at 7:00 a.m. and left at 8:30 p.m. Here are some more pictures. They hung all of the sheetrock yesterday, and then started taping and mudding. They were back at 7:00 a.m. today.




Remember this? It is from last November.
I did this one this morning.

One last picture. This is the scrap pile. Yikes!
I'm so glad that we are having this part of the work done by professionals. We would still be working on this at Christmas, and we would never get it as smooth as they will. They should be done in a few days.

Now it is time to think about colors, but that will have to wait for another day...

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Look who's back...

Our furry friend, Stella! Her parents are in North Carolina at a birthday party/family reunion, so Ginny has her best play friend back for the weekend.
We took a few pictures last week because the sheetrock is going in today! Yahoo!! Here's a few pictures of where we were.
I'm listening to sheetrock installation now. Perhaps there will be some more pictures soon.
I think that the sheetrock will make it easier to pick colors. I know it will define the space well. I can't wait to see what it looks like! What is really nice is that other people are doing it. This is the point that David has been waiting on. He has been ready for other people to work on the addition for a while now!
Anyway... Winni hopes that you have a nice day today.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Gee, your yard looks terrific...

This is what the yard looked like when I got home the other day. Most people would be sad, but not us.
This sight meant that the inspector was coming for a final sign-off on the plumbing. It also meant the bill for the plumbing, which was $3000 more than expected. We have had such good luck with most of the contractors' pricing, that it was bound to happen sooner of later.
"Is that new air condition unit listing," you ask. Why yes, yes it is. David had to lean it up and rest it on bricks because it was installed on top of two of the drain lines that the plumbers put in. David said it is no big deal to put it back.
What makes the atrocious state of our yard even more humorous is the activity level of our new neighbors. They are out of control with the yard work. In the past few weeks they have cleared out about three trees and a huge privet hedge, painted the interior of the house, planted all of the flowers available at the Home Depot and spiffed up their front porch. It looks wonderful and I'm so glad that we have such conscientious neighbors. However, they work entirely too hard; so hard, in fact that I get tired just watching their progress.

Y'all have a good day!

Friday, July 4, 2008

Happy Birthday, Winni!

So today is Winni's birthday. Actually, it's my best guess as to Winni's birthday. She came to live with me on July 1, 2003 and the vet said she was about one, so we decided on an Independence Day birthday. That makes her six and means that she's been with me for five years. She's had a great year, what with a new sister, an upgraded leg and a trimmer waist.She does love sticks, so that's what she got for her birthday. A stick all of her own, and some alone time to chew on it on the front porch.
The story of how she came to live with me is below. If you don't know the story, it's a good one. She wrote it herself and wanted it posted, so there you have it. It's long, so settle in. Y'all have a good 4th!

July, 2003

(Winni asked me to read this over. My comments are in parentheses.)

My name is Winnie. The girl monkey (that’s what she calls humans) left her computer on so I thought that I would tell you my story.

The monkeys I used to live with were not very nice to me, but they did one very kind thing that you might think was not very kind. They abandoned me. They put me in their fast-scary-thing (that would be a car), drove me to the front gate of Camp Winnataska, and told me to stay. And I did.

I hadn’t been there long when a silver fast-scary-thing with two very pretty monkeys (aw…thanks) drove by. They didn’t stop, nor did the other 10 or 15 fast-scary-things that came by that Sunday morning. Soon, I was alone again in the grass and gravel by the gate of Camp Winnataska, very confused and a little scared.

Soon it got hot and before long, the silver fast-scary-thing with the two very pretty monkeys drove by again. This time she stopped. She played with me for a minute and then the chocolate headed monkey (that would be me) talked to the yellow headed monkey (that would be my room-mate, Karen). I didn’t understand it very well but it was something about isn’t that sad, and maybe whoever left her will come back, and but we’re on the way back to the lake. Anyway, they went away again and I was once again alone in the grass and gravel by the gate of Camp Winnataska, very confused and a little scared.

But not as scared as I was going to be. Soon it got dark, and then it started to rain, but the monkeys that dropped me off told me to stay, so I did. Some of the monkeys from the Camp brought me some food and water and played with me so I wasn’t too lonely, but since I was told to stay, I did.

After staying in the rain and getting very muddy on Monday I was very confused. Were the mean monkeys coming to get me? Were the pretty monkeys going to come back? Were the camp monkeys going to come and play?

