Pumpkins ready...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!!

THE END..!!!

I feel like bursting into some kind of Hallelujah Chorus song, or jumping up and down and screaming like a girl (by which I mean a real pierce-your-eardrums little girl, rather than a grown up woman rip of a scream, though that would work, too).

The DIY is done. Everything painted, carpeted and all agonizing, back-breaking work finished. Below are the results, though the photos aren't too good, for some reason. Maybe because the weather has turned to crap here and with British Summer Time over, it's dark by 4:30pm, or maybe it's just that in "real life" the photos just do not even compare. Whatever. Here are the pictures.

Main Bedroom:

Living Room, though we did this last year, so really, it doesn't count for this DIY trip:

The Den:

The Hallway, though again, we did this last year:

Bathroom:

Gail's Room/Bedroom/Dining Room, or the Back Sitting Room if you want to be totally accurate:

My Sanctuary Room:

Kitchen, with yummy new floor...in fact, The Floor That Started It All:

I think I need to get a wide angle lens. The photos are just showing bits and pieces of each room, not the real dimensions, or the wall colors, or the gorgeous new carpet. Oh well. The frigging point here is that it's done...over...finished.

Oh dear...I'm feeling the need to shriek, jump up and down, possibly flail around like a maniac. I better get off the computer before I break something.

Almost there...

I'm writing under my new alias as I have changed my identity, moved to the Outer Hebrides, dyed my hair red and am starting a new life.  OK...just kidding, though over the past two grueling weeks I have fantasized many, many times about doing exactly that.

We are on the last leg (literally..!!) of this effing DIY project, with the final room being carpeted tomorrow.  Over the weekend we will hang the pictures, clean the last of the mess up, and sometime early next week I will post photos of the newly restored house.  This has been a nightmare of epic proportions, though like childbirth, the truly painful parts are already fading from my memory.  Sort of.

One day last week, in an attempt to clear my head and smell the fresh air, rather than paint fumes, Alan and I took Oz for a long, lovely Fall walk.  Below are some cool photos of the day.


Walking along the river, we saw this Heron in a tree.  Honestly, I never imagined Herons in trees, but they do it here all the time.

Here's another one.  This part of the river gets lots of sunshine, so they must like not only the privacy (across the river from humans and other riff raff), but also the sun.

Just where the river meets the sea, I saw this lovely one wading in the water.  For some reason the photos came out with a very blue and gold cast, which I like.  It was early in the day, shady on the riverbank, and with the Heron on the other side of the river I had to use the telephoto.  Maybe all those things combined made the shot blue/gold.  I don't know, maybe it was just me still learning about my camera.  Whatever, I like it.

After the river, we came out along the beach and spied this group of Herons.  They are usually a solitary bird, so this was very cool to see them in a bunch.  Altogether that day we saw about ten of them along our walk.

As always, we walked home through the woods.  The early morning sun was just gleaming in this glade, the orange leaves a thick carpet under the trees with their yellow leaves.  It was very cool.

So, we have nearly reached the end of this long, hard travail of DIY.  Tomorrow the last carpet, Saturday getting everything sorted and cleaned, and Sunday I am not getting out of bed.  Well, except to walk Oz, twice.  And maybe a time or two to wander around the house admiring all the work.

Two down, two to go...

We spent all day yesterday getting the den back together, though it's not quite right yet as some furniture from Room #3 (Gail's room) had to be put in there.  The front room is again a total mess, so much so I couldn't even bear to take a photo.  We took out two of the three bookcases and put them back into the den, but then filled up the space with all the crap we took out of Gail's room.  I was so frigging tired last night, I could hardly stand upright.  Honestly, is there anything worse than a pack rat man...???  And, good god, what's with the British Colonial weigh-more-than-a-rhino furniture...???  Ugh.  I'll need back surgery before this is over, no question.

Here's the den, just after the carpet was laid.  The room is now bright and airy, compared to the way it looked before.  Now, if we had just stayed with the original idea of "let's lighten up the den," says Alan weeks and weeks ago, instead of involving the whole blasted house, I could be sitting back today reading my book...sigh.

I know it seems like a carbon copy of the main bedroom, and basically the colors are the same, but that's the point: whatever goes in the rooms are the show, not the paint/carpet.  Though, I have to say, the photos aren't doing the colors justice here at all.  The rooms are not blah and/or as bland as they look in these shots.  Guess you have to see it in person.

So, today it was all the prep work on Room #3, and tomorrow we paint.  Unless I drop, or need that back surgery, or run off to the Outer Hebrides and change my identity.  If I never write on this blog again, you'll know one of the above has happened.

So, Noon comes and goes...

...and then 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00. Where are the carpet layers..?? I leave at 3:30 to walk Oz, leaving Alan to hold down the fort in the miraculous event they show up. Ozzy and I get back home at 4:00, and Alan finally calls the bugger carpet company, where we are expecting to find out that, rather than homework, dogs ate the carpet. But, lo and behold, we are told the carpet layers are on the way..!!


