Tag: Riley

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Construction Update

The rare silence in our house is a reminder to give you guys an update on the master bathroom project. The shower has been roughed in, cement board installed, and rubber liner put in place (or at least started. The shower is now so big that I had them install a seat to take up one corner. The drywall has been replaced where the tile was ripped off the walls, and the mud & tape part of that is supposed to happen tomorrow. The electrician put in a couple new lights and rearranged the existing switches to make more sense.

Riley has been very good about staying out of the workers’ way, but she did come in to inspect while I was taking pictures.

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Please pass the sledgehammer

We are finally doing the bathroom renovation! I had a contractor come out to give me an estimate in the fall and I never heard from him again. Then Christmas happened and we finally found a good contractor. “But I thought you already worked on that bathroom.” Yep, we made some great changes in the vanity area which will remain intact, but our shower is still smaller than a coat closet and the general feel of the room is rather sterile with the gray and white tile. Pictured here is a “before” shot. (Totally unfair being at night and all, kind of like the pre-plastic surgery photos where the woman doesn’t smile).Our plan is for the team to remove the fiberglass shower, annex part of the adjacent closet (not our main closet anyway), and retile the whole room in sand and cocoa tones to warm up the space visually. Right now they’re smashing tile, so it’s a good thing Steve’s not working from home today. I want so badly to go in there and help; I have an unusual hatred for that tile.Riley has been great at welcoming all the strangers into our home (some watchdog), but other than our walk with my mom this morning we are shut in my studio so Riley doesn’t get in the way.

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BYOB

Steve likes to try new handcrafted beers and is always checking out that section of the grocery stores, so I got him a beer-making system for his birthday. We know at least 5 other people who brew their own beer (BYOB) so it seems to be gaining popularity. Monks even do it. Riley inspected each piece as it came out, and thought seriously about taking a nap in the box.

In other news, our neighbor mowed his lawn on this, the tenth of January. Yes, we just had our annual January Heat Wave, but his yard in no way looked shaggy. And then he had to let the mower run to empty the gas tank, so we got to listen to mower-din for over an hour. I guess he could have two cars on blocks and a sofa on his front porch, so I am thankful he’s at the “caring” end of the spectrum.

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New look

I like to keep things fresh (read: I get bored easily) so I had a fellow Etsy-er design a new banner for my shop. Let the record show that she originally had two birds in there and I asked for fewer birds.Speaking of birds, there’s a nest in one of our trees (at least it was there before we had 24 hours of gale-force winds). It’s too high to reach from the ground, so I’m trying to figure out how to get it down without harming myself. I had a beautiful one earlier this year, but I was changing decorations around and left it sitting on the floor. I came back to find only a trace of it on the rug. Riley likes birds, too, but in a different way.

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Trying to nap here!

One of my favorite pastimes is to bother the dog while she’s sleeping. I justify it by saying it’s getting her used to small children. (Sorry, that’s not code for anything.)

If you look at this sideways you can see how floppy her lips are.

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Green rant

My new pet peeve is crunchy blog entries from the mouths of those who also drive SUVs and water their lawns. It seems that they just want to be known for their part in saving the earth without actually changing their lives. Using Blackle and forwarding The Most Terrifying Video You’ll Ever See spreads awareness, but are probably not very effective ways to take action. My cousin Bill has been with Greenpeace since 1988, is the only person I know who truly walks the green walk.

Forgive me for blogging about insignificant things like puppies and jewelry as I don’t claim to be on the green bandwagon.

Here is a picture of Riley staring down Steve’s Dwight Schrute bobblehead.

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That’s my girl

I accompanied my dad to Richmond for an appointment today, and Riley was cooped up at home so when I got back I asked if she wanted to go for a ride. She knows those words, so she came running. (Of course she also knows “sit” and “stay” but isn’t quite so responsive to those). Her ears flapping in the wind, we went to the post office, the bank, and finally for her first ride through the car wash. She barked when we got rinsed, but otherwise just seemed fascinated.

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Loving the rain

Our dry grass is currently being gently doused with welcome raindrops. My hydrangea is cheering. Riley, on the other hand, forgot what rain was. She begged and pleaded to go outside this morning. I opened the door and she felt about 3 drops before ducking back inside. You’d think she is made of sugar!

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Howl

I just noticed that Blogger added a video feature, so I had to try it out. Here is Riley howling at a fire engine driving down our old street (and me laughing).