Ok. Get this. I just went to Bethesda to pick up some French doors. These folks are renovating a GREAT Craftsman row house on the south side.

I walked in and immediately saw punch list items. I mean to the point where I had to ask....

I was taking the doors out the back into the alley, when I noticed their new mud room extension (underground) had water on the tile floor. I could also see where they'd ended the tile installation (by someone good) and truly had someone else (tres amateur) continue it. The "new" half had TONS of lippage, and was not level. But the water on the floor...!!!

Of course I err on the side of panic and brought this to their attention. I recommended they take pictures and get their contractor over there (whom they hate) to take a look. New addition, new foundation, new tile, (which was 3" from the wall... huh?) and water.

On my way home, though, I called and suggested rather than looking at the worst case, why don't they cover the outside drain 1/2 way, as I'd found it, and use the garden hose to see how it drains. It might have come over the door edge, rather than being a foundation issue. Given the new concrete floor wasn't level... perhaps... Oh, and the not-level slanted towards the inside of the house. If that drain gets clogged with leaves in the fall....

Vent covers were on crooked or sideways. GORGEOUS trim work, the contractor wouldn't work with the existing, antique doors (which is why I got 'em), but was using the fir doors from Lowe's, that I'm selling. Had we known, we could have traded! And their new deck addition didn't have a ledger board behind it. Just joist hangers on the old siding. WHAAAATTTTT!

Couldn't believe because of my ex-GC-DH-POC my eye is so picky. But also, from things I've learned here. Like "lippage." I just called it "uneven" before.

I think I freaked them out.

LOL, Christine! Maybe they'll hire you to oversee everyone else!

Today I went for a 6.3km run. It's part of my training program for a half marathon. I am now also doing a 15km race in Toronto in June, so I'd really better get moving. I've book the Calgary portion of our summer vacation and am waiting for a sale for the Island portion of the trip. We want to go whale watching too, so we'll have to figure out what days we'll be in Victoria and set that up. I've got my flooring for the bathroom reno, I know what tiles I want for a shower surround, I just have to go buy them. I'm completely copying badgergal's daugthers bathroom, as seen in the thread titled bathroom reveal marbelain tile or something like that. I still need to pick out a bathtub and find some lights. I must have a 30" bathtub because the footprint is so small. I'm using the Hemnes mirror cabinet from Ikea for the mirror and it sticks out from the wall quite a bit, so I need to find some decent looking lights that will stick out far enough.

All is well this Easter weekend in Canada. :)

Wow, hope those folks can get things straightened out! I'm kind of on hold. The GC who did my kitchen was going to stop by Friday to talk about re-assembling my bathroom. His guy came and did the plumbing rough in, however, the GC was a no show. I'm trying to be patient as I know his wife is overdue for their first baby (a boy) so I'm hoping it's just that. I don't want to bug him but if I don't hear from him on Monday I'll drop him a text and see what's up.

It's getting very hot here and summer is getting ready to settle in. I am hoping to have this done by the end of the month.

Great weekend in Chitown but need to do a lot in A2

CEF - love hearing what you do - think it's wonderful you did what you did. In trying to explain why I like GW so much, I find it's as simple as I trust the people on the forum (vs. reading hype from people trying to sell you things). I can hopefully imagine how helpful your input was.

I'm trying to survive the weekend - we hosted our annual Easter neighborhood get-together today. Tomorrow, we're cooking for Easter, for a different cast. Table is set, flowers are done (I'll take a picture tomorrow) so I'm feeling for once somewhat ahead of the game. Oh and I am of course plowing through the weekend laundry....:) The snow is MELTING and I haven't killed too many plants in the greenhouse and .... only 5 weeks (approx) until the new puppy!

Female. Name: Hedwig. Correct pronunciation = Hedvig. We will call her Hedy (pr. Heddy). (Hedy Lamar was Hedwig as well). Full name: Hedwig Von Otto Von Hobbes (lineage of my German Shepherds, Hobbes being the first and my best friend (of course I was Calvin)).

Happy Easter, ya'll!

Wow, OldB2b. You're like some magazine craft woman hostess. I fear you.

And although it's snowy, your view is lovely, too. Peaceful.
What a nice home you have.
Happy Easter,
c.

Exactly what Christine said, OldB2B! Beautiful! No Easter dinner here. My kids are going to their dad's today at 2pm and then probably to their Gramma's where she will have dinner for them, and I will either figure something out or go work an OT shift if they call me for afternoons. If I don't get called in I think I'll grill a portobello mushroom and have it with a Caprese salad. Not very Easter-y but quite yummy. LOL

I was supposed to be working today, but since I slipped on ice, sailed off my porch and broke a spinous process and bruised my liver -- I am on "light duty" and confined to working in the admin office for 4 weeks. This puts all my projects that call for any significant lifting on hold (not that I was making any progress on anything anyway, but the warmer and sunny weather makes me anxious to get outside) including having to leave the new freezer that I bought sitting in the living room for the duration...

So made myself some nice strawberry shortcake, fresh orange, and sausage, and settled in to watch the Ronde van Vlaanderen cycling race from Belgium. Lovely!

I always remember my first Easter after my DD was born -- she was 8 months old then. I was a working mom and was discovering that my husband wasn't quite fulfilling the "helpmate" criteria of marriage. In other words, I was sooo tired! So when he wanted to go to his parents for the weekend (a 3 - 4 hour drive, at least, in holiday traffic and never a relaxing time for me anyway) I decided to stay home. His mother would take care of the baby. Easter AM I slept in, then got up and wandered over to the bakery for croissants and fresh strawberries, then back to bed for a couple of hours. It was heavenly! Unfortunately, his parents were highly offended that I had stayed home. (Not that I cared much -- up to that point they had yet to call me by my correct name...)

Oh, what I was originally going to comment -- someone had beautiful original doors in decent condition (yes they needed some work but not majorly damaged), from the 1915 house that they are renovating, on craigslist last week. I shudder to think what they are intending to do to the interior that they didn't want so many doors!

Hey, Christine, maybe you can help this person out with their cabinet finish.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2968411/dont-like-my-custom-cabinets

CEF - Great story. Don't be shy about saying something if the opportunity arises. My old neighbor across the street did his own work and unfortunately it shows. Nice waterfront home, too, in a great location. The house sold and it was bought by an out-of-state investor who planned to build condos but then defaulted without doing anything. The nice young couple that finally bought it are now discovering how much extra money they will have to spend to fix everything.

I'm still waiting for our new mattress to show up, scheduled Tuesday. Ordered a 100% natural latex. I've heard nothing but good things about sleeping on latex. Two years of sleeping without a proper bed will hopefully end next week.

raee_GW - Sorry to hear you are banged up. Take care and heal well.

raee_GW, you BROKE a spinus process? HOLY MOLY how do they fix that!?! That pretty much leaves a piece of bone floating around near your spine. Or is it cracked? Either way, that is Horrible.
I'm glad you stayed home. It sounds like you could have used it, regardless. '

Most of my in-laws didn't like me, either. The Golden Haired Boy chose me, and somehow it was perceived to be over them. They'd have rolled in their grave to find he'd run the family business in the ground and what he did to me. I digress. I always, ah, er, "had to work" during family stuff. Luckily I was teaching yoga at the time and they never knew when classes were. Their family events were loud, screaming, and all effing day long. They didn't want me there, but were offended when I didn't come.

Snookums, I just checked out the thread. Goodness. A lot of hoo-ha over nothing, not even addressing her question.

pshaw. (Did I make that up?)

I like my ex-MIL, and SIL. And dare I say, I think my ex-SIL likes me more than her brother! LOL No one in my family (including me) thought too much of my ex when we returned "home" after 4 years of being gone and he chose to stay in a hotel by himself instead of at my parents house. It's a 10 day visit, suck it up!

So Raee, do they just hope it floats back into place and repairs itself?

Thanks Christine, mgmum!! I had more successes than failures in the menu dept. and my dear in laws were over, 93 and 89, respectively, so I count myself lucky. Mgmum - we have two households as well, I find if I stay busy, the day zips by. Also, as Raee points out, sometimes it's nice not to have to make certain rounds again:). (So sorry you got hurt, this winter has been way too long).

1. I got another closet done this weekend - organized the cra...um, clutter, painted, new rod, painted shelf and some side shelves and put them all in. 2. oldbat2be, I never get tired of seeing your home, especially that light over the table and your gorgeous tile.....sigh...3. Sorry, CE, my grandma used to say pshaw all the time, so it's a real word... :) BTW, thanks for the nice comments on last week's thread. I didn't mention my dining room is still packed with stuff that has to either "go back" or go away...what's the statute of limitations on that again?

P.S. Raee, wishing you a speedy recovery!

That must have been quite a fall Raee! Hope you're feeling better soon. I had a small gathering for Easter but we had a good time.

Hello Everyone...

It is Spring Break..so I have time to join you all for a few days.

Raee, Whatever that is sounds painful!

Oldbat2b, That window sill of flowers and eggs........amazing!

Hey Doug...enjoy that bed...we have a Costco Temperpedic, I wasn't keen on it at first or for a few weeks. I like cozy and squishy, but after 4 years I do miss this bed when we are not in it. I hear latex sleeps a lot like the high density foam.

Christine, you always make "stuff" sound fun.

