Our Gentle Giant

We were asked to foster a senior mare for VEA.  She is 25 years old, and is a very large appendix bred Quarter Horse.  Her name is Joy.  We figured we would be her convalescent home where she could spend as much time as she had left whether it be one year, 5 years or 10....horses can have a pretty long lifespan with proper care. 

Joy decided to surprise us.  She has a lot of spunk and tenacity for a 25 year old, though she lets herself get pushed around by the other horses.  She has a been there done that attitude, and the other horses tend to copycat her.  It is precious watching her splash herself in the creek and then go take a roll in the grass....and even funnier to see Jordin watching and mimicking. 

When she has a saddle on though, she is all business.  She will happily stay in a trot, but she listens to what she is told.  As a result of her amazing-ness her stay with us went from what we anticipated to be a retirement home to our shortest foster arrangement yet.  Joy has already left with an amazing adopter who has another senior gelding.  We will miss our gentle giant.

Schedule Over Runs, Run Over

We're about 2 weeks past due on our Master Bath renovation, but it is FINALLY.....FINALLY, almost done.  It is looking really good now, too.  There is still wallpaper on the walls---with the construction materials in the bathroom I really haven't been able to get up there to get the remainder of the wallpaper removed.  It will probably happen next weekend, and then we'll have Kenny in to paint our bathroom, and the child's bedroom and bathroom at the same time.  The granite for the counters is in fabrication, and the shower door has been measured and is in process for installation tomorrow (yeah!!).

Here are our latest photos from the renovation:

The curved shower wall, done to the top and framed out with travertine bullnose:

This is the rear wall of the shower; on the tub side.  We used 18x18 Travertine, which looks really impressive, and there is a very large 36x36 diamond mosaic insert over the tub:

The mosaic Medallion, as seen from the bedroom:

A Close Up of the Mosaic Medallion:

The other shower wall, where the faucet will be mounted:

Thunder and Lightning and Rain, Oh My!

It's that time of year again, in Tennessee....the stormy season.  I like a good storm (as long as it doesn't cause damage).  Molly, however, does not.  About 2 hours before any storm she feels the pressure change.  She starts by getting hyper.  She will wiggle and waggle and jump up for attention.  Then the pacing and panting start.  The poor girl is just terrified of what might happen.  Ignoring her doesn't help.  Snuggling her doesn't help.  Putting her in an inside room with no windows doesn't help.  We just haven't figured out a way to make things better for her...that is...until.....we decided to try the Thundershirt.

The only realistic question here is, "What took you so long?".  I have been recommending these things to friends and adopters for over a year.  I guess I just wanted to believe I could help my dog more than a carefully crafted jersey knit t-shirt could.  However, I was wrong.  The T-shirt is an absolute miracle.

So what exactly is it?  It is basically a breathable, tight knit soft shirt for your dog that snugs them up and uses pressure point technology to help them feel calm.  The best thing is, they are inexpensive, and THEY WORK.  Here's a promo image from Thundershirt:

The first storm we had with Molly with the shirt, instead of all of her usual antics she slept----she laid down at our feet and slept soundly, sometimes snoring for about 4 hours straight.  We had to wake her up after the bad weather to get her out to go potty before bed.  She is so cute in her shirt, too:

Pressing Onward

I'll have a video to post later (I just haven't uploaded it to youtube yet), so this will be a mostly photo-less and video-less post.  The bathroom remodel has slowed down.  We are in a waiting mode now, but I should have some tile updates to post tonight.  The granite is in production, the shower door has been measured and ordered, and the fixtures have been powder-coated to go back in.  We have also ordered everything but the tub and tile for our adoptive child's bathroom. 

In the midst of everything we decided that we needed to sell my Pilot.  I know that seems random.  We bought it with an adoptive child in mind, for the extra room, rear DVD system, etc.....of course, at that time I was working from home more often than not, and when I did drive downtown it was not as far.  I now drive from Gallatin to Brentwood 5 days a week, and with gas prices on the rise my 16 mpg SUV is costing me a FORTUNE!  So, after much research, we decided on the Hyundai Elantra Limited with Technology Package that gets 40 mpg.  I'll have the same car payment, but my gas expenses will be cut by more than half.  The local dealer here was not helpful, so we went through Bowling Green Hyundai, and they are having the car transported here from Indianapolis.  It will get here Friday, and I will find out then whether I am getting a 2012 or an early release 2013 model.  It's the same car either way, so I don't care.

Here are manufacturers photos:

Taking Shape

Day 5, and the first of the tile has gone in.  We are also probably looking pretty interesting to the neighbors---yes, that is a Bidet sitting in the front yard.  It's the Euro version of a Redneck Tennessean's yard.

