Fall Back

With the end of Daylight Savings Time on  Sunday, the clocks get set back and we all get an extra hour of sleep. That is unless you live with Cooper and Otis.

The dogs woke up at 6:45 am, which is the new 5:45 am! Coop and Otis were raring to go and would not consider laying down for even a few more minutes. The only positive was that the sun was up and we were not walking in the dark.

One hour later, after being walked and eating breakfast, both dogs were stretched out asleep on the bed.

Sheetrock Update

Steve has started to repair the sheetrock.

The light fixtures are uninstalled and the curtains are down. Some furniture has been moved upstairs and the rest is under tarps. The dining, family, and living room are all unusable.

We are hosting Thanksgiving, so this work needs to be completed in 2 weeks time and the house put back together.

$115 for dog food!

We switched the dogs to Hill's Science Diet d/d, which can only be purchased at the vet's office. We purchased an 18 lb bag and I gave the tech a $6 coupon. The tech was not sure how to process the coupon and said, take the food and we will bill you.

I received a bill in the mail for $60. I was shocked that the cost had gone up $20/bag in 2 weeks and there was no discount for the coupon. I called the vet and was told the bookkeeper had just adjusted the prices and was now on vacation. They could not be sure, but thought the price was accurate. Wow! I didn't argue, but thought this will be the last time the dogs get this food.

I put the check in the mail. Two days later, I received another bill. This time my coupon was deducted, but the bill said I owed $115! I called the vet's office again and they said the bill was for 2 bags of d/d. I explained that I only had one bag of food. The tech said one bag would be removed from our bill.

Jeff comment on all this, "You and your damn coupons!"

Danny Remembered

The other day Danny's dog walker, Diane, posted a comment on our blog. I visited her website and there was a photo of our beautiful boy.

Click on the link: Danny

It is nice to know that we are not the only ones who miss this special dog.

Stairwell Complete

The stairwell has been painted. This is the last item that needed to be painted due to the renovation.

Frozen Carrots

I was putting a frozen dinner into the oven and it slipped out of my hand. The dinner landed face down and the plastic covering the frozen vegetable broke. I picked the dinner up and a few carrots fell out.

Before I could clean up the carrots, Coop and Otis raced in and ate them all. Danny loved fresh carrots, but Cooper and Otis refuse to eat them. I don't know if the dogs liked the fact that the carrots were cold and crunchy like ice cubes, or if they thought they were getting something forbidden (my lunch).

Why all the cracking ?

To everyone who is asking why our newly installed walls and ceilings are cracking, I have to say that we do not have a definitive answer. No, we do not live on a fault line!

After reading several "How to Sheetrock"  books, it appears that fiberglass tape should NOT be used with pre-mixed joint compound. Even the Home Depot 1-2-3 book warns you that cracking may result. Special setting compounds are required for fiberglass tape.

Don't people use fiberglass tape and pre-mixed compound all the time ? Yes, but many times this leads to problems with joints cracking. The sheetrock god, US Gypsum, warns on their website, "Do NOT use fiberglass tape with joint compound, only with setting type compounds". This same warning is carried on their fiberglass tape.

Our contractor does not think this is the cause of the numerous ceiling and wall cracks.

If you are going to be installing sheetrock, I suggest reading more about paper joint tape vs fiberglass tape. Paper is significantly stronger and recommended by the majority of sheetrock professionals.

Leaf Blower

  I was walking Cooper and Otis and we passed  a landscaping crew cleaning up leaves. This was the first time Coop saw a walk behind leaf blower. I thought Cooper might be scared of the noise. Instead, Coop started whining and wagging his tail.

The sight of a hundred leaves blowing around was fascinating to Coop. Coop loves to chase the falling leaves and this was a bonanza. I pulled a reluctant Coop away from the landscapers.

Eating cats & acorns

The mailman brought Otis and Cooper a very special gift - homemade cookies from Bobbi. Bobbi had originally adopted Otis in Maine, but could not keep him. Bobbi still keeps track of Otis thru the blog.

  
The dog treats are in the shape of cats, bats, owls and acorns. Otis is very happy to finally be able to snack on cats and acorns.

The pups love these treats! The cookies smell so good, that I am tempted to eat one. Thanks Bobbi & Michael !

More Cracking

After  painting the built in cabinets, the dining room wall needed some touch up. As I was painting the wall, I noticed a hairline crack. I took a deep breath and tried not to panic. Perhaps the wall crack was limited to just one spot .

