Pictures Of The Day

Good evening.
It was an all day thing, but Hubby finally got our plumbing issues straightened out. In the end, after going all day trying not to use the water, after 2 trips to town for parts, and finally after raiding D.Ws shed for piping, the job is done. When the guy was here this morning pumping the tank out, he mentioned to Hubby another problem we may have, and told Hubby to keep on digging where he had started to dig. Apparently it's common to get a sag in the pipe between the house and the tank. Sure enough the pipes had sagged and even come apart a little at one of the joints. I suppose Hubby could have had the job done a lot quicker if he wasn't so crippled up with his back and now his knee too. Everything is working peachy fine now. I imagine Hubby will now need a day or two to recuperate.

Of course all I did was run around taking pictures. I took one close up of snow and thought it would make an excellent background on a webpage. I tried to get some shots of the dogs playing in the snow, but little Edibles is just too fast and runs away before I can take a picture. At one point I didn't see him anywhere and was afraid he had taken off, then Hubby said no he's over by the back door. I looked and there he was, huddled in the corner by the back door waiting for someone to let him in. Poor thing. He doesn't like the cold at all. He even walks around on the hearth. I'm afraid one of these days a big old spark is going to fly out of the fire and hit him if he keeps that up, so I do discourage him from hanging out on the hearth. He did take off on me one day, as I opened the front door to let Bear in, Edibles took off. He is faster than a rabbit, gone like a shot. I was there calling him and getting ready to go after him, man he was soooooo fast, when I saw him heading back. He had just gone a couple of doors down and turned around and ran right in the front door. I guess he needed a little rip just like Bear does sometimes. Only he does it even faster than old Bear. At one point though, I didn't think he was going to stop or turn around, I thought he was gone, he wasn't looking back. It was after that when I decided they both need to go out back and rip around. Thats when he ended up cowering by the door. There was no ripping around. Haven't been able to break out any toys yet either. I've tried and Bear is just too possessive. We need to figure out how to break him of that bad habit. He's much better about the food. He stood there watching Eddie eat out of his bowl and didn't make a peep the other day. Thats progress!

Ok heres a couple of the pictures I took...

I'm Not Insane, Yet

Good morning.

I've slept on it, and I am still outraged. I'm not as emotional and upset, but I'm mad as hell. Is it just me or is that a tad ridiculous? They can't keep him for the night after such a major operation? I'll be writing letters today, well as soon as I can find out who to write to. I swear our government does this on purpose. They make it difficult to find who to bitch at. I hate politics and thats why, I don't understand it. I know my local government, but that won't help my father, he lives in a completely different area. I looked in the Provincial realms and still found nothing. Fucking obscene.

It is finally winter here. The snowmobilers are loving it and out in force. This made Hubbys job a little harder when he had to dig out our septic tank yesterday and the ground is frozen. The guy is here right now pumping it out. Thats the first time we've had to have it done in the over 3 years we've lived here. It was only last summer that we buried the lid to the tank and sodded over it. I told Hubby then, we should have it pumped before we bury it then we won't have to dig it up for a couple of years anyway. No, its fine, he said. Now I have a big mucky mess to look at. Depending on how many people are using it, it needs to be pumped every 3-4 years.

The dogs are still getting along a little better each day. Edibles has now started attacking me though. Every time I walk by him he follows me, jumping up and nipping at me. He goes after my hands and when I look down to tell him to stop he goes for my face. No amount of telling him, pushing him back down, rolling him into a submissive position, nothing, makes him stop, he gets right back up and starts again. At first he did this and I would let him out and that seemed to be what he was trying to tell me, but that isn't working any more. I don't know what its about.

So Hubby is home for another month...unless his knee improves before then. This is crazy. Wish I had seen it coming, could have at least prepared my mind for such an assault, or made some sort of plans. I've been doing pretty good at keeping him busy though. Keeping myself busy as well. But geez another month!?

Ok heres a couple of photos....

Hubby and Little R played some darts yesterday and Hubby made a shot like that one I did, one dart stuck into another dart, only his was in the bullseye! Little R was home Monday so we could keep an eye on her, Tuesday she went to the doctor, today is another ski trip day, sigh, she will be going back to school tomorrow.

Ok I'm off to start my day. Have a good one. Wish me luck with keeping my sanity, if I haven't lost it already lol.

Health Care??? Not In Ontario...

I talked to my father around 8:30 p.m. I am outraged! He was in quite a lot of pain. The man had major surgery, having both sides of his chest cut open. Having a new pacemaker installed on one side and an old one removed from the other side, with some wiring left behind. Because of his low blood pressure, the strongest pain medication they can give him is Tylenol. They sent him home and expect him back at Sunnybrook tomorrow morning!! He is 91 years old. What the fuck are they thinking? Why wouldn't they just keep him over-night, rather than send him home and then make him travel all that way the next morning?? I am just freaking. Furious. Outraged. What a way to treat people. Of course I couldn't find the Ministry of Health on the government website to start sending emails regarding my outrage and disgust and fear. My father sounded quite uncomfortable on the phone. He said it really hurts to move around at all. Well, he shouldn't have to be moving around at all! He should be in a damn hospital bed RESTING. If anyone reading this knows who I should contact to complain about this please let me know. This is absurd, ridiculous, and wrong.
He is an hour drive away from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. He has to rely on others to drive him back and forth. I am just too upset over this. I cannot believe this is the state of health care in Ontario. We deserve better, my father deserves better!
Well, I'm off. Have a good night.

Always Waiting....

Good morning.
Hubby and Little R are off to see the doctor this morning. Hubby already had an appointment for his knee and they were kind enough to squeeze Little R in at the same time for this allergy testing business. Today is also the day my father is having his surgery. I guess I'm a little more worried and upset about that than I had realized. When someone tries to phone here and it sometimes disconnects the computer (no we still haven't got the second line), sometimes I know who it is calling, sometimes I don't. That happened this morning and the first thing I thought was my fathers surgery didn't go well. And I realized I am very worried and until I get that call saying the surgery is over and all went well, I'm going to be worried.

Hubby and Little R have returned from the doctors. It seems Little R must now go see a specialist for the allergy testing. So we'll be waiting for a call from them with the appointment.
Hubby on the other hand has another month off work! Ack!! Actually, to be honest, I'm beginning to enjoy having him home. We're getting into a groove. Things are getting done around here. He is, after all, my best friend, who wouldn't want to spend all their time with their best friend?
According to our doctor, this thing with Little R could have been some sort of viral thing, which may never happen again. He assured us not to worry, but told us to keep an eye on things too.
I have an appointment this afternoon, but I think I'm going to skip it this week. I just want to be here to receive the call about my father. I can't concentrate or focus on anything, I am really worried. It isn't imperative that I be there this afternoon.
So I'm off to enjoy a quality time day with my family as we await the call.
Have a good one.

