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.

DIY or Chaos...take your pick

You gotta wonder: which demon, in which circle in Hell, thought up Do-It-Yourself..?? The first rule of DIY is that whatever time frame you think is adequate, you ultimately have to times that by four. If a project is scheduled for an hour, believe me, it will take four. If you think you can do something in a day, it will take four. The second rule is that nothing goes according to plan. The perfect paint color will not be perfect once it's on the wall, the carpet will not be delivered when scheduled, and whatever can go wrong, will. The third rule is if you attempt the DIY thing with your partner, there is a distinct possibility you will end up in Divorce Court.

So, let's go back 5 weeks: washing machine floods the kitchen floor. Rip up vinyl floor and spend two days drying wood underneath. While floor is drying out, spend same two days driving all over Edinburgh to find something cool for the unexpected excitement of a new floor. Then spend what should only be a weekend project of laying new tiles---that of course extends into the next week and nearly ends in pistols at dawn for Alan and me. To say we had an argument or two is the grossest understatement of the decade. Still, the kitchen now is beautiful, and we both love the tile. Maybe not each other so much, but yeah, we love the tile.

This is part of the kitchen and new floor, though the photo doesn't show how stone-like and cream-colored the tile really is. Ozzy, of course, is glad the chaos, arguing and throwing down of tools and stomping off is over. (We won't say who did that, though I will say it wasn't me...!!)


Now, four weeks ago Alan figures, apparently since we had such a fun time doing the kitchen floor project, why not paint the den. (I'll tell you why not---you can't afford the divorce...!!). It is fairly dim in that room, mainly because that side of the house only gets the very early morning sun and the carpet and walls are darkish. I'm not too keen on this idea though as we will have to empty out the room (3 large bookcases, office desk, computer, chairs, credenza, ad nauseum), but I do agree lightening the room would help considerably. Then, before I've really worked my head around to the actual fact of painting the den, he gets this brain fart that we could also do the 3 bedrooms, and gee, painting isn't enough, we really need new carpeting throughout. Sigh.

We find the perfect carpeting, delivery in 7-10 days, and they will do the carpet laying room by room, which is a very cool thing if you think about it. So, we get the paint and supplies, move all the furniture out of the den, do the painting, remove the old carpeting, and in four days we're ready for the new carpet. We planned on painting a room per week (factoring in moving all the blasted furniture all over the house), schedule the carpet laying, move the furniture back in, carry on to the next room, and yippee, we can have everything done and dusted in about a month.

And here's where PLAN turns into a four-letter word. And also where Chaos replaces DIY. In the two photos below, in what we affectionately call "Gail's Room" because my sister stayed in this room when she visited us a few years ago, you can see the beginning phase of the madness. These pictures are just a portion of the room that I could get to to take the photos. All the contents of the 3 bookcases, some furniture, and anything else that wasn't nailed down fills this room to bursting. I had to make a small trail to my wardrobe, otherwise I would be living in my pajamas and/or painting clothes. The small trail is the only way in or out of Gail's Room.




Here's where the rest of the den furniture ended up: the Living Room. Behind the 3 bookcases is a lovely overstuffed chair, table, lamp and reading area. You can't sit on the couch (where I'm crouched trying to take this shot), let alone watch the TV. We cleared an Ozzy Route, so he can still get to the back of the loveseat for his guard duty looking out the front room window.



And lest Alan not have access to his computer and/or office stuff, we now have the 3' x 5' desk in the hallway.



Remember above where I mentioned that delivery schedule of 7-10 days for the new carpet..?? We waited 15, and not hearing from the company, called them to find out when we were getting the first round of carpeting laid. The new date we were given was September 30th. At this point that was nearly a 3 week wait. Not happy campers, plus I'm feeling my feet sliding down the slippery slope into Total Chaos.

We decide (and frankly, I'm beginning to wonder at our reasoning skills these days) to forge on with our painting schedule, so when the carpet comes, we will have two rooms ready and gee, aren't we smart..?? NOT.

We move all the master bedroom furniture into the empty den (crammed would be the operative word really), and proceed to rip up the carpet, do the painting, yada yada. This time it takes 8 days of work because we had to strip wallpaper and patch lots of defects once we had gouged a multitude of holes in the plaster removing the frigging wallpaper. I'm losing any perspective I marginally had and "Leaving on a Jet Plane" keeps playing through my head as I'm working.

Photo of part of the master bedroom, finished and painted and just waiting for that elusive f-word carpet. I couldn't get into the den to take a photo of that room...just imagine a king-size bed, bureau, two wardrobes, two nightstands, lamps and a vanity in a room half the size of the master bedroom, and you get the picture. CHAOS is now in capitals for a reason. Still, we have two rooms finished, albeit without the carpets, so we're feeling pretty chipper at this point.



