A dog for the deer, and a Great Horned Owl for the rabbits! We didn't see a rabbit all winter - and I found a bunch of owl pellets under one of our big pine trees. If you can't find an owl, a pellet gun works pretty well to discourage rabbits...

I get busy - and sometimes I flat out forget to do stuff. Or get too lazy. Or get caught up in a jigsaw puzzle (or the kitchens forum!)

I've been spending some time on my swing! I did a bit of work around the yard on the couple of days I've had free on my past days off. One day it poured rain all day and the next day it was gorgeous! I spent the day at school for the track and field fun day. Yesterday while the 13 yo was at the skate park the 9yo and I ran around buying some tomatoes and herbs for the containers on our back "patio" and we picked up the towel bar, toilet paper holder and a drain for the bathtub. I'm waiting for the contractor to return my call regarding a quote and a date for the bathroom. We are ready to go on my end. My backyard is covered in twigs from the rainstorm, so I need to get out there and get those all picked up.

Christine, you can have the dog next door to me! He just moved in and he's a husky but they leave him outside all the time and basically ignore him so he howls constantly and then they built a 6 foot high jail for him!! I suppose he can run around and he's no longer on a chain, but it's not a very big area, IMO and I just feel so bad for him! I've hatched a plan to kidnap him and take him to an acreage where my friend lives.

Bummer- I have been blaming Bambi for the Hostas but maybe it was the pesky rabbits. In any case, I put some crates and chicken wire over some of them.

Pleasantly busy, in a good way. Dug up every blackberry shoot this week around my property line, including the neighbors (with their permission) and hauled them to the dump yesterday. One more year of this and we should be blackberry free for 5 or 10 years until the birds start spreading the seeds again.

I'm also getting into the heart of my goal to lose 30 lbs. Worked on exercise for the first five months and over a month ago I started working on diet. It's amazing what you learn by tracking everything..EVERYTHING..you put in your mouth. I've lost about 10 lbs so far without once feeling hungry. This is as much about eating healthy and changing my diet as it is about losing weight, so I'm going about it very carefully. Don't want to lose a bunch of weight by starving myself and then gain it all back by going back to my bad eating habits.

Not doing much on the house except thinking about the next phases next year. The waiting is hard but has to be done.

Christine - I've been thinking about 52 weeks for a while. Will miss your cheerful thread openings. Hope it can continue.

I can't believe it has been a year!

In some respects, I truly have accomplished a lot, but I still have so far to go.

It has become such a normal part of my life that I truly wonder what would happen if I won the lottery tomorrow and had the funds to completely finish every aspect of my house. What would I do with my free time?

Since I was, at least in part, the impetus for the weekly threads (Christine telling me, in a moment of darkness, to stop focusing on what I HADN'T done and instead focus on my accomplishments) I will gladly take over the mantle of starting new weekly threads...provided Christine still contributes!!!

Doug- you and I are in the same boat. This extended remodel has caused me to become a quite unhealthy weight. I finally decided to "go back to my normal self" 4 weeks ago and I've lost 12 lbs so far. Another 30 and I'll be in the "healthy" range, a full 70 and I'll be back to my "making everyone jealous because I look so good" stage! ;)

T_G, I'm so glad! :) And I'm glad this whole weekly thing has been nice for everyone. It's caused me to really sit and think about what's going on in order to at least pose a banal question! :)

You guys are giving me the niggling feeling in the back of my mind, that the extra 20 I'm carrying around just might -- but maybe not -- could be -- but maybe not -- because of my Reese's cups. And not a lot, but other quick, not-so-good food. Have you noticed I've abstained from the cookie dough? It woefully moans my name as I walk by the Cookie Dough aisle. I swear the end caps are labeled, "Christine, the Cookie Dough lives down here!" But no.... I've been strong.

You'd think as a very veteran yoga teacher, I'd eat better. Or, "Dine" as my mother would insist. Nahhh.... You'd think I'd do more physically, too. But please. I'm 56, working (mostly) as a waitress, where I have consecutive 10 hour shifts. The very. very. very. last thing I want to do is walk for exercise, or do anything that involves my feet. Like pedaling a bike. No opportunity to swim, but I dislike my bod so badly I haven't owned a bathing suit in over 30 years.

So you magically inspiring people. Ideas? I have no incentive other than the fact I'm going to pop my uniforms over the bar at people and really scare them to death.

Today I'm working an extra (consecutive) shift for someone and am absolutely pooped. The $$ helps, but holy moly.

It's a gorgeous day and I'm ready to just be in the yard poisoning buttercups, borers, hot-saucing my hosta and trying to get that stinky Hing powder to stick to my maples. A deer completely denuded a sweet 'Green Cascade' yesterday and I'm sick about it. Maybe after work.

Keep up the great work!

Things are pretty dull here. The last of the plants are in the ground and I'm still working on removing the dying transmission from the car. There are three bolts that need to loosen up before I can finally remove the thing. Maybe I'll figure out what the trick is this afternoon when I try again after work.

Schicksal- could you pop into this thread

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3029089/dark-cabinet-owners-previous-and-current-please-weigh-in?n=62

The OP was asking if anyone had toe kick lighting and what they thought of it.

Texas - So glad you are willing to take over the threads. I look forward to them continuing. 12 pounds in 4 weeks is pretty impressive. I don't think I could do that. My goal is 1 lb per week until I hit 180, which is 5 above my HS graduation weight. I think at my age I can live with that.

My biggest revelation so far is I found out that without ever picking up the salt shaker I was eating about 3,500 mg of salt every day. No wonder my BP was high. I'm now down to 2,000 - 2,500 mg on my way to under 2,000 and my BP is starting to drop now. So far, garlic seasoning is tiding me over until my tastebuds adjust to less salt. Went through Costco last Friday and tasted all the samples and everything tasted way too salty when just two months ago I wouldn't have given it a second thought.

Christine - Yeah, I love Reese's Cups too but they are so high in fat and even worse for salt. I eat Nutter Butter cookies now when I need a peanut butter candy fix, but those are becoming increasingly rare for me these days. I'm just not hungry between meals anymore. Perhaps they would work for you, too.

The extent of my exercise is walking around the nearby park twice a day for a total of two miles, but after five months I can walk the mile now in about 12 minutes. I'd run but it hurts my back. Other than my back exercises every morning, that's the extent of my exercising.

Schicksal - Can't imagine your life being dull after what you have gone through and accomplished in the past two years, but then again maybe it's all relative? Normal becomes dull. I always feel bored after I finish a major project, but over time I get used to the slower pace again until the next big thing comes along :)

@TX - Thanks, I wouldn't have noticed that one. Not quite sure what they're looking for but I gave my 2 cents and let them know where the stuff comes from. It's too bad the lighting is so hard to get a decent picture of. It's either glowing like a giant searchlight or hardly visible.

@Doug - Things may seem dull because the projects are smaller at the moment or because I waste too much time. They're things I could push through if I had a couple of days where I was really motivated but instead they drag on a bit.

I'm just trying to drop 20 from the start of the year and maintain it from here on out...

So far as things at home go I've just been doing springtime kitchen maintenance. The cooktop came apart and all of the oil and bits of spilled things are now clean, along one of the ovens and the drawers are all cleaned/vacuumed out. I have no clue how crumbs and stuff end up in cooking utensil drawers but they're gone now. I'm determined to keep this kitchen from becoming like the others I've moved into where brown buildup and nastyness sort of takes over the cooking area.

I also removed the three impossible to see bolts at the top of the transmission. It doesn't sound like much but they're the sort of thing you can only find by feel and get a small wrench on, then you have to figure out how to apply enough force to turn them without breaking anything. Today I'm determined to make the drawing for the frame for the backyard fence and get it to the metalshop already. 110% non-kitchen related but it is what it is.

MGMUM, have you ... adopted .. that poor dog? They're so social, to have them lonely and cooped up is pretty horrible. Think pac wolves, right?

A neighbor near me put up 10' high, stockade fencing. Kind of in a circle. Evidently they'd adopted 2 adult Rots and were going to keep them in there. Turns out they, too, were afraid of their own dogs. That's what you get when people on the end of your road fight dogs. Idiots who want to keep up with the trash of human beings down the street. The fence wasn't long-lived, and I think the dogs went some place else.

I only discovered this because I came around the corner and there was my dog Shelby's butt trying to get under a fence to see another dog. I got out of the truck and smacked her on the butt. "Come ON!! What are you doing a mile from home!?" I demanded.

She turned around and she wasn't Shelby, but she panted and pushed her head up under my hand for a scratch. Next thing I knew the owner-kid came down to say she was his, but when I tried to hand her makeshift lead to him, he jumped back.

I said, "Oh, you've got to be kidding. Don't tell me you're afraid of your own dog!" I sat down on the road, pulled her into my lap, and she rolled around on her back. He said, "Well, they're mean." Abra Kadabra, but he couldn't tell me which was which dog. I almost took her home, anyway.

Today I'm fertilizing everything and putting borer killer on stuff. One of my 'Autumn Flame' maples at 30' tall, has put out so many seedlings it looks like fall rather than bright green spring. Last year the ants were climbing her, which I now know she had/has aphids. She's in distress so I'm following my maple guy's advice and using preventative measures. For the first time ever, too, fertilizer.

Pray for my giant tree!

Texas - great news about taking over the thread. I am on the road too much (between consulting and helping DM from long distance) to volunteer for this task right now.

Yesterday, I put up 6 foot posts and deer netting. Since we are not allowed to have tall fences near the property line and my garden is about 3 feet from the property line, so technically, I am allowed a 30 inch fence around my garden. Bambi would just laugh at that. I am not calling it a fence. Instead, I will plant some extra peas and beans to crawl up the netting - and now I have a bean and pea trellis - LOL.

CEF - I bought some deer pellets to spread around. I also popped some into a few critter holes (not sure if they are chipmunk or what as of yet) - The critters popped the pellets out of the holes! It is raining now, so it should absorb into the soil to make it a bit "hot" - supposedly, they last all season.

MGMum - we are looking at dogs but concerned about our smaller yard. I really want a dog that can run with me but also want to be fair to the dogs.

I have been watching for possible rescue dogs. I thought I found a perfect one but DH rejected the dog. Our local shelter had a GSD/Norwegian Elkhound mix that I thought might be good - except I don't think it had either breed in the dog - it looked like a beagle. Both the GSD and NEH have up ears and these were hound ears....

I have ruled out Husky - too much fur for being "south", especially in the summer - good runners.

A lot of my running friends have GSH pointers - they are a difficult dog to train and DH says no!

I fell in love with the Pudelpointer. This is a breed from the 1800s and not a designer dog but a true working dog. - Breeders will only sell to hunters. Although I can shoot a shotgun and knock orange and green clays out of the sky, I don't ever plan to hunt. I respect hunters as long as they eat what they shoot - I will never understand "trophy" hunting. I always said I would never shoot but my DH and DB convinced me to try clay sports. Turns out I am pretty good for a beginner and better than many seasoned shooters. Now, to explain the bruises - LOL - I wasn't holding the shotgun properly and had a beauty of a shiner on my face. I was sure anyone looking at it would think DH clobbered me with a left hook (and he is left handed)

My DH wants either a GSD or a Belgium Malinois (Mali) - Not sure our skill set is ready for these 2 breeds. The German Shepherd is bigger but probably has a better indoor off switch.

My new neighbor has a cute Pyrenean shepherd - about 30 lbs and well behaved. I think this is a good size for us and good indoors - but not many breeders in the US. They just moved from Spain and very common over there. Also a longer hair dog than I was imagining but supposedly not too hard to take care of coat.

My SIL thinks we should get a Dalmatian or Vizsla. We plan to go look at some Vizslas as there is a breeder in A2. They are velcro dogs. MGmum - I also found a good breeder in Ontario but not sure of the border requirements. I don't think I want a dalmatian.

The last one we are considering is the Border Collie - they are supposed to be super smart. We aren't very far from the local dog park to exercise the pups.

If anyone has any thoughts on running dogs - pipe on in! Sorry to get carried away.

Thanks

Border collies are one of the smartest breeds and can recognize some crazy number of actual words. It's too hot here for me to entertain the idea of a long-haired dog. That's a consideration. Pug faced dogs (although I've come to absolutely love pugs) with the smushed snouts have respiratory problems frequently, so that's a problem I can't take on. I'm thinking older dog for me. I don't know how to train a puppy! :)

A2G, come skeet at my house. Off the front porch. Over the deers' heads. I'm spraying with stinky, stinky stuff in hopes of putting them off. Where I wildly poured hot sauce, they haven't re-eaten the hosta down.

I think I've had a flash of brilliance, though. Since my raised beds seem to be smorgasbords for deer, I'm going to take these 3' antique screens and build them onto the beds. That makes 6' they can't get over. I can hinge them to open for working in the bed. Geeze, I'm so brilliant sometimes. Talk about the epitome of recycle and reuse.

Mushcreek- welcome! I'll be the first to tell you that, while this is in the kitchen forum, a lot of what we work on weekly is not our kitchens!

Some of us, Doug, myself, schicksal are working on our whole houses and sometimes cars too!

Ugh, 3 years, that's a LONG project! Its nice to be able to say it was done right though huh? We just finished building a 1300 sq ft MIL quarters onto our house. Thankfully we had lots of friends and family that pitched in and we only contracted out a few things, slab pour, septic system, spray foam and we finished in 19 weeks.

So happy to hear you can see the finish line in the distance!

Welcome, Mushcreek. I won't talk about my [ahem] renovation, other than it moves forward very slowly.
I miss my dog, which is why I think I have deer running rampant over everything I've ever planted.

