Fan

The new bathroom fan has been installed. Yes, it does look familiar. We purchased the same fan that we used in the downstairs bath.

I really like that there is a nightlight in this fan. Plus, it is incredibly quiet.

Compared to our old ugly fan, it is a real improvement (see second photo).

I bought this fan on the Internet and saved 50%. Plus there was FREE FedEx shipping to the house. How could I resist ?

The store we typically purchase from admitted that they could not compete with online purchasing and are losing customers. I don't mind paying a little more to a brick and mortar store, but to pay twice the amount makes me feel like I am being taken advantage off.

Don't get me started on their markup for Jado faucets! I will rant about that on another day.

Opossum

The other day Cooper began to bark and bark and bark while staring out the back door in the kitchen.

I thought the deer were in the yard, but when I looked outside, there was an opossum crawling out from under the shed.

I was surprised to see the sleepy eyed creature walking around in the middle of the day.

I joked with Jeff that there must be a condo complex under the shed. We have seen a fox, woodchuck and now opossum all coming and going from below this structure.

If we could charge rent, I am sure we would have enough money to fund the house renovation.

Can you be quiet ?

This is what the master bathroom now looks like.

You can see that the vanity, mirror, and towel bars have been removed. When I began to eye the toilet with a look of disdain, Jeff said "Don't even think about it".

While Jeff was doing all this work, Cooper stretched out on the bed for a nap. When the hammer came out, Cooper sighed and buried his head under the pillows as if to say, "Can you be quiet, I'm trying to sleep".

Countertop

We found a granite countertop at Lowes, that should compliment the vanity.

Master Vanity

To reduce the cost of the master bath renovation we decided to buy an off the shelf vanity at Lowes.

This is the vanity that we chose.

Of course, the vanity was on the top storage shelf and we needed to have a crew with a forklift come and get the item down for us.

Master Bath

When we bought our house, we hoped to renovate the postage stamp sized master bath. The goal was to tear off the back of the house and create a much larger space. Unfortunately, the cost of such a project is too great.

So, I have been suffering with this tiny bathroom. However, when the 20 year old Kohler sink began to rust, I knew that something needed to be done.

We decided that we would do a mini-renovation. Nothing drastic, as I still hope to one day demolish this bathroom.

We will repaint to match the master bedroom (which was painted this summer). We are also buying a new vanity, granite counter top and fixtures. The towel bars and window treatments will also be replaced.

We are leaving the toilet, tub, tile and sheetrock in place. The mirror was going to stay in place, but I have been thinking it should be removed.

Many thanks to Jeff for agreeing to take on ANOTHER bathroom.

Sunshine

Cooper loves to lay on the bed and stare at the sunlight coming in the window.

Couch

I wanted to buy a new couch before Christmas, but we were so busy working on the bathroom that there was no time to shop.

We started looking again and found a sofa and loveseat at Pilgrim Furniture that we liked.

I did not want the standard fabric, so we are having one custom made (swatches are on the couch). Both pieces should arrive in 8 weeks.

Spring ?

The warm weather has melted away all the snow and we can now see green grass again.

The spring bulbs are starting to poke up from the ground.

Even Cooper seems to have a "spring" in his step on these sunny days.

Tubing

For a while now, I have wanted to go snow tubing. Unfortunately the weekends fly by and before you know it the snow has disappeared as has any chance of tubing.

This weekend we went to the Woodbury Ski Center. There are several tubing runs and since they make their own snow, the runs are open until late March.

We had A LOT of fun. I would highly recommend that anyone who wants to go tubing, go here. While you can get good speed solo tubing, when you tie two tubes together, you and your copilot literally fly down the hillside. Yes, you will be airborne for several seconds when you hit a bump.

I went down the black diamond course once. This course has several moguls in it. I don't think it would have been too bad, except my tube turned right at the start and I went down the slope feet first. Being blind to what is ahead is an interesting experience.

All I can say is that we will go again next year.

Reservations

Our Northern Lights adventure is a GO!

Our Fairbanks and Bettles, Alaska hotel reservations have been made.

Wendy informed me that we will be in Alaska during the winter solstice and experience 2 complete days of darkness. I can't imagine what that will be like.

48 hours of darkness makes me question my sanity. However, I think this will be an adventure we will never forget.