Here is the shower tile so far---lots of cuts, so this took a long time on the first tiling day to complete:

Putting It Back Together

Demo is completely done, and now it is time to take the shell and turn it back into a bathroom!  This first photo actually belongs earlier in the blog posting.  Joel put underlayment over the hardwoods in the hall to keep them safe, and it has worked wonderfully for keeping the upstairs reasonable clean during the renovation:

The new shower wall is built up with Hardi-backer, and mudded in to be ready for tile:

The shower floor has a brand new drain, membrane, and poured floor.  It looks so nice and smooth, just in its raw form:

New hardi-backer is on the bathroom floor, and it is all re-leveled and ready for the tile:

A wide angle shot (all the wallpaper remnant should go away this upcoming weekend):

Close Up of the Shower interior with the glass block window:

The floor area--the toilet drain is covered with a little hardi-backer scrap, that is what the little rectangle is.  We got rid of the Bidet entirely, and had the stub outs capped under the floor.  We'll be putting a linen cabinet there instead:

Calling for Reinforcements

Tony the tile guy has been hard at work, and he brought in his friend "Skinny" (I have no idea what Skinny's birth certificate name is, but have a feeling it is not actually Skinny) as the plumber on the job.

The day's events included removing all of the custom fittings that we will be keeping---the fittings will be heading out to Goodlettsville today for powder coating and will come back Oil Rubbed Bronze.  Replacing subfloor, adding hardi-backer to the floor where the tile will go, rebuilding the under-box for the tub, as the other one did not offer enough support, and completely rebuilding the shower wall, so it is proper structurally, and won't fall down on us.

Joel had a fiasco with the tile---when he went to pick up our order they had messed it up entirely.  Certain pieces completely missing, other pieces we had too many of, but all in all about half of the order that was guaranteed for today was not there.  They had to send a kid to go pick up all of it from distributors, and apparently after Joel spent about 1.5 hours going through the order to get them to fix everything they had the kid bring the tile to our house; in three separate trips, but by 8pm last night we did have all of our bathroom tile.


A good portion of the tile ready for install:

The reinforced wooden undershell of the tub.  At least we know the tub won't collapse now.

Hardi-backer on the floor and the new shower curb wall:

The new shower valve is installed, and the new shower wall is framed up:

The new drain in the shower floor, and the curb wall for the shower floor:

Another shot of the new shower wall:

The tub with all the jet fittings removed--they will be powder coated so the tub will end up with oil rubbed bronze jets.

Our First Child's Bath

We've never really had the opportunity to put together a room for someone other than ourselves, but with a child hopefully coming, it is definitely time to start planning their bathroom remodel---it will start immediately on the completion of our bathroom. 

We have the essentials picked out to replace the awful old.

First, the tub will be a simple traditional white tub:

The tub surround will be a beautiful blue glass and carrera marble mosaic (this looks better in real life than in the photo):

The floors will be Carerra Marble:

For the shower faucet, we chose a column mount with body sprays and a hand sprayer.  It's possibly overkill, but we can get it for the same price as just a regular faucet, so why not?

The sink faucets will be a traditional design in satin nickel:

It will be cost prohibitive to replace the countertop with granite or marble, so we are going to go with a solid white faux marble.  The cabinets themselves I am going to have refinished with a painted finish.  They will be painted heather gray and then glazed with a black glaze.  They will look similar to these kitchen cabinets when done, but about 2 shades lighter:

Last, but not least, lighting will be changed out from brass to satin, and we will pick sconces that are something like this:

We found a gorgeous blue color called Stratosphere that will go on the walls and tie it all together.  Add in some big fluffy towels, and white waffle shower curtain, and her bathroom will be complete. 

Rot and Ruin

Ok, so this title sounds worse than it really is.  Of course, a bathroom remodel doesn't ever come without unexpected surprises.

Our first discovery---a Bidet drain is only 1 inch while a toilet drain is more like 4 inches---so you can't swap a location for a Bidet and Toilet.  This changes our plan some, as the Bidet was on the left, and toilet on the right.  The shower is to the the right of the toilet, and we were planning on re-purposing that space to make the shower bigger....so the shower will remain the same size, but at least changing it to clear euro-glass will make it feel bigger.

Demo woes----the floor was tile.  We knew the tile needed to come out to make way for the new tile.  We did not know that the tile was set into a 2" solid concrete base.  (did I mention I was glad I was at work while demo was going on?)

And, what is a bathroom remodel without a little rot---at some point both the toilet and bidet both leaked, so the wood subfloor around them will be completely replaced tomorrow with non-rotted wood subfloor.  The plywood will then all be covered with waterproof hardi-backer before the new tile goes down.  At least we know it will be done right this time around.

