So Mad I Could Spit

Screw this remodeling thing.

I took the doors off the cubbies in the bathroom.  I painted the bathroom.  I took the hardware off the cubby doors and painted the cubby doors.  I go to put the handles back on the doors ... and they don't fit!  Fine.  I screw the hinges back on, hang the left door, no problem.  Hang the right door.  No problem.  Now remember ... the holes are the same holes that were there before I did anything.

The doors overlap.  Yes.  They don't close.  WTF??????????????????

This was supposed to take me a few minutes before I went to bed last night, and now I feel like selling this house and moving into a pre-made apartment.

Rrrrgh.

Kitchen ... Paint!

Imagine that.  More paint.  Whodathunkit?

Janie came over today and helped me paint ... and paint some more.  She's so good to me.

We got the first coat on most of the kitchen, and the second coat on some of it before we ran out of paint.  I will go tomorrow and pick up some more paint, and I even found a cabinet for the other side of the kitchen!  A 24" cabinet that will go where the washer used to be ... and Kirk will cut a countertop for it, and we'll tile it and do some backsplash to match the other. 

I didn't take a picture of the wall that the cabinet will go on.  Duh. 

The contractor came by and installed the bathroom vanity.  It looks nice.  No, I didn't get a picture of that either.  I'll do that tomorrow.  The wallpaper border I ordered for the bathroom should also be coming soon.  (Are you getting the idea that this house has been costing me nothing short of a small fortune?)

I'm yawning.  Need to get to bed.  I am sure I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow with Just-Janie.  ;-)  I wouldn't have it any other way!

Just-Jodi

Falling Into Place

I'm glad Christmas is over. I am.

And now things seem to be moving right along.

The water in my clawfoot tub was leaking pretty badly. Hot water, no less. I called the contractor out and he rebuilt the faucet and now it works like a dream! He's also installing the bathroom vanity (there was a pedestal sink there that I couldn't stand) and fixing the plumbing behind it. Apparently there's no cold water shutoff, or at least, it doesn't work. So it will be nice to have a completely functional bathroom. The paint is done. I just need to put the doors back on the cubbies and decorate.

I bought some curtains for the dining room. They're kinda cheesy, but at least the colors match. Need to put those up.

Gonna swing by Home Depot tonight and pick up some paint for the kitchen. Janie is coming over, and I think we're going to do a marathon paint job and "just" get it done. You know ... "Just Janie" ... :-)

I would love to have a fully functioning kitchen. It's time.

I am taking tomorrow off from work. Don't have to fight the traffic in the snow on the way to work.

I built a dog run out back. It works great for Jag and Zip. Whisker-Butt fits right through the holes, and more importantly, knows it. For now, I'm just crating her during the day until I figure out what to do with the dog run. She has also figured out that she can get through the holes of the fence that hold the sheep in. Same type of fence. Imagine that.

I've burned a lot of branches and sticks and things. Have tons more to go. Will work on some of that tonight, I'm sure. Love that burn barrel. So, that will give us another warm place to go when we want to get out of the paint fumes tonight.

Hopefully, by Spring, the house will be in pretty good order so I can start working on the sprinker system and fencing and be able to give my sheep more places to go. I am thinking about pasture raising a couple of pigs this year to see how that works out. I'm browsing Craigslist for a chest freezer so I will have a place to store meat. Janie, Kirk and I are also talking about raising our own beef. I think it's a great idea if we can work out the logistics of all of it. And I will be thrilled if I can get a garden up and growing this spring. It will be a lot of work, but I am hoping I can pull it off.

And every time I drive from Janie's house to my house, I always wish I had a horse to ride around this area on. I think that would be a kick in the pants, but I don't want to have the responsibility of owning a horse. So ... I need to find me a cowboy with an extra horse. A big horse. A big cowboy would be good, too. A few would be even better.

Jodi

Cool, crisp day ...

Here are a few photos from my walk yesterday.  I found out that the area directly across from me, and all the way East, is closed to ... well ... everything.  I walked West and found a legal entry to the lake about 1/4 mile up the road.  Anyway, on my walk, I saw a hawk.  Not sure what kind, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was a Swainson's.  (Colleen just corrected me ... it's a juvenile red-tail ... ) 

I know there are people who see a lot of hawks and don't think much of it, and probably think I'm crazy because I get all excited every time I see one.  I love it.  I love watching them soar and wish I could do that myself.  They are majestic to me.  I wish I knew more about them to readily identify them properly, but I'll get it eventually.  I need to get myself a good bird book.  I don't know where my little one went in the move.