An Allergic Reaction From Hell

Good morning.

Well what a night we had. Yesterday was fabulous. Hubby and I had just hunkered down for some serious darts when the kids came in from skating. Yes! They did make a rink at the park this year! I had just cracked open my first beer, first beer in quite some time, and was warming up. It was a glorious winter day. All was right with the world. Little R comes in the door saying, I think I have allergies. She kept complaining that her eyes were itchy and then she was getting itchy all over. We told her to grab a quick shower. That was when she noticed an ugly rash forming on her body and called me in to have a look at it. Yes, something was wrong. Then I saw her back! The whole top half of her back was one big welt. I told Hubby we have to take her to the hospital, something is wrong. After dropping her friend off at home, we FLEW to the hospital. On the way there she started having trouble breathing. When we got there, it was kind of busy, there was someone in with the triage nurse, I couldn't wait. After a minute of standing there where they could see us and being ignored, I went over and interupted them, saying "excuse me, my daughter is having some sort of allergic reaction here". A nurse came out right away and looked at her and they took her in right away, without getting her name or health card or anything. The doctor looked at her right away. Yes she was definately having a severe allergic reaction and he ordered 2 shots, one of Benadryl and one of Epinephrine. Getting the needles was the most traumatic part of it for Little R. I was amazed how quickly it worked. Within minutes all her hives and welts and itching was gone. They made us stay for several hours because apparently, rarely, people can have an adverse reaction to the Epinephrine which affects the heart, so they had to keep an eye on her. They had her hooked up to a heart monitor and other stuff, which freaked her out of course. It was all very freaky, this has never happened before. The worst part for me is, we have no idea what she is allergic to! We have no clue what set this off. They told us the next time will be 10 times worse and after that she will be in serious trouble (I thought she was in serious trouble this time). They finally sent us on our way with a prescription for an Epi Pen and instructions to get her to our family doctor for allergy testing. The whole thing was very scarey.

Before we left the house we put Edibles in our bedroom with the door closed, just to avoid any grief of coming home and finding him torn to shreds compliments of Bear. They've been improving a little with each day, but its still too soon to be leaving them alone like that, and we had no idea how long we would be gone.

Earlier in the day, Hubby took the snowblower to the driveway and I walked around taking pictures, until the batteries in the camera died. It was so beautiful, all the trees were covered in frosty ice. I did manage to get a couple of good shots out of it.

How does such a perfect, harmonious, fabulous day turn into a nightmare in a heartbeat? Ah well, such is life. Little R is ok now. We all slept in, so she missed the school bus and will be staying home, and I missed getting the garbage out, I heard the truck going by just as I was getting up, ugh. First time in a long time he has beat me to it lol.

Heres a couple of the pics I took yesterday...

And then we went out for a little drive to town and took the scenic route through backroads so I could take these...

Have a great day.

We Finally Have Snow

Good morning.

Well when I looked out the window this morning I noticed we have a lot of snow. Its still snowing lightly. Its been flurrying and lightly snowing for days, and I guess I didn't notice it accumulating. If it isn't too cold out there today I'll try to get Hubby to use the snowblower on the driveway or show me how to do it.

I'm so glad we finished the painting. I was beginning to wonder if we would ever get that last wall done. It definately makes the room look bigger. But now I want to do the whole house. Sadly, at this point, we have no money for paint.

Three more days and Hubby goes back to the doctor. I hope his knee is healed and he can go back to work.

The dogs are doing great. Bear still has crotchety moments. I watched The Dog Whisperer yesterday. I think Bears moments are him being aggressive and dominant, and yesterdays show finally answered my question about that. Neither one of them is dominant. They should both be calm and submissive, and me and Hubby are the dominators. They are equal followers. So we should correct Bear when he does that. Each day is a little bit better. We just have to keep on top of them and make sure they both know who the boss is and it isn't either one of them. They are both so smart and such good boys.

Ok heres a couple of pictures of the new paint in the familyroom...

Stress

Good morning I guess.
Ugh. I've been up all night and I feel like shit.
Last night, or yesterday afternoon, I laid down for a little nap. I set the alarm for 8 p.m. When it went off I must have shut it off and rolled over and went right back to sleep. I got up at 10. That's when we decided to finish painting. We were both up all night. But hey, the painting is done. Well, the stairs only have primer on them, we aren't sure we'll have enough paint left to do them. We're thinking of using the yellow from before since there is a full can of that left over. At any rate the primer is still drying. We wanted it done so we could sit down here with the insurance investigator today. I did go to bed around 6 a.m, but I couldn't sleep. Just lay there shivering for 2 hours. And now it's time to get up anyways. We'll probably both crash the minute he leaves.
We got a bit of snow yesterday. I notice now the windows are covered with ice, so we must have got some freezing rain during the night. Lucky to still have power then.
The dogs are getting along quite well now. I'm a lot more relaxed around them now that we've had a couple of days with no fighting. We have the stairs down to the familyroom barricaded, poor Bear keeps looking down at me, wondering what the hell is going on. And now he just figured out he can take the back stairs down here and immediately ran over to the bottom of the wet painted stairs ugh. Now I have Edibles at the top of the stairs looking down at me, wondering why Bear can come down here but he can't. It's going to be a long day.
I've actually broken out in my nervous rash that I get when I'm stressed out. It's very itchy. The last couple of weeks have been very stressful. With Hubby home all day, Little R home a couple of days and constantly getting pinched (by me) doing things she isn't supposed to be doing, and the dogs, and Hubbys boss, and the lawsuit, and my niece, and my father and waiting for my own biopsy results, UGH.
Oh well, better jump in the shower and get this show on the road.
Have a fabulous day.

A Heavenly Day

Good morning.
Even though I slept a good portion of the day away, it was a great day. The parts I was awake for were awesome. The dogs got along great. It was super cold out, like -22 C, so there was a nice fire blazing most of the day.
I'm going to have to finish the painting today because we have an insurance investigator coming up on Saturday. He will be sitting in the familyroom taking notes etc. The last time he was here, we sat in the kitchen and it was just too crowded.
It was an uneventful day. I called my sister and she couldn't tell me any more than I already knew, except that my father will be going for still more tests next week, prior to having surgery. I called my niece, finally worked up the courage to pick up the phone and call her, and I got no answer. If I ever do get hold of her I am going to arrange a visit with her.
Hubby did a few of the small chores I've been asking him to do for weeks. Like finally putting the fake Christmas tree back in its box and away, and hanging my plate display racks in the diningroom.
I'm getting used to having Hubby home, it isn't so bad. I'll probably be lonely and miss him if and when he ever goes back to work.
The dogs were the best they've been yet. It was a heavenly day. Even though it was super cold, we still took the dogs out for walks. But other than that we stayed inside by the fire.
I've still got the fire going, seems like it will be very cold again today. They're calling for snow later today. I think I'll stay in and get the painting finished.
I'm off to start my day, have a great day!

Happy Thursday

Good morning.
There was a bit of an outburst last night as I was cooking dinner. I had just given the guys cookies, turned my back to tend to dinner on the stove, and suddenly Edible yelped and went running. I think it was over cookie crumbs on the floor! They got along so well all day, I wasn't expecting that, it startled me. Here I was talking about giving them back some toys yesterday, ha, not a chance! Other than that outburst, they were very good all day.
It looks like my father is going to need surgery for his pacemaker. Apparently the last time he had it replaced, which was last year, it wasn't done properly and now needs to be corrected. I've been waiting for the whole story before mentioning it, I still don't have the whole story. Since it's impossible for them to get through when phoning here and I keep forgetting to phone them at a reasonable hour, I'm not sure when this will happen or what exactly will happen. I'm going to leave a reminder to myself to call my sister today and get the scoop. An interesting note here is that because of my fathers age he cannot be put under for surgery, he will have it done with a local anasthetic. Can you imagine? This is how he has all surgery. Anyhow, I'm hoping it all goes well for him, he's in my thoughts and prayers.
I'm kind of getting used to having Hubby home. Yesterday it felt like he's retired and like it's been this way all along, it felt natural. He is receiving grief from his boss now. His boss is not happy about him missing all this time. Hubby did go to work on Monday, because his boss was harrassing him to, and he wound up aggravating his knee all over again, with all the driving. It is his right knee, which is his driving foot.
To be honest, I can't stand his boss, never could. He is one greedy dude. He has been harrassing Hubby through this whole thing and giving him ultimatums and basically threatening him. Hubby is now having a hard time imagining even going back there after the way the boss has treated him throughout this incident. I have a feeling I'll be needing to get myself a job soon.
In the years Hubby has been working for this guy, there has been precious little incentive for him to stay or to put forth any effort. Now it seems there is plenty of incentive to leave.
We put a TV in Little Rs room yesterday. It was just another one of my spontaneous whims. It has "rabbit ears" for reception as there is no satellite hook-up in there. She is happy with it. We can always hook up a DVD player and a Nintendo system for her as well.
It was another step in my effort to get the house organized. We had this extra TV just sitting there collecting dust, so why not put it to use.
Well I better go get started with my day. Have a lovely day folks.

Isolated Flurries

Good afternoon.
I've often heard the expression "isolated flurries" used in weather forecasts. The other day we experienced just what that means. We were out walking the dogs when we noticed from the street that it was snowing in the park....but not on the street where we stood! I'm talking 20 feet away. It was just bizarre. At first we thought oh its just snow blowing and falling from a nearby tree, but there was no tree nearby. It was snowing right in front of us, but not where we were standing, weird, just weird.
And speaking of snow, because it happens to be one of my favourite things, which is kind of strange since I don't do anything in it, like ski, or snowboard, or bobsled, or dogsled, or anything snow related, I just like it, it has been lightly snowing and flurrying all day so far, I love it.
My guys have been precious today! No scrapping! They've even been face-to-face sniffing each other, and sniffing butts, the usual doggy type stuff, they've been getting along great all day. And Edibles ate his first full bowl of food today too. We took them for a morning walk and cut them both loose in the field, there was a bit of ruckus there, but they were just playing, and Edibles coat came undone and the next thing it was off completely. So he walked home with no coat on, but he was ok.
It is very difficult for me to stay calm when they start their shit. I'm so scared something might happen. Hubby stays so calm, if not for him, I would just fall apart and lose it. They were chasing each other in circles. When Eddie is chasing Bear he nips at Bears heels, Bear turns around and snarls at him. But they really were just playing, taking turns and everything. Pretty amusing to watch. Of course we didn't have the camera with us when this was going on, but I'm sure there will be plenty of photo ops in the future.
And thats my day so far. Little R is home today because it's a ski trip day and she doesn't go since the first time she went she almost broke her leg and she doesn't enjoy skiing. So she and Hubby baked cookies together.
Life is good.
Have a great afternoon.

I Am Calm And Assertive...

Quite some time ago now, I removed all the photos from my site. I have since been trying to find a suitable web album type of thing. No luck there. I've tried Slide, Piczo, Picasa, Flickr and others. I've tried finding a code to create my own albums. No luck. It looks like I'll have to go back to the way I had it before, which involves resizing each photo to a thumbnail size then uploading all photos. I've also been going through my online files, removing the photos I won't be using to make room for all the new photos. This could take a while. Since I got this new camera, which is close to a year ago now, I have taken a hell of a lot of pictures. It's such a good camera, and because it's digital with seemingly endless memory, I've started taking more random shots too. I just have a ton of photos to sort through. Its not easy to decide which ones to share or not. So bear with me, some day I'll have photo pages back up on my site.
It looks like it's snowing again, or still. When we came in from our evening walk, I noticed the underside of Edibles coat was soaked with snow, poor guy. He's been a little hyper this evening, barking over every little noise he hears. Thankfully Bear is just snoozing through it and not reacting. It was an improved day with my guys, there was minimal quarrelling. The muzzle and removing Eddie seems to be working. Having no food bowls or toys out seems to be helping also. I still believe it's possible for them to become BFFs. Heres hoping for an even better day tomorrow. Edibles is clueless on a leash. Obvioulsy his year old leash was like never used, it's brand new and he has no idea how to behave and walk nicely, he's just all over the place, zigzagging in front of me, tripping me, going after Bear, tugging and gagging himself. I'm confident, in time, he'll learn, he is a smart cookie after all. He needs retraining in a couple of areas, we were so very lucky with Bear, being trained when we got him. I'll have to have confidence in my own ability to train him, keep consistant and maybe he'll learn some from seeing Bear do it.
Well it's been a long day, I'm off to bed. Sweet dreams.

Muzzle!

Good afternoon.
I spent the morning reading Cesar's Tips on The Dog Whisperers site. I decided it couldn't hurt to try to put his advice to use. Hubby irritated his knee by going into work yesterday so he is now following the doctors advice and staying home for another week. So he was here this morning and we took both dogs out for an early walk, then fed them, then put their food bowls away. That was something else they were fighting about, take them away and there's nothing to fight about. They got along very well today. There were a couple of minor altercations, but nothing like the days before. S.W had told me her method of putting muzzles on her dogs when they were fighting too much and it got to the point where she just has to say the word muzzle to them and they stop. We only have the one muzzle for Bear, and since he's the one we're worried about doing any real damage, we tried it with him last night. It took 3 times of having it on for less than a minute and now he stops when he hears me say muzzle! As far as Edible, without a muzzle, we just remove him, put him in the bedroom and close the door. We leave him in there for a minute or two and when he comes out he has calmed down. So far so good.
I had an appointment in town this afternoon and we didn't want to leave the dogs home alone together so we took Edibles with us. He is much more comfortable in the car than Bear is, and we thought Bear would appreciate the quiet time home alone.
Things are looking up.
It snowed all day today, beautiful.
Well, I'm off, things to do, places to go, people to see and all that jazz.
Have a great evening.

Mirror Mirror...

Good afternoon.
This morning was brutal. I went to take the dogs for a walk and we never made it out the door. I put Bears leash on, then Edibles. Told Bear to sit and wait while I put Edibles coat on, which he did. Then when I flipped Edible onto his back to do up his coat, for whatever reason he didn't like that this time and he started to struggle. Well then he and Bear started their quarrelling. This time there was no kitchen chair between them. Edibles ended up with 3 scratches. It scared the hell out of me. I think they felt my anxiety over being home alone with both of them for the first time. I think Edible didn't appreciate being flipped into a submissive position in front of Bear. I think Bear doesn't know what the heck is going on and just reacts to Edibles carrying on.
There is a floor to ceiling mirror by the front door. Edible noticed it within his first minutes here and is always going over to it and looking at himself. I have been unable from the start to get Bear to look at himself. He always looks away. He wants no part of the mirror. A few minutes ago, he saw himself and did a double take and stood there for a minute checking himself out! Thats the first time! He's been here for 2 years. He got used to being the only dog in the house. Edibles is used to being around other dogs. S.W has his parents and one of his sisters. He went from there, to a home with one of his brothers, and then back to S.Ws, and then here. He's always had other dogs around.
I still haven't painted that last wall...sigh. Haven't had the chance since Edibles came. Its at the top of my things to do list though.
I'm off, have a great afternoon.

The New Guy...Progress Report

Good evening.

Well, the food in Bears bowl still tastes better, apparently. The number of confrontations today was down significantly, they only had 2 or 3 outbursts. Bears nose is out of joint and Edible just wants to play, I think. He sure doesn't like the outdoors as much as Bear does. Every time we took him out, he just wanted to come right back in. Even with his nice new coat on he was shivering. It would appear that they are gradually becoming more tolerant of each other. I still don't know who the dominant one is though. I wonder if they know yet. Any time they do get into it, it's always in the kitchen, and takes place under the table and usually with a chair between them. Their hearts aren't in it. They don't really want to kill each other, it just sounds that way. We learned from "The Dog Whisperer", the most important thing is for us to stay calm and assertive. We just pretend to not notice, and eventually they tucker themselves out and go their seperate ways. I am very much looking forward to the day that they become BFFs.

We are finally getting the snow that was promised by the weather network. It's coming down pretty good out there now. We have several inches on the ground now, which has accumulated over the past week or two. That could be one reason Edible isn't thrilled about being outside, he's so tiny, it must be quite deep for him.

Heres a couple of quickly taken shots of him in his new coat lol...

I suppose Jack Russells are known to be hyper and spazzy. I must say, everything he does, is done quickly lol. He can literally bounce himself up in the air. But from what I've seen, for a Jack Russell, he is pretty mellow. Except for the quarrelling with Bear, he doesn't bark excessively. He does lay down and relax and even sleeps ocassionally. Just like his big brother, he wants nothing to do with his own bed. We've had to put all toys away, for now, as they were nothing but fuel for the fire, the root of most of their scraps.
Well, I too am tuckered out and my bed is calling my name.
Have a great night.

A Piece Of Peace

Good morning.
The guys seem to be getting along pretty good so far this morning. I took a picture of them sharing the same couch. They just kind of walk around each other and are leery of each other. Methinks it's gonna work out fine. I left them both lounging on the couch to go upstairs and grab a piece of cheese, they both came running up after me, both stood there waiting for cheese, and no quarrelling!



Now I'm downstairs on the computer and they are both upstairs. All is quiet. Yay.
Here's me and Edibles last night...

The weatherman is calling for snow all day today. Except for going to town yesterday, I've hardly been out of the house in days. I think I'll take both guys out back today to play in the snow.
Have a good one.

Beware Of Dog

I have never seen my guy do this before! This is his response to Edibles walking too closely while Bear had a rawhide bone. We don't usually give him those, but Edibles came with one, so we picked one up for Bear too. I made the mistake of sitting beside Bear and petting him while he was growling at Edibles. I then reached over to pet the Edster at the same time Bear lunged to scare him off, and he caught my hand in his mouth. Fuck me, did that hurt! At first it was a very angry red, the skin wasn't actually broken, but I thought my hand was. I immediately washed it and put ice on it, which hurt like hell. Several hours later, the wound isn't as dark red and it doesn't hurt. Surprisingly, nothing is broken. It's a little swollen and stiff, thats about it.
This freaked me out. I know he didn't mean to bite me. I know he was only warning Eddie, but still, there's about 1600 psi in those jaws, (just something I heard somewhere, may not be quite accurate), and he scared me. He seemed to know right away he had done something not cool, and banished himself to the bedroom. After I had calmed down I went in to talk to him, he seemed depressed and upset. He did make an appearance shortly afterwards though, and seems to be himself again. The rawhide bones were put away.
The whole episode made me question the decision to keep Edible. I guess I expected them to be getting along by now. I have no idea what to expect really. They seem to be getting along one minute, then snarling and barking at each other the next. But they have mellowed out from the first few hours together. After watching them, it seems Eddie is a sneaky little bugger and somewhat of a shit disturber. He tries to sneak up on Bear, when Bear is minding his own business. Bear makes no bones about it, he growls as soon as Eddie gets too close. He does not approach the Edster.
I honestly thought it would be easier. I thought Bear would be more accepting. I thought all this quarrelling would be over with in the first 24 hours. I now think I have more reading up on the subject to do.
So yeah, here are my first photos of Bear looking psycho and vicious. Gonna use one to print a "Beware Of Dog" or "Guard Dog On Duty" sign.
I sure hope things are going to improve between these two, well, they already have, but, there's plenty of room for improvement here.
Wish me luck.
Have a great day.

Todays Horoscope

You are in a positive cycle now that the Sun is moving through your creative 5th House of Spontaneity and Romance. This encourages you to be more playful and lightens your attitude toward life. There's no hurry, for now it's more important to enjoy yourself on the journey than it is to get to your desired destination.

That's my horoscope for today. Nothing could be more true. Amazing. I'm all about enjoying myself and spontaneity these days.

Last night went surprisingly smooth. Edibles slept here there and everywhere, but mostly on my bed. Beary slept in his usual spot on the floor beside my bed, and all was calm.