Here are the end of day 2 photos---they are a tad more dramatic than the end of day one photos:


The rotted subfloor around the drain for the toilet:

The brass chandelier in the turret (soon to go):

The very flimsy dividing wall between the shower and the tub that will be reinforced and redone in tile:

A wider angle shot showing the shower completely removed:

 The front tub wall removed (we are keeping the same tub, but the fixtures on it will be sent off for powder coating, and will come back oil rubbed bronze):

The vanity---with top, sinks, and faucets removed:

Inside the demo'd shower---the dark stuff is dirt, not mold:

Mastering the Bath - Part 1

We have launched back into renovation after our break, and started with the upstairs master bath.  This is a bit on the small and cramped size and has some special challenges----it is predominantly located in the turret, so aside from the tub area is a round room.  It was decorated with faux plaster via the torn wallpaper method.  We ran into this at our last house, and it can be an absolute beast to remove. 

The shower is very small in this room, and adding to the cramped-ness, the room has a toilet and a bidet.  Two of the four bathrooms have Bidets...while I guess it is a nice feature, does anyone really use a Bidet in the US?   We are planning on just eliminating that piece and allowing the shower to expand into that space, but it will be determined by if the plumber says that will work or not.  The plumber comes Tuesday, so we will know sooner rather than later.

Here are the "before photos" showcasing the wallpaper:

Day 1 of the renovation project was completely done by Joel and myself, and was dedicated to removal of the wallpaper.  We made great progress, but didn't get done on Saturday, so will have to spend a little time each night after work on removing the rest to prep the room for paint.

Here is the progress when we had to call it a day:

Rain Rain Go Away

It had finally dried out by the barn, and the pasture was getting nice and green for Spring---then late last night they decided to put rain the forecast.  That rain turned into almost 5 inches today (meteorologist, I don't like you).  After 1.5 hours of bumper to bumper traffic, I finally made it to work in the morning--just at the nick of time to get to a meeting.  It was cold, and drab all day long, but what I like least about the rain is the effect on the horses.

Claire was a nut case tonight!  She was bucking, kicking, and charging the other horses for absolutely no reason at all.  Poor Jordin was so nervous that after dinner he wouldn't come out of his stall on his own.  I didn't realize the extent of her rainy day crazies until we were on our way back to the house and she started to try to run down Joel.  Thankfully, she lost her courage for that before she did anything, but she is clearly very mad at having to be soaking wet all day, and trying to take it out on everyone around her.  In retrospect, I should have just left her in stall where she could nestle down in her wood chips, get dry, and sleep off her grumpies.  I can't blame her for not liking the torrential down pours, I wouldn't want to stand out in them all day either.  Hopefully everyone will be calmed down by tomorrow, and over this little spell.

Here's to tomorrow.  May we get to see the sunshine again, as it makes us all feel better.

A Sad Goodbye

Tomorrow we will sadly say goodbye to Max, as we let him go back to MTGRR to get the therapeutic rehabilitation he needs.  We found out that Brandi is not available, so we will be a two Golden family again.  We'll miss Max....he is a good boy, he just needs training to boost his confidence, and we don't know how to give that.  The video below will be one of our fondest memories of our time with him:

Dog, Interrupted

Shortly after we lost Charles (too soon after, really), we adopted Maximus.  He is a gorgeous Golden...light almost English Cream fur, a goofy smile, and humungous bear paws.  Max is an ultra-submissive dog.  As his foster dad said if there were 10 positions in a pack, he would be #15.  This wasn't a problem in the beginning of our adoption, but we generally let the dogs go for rides in the car just about everywhere we go 3 seasons of the year (Summer is too hot, so unless we are specifically taking the dogs for a ride they have to stay home, since even 5 minutes in the car without the AC on is dangerous). 

A few weeks ago, Max started having innapropriate fight or flight reactions in the car.  We would go through a drive through and he would go nuts...barking, jumping, growling; and he wasn't playing games.  If someone put their hand in the window he would bite it.  I thought we had it under control by giving him a firm "no", followed by praise when he settled, but the problem really hasn't gone away.  In fact, it escalated to the point that today he growled and snapped at Joel when Joel re-entered the car after being out running errands. 

We decided that Max needs therapeutic training that we don't know how to give.  Today, I sadly wrote to MTGRR to let them know that Max needed to be moved, and requested that the move happen by the weekend.  I also inquired about another adoptable Golden, Brandi. 

We've been watching Brandi online since she was posted, and had frequently said that if our house wasn't full we would adopt her in a heartbeat.  Joel and I believe she is Molly's puppy.....she couldn't have a stronger resemblance.  It is crazy close.  We are waiting on some info back from from MTGRR, but if she is good with other dogs and cats, and they approve we will hopefully adopt her right away. 

Letting Max go feels terrible, but it is assuaged by knowing that we can give a home to a more senior golden with special needs that we can meet.  Max will be better in the long run getting the constructive support and training that we are unable to give him, and hopefully his confidence will grow so he can be a well adjusted retriever.

It will be odd having three female retrievers and no big boy, but we absolutely adore Molly, and if Brandi is anything like our Ms. Magoo, then it will be the perfect choice.

This is Brandi: