Armenian Lentil Soup
… not that I have much stress. The bathroom renovation has gone quite well, but I don’t know how people can have an entire house built, much less build one themselves. Not that Gary and I have argued; we seem to be able to come to an agreement on everything, either by virtue of like-mindedness, or compromise.
On Monday we had 3 windows installed… kitchen, living room, old bedroom. The next day the bathroom work started, aside from the demolition which we had done in preparation. Over the next days, the bathtub was torn out, floor repaired and subfloor laid, dropped ceiling framed in and the basic rewiring done. Yesterday the plumber came and renewed all the pipes and fittings that needed work, and plunked the new bathtub in. At this point, we can’t shower unless we hang some plastic all around… but we can have baths. Work will start again on Monday… drywall and other things. I’ll keep you posted!
It’s funny how my own personality comes into play. Often during my adult life, I’ve been told that what I envision “can’t be done”; and at those times I couldn’t see my way around the obstacles. When the electrician came and said, “No you can’t have the fan here, and you can’t have the potlights there…”, I immediately lost my moxie. Although I would have liked (to be able) to argue these points myself, I was glad that Gary was there. We INSISTED that the fan & light unit, which is designed and rated for use inside a tub area, be installed just where we wanted. To install it elsewhere would have made venting it a pain, and have ruined our plan for the potlights to be spaced in a row, equidistant, over the vanity & toilet area. Then we were told that one potlight had to be installed near the old junction box to provide access to the box. So, the wiring proceeded and I went to bed somewhat upset because the potlights were not going to be in-a-row after all!
When the main contractor came back the next day, he remarked on the apparent change in plan regarding the symmetrical placement of the lights, and Gary related what we had been told. So the contractor spoke to the electrician (and added that the wife, meaning, I, was not happy) and our original idea of “three in a row potlights” is back in the plan. We have also found out that the cabinet maker who was asked months ago to build the vanity and coordinating cabinets, has NOT even started on that. What a rigamarole!
Which reminds me… one night in the middle of this project, though it is going quite well, I drank an entire bottle of wine that one of my darling daughters brought to us… it’s actually called “Rigamarole!”, and it was lovely. Yesterday on the radio, I even heard it recommended as one of this year’s affordable wines. I know it’s great for stress control!
Do you know I can’t find either words, “rigamarole” or “moxie” in my Webster’s dictionary? Hmm. Thank goodness for www.dictionary.com, where I found both, and the alternate spelling “rigmarole”.
Today I have just one little dog to groom, a cocker & bichon mix named “Scruffy”. We’ll fix him up so that he’s not scruffy-looking for awhile. Yesterday I had one tiny sheltie to groom… a good little dog who had been “fussing with” one of her back paws. Right away I could see that her dew claws had grown right around in a circle and INTO the pads… one was pressing on the flesh and one was imbedded. Poor wee thing. When I clipped those claws short, I had to extricate the point of the one, causing minor bleeding but GREAT relief to the dog, I’m sure. There was no infection. When I finished my work and saw the owner again, I gently reminded her that I’m “usually around” even just for toenail clipping between groomings.
We asked my brother-in-law to give us an opinion on tile placement in our bathroom, so I’m including a picture. In my mind, these are “poor man’s Brazilian Slate”… a certain colour, in ceramic tile. If we had more resources, as in more retail outlets which carry marvelous stone and tile, we might have bought slate, but these are the choices we made based on what we could buy locally, in our tiny town.
I made up a little “sample” with a mix of these tiles, using only dry grout. The small tiles, and perhaps a band and border of segments of the bigger tiles, are destined for our tub surround area. The 12″ tiles are to go on the floor.
Here is one of our boarders who is with us for a few weeks while her family is in Cancun. This is Cinder, a very small pomeranian cross; she’s sassy and sweet and seems right at home:
I didn’t do any “Photoshopping” of Cinder’s eyes, which in real life, appear black as ebony, like the rest of her.
Okay, so this isn’t getting Scruffy groomed. Will talk to you later, my friends. XXX ~ Ann