Hubby and I took a trip into town to pick up some supplies, like a harness and a coat for Edibles and some new toys for Beary. We were a little leery leaving the guys with Little R, but apparently they were well behaved the whole time we were gone and saved the acting up for our return. I have no experience with dogs really, so I've been reading up on behaviours, training and obedience. Cesar Millan is full of good tips and advice. I am hoping the guys will calm down. I am hoping I will calm down lol. They did scare me with their carrying on this afternoon, I really thought someone was going to get hurt. They are only doing what comes natural and trying to determine their pecking order. They are both male. Bear has been neutered, Edible has not. Not sure if that makes any difference. There's the obvious size difference, which doesn't seem to deter the Edster one little bit. He follows Bear around, sometimes trying to sneak up on him, and nips at his back legs. Bear seems very protective of his food and water bowls and his toys. I think Edibles is adjusting much easier to the new living arrangements than old Bear is. But I'm sure it will iron itself out. Just wish I had a clue how long that may take lol. They seem to have a thing about stealing food and water out of each others dishes when the other one isn't looking. I seem to recall that's what Bear and Penelope did too. They never got this far in their relationship because as soon as they started, Big R would swoop her little P-Dot up into the safety of her arms. Edible is having to fend for himself more or less, and if anything, he is the more aggressive one. Bear just wants to be left alone. As long as they don't keep me up all night I'm ok with it all.

The temperature has really dropped and little Eddie doesn't have much fur, nothing like the thick, lush, coat Bear has, so that's why we bought him a coat. Wish me luck getting it on and off of him lol. It was funny as we were shopping we saw all kinds of cool things in the pet store and were wondering where all this stuff was at Christmastime. They had a full rack of Harley gear, wasn't there at Christmas. $55 for a leather collar with a metal Harley badge on it! $15 for a nylon collar with a Harley print all over it. T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, even Harley leashes. I'm sure we'll be going back there long before next Christmas.

The guys seem to do best as long as we are all ignoring them both. Bear doesn't appreciate the intrusion. Edible seems quite happy and content.

Heres a couple more photos. One is my 3 guys peacefully lounging on the couch together.

Have an awesome day folks.

So Many Guys

Well well well, aren't I a lucky gal. I got me another guy!!
A friend asked me today if I would put an ad on my site offering this dog "Free To A Good Home." Of course I said, "sure, no problem." As my friend was giving me the info, I was thinking "hey, I'll take him!" So, I said I'd ask Hubby, and maybe we could take him, if that's alright.
I now have me a Jack Russell! He is one year old and his name is Eddie (how original). We've since changed that to "Edible" LOL! And he does answer to it.
There've been some hairy moments between Bear and Edible, but after a couple of hours, they are settling down. I'm in love. I'm not really one for small dogs, I like em big lol, but this guy somehow stole my heart, in a heartbeat. He's CUTE.
At first, when they went at each other, it was pretty scarey. I'm so proud of Hubby, the way he kept calm, I'm gonna start calling him Cesar. At one point it seemed like it was going to be a very long night. The snarling, growling, barking and snapping got to some pretty heavy decibels a couple of times. But right now, as I type this they are both laying quietly nearby.
This was a very spontaneous adoption and I think it's going to work out great.

So, without further ado, here's a pic of Edible (Eddie sometimes for short)...



I can't believe how quiet the house is now, compared to a couple of hours ago. I can't believe I have a Jack Russell. I can't believe we now have 2 dogs. I've never had TWO dogs before!
I'll be back with an update sooner than later.
Have a great night.

Picture Of A Picture

Good evening.

Here is a picture of that picture I originally bought for my father for Christmas and then decided I simply could not part with. I believe it is a print, not an actual painting, though I'm not even quite sure how to tell the difference and I haven't checked it out that closely, but yeah, I assume it's a print. At any rate, isn't it gorgeous? I have never loved a picture as much as I love this one. This photograph does not do it justice.

So the one I ended up going back and buying for my father, was by the same artist, of the same house, but from a different angle, and in the springtime, very lovely as well.
I was going to say the snow has stopped and we're just in a deep freeze, however, the snow has started up again this evening and we are expecting some accumulation. We haven't had to use the snowblower except for once back in October! Go figure.
Have a lovely evening folks.

The Last Entry On This Subject, I Promise

Unless something else happens, this should be the last entry I waste on this subject. The only way I can think of to describe how this has made me feel is, it's like finding out you were adopted, halfway through your life. To find out, or figure out, that someone isn't who you thought they were, is....altering. It has a deep effect. It's not that easy to just forget.
To have it happen twice, is twice as deep.
I mentioned the 2 ladies I have met, well obviously, I've met more than 2 people. It was just that those two are extraordinary. We have so much in common. When I look back there wasn't much in common with those folks. Anything common, was likely negative anyway. The world is chockfull of people. Why I ever clung onto those two for as long as I did, I'll never know. I can even recall pivotal moments when I should have said a big fat FUCK YOU to both of them. But I didn't. I feel so betrayed, because I am a trusting and loyal friend, and they completely took advantage of that, and took it for granted. Now I'm here thinking "What the hell was I thinking??"
I don't feel that way at all about the new people in my life. I'm a lot more skeptical now too. I've become much more aware. I am much more thoughtful in my judgements of people I meet. It's really not that hard to do, to see a persons true colours just through little things they may say. Something I find odd is how I could always do that with men, no problem. I knew when a man was no good for me. I could see when a man was just plain no good. But with women, it was different. I guess I kind of assumed they were all like me, LOL. Boy oh boy oh boy, was I wrong!
So now I am choosier about who I will or will not get close to or have in my life. Out of all the people I've met, lets say in the last 3 years, since moving here, I have only found two who are worthy of my time and attention.
I hope (more than you do) that this is the end of this crap. I am officially MOVING ON now. No more. Done. Finito.
I feel enlightened. There were signs, I just chose to ignore them. Never again. I feel like my life is just starting. A new beginning. Springtime in the Autumn of my life.
I've always believed what goes around comes around. Those two dogs are having their days now. That must be why one of them haunts me, via this blog, to take it all out on me. The other one apparently, according to her daughters blog, takes it out on her family. I'm glad I finally pushed them both away. Let them take their misery out on someone other than me.
Well, I think I'm done. I don't want to spend another moment of my life on this.
I've been painting today. It's getting there, almost done. I think I've really started something though. I want to just keep going until I do the whole house. It started out as a whim and has evolved into a home make-over. It's over-due if you ask me.
Speaking of over-due, made me think of books and reading. The book I am currently reading, and almost finished, is a Mary Higgins-Clark job. I've been at it for weeks. She is not my favourite author, I'm really struggling through this book. But I have to finish it. Hubby read a whole book in one day the other day! I had picked that one out of the pile, decided not to read it, left it on the headboard and that's where he found it. He said it was a very good book, and it's been so long since he's read a book he had forgotten how much he enjoys reading. I tend to only read when I go to bed at night and then it's only a few pages at a time because I fall asleep. That's why it can take me a month to read a single book. This one is so forgettable I can't even remember the title.
Ok, back to painting. Enjoy your afternoon.