Happy Valentine's Day

We used to say that Danny wore the Valentine's color due to his red collar and coat. Cooper is more of a strawberry blonde, but he too shares the spirit of Valentine's Day with his willingness to give kisses.

This is the most special Valentine's Day for us. 5 years ago was one of our darkest days, but today we celebrate life and the time that we have been given together.

The biggest lesson learned is that life can be incredibly short and time is gift that should not be wasted. Celebrate everyday, especially on Valentine's Day.

Thanks to W&J for the balloons. Cooper is fascinated by the light reflecting off their shiny surface.

Power Failure

Last night's strong wind storm brought down power lines in Wilton and we lost power for 4 hours, starting at 8:30 pm.

When the lights go out, you search for flashlights and candles. This is a fairly common scenario and not a big deal....unless you have Cooper living in your home.

Cooper goes crazy when he sees the light from a flashlight and the candles threw shadows all over the walls.

After about 30 minutes of this, we decided "enough" and headed to bed. Even after the flashlights were off, Cooper seemed to know that something was not right and paced in the bedroom. However, once the power came back on, Cooper hopped up on the bed and immediately went to sleep.

Another Accident

When I got into the office this morning, my phone was ringing. It was Jeff, announcing that he had been in a car accident on the way to work.

Jeff was in the 4Runner and was stopped in traffic when he was hit from behind. The good news is that no one was hurt and the car seems to be fine. The VW that hit him was damaged from eating the 4Runner's trailer hitch.

The 4Runner goes into the shop for basic maintenance on Friday, so we will ask the mechanic to check the back end.

It seems that there are a lot of accidents being caused by people not paying attention while driving.

Thick

Cooper's coat is becoming extremely thick. While Danny grew a long mane, Cooper seems to have shorter but thicker hair.

When Cooper lays down, his hair clumps. I think the Lab in Cooper is keeping the hair short and the Golden is making it dense.

Lately people have been commenting on how soft Coop's coat is. I guess salmon really is good for a dog's skin and coat.

The Adventurers

The spirit of adventure still lives in America, at least in the hearts of four people.

Jeff, Wendy,Meghan, and I have agreed to visit Alaska to see the Northern Lights. Many thanks to Wendy for doing all the research and coordination of schedules.

We will be spending a week in Alaska in Dec 2009.

In the spirit of, "this is a once in a lifetime trip, lets do it right", we are not just going to Fairbanks. Why stay in Fairbanks, when you can go to an even colder location further north ?

Our plan is:
We will all meet in Anchorage and spend one night recovering from an all day flight
Travel by scenic train to Fairbanks and spend one night
Fly to Bettles, Alaska where we will be spending 3 nights at a rustic lodge. Yes, they have indoor plumbing and heat.
Fly back to Fairbanks. After this our group heads in separate directions.

I am hoping that the Northern Lights will appear on at least one of the 3 days we are in Bettles. There are no guarantees and I have read online that sometimes the Lights refuse to appear.

In any case, it will be an adventure and a chance to spend time with old and new friends. As Wendy says, "One item off our bucket list".

Done

The shower door is now installed.

The bathroom is finally complete.

The renovation was A LOT of work (mostly done by Jeff) and I am very happy with the results.

One down, two more to go ;)

How do you like me now ?

Cooper has been with us for 5 months!

I love this picture - it shows Coop and his sassy attitude.

I like to think he is sticking out his tongue at his old owner's in Alabama. I can read in his eyes the message "See what you missed".

Cooper is a never ending surprise, always keeping us on our toes. Light and shadow are still Cooper's favorite things and that is a battle we may never win. However, I think that Cooper is happy and for all his craziness, we would not give him up.

The Other Cooper

We recently bought a new PC.

Our standard naming convention is that each PC is named after one of our dogs. We have Brandy, Danny and Cooper. Jake was renamed when he was given to Jeff's parents.

This is Cooper (PC). Not nearly as cute as Cooper (dog).

Aurora Borealis

For several years now, I have been saying that I wanted to see the Aurora Borealis. I think that anyone who sees this picture from NASA would want to view the Northern Lights in person.