Talking about that is why I'm here. OMG YAK.
I made this concoction out of recipes I saw online for spraying for deer.
A bottle of hot sauce
A small bottle of homemade garlic wine
An egg
Vegetable oil
Hing powder (that asdosopholoius or whatever powder I think renee uses PUKE STINK YAK KILL ME NOW AWFUL stuff)
Water
I put it in a milk jug and shook the crap out of it. Put it in a squirt bottle and proceeded to squirt my 3 acres. OMG IT'S HORRIBLE and of course, my sprayer quit unless I unscrewed it and just held it in the bottle. WHY, OMG WHY!?!

Anyway, the egg is supposed to become stinky, the hing powder will chase away a Mongol hoard, and the hot sauce is supposed to deter those evil rabbits.

I did almost step on a softball-sized box turtle today. Cutie patootie. :) I didn't spray him.

I'm now taking a shower because the spray drift is going to cause me to kill myself. I'd rather have month-old B.O., garlic and Doritos breath, swim-in-a-sewage treatment pool naked smell than that HING powder. No wonder I don't like Indian ah, er, "cuisine." It's not just the fact I hate beans and cauliflower, it's that GOD AWFUL HING POWDER.

Next time I'll tell you how I really feel.

a2gemini, we had a huge lab (115, not overweight, just huge). He was the best dog in the world, but I didn't want another huge dog. Realistically, I know that most labs are not that big, but I had a mental block - and even a 50-lb lab is a lot of dog.

So I researched like crazy. I wanted a smaller dog that was still smart. After a few months, I decided that our family needed a Cardigan Welsh Corgi - often described as a big dog in a small package. The curse and blessing of the Internet - I found exactly what I wanted - only to realize that the breed is not very common in the US, and finding a good breeder was even harder. I ended up going to Missoula, MT, for my Cardi puppy! But he was so worth it - everything we wanted in a breed.

I'm on my second Cardi now (from the same breeder). They are very smart, athletic (they are herding dogs), but also content to be couch potatoes.

My Morgan was shaped like a Corgi. Except she had a spaniel head. I miss her annoyances. :)

Talking to the neighbour today, she wants to give the dog away! I'm hoping my friend who is moving to an acreage soon can take him.

A2, I think you just need a rabies certificate or if he's too young, a vet certificate stating he's healthy. You can call the bridge; 313-226-3161.

My contractor is crunching numbers for the bathroom! Eeeek!

Things have been busy for me but I'm getting back on track. I decided to hire a contractor to do some of the work on my bathroom and I had to wait a few weeks for them. I had planned to reuse the toilet and the vanity but there was a miscommunication and the vanity was destroyed. The budget is already at the breaking point so I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm looking at an inexpensive pedestal sink until the budget recovers. Any opinions on that? Will the lack of countertop drive me insane? The tub is going in tomorrow. Tile early next week. By next weekend I'll have a functioning room again. I'll still need to get whatever sink solution in place and repair walls etc.

Why are all the photos on this site sideways?

Christina, if I take a photo with the camera turned sideways (as yours is), and rotate the image on DH's Mac, even if I save it after I rotate it, it posts sideways here. When I use a PC, it works fine. Both run Firefox. Go figure!

So....
I just sold this console table on CL. ($100 profit, I might add!)
The lady came to pick it up and liked it right away. Very cool.
Then she asked, "And who is going to load it for me?" Huh?

Since I wanted it gone and it is hot out, I called my very kind neighbor, who ran over to help me lift it into her SUV. It wouldn't fit without putting the seats down.

Then she said, "They don't go down."

Huh!? She'd never done it before, so we had to figure out how to remove this baffle thing and find the releases, etc.
Then she said, "My husband is going to be upset with me. He'll tell me the car isn't meant to be used like this." Huh?

I just realized how relieved people must be when I show up, grab something and heave it into my truck. It never occurred to ask someone to do it for me. I've had help, but felt completely guilty! And -- I didn't ask.

But now I have $150 where a few moments ago I had ZIP nada SQUAT Bupkiss LINT. Just in time to grab something for a pot luck birthday party for the same, kind neighbor.

Great story, Christine! Yeah, I'm imagining you, the Queen of "I Can Do It Myself!" being a bit flabbergasted at the woman's helplessness. Poor thing. Did she seriously think that hauling a 75-lb table would be any different than hauling a 150-lb human in the back seat?

Reminds me of the first episode of the Andy Griffith show. Opie (Ronnie Howard) was about 5, and Aunt Bea was going to come to live with Andy and Opie, to cook and clean. Opie didn't like her, so Andy took them on a picnic, so they could get to know each other. Aunt Bea wasn't very outdoorsy, and it didn't go well. Bea was all set to leave, since Opie apparently wasn't going to accept her. But when he heard, he said "But Pa! She can't leave! She can't fish, or catch frogs - who's going to take care of her?"

I actually remember that! OMG. It flashed a memory I didn't know I had.
I wonder what ever happened to Otis. And Floyd?