Bathroom, finished.

I told you about the bathroom fixing up. And the house too.... but that's for another post. Well, I have "during" photos. And, if you look through the mess, you can see the bare bones with which we started.

When we do projects things typically go from their starting point to disaster zone before things slowly get picked apart. By picked apart, I mean analyzed. Things go in one of a few categories: 1) goodwill, 2) trash, 3) organize and keep. The trash and goodwill are easy categories. The organize and keep takes some thinking. We did not just want to cram things back in drawers.

So, here is the pile of garbage slowly getting picked apart. This is the "dump drawers out and sift method." I don't suggest it. It leads to insanity. And, I'm very ashamed of this photo. It was only momentarily like this. I swear to goodness.


The bathroom has one teeny window; to the right and upwards of the toilet. It's great for helping ventilation.
We'd already put a long shelf above the door-- good for storage, but you don't really notice the shelf, which is good for a small bathroom. I wasn't too happy about the organization OF the shelf, which is also what prompted the dump and sort.
And, the forever-present Maddie, wondering what the heck the stupid humans are up to.

And so, on to the finished product. Thank goodness, because I know you're probably scarred at this point from the dump and sort photo. Me too.

First off, I painted a wall. It's the wall behind the toilet and behind the mirror/sink. I didn't want to go my typical bright color, mostly because it's a small bathroom and it'd be overwhelming (I've made that mistake before in other bathrooms). So... gasp... I went with a nice tan. But, I mixed it with a darker tan, so I got some nice colors as I painted it on. It's not super noticeable, but I like it. Just a bit of a pop, and that's all I wanted.

I made these two frames to go behind the toilet. They read "As I breathe in, I am calm" and "As I breathe out, I am peaceful." These may be changed, but they are good for now.

The layout of the bathroom... in a horribly overexposed, blurry photo. I pretty much, I took out and sold the stand that went up and over the toilet. It made the whole place seem small. I cut shelves I already had into three smaller square shelves, and I painted them black. The bottom shelf has magazines (I took out our old rack), the middle shelf has a picture and a little glass birdie, and the top shelf has a plant and a candle. I did a treatment to the mirror and the clock. The clock may be changed (can't decide if it's a bit too matchy-matchy), but it's there for now. There's also a bamboo mat on the countertop, as well as some travertine tiles around the one size.

Closer-up view of the shelves. Are they ABSOLUTELY PERFECT? No. But honestly, it looks pretty nice. And, it's a rental. We're not going to spend $20 apiece for nicer shelves which may be useless when we move.


Before, we had no hand-towel rack. I've changed that and moved the rack to above the large towel rack.
The photo that was above the towel rack has been moved to above the light switches. Note that we were pretty careful about what type of photos we have in the bathroom. The bathroom often causes warping, what with all the steam and temperature changes. So, we have either plastic or wood or rock in the bathroom, for that reason. The exceptions are the two frames with that saying on them. But, those are pretty cheap frames, and we'll just keep an eye on them (they're also near the window, so we're not as worried).


We sorted some of the things we're keeping into bins. They're plastic bins, so no harboring mold or anything in the bathroom. But, they were ugly clear plastic, so I painted the bins green, and painted their lids black.


We kept the shower curtain, but got a new liner for inside.

We kept our old mats, but we cleaned them and changed their orientation.


There's a nice bamboo mat next to the sink, an incense box, and then some tile around the other side. We'll have to keep an eye on the mat to make sure it does not get moist and yucky underneath.
The bathroom mirror (which needs to be cleaned) had travertine tile put around the outside. We used poster putty, so it's easily removable. The tile we got for $2 (total) for 2 sheets at the recycling place.


So, that's it! Our redone bathroom. We like it, and it's a lot more organized than before.

The cat tale.

It's not a long story. And yes, it is father's day, but my father appreciates ridiculous stories of frustration as much as the next person.

There I am. I've decided to go to sleep after a long day running around and cleaning and organizing... and and and. Exhausted.

It's about midnight.

B is gone. He's at a conference. So, I'm alone. Obviously, me being alone is a good time for Frankie the brat cat to frick around.

I'm about 90% asleep. I hear the scritch scritch noise that Frankie makes when he climbs the ladder into the loft.

Is he there to sleep under the bed?

NO.

He's there to PUKE ON THE RUG 6" AWAY FROM WHERE I'M SLEEPING.

Now, obviously, if he had to puke (because of feeling sick) he'd have done it downstairs. Climbing the loft ladder is nothing you want to be doing when you're not feeling well.

So, this was a voluntary vomiting. Just to be a frickin screwball cat and seriously mess with me.