Fetch Anyone?

Heres some pics of Hubby and Bear. It looks like Hubby just got home from work, from the grease across the front of his jacket. They played a little fetch in the front yard before coming in.

I came across these while going through my pictures. I have noticed that most of the pics we have of Bear involve him lounging on a couch. He really is active sometimes. If he had his way he would be active all the time. He's the kind of dog who should have a job. Here his biggest job is "getting the mail", which consists of walking to the mailbox with me, he won't even carry the mail for me. He's a good boy.

Have a good day.

High School Already?

Good morning.
If I sound angry, that's probably because I am. I feel ripped off. I feel like I missed out. I feel that it lowered my quality of life by a great deal. However, the good news is, I'm getting over it. I am moving on. Life is better. Life is downright sweet at times. Every now and then, something will trigger memories. There have been a lot of changes taking place in my life lately, all for the better, so it's still a little fresh in my mind too. Hopefully some day, these memories will be so far in the distance, replaced by new, wonderful, memories, that I won't even blog about it any more. Yeah Baby!!
You all know who you are. I wish it didn't bother me any more. I look forward to the day it stops even entering my mind, if that day ever happens. Somehow I don't think I'll ever truly forget. I'll never forget how happy I am now either.
And in other news...the school thing was long but cool. We got a bit of a tour. That place is enormous! Nothing at all like the high school I went to. About 10 times the size of the school Little R goes to now. Very modern and bright too. Thankfully she is quite excited about going to high school. That's better than being scared, nervous and dreading it. In four and a half years she'll be graduating....omg! The way the years are flying by, that's just around the corner.
I now wish I had been able to be more involved when Big R was in high school. But no, I was a basketcase then. I'm sure her whole high school experience suffered because of that too. Everything is different. It's like I'm having my second life now. The real life I was meant to have. And so my daughters have had 2 very different lives also.
Already starting to plan this years riding events. There are so many to choose from. So many events, so little time. Man, I feel a good season coming on. Wouldn't it be great if Hubby can catch his dream of a new bike too? He has it all picked out, and he wants to get the air ride seat for those long haul rides. Sometimes dreams do come true.
Well, I'm off, time to paint. I now see the whole damn house needs paint, some places more than others. I'm having trouble deciding what to do next as there is so much to choose from.
Have a great day!

Have A Wonderful Day

Good afternoon.
Noooooooo.....I'm not done painting......soon, today, for sure.
Tonight is the thing where we all go over to the high school because Little R will be starting high school this year. This gets me to thinking...there has been some stuff going on this year at school, with bullying, and the usual grade 8 girl crap, of cliques and rumours and he said/she said. My concern in this was that Little R started hanging around with the biggest bully in the school. I figured she was just bullied into it, its easier to join them, than be their victim. It would seem she has taken my advice, and pulled herself away from that crowd, as far as I know. Now the bullies have found a new victim. That Mom is not happy. She went to the school with her concerns. I hope none of that comes up this evening, it's not the time or the place for it, I don't think.
All this has taken me back to when I was in grade 8. Not fun times for me. I was a victim. The one thing I have learned over the years is that, bullies are generally people who are being bullied at home. They are people with issues. And I say "people" rather than "kids", because it does tend to carry through to adulthood, if it isn't dealt with in childhood. There are plenty of adult bullies out there too. It's likely passed down through generations.
Its kind of like rape, which is not about the sex, but about control. Bullying is not about the victim at all, its about the bully needing some control, because they feel they have none in their own life.
A little off topic here, but somwhat related too.
I have met 2 ladies in the last year or so, who I am very glad to have met. What a difference having people in my life who have shared similar life experiences, who can understand things I've been through, who I can relate to! I spent my life surrounded by people who had no clue, or at least claimed to have no clue, what I was talking about half the time. They tried so very hard to convince me that it was just me. As I type, I realize, I have 2 particular ladies in mind. Two, now women, once girls, who were in my life for the majority of my life. In the last few years I have learned what it was all about. The truth is, they felt so different from me, and had such different life experiences, that they took it out on me, they bullied me, they couldn't relate to me, they couldn't understand anything going on in my life. And they made me feel like there was something wrong with me. Which is what bullies tend to do right? I have since learned that both these women are ruled by envy and jealousy. Something I simply cannot relate to.
When you spend a lifetime with this shit, your head can get really screwed up. Getting myself away from both of them was the best move I ever made.
Now the new ladies in my life, have both been through similar shit, one of them referred to my move as, a "friend enema"! I love it! Thats so....um...accurate!
It just blows me away when I talk to either one of them. They understand! They tell me their own similar experiences! And guess what? There is NOTHING WRONG with either one of them! They are both dynamite women! They are comfortable in their own skin, they aren't jealous or envious. They are confident, well adjusted, prosperous, happy, people. Go fucking figure.
I believe the reason bad things happen to good people is, good people and bad people think way differently. Good people don't see it coming because it's not something that would enter their mind to do. Bad people see that as weakness, stupidity or naivety, and that's what they prey on.
There is nothing wrong with being a good person. There is nothing wrong with being honest, open and sincere. There is nothing wrong with not wanting to hurt others. Or not having the need to hurt others. I was almost convinced that I was the only honest and good person on this planet, almost. Then I met these wonderful women, who probably have no idea I feel this way, who have brightened my life, and helped me in ways they'll never know.
They both read this sometimes, so I'm sure they'll be able to figure out who they are. Thank you both.
More accurately, 3 out of 4 of these women read this sometimes, the 4th, well she always was kinda sketchy about everything, for all I know she's been reading it all along.
So yeah, I hate these damn boring school things. I'd so much rather be home, painting.
Have a wonderful day, world.

NOW We Can Call It Winter!

Good evening.
I didn't finish the painting...sigh. I counted, and there's technically 8 walls in this room. I have 2-1/2 left to do. The 1/2 is the one wall, and the bulkhead, which are primed but not painted. The 2 is the 2 walls which form the corner where the computers sit. I just couldn't bring myself to shut them down and unplug them. Not yet. Soon. Tomorrow. First thing even. Sigh.
If I'm feeling really ambitious, I plan to do the stairs too.
I started reading a new blog this evening. And I thought I was boring! Ha! I know I am sometimes, but hey, at least I don't go into MINUTE detail about my day-to-day life. It could be worse ya know. Anyhow, I suspect, much like my own blog, which even if it is boring, mindless, random, chattering, it's INTERESTING at the same time. It's a little strange how it's so entertaining to read about someone elses day-to-day life.
I'm not ready to share yet. I haven't read enough of it to decide whether or not it's worth sharing, I only read 2 or 3 entries. But....soon. Maybe tomorrow. Probably not first thing.
Here's a photo of Bear from a while back, not sure how long ago, but it was this winter sometime. I believe he's in the middle of a game, the one he plays with himself and his toy. The toy is either right in front of him, but he has to bury his whole face to sniff it out, or its right behind him, and he will momentarily spin around and pounce on it....





