Saturday, August 8, 2015

Whatcha Doing?


I spent most of this week couped up at home - I caught a major case of the flu last weekend and only felt better on Wednesday.  Buddy did a lot of snuggling and naps with me to make me feel better.  He is a little attention hog - this photo was taken just a few minutes ago as I was preparing this blog.  "Whatcha Doing?"


Buddy photo-bombing my free patio chair shot
Hubby and I both have a really hard time leaving perfectly good items curbside when we come upon them.  A week ago we were driving near my Mom's condo and found three of these patio chairs with a "free" sign.  We happened to be driving the truck.  Hubby immediately pulled over and put them in the back.  I tried to talk him out of it frankly - we really don't need any more patio furniture - but he insisted.  They were in really good condition with only one having a bit of rust from the winter rains.  He now uses one in the yard for sitting when he plays marathon ball sessions with Buddy who has now learned to give up the ball, encouraged by treats of course. The other two just sat on the side of the house for a few days.  Then we made a visit to our neighbors and gifted them a bag of tomatoes (whether they wanted them or not) and they brought their German Shepherd out to play with Buddy in our back yard.  They saw the chairs and we told them the story casually mentioning the fact that we didn't know what we were going to do with the other 2.  They said they could use them for their front porch - they only had a plastic chair that had broke as the wind had blown it over and these would be perfect.  So, three chairs went to two households and everyone was happy.  Freebies for everyone...and I managed to unload a few tomatoes in the process :)

My tomato harvest still runneth over - I am now supplying 3 households with tomatoes from two plants.  These zebra plum tomatoes are still producing like crazy and the beefsteak tomatoes have started to ripen as well.  I have been freezing small batches of chopped tomatoes every few days.  We shall be having lots of yummy chili this winter with my harvested tomatoes.  I love the fact that you don't even have to blanch them to freeze them - just chop and freeze.


On Wednesday the workers will arrive to take up most of our flooring (entire house except bedrooms and utility room) and Thursday they install our new laminate.  We originally wanted hardwood but with Buddy we changed the plan to a high end laminate that is rated for commercial use - it cost more but it looks great and will last as long as we own this house hopefully as we intend to stay here 15 - 20 years.  We had a cheaper laminate in our previous home and know the value of a higher end version of the product.  Why are we changing our flooring?  Because the lady who build this house invested in some things like a heat pump that has air conditioning but cheaped out on others like carpeting.  We live and work from home - the carpeting is a very low grade which is ok for bedrooms but really is not great for high traffic areas.  Plus - who puts carpet in their dining room?!! This is a happiness investment - yes, it will make the house look better but we don't expect the value of the house to increase based on how much we spend.  The appliances were nearing the end of their useful life but all still worked fine - but they don't really go with the cabinets or flooring so we decided to upgrade those at the same time as there was money in the budget.  My new fridge and stove arrive Friday and the dishwasher is on back-order so will arrive early September.  We got a smoking deal on it so were willing to wait.  Living without appliances for the last two weeks has been challenging but we have learned to cope.  I roasted corn on the BBQ this week - something we hadn't previously done and it turned out perfectly.  I just removed the silk, added butter, put the husks back on and BBQd in some tin foil for 20 minutes turning every five minutes.  Of the appliances we miss the most - hubby misses the fridge and I miss the stove.  Our mini-fridge has been a Godsend but I have not been able to take advantage of several sales this month due to having no room to put items in the fridge.  The first thing I am going to do is buy myself the biggest watermelon I can and then bake something. We both could easily live without a dishwasher - not a modern convenience that is mandatory in my books.

The rest of our renovation will wait until early September/Fall as we are installing a new back splash (there was never one), counter tops(current one has some damage) and exterior lights.  We will also have to do some paint touch ups when they reinstall our baseboards.  If I can live through this week the worst part of the entire thing will be over.  Why did we not remove the old flooring ourselves to save money?  It was cheap for them to do it as part of the process and since we work from home we needed it to occur as quickly as possible - plus they are removing subfloor in two areas and it was just SO MUCH EASIER to pay for this.  If we had all the time in the world we might have done a lot more but we just don't as our business comes first.  The flooring came in 30% under our budget including removal and installation so we are still ahead of the game.

Mom bought us tickets to the air show next weekend and my Stepson arrives for a 9 day visit next Sunday so things are really busy around here - if I don't blog for a while you will understand.  Have a great week everyone!


24 comments:

  1. Wow, what a big project, but it will be sooo worth it in the end! We have low grade blah beige shag carpet in the bedrooms that the previous owner installed before selling and I can't wait to change it over to laminate. We never use our dishwasher except as a drying rack for big pots. There's only 3 of us so no biggie washing by hand. Years ago I had a bumper crop of tomatoes. At the time I was delivering meals on wheels. I put a few tomatoes in each bag and the recipients were thrilled. Great find on those chairs. How nice of you to give them to your neighbors. Good things! Good things! :-)

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    1. What a good idea! I wonder if my food bank would take some...