I went up to Janie's the feed all the animals.  A few lousy pics of a really cute puppy.  (All of these photos were taken while I was on the phone.  How lazy, eh?)

Thankfully her ears didn't come up.  She would have looked like this.  [Mustering up the best fake laugh I can manage.]

I think we had a new lamb, which now actually made 8. I noticed the black headed Dorpers don't twin much. Here's what I saw when I first walked over there.  I lowered my voice to my friend that I was still talking to and started to creep over.

 
It wasn't until I got up behind them and very close to them that one stood up.

Here's Venus and Serena.

As soon as it gets light out, I need to go check on this ewe.  I believe this is the ewe that attempted to have triplets last year.  I hope she's okay.

This was the first lamb born this season.  Isn't he adorable?  I love his markings.

This one has interesting markings, too.  This was is a ewe lamb.

A ewe.

Colleen is headed down on Wednesday.  I am going to work on getting the bathroom back in functioning order now that it's "done" being painted.  I have a lot of little things to screw back on the wall and a little bit of paint to touch up.  Would also like to get my dog run done today too.

We'll see ...

Jodi

Merry Christmas!

Finally!  I found what I consider to be the perfect name for this place.  No, there's not a lick of knotty pine on this place, but we had a beautiful dining room in the house that I grew up in that had knotty pine from floor to ceiling ... it was where we would all gather for the holidays and special occasions ... but more importanly, it was my mother's favorite room.  Hopefully, someday, I'll be able to replicate the look of that room here in this house, or at least replicate the purpose of that room.  If I can capture even a sliver of that, I would be happy.

Looks like it's going to be another gorgeous day out today.  I think I am going to do more relaxing than anything else.  I went to the store last night and bought everything for a steak / crab leg dinner for Justin and I tonight, including a pumpkin pie for him.  He's in charge of the entertainment and is downloading a movie or two for us.  I am really looking forward to seeing him and just hanging out.

I think I might take my first walk over to the lake directly across from my house today and see what's over there, and exactly how far the shoreline is from the trees. 

For some reason, I thought that time would help the empty pit in my life that once contained my mother.  It hasn't.  I'd give anything to be able to hug her one more time.

Hug yours for me, wouldja?

Merry Christmas!
Jodi

8 Lambs a Leapin'

I didn't count them, but if I had to guess, I'd say we're up to 8 or so now.

Here are some random photos.

 

Sure am glad this ain't me.

Oh this looks so uncomfortable!

And I want to keep this one in the house.

And I take the camera off auto, and ended up with a series that looks like this.

Ugh.

Here's a picture of Marie Bulgin's place.  She usually has a ton of sheep out there, so I'm not sure where they went, but haven't seen but a handful around for a while now.

And here's the back side of Crocodile Rock (aka Lizard Butte) ...

Jodi

Christmas Shopping?

Came home last night and fed the sheep, then headed over to J&K's and fed all of those sheep, the ducks and all of the dogs.  Went back to my house and did ... well ... nothing. 

Got up early this morning and painted the bathroom.  The good news is, the second coat of paint is done.  The bad news is .. it could probably use a third coat ... and it's not getting one!  So ha!

I'm charging the battery to my camera.  One of my co-workers is coming by to see my house ... and the lambs!  Yes, we have a bunch of them ... hence the reason I am charging my battery.  We already had a couple on the ground, but yesterday morning, Janie found four more, and when I got there last night, there was another one.  Everyone looks good.  Looks like quite a few ewe lambs.  That's great for us, but doesn't leave us with much to sell.  There are two black ewe lambs with the "snow" on their backs, but I'm not nuts about their coats.  It's tight, curly hair.  Pepe's hair, when he was just a yidda bit, was nice and sfot and cuddly.

So, it looks like I'm going to have to go to Walmart today at some point.  (Maybe not...)  I need to get some food to cook for dinner at Justin's tomorrow night, and I'd also like to pick him up something.  I'll do some real shopping for him early next year, but I'd like for him to have something to open tomorrow.  I just can't believe I am thinking about trying to get through Walmart today.

Yikes.

