Fall To Do

I've finally put together a game plan for Football Season Fall.

Nothing too crazy, I'm just basically continuing my painting room by room.  Once it cools off a little more I'm going to get some color back in the front yard with some more mums.  I really like how the red and yellow looked last fall.  I plan on doing even more this year.

I'll also plant some more squash and other winter vegetables in my garden out back.  I have several empty squares that need filling.  Aside from that, I'll be focused on the inside of the house.  Back to battling the beige. 

I don't really have any photos of the front hall but you can see it here on the right side of the entry.  It's beige so I will probably just paint it Sterling, the same light grey in the other hallway and the living room.  My office has requested some attention and that I stop just treating it like a dumping ground for unused objects.

I will continue to search for my ideal console table for the front entry.  I have a feeling this search will be long.

I'd also like to paint the guest room.  I'm completely stumped as to what color would work best in here.  I'll probably have to consult my Ambassador of Paint, aka Mom.

And finally, I will once again try to save up to get rid of these floor tiles currently masquerading as my countertop.

I've got a lot of projects coming up, mostly involving a paintbrush.  Let's hope I can even knock out some ceilings while I'm at it.  Hook 'Em!

Back to Reality

I'm finally getting caught back up after my vacation and should be back on blogging and decorating schedule.  The dogs are doing good.  Stewart is adjusting to being a Dog-In-The-Box while I am at work, but I let him roam the house if I'm home.  70% of the time, that just means he's sleeping in his box with the door open.  Tomorrow will be 4 weeks post treatment so I will call the vet to see when I can start taking him on walks again, and then eventually running with him again.

Pablo's glad to be back home but starting to complain about the back lawn.  I keep promising to mow it this weekend.

This weekend I will also be going to Target (I know, how unusual) because they will be carrying limited edition Andy Warhol Campbell's Soup cans starting Sunday!  I think I need several.  There's bound to be some sort of art project there.

Other than that I am planning fall projects which I should have more on tomorrow.  I currently have paint on my arms and legs so rest assured house projects are back in progress!

Summer Begins to End

The heat may be sticking around a few more months, but with the start of college football just days away it can only mean one thing.  Fall is on its way.  I thought I'd take this time to reflect on how my Spring/Summer To Do list worked out.

 1) I put a dotted line through 'Paint more ceilings' since I did get some done...like my master bathroom ceiling...but I still have plenty left to do.

 2)  I planted a garden and rocked it for a while!  For a first attempt, I think I was quite successful.  Right now the only thing still growing is okra and very small jalapenos.  I think if it weren't for the hail storm and the new dog, it would still be doing pretty good.  Now I have to come up with what to plant for winter.

3)  I remulched the front yard and had it looking pretty good until the scorching heat took some of my plants and the hail storm covered the mulch in more leaves.  I think next spring will be even better since I've learned a lot about what works in this area.

 6,7 & 8) I finally found curtains and redid my dining set.  The results turned out better than I expected.  Formal yet fun. 

So the only things I didn't get around to doing were fixing the faucet and saving for kitchen countertops.  But I did have a fabulous European vacation and get a new roof. 

Not too bad.  Now I just have to put together my Fall To Do list and figure out how to fit home renovation around college football schedules.

Reason 643 That I Love Mason Jars

Touch up paint.  You never know when it's going to come in handy.  You never know when your dog is going to Hulk out and bend metal.  And you never know what kind of damage will be done.

My evenings this week were supposed to be filled with packing and house cleaning in preparation for my big vacation.  Instead they've been filled with rug cleaning and wall repair.  Luckily I happen to keep my living room paint on hand for fast touch ups.

It took about 10 seconds to repaint the damaged area.  It could have probably used a little filler for the drywall damage but I decided to live life on the edge and just repaint it.

Good as new and still time to get some packing done.  Stewart heads to the pet hotel tonight while Pablo and my house will be looked after by my parents.  I'll be blogging my travels over on Life Outside the Loop.  Feel free to check in on me over there!

Stewart's Superpowers

This blog is quickly becoming more about the new dog than new decor.  This is not by choice but as it stands, Stewart is pretty much on a mission to undo what I've been working on during the last year.  Only kidding, sorta.  I was all ready to report how good Stewart was doing in his crate since coming home from the hospital on Saturday.  We had a couple of really good days.  He didn't protest his new position as Dog-In-The-Box and he was even taking his medicines (steroids and pain killers).  Then yesterday, I came home from work and he was there to greet me at the door.