Oh yeah, and NOW we can call it winter...it's currently -15 C and lightly snowing.
Have a warm night.

Who Erects A Flagpole Without Using Cement??

Good morning.
I went to sleep at a decent hour and got a good nights sleep for a change. The school is open today. Hard to believe I was looking forward to a big storm. I should be happy we didn't lose our power or anything. Can't believe I was looking forward to that. So far this winter has been very un-winter-like. Hubby told me about a teacher he had back when he was in school, who had a theory that the poles are reversing. You know, the North Pole and the South Pole. Hubby now believes that teacher may have been onto something. I guess I was just expecting a wicked winter since we were getting snow in the middle of October. But a mild winter was the prediction in the Farmers Almanac or whatever. Oh well, maybe an early spring too, I can live with that. I'm even getting a little antsy for spring. If its not gonna be a real winter, then just bring on the tulips. I have so much gardening to do. This is the time of year I do the planning for my gardens. As in where to dig new ones, and what to plant where, and what to move. Last year I planted Day Lilies around the base of the flagpole. Now I'm wondering if that's why it fell over in the wind. Apparently it wasn't buried properly, or very deep, so when I dug around it, I loosened it. Who buries a flagpole without using cement??? I mean, its a BIG flagpole. Good thing it fell the way it did, it could have gone the other way and taken out the neighbours shed.
But thats life in this house. Constantly finding things wrong. The way they did everything is just wrong. As I've mentioned, there are no ceiling light fixtures, except one in the kitchen. All the electrical outlets are in stupid spots, like why would they put it there rather than here? Its just bizarre. Our dream is to be able to gut the place and start over. It doesn't look like we're going to move. It would seem we are staying here forever. And we will likely spend forever making it the way we want it. The area, the nieghbourhood, is like paradise. I do love it here. Its a great place for kids and old people alike. I think our house is old people friendly too. We did think of that when looking for a home. If we're going to grow old here, it has to be livable for us. Thats why we went with the side-split rather than a 2 storey....way less stairs. I also liked the 2 stairways, sort of like in a Victorian house, we have the back stairs, which go down from the kitchen to the basement, with a door into the familyroom as well, and the front stairs, which go up from the main entry to the bedrooms, and down to the familyroom. The garage is attached, but there is no door from inside the house into the garage, so you still have to go outside to get into the garage, how stupid is that? Why have it attached then? It'll be up to us to put in that door, which is in our plans. I could go on and on. There is much to be done. Winter is a great time to do these things. Sadly, Hubby is injured and can't do much. I'm gonna finish the painting today, even though it means my computer will be inaccessible for a couple of hours....OMG.
Have a fantastic day!

A Stupid Person Is....

A Stupid Person is...
* A few clowns short of a circus...
* A few fries short of a Happy Meal...
* An experiment in artificial stupidity...
* A few beers short of a six pack...
* Dumber than a box of hair...
* A few peas short of a casserole....
* Doesn't have all his Cornflakes in one box...
* The wheel's spinning but the hamster's dead...
* One Fruit Loop shy of a full bowl...
* One taco short of a combo plate...
* A few feathers short of a whole duck...
* All foam, no beer...
* The cheese slid off his cracker...
* Body by Fisher, brains by Mattel...
* Has an IQ of 2, but it takes 3 to grunt...
* Warning: Objects in mirror are dumber than they appear...
* Couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel...
* He fell out of the Stupid Tree and hit every branch on the way down...
* An intellect rivaled only by garden tools...
* As smart as bait...
* Chimney's clogged...
* Doesn't have all his dogs on one leash...
* Doesn't know much but, leads the league in nostril hair...
* Elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor...
* Forgot to pay his brain bill...
* Her sewing machine's out of thread...
* His antenna doesn't pick up all the channels...
* His belt doesn't go through all the loops...
* If he had another brain, it would be lonely...
* Missing a few buttons on his remote control...
* No grain in the silo...
* Proof that evolution can go in reverse...
* Receiver is off the hook...
* Several nuts short of a full pouch...
* Sky light leaks a little...
* Slinky's kinked...
* Too much yardage between the goal posts...
* Not the sharpest knife in the drawer...
* Half a bubble off plumb...
* A few sandwiches short of a picnic ...

Storm, My Ass...How Disappointing

Good afternoon.
This storm was quite the disappointment, unless of course, the worst is yet to come.
Hubby went to the doctor and the news is not good. He'll be home for another 2 weeks! Are you shitting me?? I'm gonna lose my freaking mind! Oh Lord, give me strength...
He goes back to the doctor again on the 30th. This will be trying. This is a test. This is some kind of cosmic joke, on me. But seriously, I love the dude, so its all good. Nothing like an impromptu vacation I guess.
I do treasure the times I have alone, with the house all to myself. I joke about it, but really, I love it.
This reminds me of when my father retired. Suddenly he was just there, all the time. He drove my mother nuts. He would follow her around the house, nattering at her, questioning everything she did, giving unsolicited advice and suggestions. I can so relate to how she must have felt. I think what honestly bothers me the most is, he isn't eager to do anything. I realize he can't do too much with the bum knee, the whole reason he's here, but still, there must be something, other than following me around, and sitting beside me on the other computer. Even when he is on the other computer, he sits there watching MY computer LOL. Next thing I know he's on the same site I'm on, or being really silly and sending me IMs, gawd.
I didn't do ANY painting today, sigh. I did hang pictures and whatnot back up, and put the furniture back in place. But now we're getting close to having to move the computer! UGH. I'm feeling really crappy today, physically. Just don't feel like doing anything. I had a little nap, but it wasn't near long enough. If I could only remember to take an Ativan at a decent hour, therefore go to sleep at a decent hour.....I tend to not notice the time until 2 or 3 a.m, and THEN take an Ativan! Need to take it around 10 or 11 p.m. This memory thing, or lack thereof, is too much. Amazing I can remember its garbage day though, of all things to remember.
I've added a couple of new links on my home page. One of them is the Dufferin County road conditions. Yesterday a friend was driving from Orangeville to Newmarket and that got me thinking, I used to have a link for a road conditions site. So I found it again and put it on there. Also, there's a guy who has a site about building a bike. He seems to be very talented with drawing, and building a bike, and building a website, so I added it too. If I ever get another tattoo (chances are I will), I'm going to ask him to design it for me. I really liked what I saw on his site. Only one of my tattoos is an original design, made just for me, by the dude who then did the ink. That was the most recent one I got. He was a sadist. I could never go back to him.
One site Hubby showed me is this guy riding across Canada on a bike. I suppose its an adventure, but I would never want to do it. Well, yeah I would, in the summer! Riding anywhere, nevermind across the country, in the dead of winter, is not my idea of fun. Heres that site.
Well, wish me luck with keeping all my marbles over the next couple of weeks lol. I have some "waiting on the old man" to do....Chow.

