Raise the Roof!

The Great Hailstorm of 2012 claimed my roof.  Or so said my insurance company.  Some people might be elated by that news, but I'm guessing those people have lower insurance deductibles than I do.  Sigh.  I was at least excited about catching it before leaks created an even bigger problem.  Thursday morning, while I was still trying to wake up in the 6 o'clock hour, roofing elves delivered their supplies.

And while I was at work so were they.  When I came home they were still at it.  In fact, they were at it until about 9:30 last night.  I feel bad for their longs hours but I'm glad to know they were well hydrated in the heat.

Someone was hanging out in my driveway this morning so I assume they are finishing the job today.  Here's an idea of the damage from the storm.

 
Nothing too disturbing, but there are definitely some shingles knocked out of place.  Here is what it looks like now.

They replaced my whirly-thing and I actually preferred the black one I had originally.  But that's really not a big deal.  The funny thing is that the After photo almost looks like it's had some damage but that's because it's a different type of composite shingle.  This new shingle has a higher profile, doesn't lie as flat.  It also has an ombre shading (how trendy) that gives it the appearance of more depth.  Here's another before and after (of different parts of the house) that show how the shingles are different.

All in all this has been my most expensive before/after project and also the most unimpressive as far as change in appearance is concerned.  Necessary but not exciting. 

New Job

Not for me.  For Stewart.  Last Wednesday I came home from work to yet another pillow catastrophe.

Luckily no feathers were involved this go round but it was frustrating nonetheless.  Even Pablo is fed up with Stewart's shenanigans.

I was at wit's end so I threw Stewart into the car and headed to Petsmart.  I was lucky to come across the world's most helpful sales associate/dog trainer.  She talked me off my ledge.  She said that since Stewart was currently on exercise restrictions (due to his heartworm treatment) he had effectively lost his job.  That job being People Walker.  We are still taking short walks but it's a change from his runs he was enjoying in June.  Since his unemployment is technically just a furlow until September, he would need to pick up some temporary work in the meantime.  Stewart's new job?  Puzzlemaster.

I will no longer be feeding Stewart out of a dog bowl.  All his food will be inside these "puzzles" and he will have to work to get it out. 

He seems to have picked up on his duties pretty quickly.  The Wobbler is his least favorite but that's probably because it's the hardest.  The theory behind all this really made sense and I'm happy to report that we've had no casualties since Wednesday.  While at the aquarium on Saturday (more on that here), I noticed dogs aren't the only ones that get bored and need jobs.

I'm not sure what this octopus did to get him in to trouble, must have been chewing on the coral.  I really hope we've found a good temporary job for Stewart.  He seems pretty beat after a long day at work now.

Once we getting this issue licked, I can go back to decorating the house instead of just cleaning and repairing it. 

Musical Furniture

The dining room side of my front room is looking good but it is putting to shame the random area on the other side of the room.  This is the area to the left of the front door, now home to a coat rack, and the area directly in front of you when you come through the door.  Here are some older pictures. 

I don't take a lot of picture of the areas since they are just holding random furniture right now.  The tragic white cabinet will eventually move out to the garage for additional storage and the large TV cabinet is actually available for a new home, if I can find it one.  I decided having these pieces in my space was blocking my ability to make any progress so last weekend I moved things around a bit.

The armoire was moved into the guest room for the time being.  This is not a permanent move.  It is too bulky for the room but it'll do for now.

I cleared out my coat area so I could try to visualize what I want to do here.  I think it may end up like a tiny sitting area because it may be where I store my extra dining chairs (if and when I get some).

The tragic white cabinet is now acting like a place holder in my entry area.  I've got my Dallas aerial hanging approximately as it will be when I'm all done.

As I've mentioned before, what I want for this area is a bright, funky console table.  I'm having problems finding what I need because it has to be no wider than 39 inches.  Most are 40" and up.  Here's some stuff along the lines I'm thinking.

I'm willing to paint whatever piece I find but I just know that I want something semi-ornate like these tables from the UK.  I may go pink or yellow or purple, maybe orange.  I just have to find a table first.  Feel free to donate any Baroque 39" tables you have laying around the house. 

He Was Framed!

This weekend I finally found the perfect frame for my portrait of Pablo.

 I have been on a mission for a big gaudy carved frame that was gold and slightly obnoxious.  Mission accomplished!

Now, this frame is a hair too big but the price was right so I grabbed it.  I found it at an antique shop down on Industrial  Riverfront.  It is orginally from Belgium. When the picture is centered in the frame there is about 1/2 a centimeter around the entire canvas.  I'm thinking I should be able to fix this by building an inner moulding frame and then painting it. 

The frame itself sits up from the wall about 3" and adds about 5" all the way around.  It's much more fabulous in person.  Pablo is quite excited.  You know who's not excited?  Stewart.  He has been told that he will not get his portrait added to the gallery until he stops eating my pillows.