So, once Em and her daughter get here, we're headed over to see the lambs and I can feed everyone while I'm there.  I'll also pick up a couple more ranch panels so I can get my dog run together.  I'd love to have my dogs here.  It's time.  I put Jag's dog bed in my bedroom.  It's waiting for him. 

I'll try to get some good pics of the Whisker Butt today too.  She is such an adorable puppy.  I don't even like puppies really ... but she is about as cute as they come personality wise. 

It's a gorgeous day out.  Going out to enjoy it.  Photos later...

Have fun, all! 

Jodi

Still Painting ...

Came home tonight and finished up the second coat of trim in the bathroom and got the first coat of rolling done.  I can't believe I'm still painting.  And I'm mad at myself for not getting the trim in the hallway done.  I am going to finish that in the next couple of days.  I am not starting on the kitchen until the rest of this is done.  And if I don't start on the kitchen, I can't move my fridge in and stuff.  I'd ultimately like to have my stuff out of storage by New Year's, but it doesn't look like that will even happen. 

Anyway, here's the unfinished bathroom.

 

So glad the awful slate blue color that was there is now gone.  I didn't bother doing the ceiling.  Maybe I'll do that later ... like five years from now.  Yeah.  Sure.

I need to put a water shutoff at the base of the clawfoot tub.  I found the materials ... now to just figure out how to do it.  And fix the leak in the faucet.

There's always something.  I start to wonder if I'll ever be done.

So the blog ... yeah ... not sure what to do with it.  I was looking at other blog hosts, but I don't have the energy to convert this over.  So I guess I'll be sticking with blogger and trying to work out the kinks. 

I hope part of this weekend is nice so I can go out and set up some pens for the dogs. 

We have a Dianne Deal clinic set for February 6th ... a one-day thing ... if anyone is interested.

Still haven't figured out a name for this place.  Buck Ewe Ranch?  Buck Off Ranch?  Oh did I tell you the story of the buck on my deck?  I don't have the energy to type that one up.

I think I have skin cancer.  Need to go find out.

Christmas will be weird.  Janie and Kirk will be out of town.  Having no family around is odd.  Last year, I wanted nothing more than to spend 4 days by myself.  This year, I am going over to Justin's to spend some time with him and to cook dinner, but other than that, I'll be here working on this place.  I will make it a big shindig next year.  (I keep saying that.)

I think I am going to start advertising for sponsors.  Personal sponsors.  You pick a room of my house, and when you make a donation for that room, the money goes toward the supplies to fix it up, and when I blog it, all the credit goes to you.  Isn't that great?  Yeah, I figured you'd like it.

Country music is starting to irritate me.  So many artists sing songs about God.  If there's separation between church and state, I think there should be separation between church ... and cowboys.  There's a song called, "There is a God."  It was originally sung by Trent Willmon.  It was recently re-done by Lee Ann Womack.  While I really like the Willmon version, Womack has done a respectable version of it.  It's a beautiful tune ... apart from the lyrics.  "There is a God.  How much proof do you need?"  Um ... how about a shred?  Just one. 

"Try and put your arms around the 100 year old tree
Climb up on a horse and let it run full speed
Take a look out at the world from 30,000 feet
on your next flight"

Yeah ... it's nature.  It's the world.  Oh wait, that was the whole Adam & Eve thing and how the world was built in 6 days and the ark thing and stuff, right?  Yeah.

"Stop and think about
what you don't understand
Things like life and love
and how the world began
Hear the doctor say he can't explain it,
but the cancer is gone"

Yeah, Eve was a rib from Adam.  That's how it all started right?  How many people were told this fairy tale?  I know I was.

Oh yeah, and the cancer is gone?  Yeah, whose???  Not my mother's.  She's still dead.  Dad too.  So if "God" is making cancer go away on certain people but not others, I'm suing for discrimination.  Racism.  Something.

The holidays couldn't pass fast enough.

Bah Humbug.

Jodi

I hate Blogger

Some day I am going to convert my entire blog over to a different blog host.  You cannot easily change your background without losing your widgets.  And now ... I'm going to have to re-do it ... AGAIN!

Or not.

Weekend Schtuff

I failed miserably this weekend at taking very many photos. Go me!

Sowhat was there to take photos of? Lambs. We had a couple. One allwhite. One white with a black head. Both girlies. So cute.