And, OMG, here's the main bedroom about an hour later:



Isn't the carpet beautiful..?? And gorgeous..?? And finally ON THE FLOOR...!!



This was much later, about 3 hours later in fact. We got most of the stuff back into the room, though haven't hung any pictures or anything yet. Ozzy was so happy to have "his" room back, that he leaped onto the bed, rolled around, got some toys, the whole time with this big grin on his face. The photo could look better, though by this time it was dark outside so had to use the flash. Still, it's such a feeling of accomplishment to have at least one room done.



So, I'm going to sit back and relax for the rest of the evening. The next round of carpet. for the den, is tomorrow morning. At least now I feel like we're making some headway. (Oh crap, I hope that isn't going to be "famous last words..!!")

DIY saga continues...

For those of you following the DIY Hell we've been going through lately, in particular the carpet issue, you will maybe remember that today was the day the carpet was to be delivered to the warehouse in Edinburgh, with carpet laying beginning in the first of our two rooms tomorrow.

When Alan called the carpet company this afternoon, to make sure all was on track, he was told the van with our carpet in it had broken down, and the carpet would most likely not be delivered to Edinburgh until sometime tomorrow. He was assured the carpet laying would still continue for tomorrow, though it would be late in the day.

I talk to my BFF in Idaho on Wednesdays. She immediately asked me about the carpet. I told her about the van breaking down. She howled with laughter, then said "Yeah, and the dog ate my homework." And that, my friends, just about sums it up.

I am hoping to post photos of the new carpet actually ON THE FRIGGING FLOOR tomorrow, but we will just have to wait and see. Sigh.

I've gone BERSERK...!!

Let's pretend I'm doing an experiment in the interests of science or something, not, in fact, exhibiting further proof that I have gone nuts after discovering Super Macro on my camera. I swear, I will try to contain myself after these last photos.


This is the Rowan tree in the front garden. It is laden with berries this year, which in the natural world apparently means a hard Winter coming. Duh. This is Scotland.




This is a SM (Super Macro) shot of the same berries. Don't they look like apples..?? How cool.



A regular shot of some Lobelia and Diascia in one of the cauldrons on the walkway to the front door.


One of the Diascia, up close and personal. Holy cow, I am loving this.

Wait until you see these last two. This very beautiful Dahlia head is so large, it won't stand up by itself. That's Alan's arm in the background.

Now check out the heart of this Dahlia. Wow. It reminds me of the Kraken that ate Captain Jack Sparrow in the 2nd Pirates movie..!!!



OK, that's all. I really have to get on with other stuff besides taking pictures, but man, am I glad I finally figured out this Macro business. Too cool.

Super Macro

For my birthday last Summer, Alan bought me a new digital camera, a Canon PowerShot S5IS. We went to Italy shortly after, so I learned about the camera "on-the-job" as it were. It takes beautiful photos, (nearly all the ones on this blog), though has some bells and whistles I have yet to figure out. One thing I've been struggling with is the Macro. No matter how hard I try to decipher the camera-speak in the manual, this feature has eluded me.

This afternoon we were sitting out on the garden bench, reveling in the sunshine, when I noticed this lovely Nasturtium. I grabbed my camera and for the next half hour tried to get the blasted Macro to work.

This is as good as I could manage. Now, this isn't a bad close-up, but with my old Nikon SLR I could have done better.


So, moving on to a different Nasturtium, I tried again. Same result. An OK close-up. but buggers, where is the shot I'm looking for..??



While I was virtually laying on my stomach on the garden path, fiddling, fiddling, fiddling, I changed my options from Auto to Manual. This time when I hit the Macro button, I suddenly found SUPER Macro.

Wow.

I know we should all stop and smell the flowers, but maybe we should also stop and look at the flowers. Is this amazing, or what..?? What beauty inside a flower. Click on the photo to see it larger...it's incredible.

Sunny Sunday in Edinburgh

After a week of total crap weather, including two days with winds gusting up to 70mph, it was wonderful to wake up this morning to a glorious, sunny day. We took Ozzy for his usual walk, around 9:00am (no sleeping in on Sundays--or any days really--around our house, not with Bossy Boots).

___________________________________

Even with the tide out, you can see how still the water was this morning. It was so quiet, after the horrible winds, though there was definitely a chill in the air. And look at the sky. Not a cloud. It's days like this that I love living in Scotland.



Ozzy loves jumping up on the sea wall. I love how this photo came out.



The first glimmer of the leaves changing. We are climbing the hill, leading into the woods, which is halfway home at this point.



Hard to get the perspective here, but we've climbed way up the hill. With the tide out, you can't see much of the water, but wow, look at the sky. (Since we don't see much of the sky around here, I'm totally mesmerized when we do..!!)


Because it was so beautiful, when we got back from the walk, Alan and I decided to work in the garden. After pruning some roses, and taking out all the dessicated Sweet Peas, I picked some tomatoes for a salad.