In my heart, I knew that just like the ceiling, most of the walls were probably cracking. I looked in the hallway, family room and formal living room. Every external wall is cracking!

If I was angry about the ceiling, I am furious about the walls. Every room will have to be repainted.

Jeff is trying to find a resolution for this debacle. Jeff is talking with our contractor, Steve, to see what will be done to remedy this situation.

Slippers II

I realized that my slippers would never survive if I left them on the floor. I put the slippers on a shelf in the closet and thought that would be the end of Oti's interest.

Two days later, Otis pranced out of the closet, proudly carrying my slipper. It seems that Otis had no problem reaching up to grab my shoe.When Otis stands on his hind legs, he is as tall as I am. So, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how high Oti can reach.

I find it odd that Otis ignores racks of leather shoes, but desires a plush slipper. Otis is a puppy at heart and it seems my slipper is now his favorite toy.

Built In Update

The built in cabinet doors have been painted and installed. I think that the cabinets look nice and will be a focal point in the room.

I was able to fit most, but not all, of the china into the new cabinets.

Oak Trees

After Oti's acorn incident, I read online that acorns and oak leaves are poisonous to dogs. Since Otis did not swallow or chew the acorn, I was not worried.

A few days later, I was walking the dogs. Cooper was chasing the falling leaves. I looked down and Coop had an oak leaf dangling from his lips.

Maybe I do want winter to get here quickly after all.

Tick Season

It's that time of year when the ticks start trying to find a warm place for the winter.  Every now and then we spot a tick on Cooper's head and yank it off immediately.  I wonder how they end up on his head?

Cracking

With the cabinets almost finished, I hoped that our work on the house would soon be finished. That is, until I noticed a crack in the formal living room ceiling. Upon closer inspection, there were 2 long cracks. I was upset, but Jeff said this may be due to settling. Steve was still working on the cabinets and said he would fix the problem. Jeff and Steve looked at the other rooms and did not see any issues.

I came home to find that most of the joints in the formal living room ceiling had been taped and plastered. I nearly cried. The entire ceiling has to be repainted. Before painting, furniture has to be moved, all light fixtures have to be removed and  curtains have to be taken down.

Fast forward to a sunny day after the cabinet construction was finished. I slowly walked thru the downstairs and found multiple cracks in the hallway, family room and dining room ceilings. Almost every ceiling joint is cracking.

I am angry and disheartened. For there to be so many problems, the cause is either faulty materials or faulty workmanship. Jeff and I spent weeks painting the downstairs and this work will need to be redone. When we renovated, the process seemed to go fairly smoothly. I never imagined that 3 months later, it would become a nightmare.

1,000 posts

This is our 1,000th blog post! When Jeff started Wilton Diaries back in 2006, I never imagined it would survive so long or that I would become the principal writer.


I suppose that my writing many of the posts is not that surprising. Growing up I thought of becoming a writer or an English Lit major. Practicality won out and I graduated with a BS in Computer Science.


I have learned a lot by writing on the blog:

* Writing is hard work. It may seem effortless, but a lot of time is spent crafting ideas, taking pictures and putting the content together.
* Deadlines are tough. To maintain interest, I try to post every few days. However, life is not always interesting and even Cooper and Otis have settled into a predictable pattern
* My admiration for talented authors has grown. It seems that I often fail to find the words that truly express what is in my heart. Yet for some, this is a seemingly simple task.

I am still pleasantly surprised that people take the time to visit our blog and share in our Wilton adventures. To all our readers, thank you!

Acorn

I was grilling on the deck and saw Otis pick something up and start to chew on it. I thought perhaps Oti had found a stick, but there was nothing hanging out of his lips.

I decided that I should find out just what Oti had. Good luck trying to get a large dog to open his mouth, when he does not want to.

I finally got Oti's mouth open and stuck my hand inside. Talk about trust, I have no doubt that Oti could crush my hand if he wanted to. I searched around and pulled out an acorn! I threw the acorn over the railing. Oti just stood there and stared at where the acorn landed.

Maybe dogs really are like toddlers, putting everything in their mouth.

Painting Built Ins

The panel, mantel and cabinets have now been painted. It took many hours to apply 2 coats of paint to all of this wood. The doors still need to be primed and painted.

I like the look of the mantel and built ins. However, I am not sure that it has the Wow Factor that I was hoping for. Perhaps putting items into the cabinets and on the mantel will help make this more interesting.

Beautiful

Sometimes I forget just how handsome our pups are.

Cabinets

The dining room cabinets are now finished!

I hope that we can complete the painting in 2 weeks.