He had escaped from his kennel.  He didn't figure out how to open the door.  No, instead he just bent metal and disassembled his house.  This is your dog on steroids.

Poor guy has some stomach related side effects that created a giant sense of urgency to get out of the crate.  It's hard to be to upset with him but it definitely was not fun cleaning up multiple accidents in various rooms, including several on my dining room rug.  All I could do was move it out back and hose it down.

Luckily you can't see much from this distance and this was after I'd hosed her down.  Thanks to my love of painting, I always have a spare tarp laying around.  It came in handy when I carried the rug back in the house.

I'm hoping the rug makes a semi-full recovery.  Can I tell you how heavy an 8 x 10 WET rug is?  In between cleaning bouts, I made it to the vet to pick up new presciptions for Stewart.  He's now also taking an anti-diarrheal and Valium.  Poor guy.  At this rate he'll be in rehab by September.  I reassembled his crate and put every zip tie in the house that I could find on its joints.

He seems to be okay.  The valium is making him appear drunk when he walks, tripping over his feet and running into walls.  He has some cuts and sores on his muzzle from his escape and his front nails are desperate for a manicure.

I'm telling you, his cute face is the only thing keeping me from completely losing it.  Well, that and the fact that he checks in to the Pet Hotel in 36 hours. 

Stewart's New House

As I've mentioned, I found out that Stewart had heartworms the day after I adopted him.  He's been on antibiotics the last month in preparation for treatment this month followed by a month of recovery.  His recovery boils down to about 4-6 weeks of bed rest which for a dog means crating.  He can go outside to do his business but that is about it.  Because of this, I had to buy him a crate.  Stewart is used to being free in the house throughout the day.  Most days this is what he does.

He sleeps on my bed.  This is why my bed is now always covered by a sheet or extra duvet.  When he's not sleeping, he is either doing his puzzles....or eating pillows.

Have you ever wondered what the inside of a microbead bear pillow looks like?  Stewart tried to act innocent but guilt was written stuck all over his face.

So I'm thinking crate training might not be such a bad idea.  I set up the crate while he was at the vet getting lab work done.  It's not exactly my favorite design element in the living room but at least my pillows will get to come out of hiding.  When Stewart came home, he went directly to the treats I set up inside of it.  He seems to really like his little house.  I haven't closed him in it yet, but he goes in on his own to nap and even sneaks out of my room in the night to go sleep in it.  Not a bad start!

This morning Stewart checked into the doggie hospital for his heartworm treatment.  He'll be there 3 days getting various shots.  The vet tech informed me that Stewart has magical powers to escape these exact crates.  He did it 3 times while at their office on Tuesday.  Great!  It was probably all the puzzle training he's had lately.  Sigh.  This is going to be an interesting few weeks of recovery.  Better dig out my bungee cords and zip ties.

Patience (and Cheapness) Pays Off

I have been on the hunt for a chaise lounge for my backyard all summer.  I know I have plenty of seating back there but I really wanted a chair I could lounge on and relax.

I thought this would be a pretty easy task to accomplish...until I started checking price tags.  I wanted an all metal chaise that would hold up over the years.  They were priced over $200 at most of the places I looked...for just one...without a pad!  That was not the number my budget was looking for.  I spent the next couple of months searching for better prices.  At the end of June, Academy (for sports and outdoors...sorry, can't help it) started running one in there ads for $99.  I was so pumped!  I even swung by the store to check them out.  I didn't bite the bullet because I was worried the box wouldn't fit in my car and I couldn't find anyone to help me in the department.  And now I'm glad!

Last week I ran to Home Depot on the way home from work to grab a lightbulb for my front porch.  I just happen to swing by their patio furniture department to check out the sale they were advertising. 

I had already been watching prices online.  Their version of the iron chaise was $179 originally and had fallen to $129.  Still not as cheap as Academy, though.  Well, much to my surprise...their instore stock had been marked down to $57!!!  Now if that's not the bargain of the century, I don't know what is.  And it was packaged in such a way that I knew it would fit in my car!

I put it together pretty easily and ran to the store to buy their last in-stock chair pad for it.  It was only marked down to $27, but even with the chair it was still cheaper than Academy.  In fact, it was such a bargain that I also picked up the matching side table for $8.

The only downside to waiting until I could score this whole set for $92 is the fact that it is pretty much too hot to enjoy it right now.  Oh well, at least I know it'll be there waiting for me once the weather cools off.