Icleaned out the area in front of the corral, and moved the fencelinefor the sheep. I could have showed you all of that, but ... I can't. Nophotos.

Whisker-Butt. I put her on sheep for thesecond time today (first time was for a couple of minutes at a demowhen she was knee-high to a grasshopper). She was so fun! A live wire!She definitely prefers one side to the other, but from the time shewalked in to the time she left, there was never any questions as to whyshe was there. She kicked out nicely, and got a little tighter the moreconfident she got, never hesitated even when the sheep tried to hide inthe corner, and even gripped them out of there. I was pretty impressed!It will be a while before I put her on again, but it was fun! No photosof that either. I rock, don't I?

One thing I did getphotos of was the progress on the tile. The backsplash is about 75%done. The only reason it's not completely done is my fault. I didn'tbuy enough tile, and now Home Depot tells me they discontinued it, andthe only store that has any in stock is clear on the opposite side ofBoise. Rrrgh. Anyway, Jim and Rin have done an awesome job on this! Ilove it!

One of the coolest things was what was sitting on the counter when I got there to check it out!

Meet ... Groutcho!

Isn't he adorable?

Happy tails,
Jodi

Grout-chy

The commute is getting old in a hurry.  I am sure it will be better come Spring, and also when the freeway construction is done.  But right now, the combination of construction and lousy weather is making it a challenge. 

Went to Costco last night to get dog food.  I have decided I am not going anywhere near another shopping mall area for at least a month. 

Went back to K&J's, and J's brother brought over burgers that J cooked on the BBQ.  Good stuff!  Then off I went, back to my house and sealed the grout on the floor in the kitchen. 

And the countertop is looking awesome also.  Waiting for grout.

Please ignore the quality of the next photo.  I wanted the color to be just right and I haven't figured out some of the many features on the camera yet.  Here is the bathroom.  I am about to paint it.  This is the lovely color I am covering up.

The pedestal sink is going.  I bought an oak vanity for that spot.  The tile is staying.  The paint I bought is just an antique white.  It should brighten up this dinky bathroom in a hurry.  The plan is to paint tonight.  I have most of the room taped off and ready to go.

So, as you can see, I changed the background of my blog.  I am seriously bored with the design, and as soon as I have some time, I will be designing my own.  Apparently I didn't save my template correctly because I lost all my widgets, including my blog list.  I'll get it back up soon.  Sorry about that.

Later,

Jodi

Dashing through the snow ...

Fun weekend!  Can't post about some of it in case there are certain people reading, so you'll just have to take my word for it!  :-)  Saw new places, did new things, some of it I will do again, and some of it I won't.  But overall, had a great time.

For the parts of the weekend where I wasn't distracted with extracurricular activities, I did work on the house some.  I tried to finish painting the trim in the hallway, and just failed miserably.  I'm so sick of painting contrasting colors.  I painted the insides of the windowsills in the dining room, living room, and hallway white, so that looks better anyway.  Have some touchup throughout to work on.

I also prepped the bathroom for paint, and bought some antique white to do with it.  I am NOT painting the trim different colors.  It is going to be one boring color throughout.  I'll add a border and some colored accessories, but the paint is going to be plain boring old antique white.

Kirk and crew ... yes, he had a crew this weekend ... consisited of his son, Jim, and his daughter-in-law, Rin (short for Catherine ... Katherine ... Kathryn???).  Rin used to lay tile professionally.  Woo hoo! And Jim wanted to learn.  Kirk supervised.  ;-)   The countertop looks awesome!  It's all thin-setted, and we're waiting for it to dry so it can be grouted.  I'll take some photos tonight. 

We went back to the Naf's and had some awesome homemade tacos for dinner.  Yummy!

The goal this week is to finish the trim in the hallway and get the kitchen painted.  Once that's done, I can start prepping the kitchen for paint.  Keeping paint off my new tile is going to make me crazy, I'm sure.

A funny thing happened today.  I used to have a friend (or so I thought) that I hung out with for quite a while.  She has a very pussy-whipped husband and a couple of kids.  We don't talk anymore ... for reasons that will remain unsaid here.  (Mainly ... she's nuts ... off her rocker ... sidewalk doesn't go to the street.)  In any event, I used to work in a building very close to her PW husband, used to talk to him quite a bit, and in fact, several times, he's put me in a very awkward position, talking to me about things about his wife that he probably shouldn't be telling his wife's "friend."  (None of it ever got back to her ... not because I wouldn't dare do something like that, but because I couldn't imagine what his poor life would be like if his wife every heard any of it.)