That was an attempt at a fake out. Did you think they were nice, big tomatoes..?? Well, remember this is Scotland; with only 4 sunny days per year, tomatoes have a hard time. Here's what they really look like. And, yes, that's a teaspoon. Stop laughing...they still taste great even though they're small. OK, miniature. Shut up.




Nasturtiums are still growing, and look great. These are right at the front gate. I love the contrast with the gray stone walls.



And, last but not least: my work shoes. I love these shoes. I've had them for about 10 years, but sadly, in shoe years, they're about 387 years old and nearing the end of their days. The right big toe space is now worn through, they are spattered with paint, scuffed beyond any shoe polish help. Notice the left one is a different color..?? I was crawling on my hands and knees, painting the baseboard the other day and stuck my foot in the paint can lid. Then I had to use a scrub brush to remove the paint, which took off the top layer of leather. Oh well, I'm still not throwing them out. Clarks doesn't make this style anymore, so I'm doomed when these are totally wasted.

There's just nothing like a comfortable, perfect pair of old friends, is there..??

Books vs E-Readers

The other day I was reading one of my favorite websites. The topic was the new Sony E-Reader, which is being promoted as the best electronic book in the known Universe. Whatever. The questions posed: "How do you feel about the E-Reader; would you buy this tech reader as opposed to a "real" book..?" I had to respond, of course, as I think an electronic book is a total abomination. Really, I do.

Yesterday I went back to the website and discovered that the majority of people who also responded to these questions agreed: there's really nothing like the feel of a good book in your hands. Though the (alleged) ease of downloading books to a small electronic gizmo, burning your eyes out reading on a computer screen, but being able to carry around said books more conveniently than a real book seems to appeal to some folks, I just can't get on board with it.

So. Mulling this over, and thinking of all the reasons I will never give up the real thing, I went back in my memory to one day that encapsulates all my feelings on this subject.

A few years back, Alan and I went to Dublin for a 5-day longish weekend. Dublin is very hectic, crowded, lively and very cool, though after awhile the hubbub gets a bit much. Dublin never seems to sleep or calm down. I wanted to see the Book of Kells in the Old Library at Trinity College, so off we went on our first afternoon there. We fell in love with Trinity. You walk through the double archways and suddenly the rest of the world disappears and you're surrounded with peace, beauty and history. It was totally awesome. We ended up going back there every afternoon to just sit, talk and enjoy.

How does this relate to Books vs E-Readers, you must be thinking..?? Here's how:

In the Old Library there is a separate library called the Long Room (though in my mind it's always been the Long Library). This is where they keep the ancient tomes, manuscripts and all things old, valuable and precious. You can't just barrel in either, you have to wait for someone to unlock the two massive doors, and then only a few people at a time get to go in.

Alan and I were lucky, in that it was October, and most of the tourists were gone, school had started, and there were only the two of us. This very (very) big guy was guarding the doors. He took his job seriously too, as he didn't smile or chat or anything, just unlocked these huge doors, opened them with a flourish, and gestured us through.

I stepped forward first, getting my first look at this magnificent room, which was just totally mind-boggling in it's length, height, history, it's everything. As I paused on the threshold, this odor wafted out of the room, enveloped me, and nearly knocked me over. The smell of books. The heavenly, addictive perfume of thousands upon thousands of books.

I stood, stunned, closed my eyes, and took the biggest breath I've ever taken, sucking in all the authors, stories, histories, all of it. Dimly, I could hear the big guy shuffling his feet, then Alan said behind me "What's wrong?"

I couldn't speak, and just held up my hand, took another deep breath and swayed as the smells once again overtook me. Honestly, it was a book lover's opium. Alan came around to look at me and said, a bit more urgently, "What's the matter?" The big guy was wondering if he had a nutcase on his hands, I'm sure.

I turned to Alan and whispered, "Can't you smell it?" He took a deep breath, and the big guy suddenly became more alert, taking his own deep breath, no doubt imagining smoke or some other horrific scenario, his hand dropping to his belt and gripping his walkie talkie thing. "Smell what?" says Alan. "The books," I said, in awe.

Alan knows books are nearly the most important thing in the world to me, so he immediately relaxed, and turned to the big guy, saying with a smile, "Sorry, nothing's wrong, she just loves books." For the first time, the big guy gave a smile, and gently pointed us through the door, into the Long Room. We spent quite a bit of time in there, though to be truthful, I think I was drugged on book perfume, because I don't remember much after I crossed the threshold. What I do remember will stay with me forever: that first, heady aroma of BOOKS.

So, you see, I can't even understand the concept of an electronic book. Where's the magic, the mystery, the smell in something made of plastic or metal..?? Look at what's in this photo and tell me you would replace it with anything electronic. Not in my world, thank you just the same.


The Long Room, Old Library, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. The House of Heavenly Book
Perfume.