So. Yesterday, having not heard anything from the carpet company and with the carpet delivery the next day (today, Sept 30), we pop in to schedule the first room's laying. Deep sigh. What can I say..?? No joy..?? No customer service in Scotland..?? Totally inept workers..?? Every swear word in my vocabulary (and that's pretty extensive) doesn't even come close to the frustration and anger. Turns out the carpet hasn't even been manufactured yet. When the rude and snotty reception-type person called the manufacturer--and that only because Alan was looming over her in a vampiric I-might-rip-off-your-head way--they gave no explanation for the delay, other than to say they were supposed to do the carpet last week, but didn't. Seriously. What..?? Alan asks her to ask the production person exactly when they might be doing the carpet, but she blows Alan off, thanks the man on the phone, and hangs up..!! Oh, the humanity.

Without going into all the dreadful and gory details (he said, she said, they all said), we leave the store without a clue when, if ever, we will be getting the carpet. The house is in total disruption, and we can't do any more in the other two rooms because we don't have any space left to move a stick, let alone more furniture. We get home. I want to do a diva thing and just collapse in a heap on the bed in a swoon, but there's no room.

Alan decided last night to write an email to the Managing Director of the company explaining the whole travail of these last four weeks, which he does, and we figure we'll give them until Friday to respond, then go to Plan B. Whatever that's going to be. He's quite brilliant at getting the point across, in a very...ahem... meaningful way, when it's necessary.

This morning Alan gets a phone call from the Managing Director's assistant. She assures him that all has been taken care of, the carpet is being made as we speak, will be delivered next Wednesday to the company's warehouse in Edinburgh, and we will have the den fitted on Thursday, and the master bedroom on Friday. Hell must have frozen over and that DIY demon is encased in ice and can't get to us, at least for the moment. I won't believe the very nice assistant until next week when I'm actually looking at my new carpet...on the floor...in two rooms...without any problems.

How long will this whole process have taken when all is said and done...?? About two months. So much for the PLAN, the "we can get this done easy in about 4 weeks" idea, and damned if I ever want to do any more DIY for as long as I live..!! Too bad there's still two more rooms to do...sigh.

Gracie

I got a call from my BFF in Idaho this morning to tell me her beloved dog, Gracie, died yesterday. Gracie has been with Jan through thick and thin, marriage and divorce, and everything in between for one month shy of 15 years. Since Jan and I have been best friends for more years than either of us want to count, I have known Gracie since she was the tiniest little pup. Even though in dog years she was well and truly an old lady, it has always seemed she would be around forever.

Gracie was one of the most gentle, sweet and loving dogs I've ever had the pleasure to know. And, boy, did she love her food, her toys, and her new Dad, though she loved her Mom the most. Tears were shed over the phone, and no doubt many more will fall in the days to come.

Rest in Peace, ol' girl. You will be sorely missed.

Cleaning Out Drawers

While in the process of painting 4 rooms this month, moving furniture all over the house in order to paint in the first place, and doing cleaning and sorting while the paint dries, I came across a notebook I keep in my nightstand drawer. It is filled with quotes, and snatches of thought, that I have written down over the years, either from something read or heard. Since I am sitting here, still waiting for paint to dry, I thought I would share some of my favorites. OK...actually, I'll do anything to avoid the cleaning and sorting chores...!!!


"When two loaves alone to thee are left
Sell one, and with the dole,
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul"
---Persian saying**

**I memorized this quote years ago because I loved it. Since then I have seen it written a bit differently and often attributed to someone else (other than the Persians). All I know is, when I read it originally, it was a Persian quote.

"Democracy must be something more than two wolves
and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner"
---James Bovard

"Don't talk unless you can improve on silence"
---Proverb

"If one no longer has land but has the memory of land,
then one can make a map"
---Anne Michaels

"If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything"
---Unknown

"We need to take responsibility for the religions we make"
---Unknown

"Be kind instead of right"
---Unknown

"Never criticize unless you can do a better job"
---Unknown

"You're only as old as the girl you're with"
---Groucho Marx

"An eye for an eye makes us all blind"
---Gandhi

"A poor workman blames his tools"
---Unknown

"May you sit with your face to the wind,
Your eyes beholding happiness"
---Paraphrased inscription found with King Tut

"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room"
---Unknown

"There are only three sins:
Causing pain,
Causing fear,
Causing anguish.
The rest in window dressing"
---Roger Caras

"Love makes time pass,
Time makes love pass"
---Errol Flynn

"It's not our abilities that show who we are,
It's our choices"
---Albus Dumbledore

And, my most favorite of all:

"Money doesn't buy you happiness, but it buys
you a big enough yacht to sail right up to it"
---Johnny Depp

An interesting assortment, true..?? At least this exercise has been better than watching paint dry...and let's not even mention the cleaning, etc.