It was almost dark when a blue fast-scary-thing (Karen’s brand new Jetta) came down the camp road. It was the pretty monkeys! Yea! They will stop and play with me again. But they didn’t. The chocolate-headed one started crying when she saw me. Later when they were leaving, she was crying again and said something about new car, muddy, tomorrow, Seth, truck, Winni. I thought that that meant something good so I wasn’t too upset. It was very hard to sleep with the rain and the confusion of what the monkeys said, but I did my best.

Tuesday morning lots and lots of fast-scary-things came by, but didn’t even stop. (It was the last day of camp so all the kids were going home.) They came and went with barely a glance at me, shivering and muddy, by the side of the road alone in the grass and gravel by the gate of Camp Winnataska, very confused and a little scared.

But at last, a very nice fast-scary-thing stopped. A monkey called Debbie and her puppie-monkey (daughter) named Erin put me in the back of their fast-scary-thing. I felt bad for getting the cow-pillow dirty, (that’s what she said that leather smells like, don’t ask me) but at least I wasn’t getting rained on. Now, I may be a dog but I didn’t think that this was what the pretty monkeys from the night before were talking about, but since Debbie-monkey and Erin-monkey kept calling me Winni, I thought that it must be part of the plan.

They dropped me off at a place with lots of dogs and cats in cages and monkeys in masks (she means the vet’s office) and I was overwhelmed. The monkey in a mask looked at me with lots of stuff and said something about a fection, tapes, and lots of other big words. (She had an infection and worms, but medication cleared them up). I stayed there all day, wondering what would happen and then I heard my name. They put me on a rope and took me out to another room and guess what…the chocolate-headed monkey was there. HOORAY!!! She was so happy that she was crying.

We got into her silver fast-scary-thing and went to her house. It took me a while to get used to being inside and a few days to realize that the squeeky thing and the rope were what the monkeys call toys for me. I hadn’t ever had those before. Sometimes we just lie on the sofa and look at people in a box (that’s a TV). The Elin-monkey loves me very much and I love her too. I give her kisses and smile at her when we go on walks. I’m home, and I sure love it!

(Let me fill you in from my side here. I called Kidd animal clinic where mom’s dog Merlin goes, on Tuesday morning and told them that Seth was bringing in a stray that I was going to name Winni and to look her over and I would pick her up on my way home from work. Seth called me from camp and said that after an hour of looking, they couldn’t find the dog anywhere. I called to cancel the vet appointment and the receptionist told me that one of her littermates was just dropped off, and the family that dropped her off, named her Winni as well. To which I replied, there were no littermates, only MY Winni. I was in tears so the receptionist gave me the name of the family that brought her in. I left a message, in tears again, for Debbie that if she didn’t want Winni to please let me know and I would take her. Debbie called me back and said that she was so glad that a Winnataska girl wanted her and to meet me at the vet after work. She wanted to make sure I was a good person, I think.)

(Ever since 1998 when Cindy Wiley adopted Percy, another mistreated Camp Stray that has grown up to be the “Quintessential Dog,” I have known, if God saw fit for me to have a dog, that it would be a Camp Stray. I must say that I didn’t know if I was ready to be a pet owner until the first time Winni and I took a walk. She kept tripping because instead of looking where she was going, she kept staring at me with a tremendous look of gratitude on her face.)

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Happy BIrthday, Calvin!

Calvin turns 13 today.
Almost two years ago, the doctors said they didn't think he'd make it much longer.

Apparently they don't know Calvin.
Here's to bonus time.

Happy Birthday, best black dog ever!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

I'm back...

So I made it back from camp. It was a blast. I came home to this friend.


This is Stella, our friends' sheepdog. Colin and Annalisa are out west, so we are up to five dogs until Saturday. She's behaving for the most part, and having a great time with our other dogs here at Camp Glenn.

Anyway, our week at camp was wonderful.
We always have a theme for the week that we are director, and this year's was "All I Needed to Know I Learned at Camp Winnataska." I learned many things...

My family is both weird...

and wonderful.
This is a "family former" picture of me, Seth, Marcie, my mom (front row), Bee, Tricia and Dollie (back row) after Tricia was Galahad last week. Mom and Marcie, Dollie, and Bee are cousins and Tricia is Dollie's daughter. We are pretty sure that Tricia is the first 3rd generation Galahad, which is quite cool.

More lessons learned...
Country Night dances are a workout.

"Cats on the couch" will always be funny, even when it enters the second generation.

Catching up with old friends is always good for the soul.

Again, I'll say that we had a great week. Last Sunday was Winnataska's 90th Birthday Party and there were over 300 people there. I hope it is still around for 90 x 90 more!

Now really, I must go clean this house and bathe Winni and get off of blogger / facebook / etc.