While this sounds like a great idea to me, there are a few obstacles that make viewing the Lights difficult. First, the lights are best seen in winter. Second, one of the best places to view the Aurora is in Alaska - Northern Alaska - Fairbanks or farther north. Temperature's in Fairbanks are SUBARCTIC - the average high in Dec is 2 °F and the low is -15 °F. In the winter, Fairbanks has 5 hours of daylight.

Even in a heated house, I am always cold. Why would I ever willingly vacation in an icebox ? Even Jeff who likes the cold has said that he has no great desire to freeze, but would go if I TRULY wanted this.

There are also smaller obstacles, like getting time off from work, finding someone to watch Cooper and purchasing arctic gear.

Luckily, I am not alone in my quest to see the Northern Lights. My friend Wendy is also interested. Every so often we say we should go, but no serious planning ever occurs. That is all starting to change.....

I believe that is called a teaser ending :)

ES-310

The new Weber grill has been assembled and actually works! We did not cook on it yet, but did make sure that it lit.

The entire project took a few hours and we had to go back and redo some steps, but in all, it was not too difficult.

I am hoping that this grill lasts as long as our previous one - 13 years!

Soccer Ball

The soccer ball that Linda sent is badly wounded.

Cooper chewed on the soccer ball until he put a hole in it. In order to get to the squeaker he began to pull out mouthfuls of stuffing. He did not try to eat the stuffing, Cooper just wanted the squeaker.

I wish I had the camera to take a picture. Cooper had a gleam in his eyes, as he held the ball in his front paws and repeatedly pulled out bits of stuffing.

It makes me smile to see Cooper so happy. Cooper has come a long way from the scared, nervous dog that arrived in our home almost 5 months ago.

Glasses

The Lenox glasses that I purchased on eBay finally arrived.

I am glad to say that they arrived safely - not a scratch on them. The seller did a great job of wrapping each in bubble wrap and tissue paper.

Now I am ready for our next dinner party.

Thank You Linda

When I got home from work today, there was a package waiting. I thought it might be my Lenox glasses, but it was addressed to Cooper!

Danny's Maine Mom Linda had sent Cooper a present. I told Cooper that the gift was for him and his tail started to wag. Cooper gave the box a sniff and his tail went into over-drive.

Cooper danced around the kitchen impatiently as I opened the box. I reached in and gave him one of the toys (a felt ball). Cooper raced out of the room, laid down in the family room and began to chew it.

I called Cooper back in and showed him a soft soccer ball with a squeaker. Cooper lives to tear out squeakers, so this toy may not survive for long.

There was the bag of treats that smelled so good (like molasses) I was tempted to try one. I gave Cooper a few of the cookies and he gave me a smile.

Thank you Linda!

PS - We are having problems with our camera, so there will not be any new pictures for a while

Toto

When we renovated the bathroom, we ordered a Toto toilet. Since all the bathroom fixtures were brushed nickel, we special ordered a brushed nickel toilet lever.

Unfortunately, when the plumber went to install the toilet handle, it broke. We thought that the handle may have been defective so I contacted Toto customer service.

I have to say that I was very impressed by Toto's service. They agreed to send me a new handle and immediately notified me when the part was on back order.

The new handle arrived this week and is now installed. I told Jeff it makes the bathroom look 100 times better.

His response - I guess I didn't have to renovate the entire bathroom. I could have just replaced the toilet handle ;)

I would definitely recommend Toto if you're shopping for a toilet.

Friday

Whenever possible I try to work at home on Friday.

When Danny was here, he would wander into the office every so often to get petted. Danny might even lay down for a few minutes, but would quickly leave and spend most of the day sleeping on the bed.

We know that someone once spent a lot of time training Danny and if he had no interest in spending a day in the office, I thought I would never see Cooper.

The odd thing is that lately Cooper will spend Friday curled up on the office carpet. If I wander into the bedroom, he will jump on the bed, but is soon back in the office.

If I am on an important call, I put Coop in the bedroom. When I go to let him out, Cooper is waiting by the door - ready to run into the office.

Is it possible that someday Cooper could be a "velcro" Golden ?

Birthday

I never know if men like to receive flowers or if it is seen as too feminine. However, these flowers were too pretty to resist on a birthday weekend.

A new stainless Weber grill brought some testosterone to the event.

Framer

The needlepoint Santa that Jeff's Aunt Judy stitched for us has been framed.

I thought this green and gold mat nicely accented the colors in the piece.

