Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Old is New Again

Alright, here are the before and after pictures of the floors. It's kind of hard to tell from the before because of the flash but they were quite orange. The coating was about 40 years old and had carpet on previously. Most of the carpet came up easy except for the stairs where there was an extra layer of carpet that was glued down.

We scraped most of the goo and carpet off but it still looked like this.

The scuffs you see on the risers is from when they were polishing. We have to sand and apply another coat of white paint. What an improvement though, eh?

We had to move all the furniture out. This is the night before. And that is the carpet the dog slept on. Poor baby.
Ooo... they are so shining. Now we're all paranoid about scratching them. Too late! Shelby christened them when the mailman came. Hopefully we get over this sensitiveness soon.

Still shiny!

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Origin of a Species

Do you remember coming home from school or maybe on Saturday mornings and rushing to the TV to watch an animated television series about the evolution of man from the big bang until his current walking state?

I've been trying to find it but can't quite get the title right. Or at least I don't think so. I think it was called Journey of Man, Origins of Man, Evolution of Man or something other. Any ideas? Do you even remember this show? Was it American, Canadian, or British? Please let me know.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Orange Begone!

Well, I'm sitting here in the hotel room of the Comfort Inn. Day two. Cat is on the chair across from me (she's so civilized) and dog is lounging on the bed (waiting for a pee break). After three months of having all the furniture in disarray we have Mr. Byrd grinding down and buffing the orange out of our hardwood floors in the living room and dining room. It's amazing what can happen when you ask your husband "do you think we should pull up this old stinky carpet?"

We don't work well in small spaces. I'll just leave it at that. It's a good thing Jeff has to leave to go to work or else one of else would have a concussion. I'm betting him.

Jeff and I snuck back to the house last night for a peek. They look good. We decided to go with natural oil. It smells to high heaven so we're glad we decided to stick with the hotel. We were a little loopy from the short time we were there. When things are done I'll show you a before and after picture.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

China Not For Dogs

I love dogs. I have a dog. I would not get another dog because I've learned I'm not the dog person I thought I was. I think rules and regulations in regard to pet ownership is important for the dog, the owner and the community but China's new law and how it is being enforced is plain inhumane.

According to Fox news (and local news), a new law in Beijing limits the number of dogs per family to one. And there is also a limit to the size of the dog (under 30 inches). This is all fine, I can understand that. Going forward forward that is. But all the people who have more than one dog have to turn them over to the police to be slaughtered.

I really think laws like this should include some grandfathering. If you already have one that's fine but once this one is gone you can't get another one. Also, if you can prove your dog is vaccinated against rabies and other diseases...

Apparently this new law is suppose to aid in reducing the spread of rabies which is running rabid in China. Killing off animals seems to be the easy solution governments turn to. What is wrong with vaccinations? Public education? Give people a few weeks to comply. It is somehow easier to kill healthy dogs.

I consider myself a responsible pet owner. I didn't just become a responsible pet owner over night. It took time, experience a lot of reading and lot of talking to other pet owners. Somehow I don't think this new law is going to cure their rabies problem.

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Topic Links
* Fox News - 1 Dog per Family Rule

It was a Mistake!

That's right, a mistake. They thought I only posted once in October when I had posted five. It pays to clarify. A lovely blogger at BlogHer accepted my blog for the roll. Yeah me! Yeah BGB!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Disappointed

I just received an email from BlogHer letting me know I wasn't accepted into their blogroll. I'm so disappointed. The reason cited was I don't blog often enough. They have a minimum requirement of twice a week.

I know I should blog more but I was really proud of my consistency over the last year-and-a-half of posting 2-3 times a month. Now I feel worthless which is stupid I know, it's just an email. But I was really excited about being a full part of this community.

They said I can reapply if I decide start posting at least twice a week for a month. Well, that feels too much like I'm working for someone else. What I like about my blog is I do it when I want to do it. Once something is required it usually goes out the window. I'm unreliable that way and I know it. It doesn't make me a bad person. It also doesn't get me on the Blog Her roll. Grrr.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

My Own Hug

After eight months I've finally finished the wrap I've been working on. Normally I could finish something like this in a shorter amount of time but I'm sharing my knitting/crochet time with required reading. Another reason why it took so long was I was using the 40-50% coupons from Michael's to buy each ball of wool. Just call me thrifty!

I found this pattern... actually it found me, at knitty.com; one of my favourite knitting sites. Knitty celebrated it's forth anniversary/birthday this fall. This online magazine has had my attention for at least three of those four with their seasonal newsletter chock full of articles and of course all different sorts of patterns by talented knitters.

This wrap pattern was designed by 8 skeins of Reynolds Mandalay, 100% silk in oatfield. I chose to use Patons Classic Merino Wool in Chestnut Brown.




Topic Links
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* Knitty.com
* Cozy Wrap

Blog Her !

My latest love is a website featuring women bloggers. I'm not sure why I joined up but after 30 minutes surfing their pages I wanted to be apart of their community of over 5000 women (and a few men).

In a nutshell, you register and you can post responses to commentary, as well as list your blog in their blog roll. This site is nicely laid out and easy to manoeuvre. Any ads on the pages are minimal and unobtrusive.

I've added their RSS feed to my Wizz and have been checking it a couple times a day to see what's new. These women are busy and they have so much to say. If you haven't been there, this is your chance to check it out.

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Topic Links
* Blog Her