I've said before that this cat knows how to mess with me and push my buttons. Let us consider this a very good exhibit of what I was talking about.

That frickin cat

Let's just say that brat cat Frankie is REALLY lucky that I did not tie him up in the yard, leaving him to fend for himself against the nighttime sluggies.

Ok, I would not do that.

But anger toward that cat is totally rampant right now.

More on this tale later.

The challenges of renting

Occasionally, I'm reminded of how darn hard it is to rent.

I was reminded yesterday, with our bathroom.

Our bathroom, which is very teeny, consists of:

• tanish linoelum (which, I must add, ALWAYS looks dirty, even if it's not)
  
• oak-colored cabinet and drawers (this is what the sink sits on)
• bluish countertop. It's something that is softer than formica, but not wood.
• off-centered mirrored medicine cabinet above the sink. Yes, off-centered. It'd be much easier to work with if it was centered....
• oak-colored 5-bulb line of vanity lights.

Ok, this isn't BAD as far as bathrooms go. But to make it "nicer" is challenging, since we RENT. One redeeming quality is the toilet. At least that's nice, white porcelain with a curved lid (no crazy-colored cheap monstrosity).

But, you can't rip the medicine cabinet out and center it. You can't put in new flooring. You can't put in a new countertop.

Ahh, the challenges of renting. Make it nice, but make it removable.

I've long read and admired Apartmentherapy.com. But sometimes, I see these apartments. They're small, yes, BUT, they are well-laid out (which is somewhat of a rarity), and they obviously either own or have lenient landlords. Paint! Construction! Renovation! It's all fine and dandy, but what about the rest of us? Those of us with fugly shag carpeting and linoleum that looks dirty? And kitchen shelves that are dying to be painted and updated. And light fixtures you don't DARE leave on while you're away due to questionable wiring?

What about those people?

All of a sudden, the perfection seen online is much more difficult to obtain. I think they need to do a category, entitled something like "apartments that are poorly laid out with strict landlords." Then, we would see massive creativity.

Now, I'm not saying I'm a genius when it comes to renovations. I'm not. There's a reason why our house is cluttered oftentimes-- we are not the best at figuring out what works. But, I am pretty darn good at getting rental deposits back. So, perhaps as I'm figure out a) what I like online and b) what works, I can maybe mesh that with getting rental deposit back.

Before and after pictures of the bathroom are to come. How bad is it in there right now? Well, let's put it this way: I did not shower this morning... because I could not get to the tub.

While the cat's away, the mouse will play...

B being the cat and me being that mouse.

Bwaaa haaa haaa (evil laugh).

B is away, starting this afternoon, at a conference. It'll be over on Saturday afternoon.

This means just one thing: Wife redecorate time.

It shouldn't come as a big surprise. The house is in chaos mode right now anyway, with 50 billion projects halfway (or less) through completion. The final goal? A better functioning household. But right now--- chaos.

But of course, since he's not actually going to be here during a chunk of it, this means tabula rasa for me. We've talked about the big stuff, so at least he won't be surprised to see every piece of furniture moved around. But the little things... well, here's hoping it all goes off without a hitch.

I'd put up "before" pictures, but, quite frankly, I'm ashamed of them. I figure things will be much better if I have lovely "after" pictures to accompany the heinous "befores". Ok, not heinous... just unorganized. It also doesn't help that I took the photos after I had been in destructo mode, so the "before" photos are truly ghastly in their unorganization.

In other news.... I'm applying for another job, and I'm pulling out all the stops. Here's hoping. Please send some karma my way. I really want it. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't, but dang, it would be awesome.

Treehouse

Someone came over yesterday to buy a rug (yes she bought it. Woot!). She commented: "wow, this place is amazing! It's like living in a treehouse."

No, our house is not 40' up in the air. But the comment got me thinking. It IS sort of like a treehouse.

It's small and cozy.

It's a little rustic (though we're working on that).

There are rafters.

You only see green out the windows, our you see the deck. And, a few of the windows are actually pretty high up outside, so you feel like you're higher up than you are.

Heck, if she thinks we live in a treehouse, I'm down with that. I'm just happy she liked the place, especially given the chaotic state it was in when she was there!

Chaotic state explanation. We're pretty much moving around every piece of furniture we own. Granted, that's not a super-lengthy list. But, we figured out what was and wasn't working, and we're re-vamping. And organizing. And donating. And dumping. And selling.

Photos to come. Hopefully soon, because I'm getting tired of chaos.

Seeds (finally) planted

Yesterday, I forced myself to plant. The weather is sunny, and it looks like my seeds won't get washed away!