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  2. Good luck this week as you muddle through the remaining renovations and congratulations on your new appliances. I am nursing my old dishwasher trying to eek a little more time out of it and doing the same with the fridge. I miss the ice maker but cant justify spending to replace it in an old model. So I am back to using ice trays when if fine until we have company. Sometimes in home renovation you have to do what makes you happy and not worry about the return on investment. I now have the worlds largest laundry room that cost more then we intended and adds no value to the house, but it might be a desirability factor when it comes time to sell.

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    1. The people who bought our appliances were in the same position - a fridge that just died and an oven on the last legs. They were so excited to get working appliances and even better for us they took them all! I don't know a woman alive who wouldn't like a nice big laundry room :)

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  3. I am so sorry you have been ill! Being sick in the summer just doesn't seem right! Flu is a WINTER thing! I wish we were closer for we dearly love home grown tomatoes!! Remember that John Denver song about them?
    I am taking some days to recover from a bad care of TIRED! Still in my gown at 4:00 in the afternoon! Didn't even get out of bed until 2:00!
    Still, I am about to get ready and leave for a big party - a 30th reunion of my daughter's synchronized swim team - The Pirouettes of Texas. I'll do the 'old lady' thing and arrive on the early side and leave the same way!
    LOVE your sweet doggie!!
    PS.....we can't bear to leave anything on the curb either!!

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    1. I have so many bloggy friends that live so far away - wish some of you were closer so I could share this harvest!

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  4. Sorry to hear you had to deal with the flu. A difficult illness for sure. I am currently finishing up a "copy" of my late husbands navy scrapbook to send to their reunion in Sept.

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    1. What a neat project - and a great idea to send it to their reunion. I am feeling much better thanks!

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  5. Sounds like you have your hands full. Sorry to hear you were sick but isn't it great to have loving puppy cuddles when you're not feeling well?

    I am going to order a range on-line via Amazon tomorrow. I want an induction cook top and nobody in our area sells them. We want to do something with the kitchen but it is a low priority. I am going crazy having a dysfunctional oven and can not wait any longer to move on to getting another.

    The prices on Amazon that I have found are good and shipping is free. I hope within another few weeks I can bake again!

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    1. Nice stove - I am sure you will love it when it arrives. Living without a stove sure sucks, doesn't it?

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  6. You have been busy but it looks like the coming week will be crazy. Hang in there and try to get some down tome for yourself. I can almost taste those tomatoes. I miss growing them.

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    1. I think I have already harvested about 7-10 pounds worth - and there are at least 50 tomatoes still on the vine - all from two plants!

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  7. Look we will have plenty of tomatoes. Plan to can some up. Right now the peppers and cucumbers are coming on fast.

    Coffee is on

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    1. I might try cucumbers next year - hubby and the dog love them

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  8. I'm feeling you with the tomatoes. We go through spurts where I can't give them away fast enough. And, I have enough basil that I'm taking it to work 3-4 times per week to give it away! :-)

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    1. I wish I could grow basil - indoors it is too finicky (read I keep killing it). Outside the bugs eat it.

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  9. I'm sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well. I am glad Buddy was there to take care of you...He's such a good boy!

    I wish I was nearby to sponge some tomatoes....lol

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    1. Feeling much better thanks! I think Buddy just likes sleeping on our bed which we only allow him to do during the daytime or evening. Overnight he sleeps in the utility room. Because I was sick he got way more bed time. I wished you lived closer too - I easily could supply five houses with these two bloody tomato plants.

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  10. I can empathize having had all new floors put in throughout the house last year! Painting the walls etc is a breeze and I can do that myself but I leave floors to the professionals! You're going to LOVE having them ALL done! I have never had a dishwasher - I watch my sister scrape and rinse, then load and unload when it would take me 5 min. to wash by hand. Buddy has become a very handsome young man!!

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    1. I didn't want to make a huge investment in flooring and screw it up by doing it wrong - plus the whole overall cost here in BC is much lower than it would have been in Alberta. We received two quotes and they came in within 100 dollars of each other, several thousand lower than we had budgeted for. We picked the one that had two installers - two days in chaos versus 4 won out. We think Buddy is full grown now - he is a long dog - looks like a footlong weiner :)

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  11. I'm sure the suffering will be worth all the new pretty things in the house but ugh, when you are in the middle of it, its hell.
    We have done so so many projects in this house. We have been here for 20+ years and have just about ripped apart every inch of this house. It was a cheaply made house in the 80's and have we paid for it. We more than easily could have paid for a new house with the effort, time and money that we have put into projects. But with all of the stress it was nice to see it when we finished the project. I just always wished that it would stay done. Maybe now that the kids are gone it will.

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    1. Kids are hard on houses - dogs are much easier lol.

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  12. Summer flu is the worst. Hope you're over it now.
    We've grown no tomatoes this Summer as we're rarely around to water them. I'm holding out for bags of them from our friends - chutney and green tomato curry are two of my favourite things! x

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  13. My tomatoes are early this year too, and boy are they loaded. They seem to come in spurts, and I'm freezing the extras for cooking later. I also just chop and freeze since I will be using them in sauces mostly, or soups. We have been spending much of the time up at the cabin with only short trips to town. Consequently my Internet time has been really limited. At the cabin we can only check email and emergency browsing. It is so expensive for wireless Internet. - Margy

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