Its A Snow Day

Good morning.
It is a snow day. No school. It seems to be freezing rain out there right now. I haven't put the garbage out yet, because I just woke up. Hopefully the weather will slow him down, making him late, so I can still get it out in time.
Hubby is home also today with his knee injury. He has an appointment with the doctor today for that.
I got another wall done yesterday, actually its 3 small walls. So its about half done. I am liking it, it definately makes the room seem bigger. So I have one big wall, 2 small walls and a bulkhead left to do. I'm thinking I'll do the stairs too. I'm gonna have to rig up some kind of barricade to keep the dog off the stairs until the paint dries. Once its all done, the next thing will be to paint the ceiling. Then put up trim and baseboards. We have some ideas for that barn board we have, but its outside and needs to be well dried first. So, I guess we'll move on to another room once this one is all done. I think that should be the spare bedroom. We want to move Little R into there because its a bigger room than the one she's in. Its one of the rooms which needs a wall replaced. It also needs flooring as it has skanky old carpet in there still.
I was up very late last night, I'm tired this morning. I stayed up thinking I wouldn't need to be up early for school, had a feeling it would be a snow day with all the weather warnings. But I completely forgot it is garbage day and I need to get up for that, sigh.
I've been just as forgetful these last days, but its silly little shit I forget. The new medication doesn't seem to be hitting me as hard as it did at first. But I still definately have more energy. And I don't have any mood swings. I've been much easier to get along with. But I'm living on minimal sleep too. I know its working, as I say, no mood swings, but also no depression, no crying, no laying in bed all day, no anger either. Everyone notices the difference in me. And I have the desire to giterdone. I've been doing more around the house. I'm doing most of the painting. I've been keeping up with the everyday housework as well. I have a whole new outlook on this house and on life in general. Its a good thing.

Just came back in from taking the trash out and I got it out there in the nick of time! Just as I sat back down at the computer, still dripping from the freezing rain, he pulled up at my house! Perfect timing. I figured he would be way late....wrong. So I beat him by seconds this week lol.
Not much else to say here. I'm hoping the doctor will send Hubby back to work. Hoping to get the painting finished today. Hoping I get some funny email today, or at least ones that aren't too large for me to open. People seem to forget on dial-up any emails over 1MB are too big and take FOREVER to load, so I don't even bother trying.
Have a great day!

I Feel A Snow Day Coming On

Good afternoon.

Well we have snow again. In fact there is a winter storm warning in effect for the next couple of days. We're expecting a ton of snow along with freezing rain etc. It looks like we're gonna get our winter all in one shot. Yay.

Still only have the 2 walls painted. We can't seem to agree on which wall to do next, so it just sits there, waiting. The colour is weird too. Because it was so dark down here, despite choosing loud, bright colours, this time I went with a very light colour, "Rice Flakes" lol. Now that the walls are completed, it just looks like wannabe white to me. I even took a photo, before completing the wall, to show the white primer and the Rice Flakes colour, to prove there is in fact a colour on the walls, not just dirty white. Not sure if I've mentioned it here before or not, but this all started because of the place we lived before here. We were renting, the place was all neutral tones, beiges and creams. We were not allowed to add colour, unless we were prepared to cover it ourselves, or pay for it to be covered, if and when we ever decided to move out. Sooooooo, when we bought our own house, having been colour deprived for a few years, I thought, "yes! I can have ANY colour walls I like now! I want colour, bright, loud, colour!" We had this room, it was a very cold, icy, shade of pale, very pale, grayish-blue. The room was downright frosty. So I thought we should go with the opposite of that. We chose a very deep, bright, loud, yellow. Once it was on the walls, it was too much. Too bright, too yellow. So we went back to the store and picked another colour to sponge over it, in an attempt to tone it down. We chose "terra cotta". The outcome, and now I'm sure I have mentioned this here before, was a flame-like look, kind of orange. And rather than brighten the room, it made it seem even darker, ugh. Now this time, the idea was to tone down the loudness, go with something neutral, and yet warm, to brighten the room. Light, airy, yet warm. Thus the Rice Flakes folks, wannabe white, with a hint of warmth. I think I like it. I suppose I shouldn't even have an opinion yet as it isn't even done. So heres a couple of pics, I give you Rice Flakes, and my guy, lookin like a little old man...

And heres the "before" paint LOL...

Have a fabulous day! I feel a snow day or two coming on.

Painting The Familyroom

Good morning.
The snow is all gone, sigh. It's been raining and washed it all away. They are calling for more snow next weekend. The weather forecasts change constantly though.
The painting is coming along. I've got 2 walls completely primed. There is so much furniture and stuff in this room, we can only do one wall at a time. So I'm thinking, I'll paint these 2 walls then push all the furniture back once it dries and start priming the next wall. Never done it like that before, but, gotta do what ya gotta do. Even with just the primer on, it is already making a world of difference. The room looks bigger and brighter. As I've mentioned before I'm sure, this room is half below grade. The windows are near the ceiling, and are all above grade. We've removed the hideous blinds and put on stick-on frosting. That allows the light in but keeps prying eyes out. It also gives it a very basementish feel. I don't like it lol. It will be temporary. I once saw a house where they had used clear silicone on some windows. They just slathered it on and drew pictures in it with their fingers, like swans or something, and it looked really good. Sounds easy enough to do and has the desired effect.
The material I bought for curtains is actually for the bedrooms, it wouldn't work in the familyroom. I'll have to look around for something to put on these windows. Even if I did the silicone thing, it would still need something else, like curtains, to make it look finished. (I sure can sound like an interior decorator lol!)
It's funny, this is really the only room we've done anything to. This will be the second paint job in 3 years, we haven't painted any other room, but they all need it. You may have guessed this is where we spend most of our time. The computers are in the familyroom, the fireplace, the big screen TV and the dart board. This is also where the pool table will go. It's where we LIVE. The other rooms need more than paint, thats why we haven't done anything to them. We have a couple of walls that need to be replaced, windows that need to be replaced, light fixtures that are non-existant. Who has a house with no ceiling lights?? Thats this place. The previous owners were just daft, or had very odd tastes. It seems everything they did do was done as cheaply as possible. All the fixtures and appliances were the cheapest you can get. Within the first months of living here we had to replace all the appliances. Who buys Moffatt appliances?? It will take $$$$ to do all the renovations we have planned. No point in starting something when we could run out of $$$$.
Well back at it I guess. Have a great day.