La Belle et la Bete

I'm going to try a segue here, that will ultimately make sense (we can hope anyway), by going from the film Beauty and the Beast to roses. Stick with me, and we'll see if it works.

One of my all-time favorite old black & white films---no, wait, my most favorite---is the French film La Belle et la Bete, by Jean Cocteau, made in 1946. I have loved this movie for years, and just recently watched it again on one of the movie channels, falling captivated and mesmerized all over again. The imagery of special effects, the wonderful story, perfect acting, and the cinematic genius of Cocteau, makes this an absolutely stunning film. If you aren't lucky enough to find a TV channel showing foreign films, you can actually order a very brilliant DVD of the original at Amazon.

Here comes the segue---

So, from La Belle...
In the rose garden, which is a large section in the front of the house, Alan and I have about 56 rose bushes. I love the gorgeous blooms, and the scent on a warm Summer's day is nearly overwhelming. The colors, fragrance, and range of variety is pretty spectacular. During the blooming period (for us it's June clear through to November), we are constantly getting compliments, from neighbors as well as total strangers, on the beauty of the rose garden.

Here is a small sample of the roses. A very small sample considering this is just a few of our dozens of plants.






I took the photo on the right just this morning. I love how the dew drops sparkled, adding to the beauty






to et la Bete...
The endless fiddling, pruning and deadheading of these horrible roses, to say nothing of the constant threat of bugs (greenfly, blackfly, whitefly, and any other frigging thing that flies), and diseases (black spot, rust, wilt, mold and mildew), makes these prima donnas the most aggravating of plants in the entire plant kingdom...!! I have been slashed, cut, and left bleeding copiously by the wretched thorns, to say nothing of the sepsis involved when a barb breaks off somewhere in your hand, finger or leg. Why anyone would have these horrid plants is just beyond me. Which begs the question: why do we have so many..??

Because they are beautiful...even when they're beastly...

How I Spent My Summer Vacation...

Remember when you were a kid, and after Summer vacation you'd have your first class in school, and everyone had to stand up and talk about how they spent the Summer..?? Well, since I totally forgot I had a blog for about 3 months, now I will have to do an instant recap sort of post today, very much like those old school assignments. I'm pretty stunned though that I haven't written since April...where, oh where has the time gone...?????

I have read many books since my last posting, but won't bore anyone with those details. I'm actually going to remove that part of my blog anyway, so never mind what I'm reading (or what I've read since April).

Alan spent 5 weeks in America (June/July), helping my mother to move, and dealing with some INS stuff. He had way more fun then I did as I was stuck in Edinburgh due to Ozzy's usual doggy sitter, Helga, being off on her own holiday. Still, there's something to be said about your partner being away: eat what you want, when you want; read all night if the book is good enough; clean the house when you can write your name in the dust, and other singleton experiences.

One great thing about Alan being in America: I had my own personal shopper. It was wonderful to have him bring back graham crackers, cornbread mix, Nestle's chocolate chips, my favorite black jeans that I can only get in the States, and several other cool items. It was like Christmas in July...!!

It wouldn't have been half bad, having him away, if I hadn't missed him, and then there was the garden which decided to turn into some sort of tropical rain forest over that 5 weeks he was gone. It got well beyond my efforts to control by myself, so now he's back all he's done for the past two weeks is wrestle things back into order.

Here's a glimpse of the chaos:




The front walk. Lots of roses, though the nasturtiums seem to be taking over. No doubt the tropical rain forest effect.












The cauldrons look wonderful, spilling out with lobelia, as does the sweet pea planter against the back wall to the front door.










The fragrance is just heavenly from these blooms. No wonder they are called "sweet" peas. I have a vase full in the house and you can smell them everywhere.








I'd like to say we've actually had Summer this year, but alas, this is Scotland. It would annoy me no end when I would chat with Alan on the phone from America and he's going on and on about the 80 degree days whilst I'm walking Ozzy in fog, rain, wind and a week of the muggiest weather I've experienced since Florida. Truly, we had about a week of dense cloud cover, but up there somewhere it was really hot, so it made things really muggy and humid, and miserable. Very weird. But, still, no Summer to speak of. There's been maybe a week of good weather (sunny, warm, and Summer-like) since May..sigh.

That's about all I can remember of the past few months, other than how fast time flies, so I guess this is where my "assignment" ends, with me all caught up, and now I get to sit down to let the next kid stand up in front of the class to tell how they spent their Summer vacation...