Sandy

It has been snowing here every few days.

This means that there is a lot of salt and sand on the roads and sidewalks.

This also means that Cooper is filthy after a walk.

We went to Wilton Center the other night and Cooper came back as a big, wet, sandy mess. Thankfully we have an old blanket that covers the back seat of the car.

I know that Cooper must be growing more hair, because it now takes a lot longer to towel him dry and then brush out the sand.

None of this seems to bother Cooper. In fact, he seems to search out puddles to splash in. Could that be the Retriever in him ?

PS - Isn't Cooper looking gorgeous ?

eBay

One of my Lenox wine glasses broke. Since I had bought these several years ago at a Lenox outlet, I knew it would not be easy to find a replacement.

I visited the Replacements, Ltd online store and they had a replacement glass for $20 + $9 shipping. I think I originally paid $25 for 4 glasses, so I refused to pay $29 for a single glass.

eBay to the rescue!

I looked at the auctions and saw that a set of 4 glasses were up for bid. With 1 day and 7 hours until the auction ended, I waited impatiently to place my bid. I REALLY wanted these glasses.

We have been sniped before and learned that you want to wait until the last minute to put in an offer.

With 60 seconds to go, I put in a bid. A previous bidder responded and the race was on. Luckily, my maximum offer was greater than theirs. In the end, I won the auction for $26.

I am now waiting for the glasses to ship. Hopefully, they will arrive intact.

Sauce Thief

I had Chinese takeout in the downstairs refrigerator. I put the bag on the basement stairs while I went to put the laundry in the dryer.

It took about 2 minutes to throw the clothes in and start the dryer.

When I turned around, Cooper was laying on his bed with a plastic bag in his mouth.

It seems that Coop had stuck his head in the takeout bag and pulled out what was on top. Luckily, he grabbed sauce packets and he had not eaten any of them.

I guess Cooper has a hankering for Chinese.

Shower Enclosure

We received two estimates for the shower enclosure. One is from a local glass shop and the second is from a shower door specialty shop.

Both estimates were close. I was surprised at the cost, but it seems that if you want sleek and trendy you will pay a premium. As Jeff says, after all the money spent on the travertine and installation, you want the beautiful tile to be seen.

After discussing the estimates, we have decided to go with the shower door company. In talking with both companies, it seems that installation is critical or the shower will leak. Since there is no frame to join the glass pieces, you need an exact fit or you will have puddles on the floor.

Cooper's Ornament

Our Westport family came to visit last night and brought us this beautiful ornament. I was thrilled that Cooper will now have an ornament on the Christmas tree.

All of our other dogs have an ornament, which are hung each year near the top of our tree. We bought Danny's ornament before we ever met him. We were in Maine waiting to pick him up and while shopping at LL Bean saw a retriever ornament and bought it.

Our first Golden Retriever ornament was bought several years before Jake arrived. Each year we hung the ornament as a promise for what would come, once we had a house.

Our Sheltie ornament, which looks like Brandy, was bought in Jeff's hometown and will be 20 years old this Xmas.

Hanging the ornaments is bittersweet. I smile as I think of all the happy memories and feel sad for what is lost.

Faucet

The bathroom faucet is now installed. I really like the look of the Jado fixtures.

Two frameless shower door companies will be coming to the house next weekend to provide estimates for the shower enclosure.

Comments

We have gotten a fair amount of "Comment Spam" lately. Comment Spam is where an anonymous person posts a link to their website as a comment on your blog where the comment has absolutely no relevance to the article. They do this to help their "Google Score". The number of times other people link to your website increases your Google Score and gives your site a greater likelihood that it will show up at the top of a search listing.

As such, we will be moderating all comments from now on. Keep commenting, but there may be a delay from when you post the comment to when it actually shows up.

Life dictates that a few bad apples spoil it for the rest of the tree.

Spring in Winter

On a snowy morning, I walked into the grocery store and saw these flowers.

I could not resist bringing some sunshine into the house on such a cold day.

A Pretty Golden

When walking in Wilton Center the other night, we passed by a restaurant just as a couple was walking out. I heard the woman say, "What a pretty Golden!".

I was three steps away before I realized she was talking about Cooper.

This is the first time that a stranger has called Cooper a Golden. Usually people think he is a Lab and the word used to describe him is nice, not pretty.