Mostly, I planted beans and squash. I will plant some more squash in about a week, that way at least a few are offset a bit and I won't have squash overload. So, here's what I planted. We'll see what comes up.

Yin Yang beans! I these were just fabulous. They are beans you dry, and then you use them in soup or whatever. The beans lose their neat markings once they're cooked, but really, you EAT them soonafter, so I'm fine with that. If these work out, I think they would be really neat to give to some friends. Plus, I'm a huge fan of having much stock on hand for cooking. Dried beans are glorious.
Next up, in no particular order: Trionfo Violetto: Violet pole beans. Like the yin yang, they usually lose their purpleness when they are cooked. But oh, what a sight in the yard! I'm only growing pole beans, by the way. They are much more dramatic, more prolific, and they produce better-tasting beans. And, you know me-- any excuse to build trellises.

I think I planted some of these in a variety pack. I think. If I didn't maybe I will. They are just too cool. I might be thinking of my yard-long beans (below) though.
In addition to beans and squash, I also planted a few okra. Yes, they're slimy, but they are soooooo good fried or in gumbo. I figured "why not?"

Of course-- had to plant yellow beans.
And green beans.
Ahh, here are my yard-long beans. I REALLY REALLY hope these turn out. I kind of want to plant some in a place where they'll go over the pergola. Thoughts? I just think that'd be awesome. But then, in late summer, we'd be left with no plants over the pergola. Maybe next year. This year, I'm on the hunt for some good vines that will come back next year.
But yes, they are REALLY LONG, and you can twist them like that. How nifty is that? And, they have black seeds. YUM!
Sunburst patty pan squash was planted. LOVE the saucer squash. Oh my gosh. I don't know if I'll plant any traditional zucchini this year. You can always get that at the farmer's market... but this stuff... you can't! At least, not cheaply. Hmm... Maybe one or two zucchini. I do love squash.
Scarlett runner beans were also planted. They're great to eat, but their flowers are also simply gorgeous!

And crookneck squash. I picked up a bunch of 2-3" long crooknecks the other day at the farmer's market. Oh my gosh! So delicious. I can't wait to have these in our yard.
These are called "eastern delight." They're soft-sided, and they're supposed to taste a little nuttier. Worth a shot, I say.

In the beds that have vines, I'm planting vines along the sides of the bed. The idea is that I'll build trellises up and over the walkway into the next bed. The beds either have squashes down the middle of the bed (and vine plants on either side) or vine plants on one side and squashes on the other. I'm hoping this trellis idea works out. I really like the idea of having tunnels/canopies of vine plants to walk through. Plus, I'll paint the trellises, which will add some more pops of color!

To do still:

* Buy more cucumbers. With the weather, these just did not get started as I had hoped.
* Fix up the tomato area and possibly buy more tomatoes.
* Fix up the back area and plant melons and winter squash!
* Buy 3-4 more pepper plants. I only have one right now.
* Get bushes planted so that way the two beds are cleared for planting.
* Get the weed eater fixed up so B can massacre weeds. (it arrived yesterday!)
* Plant pergola baskets
* Get patio set fixed up (this needs to be done by the time B's family visits in July).


Oh, there is more to do, but for now.... that's the immediate list.

Coveting what I can but cannot have.

A while back, I made the decision (aka: stupid mistake) to poke around online at houses. This became a hobby, but a rather pointless one since we cannot buy for a while. As a new independent contractor, my income does not get calculated into our overall income until I've had this income steadily for a while. So, our calculated income for a mortgage then becomes what B makes. This dramatically lowers our purchasing power.

This is very frustrating.

It is even more frustrating when you find the perfect house. It's in a good neighborhood that would only go up in value. It's drivable in bad weather. It has good parking. It's near major roads, but not near enough that you'd hear them or have to worry about them. It has a half acre. Secluded. It's near grocery stores. It has a Craftsman interior and unique exterior. It has enough room that someday, when we have kidlets, we won't have to move because of space. It has a woodstove and a big kitchen. It has a view. It's oriented in a way where the heat would do good things in the winter and it would stay cooler in the summer. It is not a fixer (we don't want a dramatic fixer), but there are a couple of cosmetic things that we could do eventually. It has wood floors, and it's right by our favorite park. We could bike to our works.

It's a pretty damn nifty house.

It gets even niftier and more frustrating when it remains on the market. And then, late last week, the asking price drops by $20k. And, the photos online are clearly staged, meaning no owners currently living there, thus increasing the likelihood of them NEEDING to sell the home.

Drat drat drat.

