Followers

Sunday, September 7, 2014

The unfittie returns at long last

Hello world, I'm still alive, and as well as can be.

There are still some final touches to be done on The Great Canadian Home Renovation...but I have almost reached the picture-hanging stage in the living room. Various pictures are on chairs and bookcases around the room, being "tested" as to colour and appropriateness, with only minor attention as yet to subject.
However, it feels good to have something to write about, at long last, along with the desire to say it.
When we bought this house, it was guesstimated by the realtor and the former owners to be approximately my age.
Old.
And old houses, built piecemeal in the 1940s, 1950s and onward, as time and money allowed, can prove to be a serious challenge to owners in the 21st century. With said challenge can come a lot of surprises, many additional costs, and some creative cussing.
Sigh.
Now I have to hope Blogger will communicate with my camera when I take photos of the "new" house. Much to my surprise, my two new photos appeared when I connected the camera today. The older picture, taken last week, required much ado on my part to get it from the camera to the computer.
Perhaps...and I'm making no promises...perhaps I'm back to blogging!
Meanwhile, you might be wondering about the photo shown above. Well, our darlin' dog Lindy has pretty much lost her eyesight, and gets confused in the house sometimes because the renovation required considerable moving of furniture, and she bumped her head on the wall a few times when aiming for the doorway between the living room and her food dish.
If you know Lindy, you know food is worth far more to her than a mere bump on the head, but my husband panicked, so I had him take me to an upholstery shop. There I purchased two large pieces of upholstery foam, which I covered with pillowcases intended for a child's body pillow.
Now, when Lindy misses the side of the door, she hits her head on the foam. She has also decided that the pillow helping to keep the foam upright makes a nice place for a nap, and for storing her favourite toy, a bright pink fellow named Biggy Piggy.
And now for the renovation project in all of its glory...make that "part of its glory"...
For years I've had a big, heavy, white-painted, wooden bookcase. I had Dick move it out of the shed, where it was stored during the renovation, onto a large piece of heavy plastic in the yard. I started to spray it black.
That's when I discovered that even spray-painting, as easy as it might sound, still requires bending oneself into awkward shapes, and is also quite painful for a person with chronically sore hands.
Who knew?
So I spray-painted the top and the sides black, re-painted the shelves white (because I did, after all, have to cover up the black where my spray went astray) and am quite delighted with the result.
I somehow haven't managed to fix the hole that appeared gratuitously when the bookcase was removed from the shed, but I'm thinking of remedies somewhat more effective than stick-on mailing labels, which didn't work.
Meanwhile, I'm delighted with our colour choices. Two shades of grey on the walls, with white moulding and baseboards, is very soothing.

Bookcase, complete with hole at left, and grey smears
where the spray paint went too far. (My hands shake.)
















Bookcase, with random contents, awaits arrival of more
boxes from the shed. Meanwhile, I'm trying out a couple
of items for the wall around it. The copper picture of Lindy
was made by my husband's youngest daughter, Monica.
The abstract painting is by his daughter Andrea. The small
oil portrait of Lindy was done by Canadian plein air artist
Aleta Karstad. Do check out her work here.

21 comments:

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
YYAYAAYYAYAYAYYAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY its KAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY.... so glad to see you on the screen again. I was this close to sending out the search party!

Loving the look of the place - sorry to hear of Lindy's bumps, but seems you can't keep the old gal from her beloved fridge! Pace yourself as you get back into the blogging; one a week would be welcome &*> Hugs, YAM xx

Jenn Jilks said...

I'm so proud of you! You're good to read, and a wonderful writer! WElcome back!

Kay L. Davies said...

@ Jenn — Thank you for all your encouragement.
@ Yam — I will try not to jump right into twice-a-day blog-posting. Would hate to wear myself out again.
Luv to both of you,
K

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Kay, so nice to see a post from you. You and your humor are missed online, very much. You have a had a bit of a rest? - is that possible while renovating? let's call it a break....and I hope you will be blogging at least from time to time........God forbid you should not blog "ever again." No, we cant have that. Sorry, gal, you are needed out here in the world of cyberspace! Even if only when you feel like it......

Marian said...

wonderful, all around! xoxo

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Hmmmm.....thought I commented but that was maybe just on facebook.......SO happy you are back and yes, put whatever restraints on yourself that you need to, in order to have energy to still delight the masses! We miss you when you're not here.

Helen said...

Love it when your name pops up on my screen .. you are not forgotten, promise. Stay well and post again when you can!

Fran said...

It's lovely to have you back, I've missed you and Lindy xxx

Joyful said...

Poor Lindy with all the moving of furniture, etc. But how lovely that you thought to get her some cushions and she seems to be enjoying them.

You do sound very busy with all your renovations and I'm sure it's all been very stressful. But it sounds like you are nearing the finish line so well done. I do like what you've done with the bookshelf.

Hugs. xx

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! And keep posting! k.

Anonymous said...

Kay--I thought I posted, but maybe didn't do it right, or maybe it's in moderation. Congrats on the house AND on posting. The grays sound nice--and a great idea for LIndy. k.

Mara said...

Hole in bookcase? Well, you needed a light in it didn't you? And lights come with wires don't they? Which look ugly when all sticky-out! Just saying. And don't give me nonsense about it being low in the case. Turn it up side down. Or rather: have somebody else do it WITHOUT CAUSING ANY MORE DAMAGE!

Glad to have you back.

Kay L. Davies said...

@ Marian, Helen, Fran, Penny, and Mara. Thanks for being there!
@ Karin and Sherry: nice to have two comments from each of you. The more the merrier!
Luv, K

Jim said...

Glad you are back, Kay. Been missing you. The bookcase looks nice. I was going to tease about the hole, rats ate through. But on seeing it I decided that it has been there a long time, someone needed a hole to pass an electrical cord into the bookcase.
See you above.
..

Jim said...

Forgot to mention poor Lindy. She should map her routes. Washing the floor or maybe even vacuuming will make it hard for her to navigate.

The outside routes will wash away by the rain. Watch her closely when it has rained. Our Toto got lost for three days after a rain. Three other dogs rescued her and returned her back home.
..

Lolamouse said...

Love that bookcase! And you are right-a mere head bump means nothing to a hungry dog!

Kay L. Davies said...

@ Jim and Lolamouse — that old bookcase has had more attention in the last two weeks than it has known in years.
Glad you like it, Ms Mouse. I do, too. Something very different about the gleaming black contrasting with the white. And yes, dogs bump into things all the time, but Lindy is her daddy's baby girl and he's sure she's suffering on her way to her dish.
Jim, thanks for the pointers re blind dogs. Wonderful how Toto was rescued and taken home by three other dogs. Lindy doesn't leave our yard unless she's on a leash, now clipped to her harness rather than her collar, so she can be pulled back from the brink.

diane b said...

Glad to see you back.

Gattina said...

Renovating a whole house ! must have been a lot of work ! What a good idea you had to protect Lindy's head. The shelf looks great. We are going towards autumn I hate that season !

Powell River Books said...

Remodeling can be such fun and a pain all at the same time. Glad you are back. - Margy

Leslie said...

Hello dear you - just checking in to see how you are faring. I LOVE what you are doing with your home (that bookcase is tres chic.) I haven't been blogging much myself (translate - almost not at all) but still think of you often and hope you are finding bright spots in each day. Give your darling Lindy a hug for me.