So my up and at em: get some pots planted with veggie seeds, yard cleaned up, and enjoy as much sun as the clouds let through over the next week. My Vitamin D is deficient. ;)

I may also get some sewing done, if there are more clouds than sun at times.

I'll be back to post a photo of my beautiful grand daughter too.

Quinncee Rose at 7 weeks

7 weeks already? Wow.
She's getting to be a big sweetie. I can see she smiles a lot, doesn't she?

She seems to, at least in photos and those "not enough hours" we've spent with her. They came up North to us when she was 4 weeks old. It's our turn to go down South. Should be this weekend, but not sure if we are going.

I think I've spent maybe 8 hours of her little life with her out of almost 8 weeks. :(

Thanks Terri - love that smile on your grand daughter, what a cutie!!

I miss having babies around! The only 2 grandchildren are getting so big, and none of the other boys have started families yet.

OB2B - beautiful! I have never made a coconut cake, but that looks delicious!

raee - Hope you feel better soon!

Christine - I am in awe of what you have/are accomplishing.

Doug - we got a 100% latex mattress and absolutely love it. No more back/neck aches in the morning.

Terri - Nice to see you back. She looks very happy!

Oasisowner - Thanks for the encouragement. That's exactly why we are trying latex. Arthritis runs in my family and my hip has been bothering me at night for a couple of years. Today's the big day. I ordered a 6" firm base, 3" medium-soft middle, and 1" soft top, but the mattress cover won't get here until tomorrow :( Hopefully we can sleep on it Thursday night. We can customize it further if something does not feel right.

Thanks for the well-wishes everyone. Nothing to be done except wait for it to heal. It will hurt for a long time I am told, but already a week without lifting has made it hurt considerably less. Being on light duty is so boring!

Glad everyone had a good holiday. Terri, congratulations on the grandchild! She is beautiful.

The deer had left my yard pretty much alone for most of the winter (since this year I netted and fenced the bejesus out of all my fruiting trees and shrubs) but they have returned for my tulips now! GAHHH! Must head over to the local Indian grocer for more asafoetida powder to sprinkle around -- that does seem to deter them and lasts longer in the rain than some other repellents. The back yard is submerged at the moment, but if I wait they will surely be back tonight to finish off the rest. Then they will move on to anything else they find remotely palatable -- last year they even grazed the strawberry plants. We have an overpopulation problem, they are all very thin, but the neighborhood is too much "aww, look, it's Bambi and his mom!" to take any control measures.

Moles ate every tulip I've ever planted.
Years later, I did get a tip: Plant daffodil bulbs in with your tulips, because the deer hate 'em. They're evidently poisonous. I never bought more bulbs to try that against moles. I'd even see the foliage quiver, then they'd fall over. I gave up.

I wondered what that powder was. Someone was telling me they hated it! I'm going to head over to Amazon to see if I can get some before they nibble my JMs to death.

Edited to ask: I find there's yellow, green, black and what looks like orange powder. Compounded or not. What do you get?
Thanks!

Will the above mentioned powder work on rabbits and cats?

Rabbits so they don't nibble on my veggies in pots,.,and cats who use my barked flower beds as litter boxes!!

Not to pile on trouble, but squirrels eat tulip bulbs, too. All of ours went into the tummies of those little beasties.

Terri, Quinncee is so cute! I have yet to meet my niece who lives in Calgary, but my brother has a conference in Ontario in May, so we'll meet somewhere then, and I've booked our vacation for the summer, so we'll see them then. I have heard cats don't like citrus so if you put orange peels in the area they are "supposed to" stay away.

Cats.
Lemme tell 'ya.
As much as their own pee smells like ammonia, they hate actual ammonia!
Years ago I read taking the cobs of corn on the cob and letting them dry, then soaking them in ammonia and placing the in the corners, or wherever in your garden should keep them out.

All I can tell you, though, is that when I'm cleaning reuse center cabinets with ammonia, they're out of the room so fast there's nothing left but floating fur.

CEF- will that work with Bambi as well?

Rare- Ouch- hope you heal soon. I just realized that it took 4 years for my hips to heal after slipping on black ice in a university parking lot. I never reported the accident as I didn't realize that I was injured at the time.

OldBat- looks like you were ready for Easter! It is hard to believe a year has passed since we met.

I just noticed that my Lenten Rose is blooming! I planted a few last year and hoping Bambi and friends leave them alone.

MGmum keep up your training. I am back running but taking things slowly. Boston last year was tough with my hips still hurting plus my knee acted up. So far so good- if the weather would ever cooperate. There is a fun women's half in Detroit in the fall. A lot of my friends have done it- we seem to be out of town.

Terri - what a cutie!