Anyway, I have Zip with me today.  He's good company on the commute.  At lunchtime, I take him for a walk, and go get some lunch.  Today, I went to one of my favorite sandwich shops.  It's on a corner, and two sides of the building are floor to ceiling windows.  In front is a little area with a railing around it that, I'm sure, is used for outside seating when the weather is nice.  I put Zip in that little area and tied him to the railing.  He stared at the door the whole time, waiting for me to come out.  While I am waiting, I am standing just inside the window, looking out at Zip.  A familiar face walks right past, looks at me, looks at the dog, quickly looks straight ahead, walks around the corner (and is now on the other street that sidles the sandwich shop), and looks over his shoulder right at me.  Yes, it's the PW husband.  Obviously recognized me and ignored me, and is now avoiding looking at me.  He's putting money in the meter for his car.  In the meantime, my sandwich is ready, and the clerk hands it to me and I leave and go out to untie Zip.  Here comes PW.  He's got to pass right by me.  He won't look at me.  Just as he gets in front of me, I say, "Hi (PW)."  It's an old favorite stunt of mine.  He looks at me, and now he has two choices.  1)  Ignore me and keep walking and appear to be an asshole; or, 2) Stop, look at me, fake surprise, say hello, engage in stumbling through some small talk as if he never knew me, and thereby confirm he's an asshole.  Can you guess which one PW picked?  Yes, 2.  Trying not to laugh at how obviously uncomfortable he was, I was going to let him out of his misery, wish him good day and be on my way.  Before I could do that, his uncomfortableness got the better of him, and rather than looking at me, chose to look at Zip and say, "And who is this?"  (Because Zip looks so much like ALL other Border Collies, one couldn't possibly figure out who he was, especially if you knew us as well as PW and his wife did.)  I said, "That's Zip."  He said ... seriously ... "Still?"  Yes, still. 

I felt really bad for PW, which is very unlike me.  So bad, in fact, that I felt a need to wrap this up and let him go before he pissed his pants.  I asked about the kids, wished him a Merry Christmas and headed out. 

Laughing all the way ...

Happy tails,
Jodi

Skar's Daughter

After doing chores last night, I decided to take Zip and Whiskey to the house, and leave Echo and Jag kenneled.  Whiskey has spent much of her short life as part of the pack without a whole lot of one on one interaction from me.  I spent quite a bit of time with her when I first got her, and I was hoping that the short, early bonding period would stick around some.  Thankfully, so far, it has.  The trip to my house wasn't nearly as adventurous as I thought it would be.  She hadn't been in my truck since I moved out of my rental in early October, and at that, it was always in a crate.  Here she was ... loose.  While she had no idea what to make of it, she was a very good girl.

Got to my house, let her out on leash, told her to go potty, and she squatted and peed.  Good girl.

Took her in the house with Zip and she explored every nook and cranny she could find while I cleaned a muddy crate, dried it and prepared it for her for later.

The last time Colleen was down, she brought Whiskey a couple of squeaky sheepies.  Well, we broke them out for the first time last night, and she had a ball with them!  She was completely content playing by herself, especially when she figured out how to deliberately make it squeak!  She'd throw it up in the air, run at it, stomp on it with her front paws and go sliding across the floor while it went, "ssssqqqqeeeeaaaaaakkkkk!"  Over and over and over again.  She'd throw her body on it, she'd hike it, she'd chase it, and start all over again.  Too funny!  My camera wasn't thawed enough at that point to take pictures, but I am sure there will be plenty of those photos to come.  I love it when dogs can entertain themselves.  They are a kick in the pants to watch!  Skar used to do that when she was young.

After the play session, she snoozed on the bed for a bit while I checked my email and stuff.  Got some shots of her while she was hanging out with Zip.  Zip is not impressed that this is his beloved granddaughter.  He's not real fond of puppies.  Period.

This has got to be one of the goofiest looking puppies ... but her personality is nothing short of adorable!

All of these photos are very similar, but I'm posting them anyway.  Get ready for some red redundancy.

And here's Mr. Crabby.  He had just put his lip down.  He almost couldn't breath because of how crumpled his face was just two seconds earlier.

That's all for now.

Happy tails,

Jodi