Even if my income WAS counted, we still would be hesitant. My job is not protected, meaning that if something bad happens, I wouldn't receive unemployment to help me until the next job is obtained. And the job economy isn't great. We need a bit more of a cushion and income security before we obtain a mortgage that would suck up that much of our income.

This makes me want to freeze time. I don't want anyone to buy that house. And, I don't want interest rates to go up. Just freeze both. Wait for us.

Initially, the plan was to wait a few years, gather up a big downpayment, and giving me the time to find and keep a salaried, non-independent contractor, job. But now, with interest rates so low (nearing record levels), we're willing to hurry up the plan, meaning that the thing holding us up is my job.

Dang it.

I hate that feeling. I'm torn. I don't want to hurry up and take just any old job. I want to be happy and make my next move truly permanent. But, I also want to hurry up and FIND ONE because of the housing situation right now. BUT, our current home is perfectly lovely. We don't want to move right away. And as much as we love the for sale house, we *should* know that if the perfect one exists now, another perfect one will exist later. Let's ignore that this is the only house for sale in the neighborhood. No joke.

Drat.

This is what I get for looking at things I cannot have.....

Chooo choo goes the pity party train.

Take off your shoes and wiggle your toes...in our new grass!

I love Craigslist. Well, most of the time. Yesterday was one of those good times. Ad:

"200 square feet of grass. $20." Yes, please. That's about a 70% savings.

Let me note that I did NOT feel like moving grass. I've been very sore recently from hard outdoor garden things. I had wanted to take an easy evening yesterday and build up my potato box. BUT, I could not pass up that deal.

So, I went and picked up the grass, putting the rolls into bags and distributing them around my car so I wouldn't bust my car's suspension.

I unloaded those and went to the lawn store and bought some turf supplement. Hey, it worked last time, I figured-- why mess with a good thing. I then cleared the area of tall weeds. Or, rather, wacked down the tall weeds. I put down other dirt to help do this-- about 2 inches deep of dirt all around. Or about 10 wheelbarrow loads. Then I added the 2 wheelbarrow loads of turf dirt. Then I rolled out the lawn.

I knew I wasn't going to have enough, but at least the final chunk is prepped for us to put the final stretch in next week. And really, our lawn will end up costing us about $40. TOTAL. It should have cost right at $200. So I'm very much ok with $40.

Sore and tired and worn today, I am proud that this is the result of my efforts yesterday:
No, not the huge chunk missing. This is part of the new grass purchased yesterday. Yes, it goes all the way to our back deck steps.

In this photo (below), you can begin to see where the other new grass strips are.

And there is the rest of the grass. Eventually (we hope), it will look exactly like the grass we got a few weeks ago, which is thriving.

I was a bit stumped over what to do with this little ravine-type area in between the sod and the rocks (see photo below). It dips down a good 4-6". I thought I'd make a little pathway, but B wants to sod it. I can see that too, though we'd have to make the sudden incline not so sudden. More of a slope. That's doable. He's right in that it would look less funky than a sudden path.

The view back towards the deck. Everything in the non-mulched parts of the yard is going crazy. The rain has put the weeds on steroids. This entire grassy area had it's weedy bits, so to have it all covered in nice sod is definitely a nice relief. We need to trim the planter (in the photo below) badly. The butterfly bush has gone crazy, as have the suckers of that tree. There are a lot of weeks in the back by the daylilies too. But, my weedwacker should arrive next week. Then it's time to have destructive fun.

The last section of grass has done pretty darn well. Here's hoping the new grass does too. I really need to mow. I think I may carefully weed wack next week. My neighbor has a mower, but I'd prefer to not constantly borrow.

See what I mean? Overgrown. To definitely be tackled soon.
In good news, the forecast says it should be SUNNY for at least the next 10 days. The number of people whom have mentioned this in the past day is pretty darn hilarious. We're like a bunch of hopeful kids the night before a birthday. We're ok with the rain most of the year, but don't mess with summer!

San Diego Trip

Finally, at long last, here are some of our photos from our trip down to San Diego. We left on Wednesday after work, drove 3 miles, stayed in a hotel. Then woke up at 3am, drove to Sacramento, had coffee with a great friend and saw her adorable daughter. Then drove down to San Diego, where my folks are. Thanks to LA traffic, we ended up arriving around 7:30pm.

Maddie was a trooper and never wined. No accidents, and she was calm the whole ride down (and back up). We wanted to take her so that she could visit my grandmother. My grandmother really can't travel much anymore, so the dog needed to come to her! I'll post photos of them together soon.

