genius ideas amongst other things

First item on the agenda:

We bought a dog. This is the part where you  might flip back a couple entries and review the fact that we did this once before and it turned out to be a horrible mistake. And you are probably thinking  "what are you getting your self into this time Jelma!?" And I will respond with a very cool and calm " shhhh...relaaaax,". The problem we had last time was a personality clash. I'm a very chilled and relaxed person. Bently was a horribly wild, loud and obnoxious dog. People should really get dogs that match their personalities. Fritz already said in the first week that we had her that the two of us seem so much alike. and its true.


Let me introduce you to Olive:

Just after a bath

Olive loves to sit by the window
and observe traffic and pedestrians

Olive is a cocker spaniel, if you can't picture a cocker spaniel, then think of Lady, from Lady and the Tramp. She's a little girl dog and acts like a little girl dog. But don't worry she doesn't wear dresses or anything like that. Though she does have a little yellow fabric flower with an orange button attached to her collar. We both fell in love with spaniels at a friends cottage. Family of theirs have a springer spaniel and she was the sweetest dog we had ever met. Immediately we thought we had to have a springer spaniel.  I realize that yes we ended up getting a cocker and not a springer, but Olive still has a very sweet temperament. She is also a very intelligent little pup. On may 28th she will be exactly 4 months old. We bought her at 9 weeks (about 2.5 months). Since that time, she has learned to sit and lay down on command, she knows to keep out of gardens, she's learning stay, (which is difficult for her) she is house trained and rings a bell by the door when she needs to go outside.
I only work part time so having a dog is much easier. on cold or rainy days she stays in her crate, which is feeling more like a safe place for her every day. but on Tuesday's she plays with Kiba at the in-laws. Olive loves playing with Kiba, though I think that Kiba may find her slightly annoying as she hangs off his ears, but that dog has so much patience for her.

eating a broccoli stem

curled up by the couch

Olive loves to eat green beans and sprouts, but don't worry she eats her protein kibbles too. No corn based meals for this dog. Except when she hangs out with Kiba, because then she seems more like a little pig than a puppy as she mows down on his big dog kibbles.
If you ever meet Olive you would love her.



Next item on the agenda:

I have this "i can make that myself" attitude. I don't like paying more for things than what they are worth and that attitude is/has rubbed off onto Fritz. Maybe he had some of it too but I am definitely rubbing off. The other day we were waling though this cheap store and they had a canopy thing. it was aluminum with these fabric panels that could be pulled back to open it. they wanted $300 for it! I don't think so! I would have given them no more than $129. 99! But Fritz and I looked it over, and decided that this wouldn't be so difficult to make. In fact we could make it look better and sturdier.

Off to home depot we went, bought some lumber and hardware. Fritz (with my help, though he claims 100% of the credit) put up the structure. then I went off to Ikea ( because their fabric is cheaper than fabric stores) bought way more fabric than I needed and made three panels that can be hung between the beams.
Ours cost half the price than that crappy one we saw. though we do credit the crappy one for the idea.

the finished trellis/gazebo

corner 

Final item on the agenda:
I'm a genius. No really, I am a smart cookie. We had a little incident with olive in which she slipped out the front door into traffic. No harm was done and everyone is okay, but we learned that our little Olive can be a sneaky little pup. We decided that we need to put up a baby gate to prevent that from happening again. we spent the last week searching for baby gates on Kijiji but couldn't find any nice ones for a good price. There are a lot there, but we specifically want the one that swings open so that we don't have to pop is open everytime.  A brand new one of those costs up to if not over $100. pffft! I'm not paying that!!! so I went into Zellers today to take a look at the gates there. I could not find them but then I had this genius idea. I ended up purchasing a three tier wooden shoe rack for $9.99.  When the shelves and placed side by side they fit perfectly in the door way! the legs will be mounted against the frame and I already own the hinges. all I need is a hook/latch to lock the gate! We haven't started the project just yet, but once it is done, I will let you know if it worked.

I'm also getting tine French doors put into my office/2nd bedroom as well as a new sink and painting the shutters on the front of our house. You will read about all those renos in my next blog when they are complete. Big savings on the sink by the way. Ikea. $149 (ish) and a new faucet for $22.

Seriously though, I'm a genius. A cheap genius!