I looked at Cooper, striding down the sidewalk in his thick coat, tail wagging to reveal his beautiful feathering and thought yes, he really is pretty.

Bruce Marble & Tile

We've had a very good experience with Bruce Marble & Tile in South Norwalk, CT during our bathroom remodel. Not only do they have a tile and granite selection that is second to none, they are extremely fun people to work with.

We worked quite a bit with Alan. When we first started looking he showed us lots of tile samples and made lots of suggestions. He was great in both sharing knowledge and suggesting more budget friendly options. When we finally picked a tile, Alan exclaimed "That one is FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS a square foot!" At first, Valerie and I looked at each other with a blank stare and Alan laughed and gave us the real price much closer to our budget.

A few weeks later, we went to pick out the vanity top. Valerie spied a piece of Esmeralda from across the yard and had to see it. When we inquired about the price, Alan exclaimed "Your wife has very good taste, that slab is FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!" By now we were used to it, and laughed along.

We then went inside and picked an edge for the vanity top. Valerie picked the fancy Ogee edge and Bruce (Alan's Brother) let us in on a secret.

"You know why that call that an Ogee edge? When we tell you the price you say 'Oh Gee...'".

At that point, I interrupted him and said, "Let me guess, FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!"

Bruce Marble & Tile did and excellent job installing the vanity top and they always did what they said they would do. We would not hesitate to use them again.

Checkout their work.

Esmeralda Arrives

The Esmeralda granite counter top and Toto undermount sink have been installed.

Jeff has to work this weekend, so I am not sure when the faucet will be installed.

Gray Belly

Today we celebrate Cooper's gray belly!

Now, I know that for most dogs a gray belly would not be a good thing. A dog's belly should be cotton candy pink.

When we first got Cooper, his belly was BLACK and the skin was very rough. When brushing him tonight, I saw that his belly is now gray with little flecks of pink.

I don't know if Cooper will ever have pure pink skin. However, I know that his high quality food, vitamins, brushings and baths all seem to be working.

Those little flecks of pink give me hope that perhaps we can erase some of Cooper's sad past.

Sittin' in the morning sun

Here's Cooper chilling out with his shadow friends.

North Country

We spent a few days at Jeff's parents house in upstate NY. This is the first time that Cooper met this set of "grandparents".

I was nervous, as Cooper has a lot of energy. After a 4 hour car ride, he raced into the house and sniffed every corner of every room. Eventually, Cooper calmed down and stretched out in front of the wood stove.

Did I mention that there was SNOW - LOTS AND LOTS OF SNOW! The snow easily came up to Cooper's belly. He would come back from his walks with snow balls caked between his pads.

When Cooper walked in the road, he couldn't see over the 3 ft snow bank, so would try to climb on top of them for a better view.

Jeff's parents were very understanding about Cooper's quirkiness (barking when light is reflected onto the ceiling). Jeff's Dad said give him a little more time - Cooper doesn't have to focus on just surviving anymore and can concentrate on being a dog. I like that thought.

I did hear Cooper looks different in person - more like a Lab!

Cooper also go to meet the rest of Jeff's family. I was proud of how well he acted with the kids. In fact, he would go from person to person, asking to be petted.

Window Treatment

The new window treatment in the bathroom has been installed.

Jeff laughed as I packed up my glass tile, cabinet and paint samples and headed to my favorite curtain shop. I have learned that you never exactly remember the colors you are trying to match, so the samples really help.

I am thinking that some green and purple towels would coordinate nicely with the purple stripe in the valance. Now, I just need to time to shop for them.

I don't like carrots

While making a salad, I dropped a carrot on the floor. I know that Danny loved these orange vegetables, so offered it to Cooper.

Cooper took it and wandered off. I assumed that he would eat the carrot, but I later found a pile of carrot chunks on the carpet. It seems that Cooper enjoys chewing the crunchy carrot, but not eating it.

Needless to say, this will be the last carrot that Cooper gets.

Waiting for Esmeralda

The granite installer called and said that the Esmeralda counter top has been cut and polished.

They could install immediately, if we were home to let them in.

Unfortunately, due to our schedule, I had to delay the install until next Friday.

I can't wait to see what the vanity will look like. One step closer to complete.