You may remember this pillow from yesterday's post.  It's one of my brand new ones, and it was slaughtered yesterday while I toiled away at the office trying to earn enough money to afford Stewart's fancy grain-free dog food that he goes through like it's going out of style.  But I'm not bitter.

Spork Art

Last Friday I stopped by Pier 1 on my way home from work to buy a couple more pillows for the living room.  While there I spotted this little puppies on sale and just couldn't resist.

They were so random but also a little fun.  I figured they would work in my cheery kitchen.  I hung them up Saturday morning under the watchful eye of Stewart.

Stewart's really taken to squeezing on to Pablo's bed when I'm messing around in the kitchen.  Luckily Pablo was in the other room.  My giant spoon and fork now amuse me when I walk in the kitchen.  They even work with my wrapping paper art on the opposite wall.  I have quite the utensil theme going on now. 

I also picked up a couple of pillows, since that's why I went to Pier 1 in the first place.  The two green ones are new.

It's a good thing I went ahead and grabbed two new pillows because Saturday night Stewart decided to take out my surviving green velvet feather pillow.  Again, he did seem remorseful, if not a little evil.

I'm hoping this is the end of his destruction.  I really don't need any more of his design input around the house.

Iron Chef: Produce

My friend Anna sent me an email last week to try out a produce (and more) delivery service, Greenling.com, for free.  I immediately signed up to try a Local Box.  Basically, they deliver hand picked produce from farms around Texas based on what is in season.  I've enjoyed the forced creativity of preparing all the food I've been harvesting from my own garden so this would just up the challenge.  Thursday night, as promised, my Greenling box showed up on my porch.

I had seen a list of what was going to be in last week's box but I was still blown away by my bounty.

My delivery came with a list of the contents, including what farm each item came from.  The back of the list had several suggested recipes.  Anna and I had our own little version of Iron Chef over the weekend, cooking our way through the food and texting our results.  The first challenge I tackled was fresh pinto beans.  Prior to this weekend my only experience making beans involved a can opener.  I have never even attempted dried beans. 

Now these aren't much to look at but they tasted amazing.  I cooked them with garlic and chili powder and then added a little sriracha before eating.  The next day I made the suggested Watermelon and Cucumber salad with a balsamic vinegar and oil dressing.

Another success!  As a matter of fact I'm having leftovers with my lunch today.  After all that healthy eating, I decided to really dive into this and use Greenling's recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes.  While I was in the frying mode I added in some of the okra from my garden.  I also winged my own stuffed portabello mushroom recipe after reading several recipes online and just going with whatever I had on hand (cheese, bread crumbs, garlic, onion, jalapeno).  It might not have been the healthiest meal but boy was it tasty!

Tonight I plan to grill some pork and my fresh peaches and then grill up a little zucchini to go with it.  It has been fun forcing myself to cook (and eat) things that I don't usually buy when I grocery shop.  Not to mention everything probably tastes 100x better than what I would buy in a grocery store.  Thanks to Anna for sharing this site with me.  Hopefully I'll be able to get fresh produce delivered once a month or so.  I might even branch out and try some of the fresh meat and dairy Greenling offers as well.

Anger Issues

I came home from dinner Tuesday night to the sight of feathers.  I opened the front door and they greeted me in the dining room, fluttering about in the breeze created by Stewart's wagging tail.  There were just a few but I saw the trail kept going.  There were feathers in the hallway, the kitchen, my bedroom, on my actual bed even.  It wasn't until I entered the livingroom that I figured out where they came from.

One little throw pillow created the largest mass of down feathers I've ever seen!  Pablo had been eating food on this pillow earlier in the evening so I guess the smell attracted Stewart and he became convinced there was more food inside of it.  Sigh.  On a positive note, it was one of my old pillows that didn't really match my living room. 

It is pretty much beyond repair.  I really just kept it around because it was my favorite nap pillow.  Luckily it was one in a set.  Knock on wood that Stewart leaves the surviving pillow alone.  As I cleaned feathers, he did look a little remorseful.

It was amazing how many feathers were jammed into that little pillow.  I filled canister after canister with my Dyson.  I'm pretty sure I will be finding stray feathers around my house for years to come.  It was just impossible to get them all up.


Oh no you don't!  Stewart checking out the surviving pillow



Feather tumbleweeds

This is really Stewart's first destructive moment.  Until now, he has only moved things around my house, but not chewed them up.  I find my hairbrush in the dining room.  One stray evening shoe will be hanging out in the livingroom.  Never chewed up though.  I admit, things have been busy lately.  I feel like I'm never home and when I am I've been distracted.  Apparently this was Stewart's little way of showing me my failings as a dog parent.  I've promised to be better.  Or maybe he was just offended that the olive velvet pillows didn't match anything.