You never can predict things. Of all the things I thought Maddie would do at my folks, I never considered that she'd be patrolling the patio for hummingbirds. My folks have a long patio with three hummingbird feeders along the edge. Maddie went back and forth (repeat x1000) between the feeders whenever she saw a bird there. She even wore a path into the iceplant (which is good because my mom wanted to trim there anyway!).


Heh heh heh, those birdies better watch out for me!


After B and I visited my grandmother on Friday morning, we headed off to the beach, leaving Maddie with her granddogparents.

Our first stop was La Jolla shores. Here is the walkway on what was/used to be/should have been the Children's Pool. It's been taken over by sea lions.


Yup, see, sea lions.


Lots of sea lions. It was supposed to be enclosed into a kid-area/calm water area, but the sea lions discovered it, took over, and now there's a huge debate on how to continue. I don't blame the sea lions. I'd want a nice little lagoon area too.


While in La Jolla, I bought a ridiculously huge hat. I love it. The saleswoman kept commenting on my skin. Um, yes. I'm from the Pacific Northwest and it's been a VERY rainy spring. "It's porcelain!" Um, not it's not, sales lady, but thank you for the compliment? Not the best shot of me, but I do love that hat.


B overlooking La Jolla Cove. I remember snorkeling here as a kid and exploring the cave on the far side. I remember thinking "wow, I'm like the first kid to ever do this." No, I was probably preceded by thousands, but I still felt darn nifty.


We next headed through downtown San Diego and up and over the Coronado Bridge to... Coronado. We headed to the Hotel Del Coronado, because it's always pretty there. We walked along the beach and had a fancy drink at the hotel bar, overlooking the ocean. Yup, pretty darn nice. It was a little windy (always is there), hence my hat/wind hair. But, it was such a clear day that you could even see the Islas Cornados in the distance. Usually, you can't due to cloud cover.


The next day, again after visiting my grandmother, we went to Balboa Park. Here is the atrium and the botanical gardens. I love this building. I think it's amusing that in other places, the botanical gardens are completely enclosed, with light and warm air pumped in. San Diego? It just looks like a building, but actually, there is no glass between those slats. Open air.


Yes, I wore the hat again. B had forgotten his sunglasses, so he had to borrow my mom's old clipons, but it all worked out.


The reflecting pool in Balboa Park. Home of a few FAT koi.


Lilies. I think if I have a pond someday, it will be for the water lilies.


The second part of this sign really gets me.


The pool was also home of quite a sight. Look at this guy's feet. Yes, he's walking two rabbits on leashes. ON LEASHES! RABBITS! And he's pretty hunky. The whole thing cracked me up. As did watching people do double takes as they looked at him.

The rabbits though, seemed perfectly content.


Back at home, Maddie continued to attempt to destroy her giraffe (gift from my folks).


The final full day, B and I went wandering around North County, stopping at a few towns and at a few wineries. We'll enjoy the purchases from that afternoon for quite some time. No photos though.... the camera was acting up.



And then, on Memorial Day, it was time to head home. My grandmother and parents both tried to keep Maddie, but in the end, she decided to stick with us.

This is how she slept for a good hour or so. Completely boneless dog, sunk in into my skirt.


Oh yes, and her behind on my arm.
When she woke up, she had this deliriously happy look on her face.


In the Central Valley, the sun was quite bright.


But again, combine the bright sun with happy dog, and you get this drugged happy doggie look.

I gave her sunglasses to wear for a while, and she seemed pretty happy with them. It was also pretty funny to watch us drive by truckers and have them do a double glance at the sunglass puppy beaming up at them.


For some reason, this pose totally reminds me of Mick Jagger.


But, when not sleeping and not druggied dog (no, we did not give her anything, she just looked happy), she was alert. You know, in case any hummingbirds happened to fly into our car, I guess.


There are many things to look at in the Central Valley, but unfortunately, they tend to be the same things over and over and over and over, so after about 30 minutes, you're ready to be out. Unfortunately, it takes about 8 hours. Here is the California aqueduct.


There's ALWAYS some issue with water. Here are some trees that supposedly have had to be let go because of water shortages and other issues.


But, soon enough, we were back in Oregon. Much greener. Maddie also served as a book rest during part of the trip. Really, that's the main reason we brought her along. Book rest. That and the fluffy bottom.


We're quite sure that one of her joys in life is to stick her nose in AC vents. Pretty darn certain.

And that was our short and sweet trip. We put over 2200 miles on the car in just over 5 days. But, the drive wasn't too bad. And we had a lot of fun. It was nice to play tourist without most of the tourist expenses. Since we see my folks pretty regularly, they were ok with us not hanging around at home. We had a darn good time. So did Maddie.