Well it's the TURDS I take issue with...lol....orange peels and ammonia soaked corn cobs....hmmmm

CEF, my bottle says "compounded", it is LG brand. I alternate using this with spraying Plantskydd, so they never get used to one odor. It definitely helps, but isn't 100% because it rains so much here in spring and early summer. (The water was 3 inches deep in my back yard this afternoon!)

A2Gemini I have become a fan of Lenten roses; I have 2 blooming now and ordered a double red that is sitting in a pot on my patio now. The deer don't seem to bother them (yay!)

I have used dirty cat litter to repel rabbits, just sprinkle a little around the plants that needed protection. Between the raccoon, possum, deer etc etc droppings I never worry about repelling the cats from the gardens; but my beds are kind of casual anyway.

I have a boatload of lenten roses. Holy moly, they reseed everywhere.

In the fall, I dug up every one I could get out of the ground. Tree roots prevented me from getting to quite a few. I transplanted them to the 3-4' hillside where my yard goes down to the road. The ditch lilies are fine, but they're so very messy. I'm hoping in some weird way, the hellebores will choke out the ditch lilies. Being evergreen, the hellebores will give the roadside something other than dead plants during the winter.

All the hellebores made it through the winter and are are blooming. I have ivory, pinkish-purple and dark purples. Obviously the seeds have been cross-pollinated!

I left the dark purples that are up near the house in place. They're so gorgeous! Deer don't bother mine, either. raee_gw, wanna trade some plants? I'd kill for some red ones! I die for red.

Teri, just scoop dirt over the poops. It's just fertilizer, anyway. I have deer poop, racoon poop, God knows, cat poop, and some other, strange, human-like poop. I use a shovel and either throw it in a garden, or if it's all ready there, cover it. Gross. I had the deer hoof prints near the poops. When my Morgan was alive (died in August) the deer gave the yard a wide berth. Not like she could do anything to them, but she sure tried. Miss her.

Oh goodness, I just almost spit my sip of wine across the room! "Strange human-like poop"....Maybe it's Big Foot?

Stranger things....

"HALT! Who goes there?" Literally!

CEF, I would be happy to trade red for purple, but I only have the one plant & it isn't even in the ground yet! But, if it does well and multiplies, I will send you some -- maybe some seeds!

Did you see the news story about the neighborhood that has been plagued by a mystery pooper? He has done his business on cars and porches. Not in your area, is he?

Really?! How awful. No, not in my area that I know of.

Once, where I managed a restaurant, there was a mystery spitter. HAwking spitter. In the elevator on the ceiling. On the chandeliers in the main dining room. Had to be a cleaning person, given the fact if anyone saw them during business hours, they'd probably have beaten the crap outta 'em. Never did figure that one out.

I'd love to trade seeds. Leave the flowers on the plants, put some kind of paper or something under the plant. Then let winter happen. In the spring the seeds will have had their cold snap and be ready to germinate. The seeds are very hard to see once they've dropped. I have purple, so I'll just let 'em spread. :)

I forgot to say I also have fox poop. Chicken poop from the neighbors. And cat poop. Did I mention a full supply of cat poop? And 5 cats who think my raised beds are litter boxes? Convenient, though. Fertilizer and I don't have to scoop.

Enough about poop. It's freaking martyphilpot out.

Yeah..I'm not leaving them...the cats do a pretty good job of covering...it's just their fav spots are under my sitting room windows...and sunshine and hot cat poo...smells horrid...

At least cat scat mellows out after a week or so, lol. Tomcat "spritz" on the other hand, seems to linger all freakin' summer :( I think the deer and raccoon think its an appetizer.

- Dawn (who damn near spent her life savings, ensuring all 22 rescues/drop-offs here were spayed/neutered...)

What a week for everyone! Christine giving good advice and possibly scaring the crap out of some homeowners and speaking of crap, what on earth is going on in your gardens?!?!

I've got dogs, which thankfully keep any cats that might come prowling away. The only other stool I ever find is deer droppings.

I've been sick all week but today I started feeling better and I accomplished something I've been itching to do for five years!!

See this ceiling?

Doesn't it look so nice. So clean. So hideous popcorn texture free?

Now I just need to fix where my dad accidentally stepped through in the attic

As well as paint it. It is the original blah white that's 22 years old, you can see where I've painted the new color, nice bright white ceiling paint.

After we patch and paint the ceiling we can pull up the 22 year old carpet to lay the new flooring. Yay!!!

My free advice for painting ceilings. Whatever side you start the first coat on, start the second coat from the opposite side. Otherwise one side looks great when your arms are not tired, but the second half will look terrible when your arms get tired. This won't happen if you start on the opposite side! Does that even make sense?

Beautiful and great advice! :)

Nice job with the ceiling and no popcorn. I like tray ceilings when they go straight up like that instead of the angled type. Sorry about the hole though :/