Disgusting and Wonderful

This deviates a bit from the home-improvement theme, but if you count not having dog fur everywhere as home improvement, it fits the bill.

THE FURMINATOR

BEST pet-related money we've ever spent. I've never seen anything like it. I very very gently raked it across Yogi's back, which is the least hairy part of him, and came away with handfuls HANDFULS of fur.

I spent maybe 20 minutes in the backyard Furminating the Yog-man, and I came up with

this (see right). In effort to not make our neighbors hate us, I stuffed all the hair I could gather into this plastic bag. And I would wager that at least 20% of the fur got away.

Amazing. Gross, but amazing.

Another Day, Another House Color

We've decided that the Dormer Brown lacks "depth." It really does--it's the color of cardboard. So we went back to the drawing board, aka the book Bungalow Colors, and found a color scheme that we both like, is historically accurate, and does not look like we're copying our neighbor.

Here are all the colors we've been through today:

The cream stripes are the trim color, and the dark green stripes are the accent. The big decision was between, from left, Dormer Brown, Golden Inflection, Mark Twain House, and Dry Earth. As of today, at 8:48 pm, we're going with the Mark Twain House--the dark olive color second from the right. I'm actually very very excited about this. One, I haven't seen a house this color on our block. Two, it's nice to have some idea of what we're looking forward to. And three, we agree, which is unusual on this subject.

I painted these stripes directly on the house. It was the most fun I've had in a week.

We headed up to Home Depot this morning, after a stop at Lowes (to pick up stuff with a rebate card), Menards (which I liked, and will visit again, but they had a totally crappy tile selection), to Pottery Barn (not open. Thanks for the gift card, Abs!), Bed Bath and Beyond (to order some more panels for the living room), Arbys (because I was starving and getting grumpy) and to Home Depot. Where we met Shawn and Billy, and they were delightful. Knowledgeable, helpful, just wonderful. We didn't actually get TILE because they only had 2 sheets of the stuff we wanted. But we found it at the store up in Noblesville, so we'll head up there tomorrow and pick it up. Sweet.

We went to the RibFest down in Military Park this afternoon, which was a gastrointestinal and cultural adventure, for sure.

Eric just took down the painters tape from the living room trim. I anticipate we'll put the furniture back in place in, ohhh, a week.

Lowes is Stupid

Our big plan this weekend was to at least get started on the tile floor for the guest bath, with the ultimate goal of getting a working toilet on the second floor. We figured that we would get some stuff done early today, and then head to Lowes to pick up all the fixins for the floor, tile included.

1) The tile that we'd picked out, a relatively simple (but chic) hexagonal black and white mosaic, was on display, and priced, but was not available for purchase. According to the salesman, Doug, the display case was for "inspiration" not purchase. Why it had a price tag on it if it wasn't for sale is a mystery.

2) We told Doug, "Okay, but we're still going to put in a tile floor, even if we get the tile somewhere else." He tells us that if we're going to be putting up tile for the first time, we should have somebody do it for us and we should watch. And then proceeded to offer his services at a rate of both $10/sq. foot and $5.50/sq. foot. How about $0/sq. foot???

3) I told Doug that we were going to do it ourselves, that we're in this for a learning experience, etc. and that we would just like him to tell us what we need, including thin set, sponges, grout, trowel, etc. He balks and says we'd be better off having someone do it for us (again) because we're just going to spend a couple hundred dollars on tools. I saw a trowel right there for $8. What costs $192???

4) Finally, I told Doug that I just wanted to leave. He got the message and left us alone. And we left. We left our cart in the middle of the aisle and walked out.

And then we went to Fazolis. And it was delicious.

But the disappointment and pissed-off-ness lingers. I do truly respect the abilities of craftsmen, and realize that there are indeed tile jobs that beginners could not and should not do. However, installing 60 square feet of pre-cut tile on a flat floor without any cut-outs seems to me to be a very good place for a beginner to start. And while I'm positive I have an inflated opinion of my own intelligence, I'm pretty darn sure I could figure out how to tile! And I'm married to a damn architect. If he can design a house that doesn't fall down, I'm 100% confident in his abilities to stick a piece of ceramic to the floor. Ugh.

In other news, we were indeed busy today. Got up and went to the dogpark. When I got back, I raked the yard (2 lawn bags full of leaves!!!! Good lord, what are we going to do in October?? But it looks SO much better), de-nailed and polished another 25 pieces of trim, and then we did something very exciting. We went over to Sherwin Williams and got some exterior paint samples! Whoot! And in a very strange turn of events, I think we're going back to the green and brown. Here's the scheme:

These colors are "Bronze Green" and "Dormer Brown." We also picked a couple other shades, including the gray-blue, a light gray, and the famed Bunglehouse. The gray-blue is very nice, the light gray, too. The Bunglehouse is perfect but, alas, is also the same exact color of our neighbor's house. So that's out.

Here's the plan. We're going to use the green as the main color on the first two floors, the brown as the trim color, and a nice cream as the accent (window sashes). Then on the third floor dormer, we'll reverse the scheme and use the brown as the main and the green as trim.

Red door, of course. We picked up that paint today, along with a very pretty light blue for our bedroom.

This is all very surprising, because I thought truly that I was wed to the blue. We are having a bit of discord around the accent color. I really REALLY want something light, particularly as that color will be used on the sashes and the front porch. The traditionalist in me wants a bright white porch. But I'm flexible. I just don't want a red porch or something like that. Eric is a bit more adventurous than me around this stuff. I just already feel like we'd be doing something dramatic if we do the green for the field color. We don't need red window sashes.

I Am the Lone Mantis of the Apocolypse...

Space Ghost? Anyone?

We're in the midst of a Cicada breeding festival. Brood XIV, of the 17-year variety. And boy, are they making a racket! I remember sitting on my aunt's porch a long time ago, at the height of my obsession with Space Ghost, and asking her what that sound was. She said "Locusts." And I said, "Like the Lone Locust of the Apocolypse"? And she said, "No, Haley. Not the apocolypse."

See below:

I share this because I went out to do some painting this evening and these cicadas are so creepy. They're leaving their shells all over my fence. I'm not scared of bugs or anything, but coming across a crazy-looking huge thing that looks like a bug hanging out on your fence while you're painting is just a bit off-putting. Invariably, these things are just shells. But what if, when I go to brush it away, it flies up into my face? Apparently, they both bite and pee. And they have red eyes. Freaky.

Anyway, I stayed outside in spite of the noise and the exoskeletons, mainly because I had my Pod on and was listening to some good tunes (see the sidebar for a new feature...), and because I was almost done with a can of paint and didn't feel like sealing it back up. I failed in using it all because it got dark. At this point, I do believe it's mainly the paint that is holding the fence together.

Looking forward to the long weekend, when we will hopefully have time to really get some work done. Tops on my list is the trim. And the yard! Holy cow, it's strange, but we are losing some serious leaves. I wasn't expecting to have to rake in August. Tonight I swept the stairs and the sidewalk in front of the house. But it doesn't look any better because I just swept the leaves into the grass on the other side of the sidewalk. Trash... I'm ashamed of myself.

We're thinking about getting a composting barrel this weekend. Though I suppose that would make more sense if we had a garden. And if we didn't have two dogs who insist upon eating everything that's not nailed down. So far, Pixie has destroyed about 8 rawhide bones, a coaster, a coupon for Lowes (the one coupon I'd actually use... She plucked it out of a pile), and her stuffed monkey.

Rethinking the Whole "Bunglehouse" Thing

Well, we're re-evaluating our decision to go with the brown and green for the house colors. I told my mom this tonight, and I don't think I realized just how ANTI the brown I've become until I said "I just don't want a big poop-colored house."

So, the brown's out. What I'm thinking now is either blue-grey, much like the house I grew up in, or perhaps a lighter grey. Both with white and black trim. And of these two, I'm leaning towards the blue, mainly because it will show less dirt. Here's what Sherwin-Williams has to say (and if you haven't tried SW's interactive tools, check it out: (http://www.sherwin.com/visualizer/)















I'm into it. Except we don't have shutters, and that may be what I like best about this scenario.

Much Accomplished...

This is not a George-Bush-in-a-jumpsuit moment, but I will say tentatively that we made some EXCELLENT progress today. 

This morning, we got up early and I took Yogi up to Petsmart groomers to get a haircut. He looks GREAT! And he was such a champ when they were cutting his hair--did not wig out in the slightest till he got a blow dry. He's feeling very confident and pretty tonight, and is thus being a little bit insufferable with the pets and belly scratches. Ah well. I don't mind so much now that he doesn't stink!

Yogi's  time at the salon gave me time to go to the grocery store. We had a meal with vegetables in it tonight, so I count that portion of my day a success. 

We discovered the source of the mystery smell. It was,

 indeed, the disgusting carpet in the back stairs. So Eric ripped up that carpet and then discovered that it was pretty much the carpet that was holding some of the stairs together. So he removed probably 6 treads and will get those put back together solid in a while. We never use those stairs anyway. 

I spent, ohhh, 7 hours or so outside messing 

around with the trim. I finished up with the nail removal for all of the upstairs trim (roughly 1/8 of the total trim we

 ultimately have to finish and put back up...). I filled, sanded 3 times, and primed the painted trim, and I used a refinishing solution on the stained trim. It didn't take care of the divots I took before the nippers came into the picture, but it sure restored the luster of the wood. It feels like I got a lot done, but looking at this picture, it doesn't look like it.

Eric is doing some planning for the guest bath tile project. Last count is 934  3x4 subway tiles... Goodness. 

And now we're relaxing and I am seriously considering bed, even though it's still light out. I am upset with Eric for not going out and getting me some fruity drinks, but I suppose it's just as well that I don't have them, lest I pass out from tiredness, sugar, and malt-beverage-headache. 

Favorite Tool of all Time!

Nippers! Made a thankless task easy as pie, and potential $$$$ trim replacement unnecessary. Thank you Daddy!!!!

Also, I want to say thank you for the genetics that created my freakishly strong man-hands.