A Dog Wants What He Wants

This is a funny little story.  I'm not sure why I didn't write about it when it happened a few years ago, but I guess as time goes on, certain things stand out. 

So my then girlfriend at the time, Lili, had a service dog named "Monster."  Actually, his full name was Cookie Monster "Muddy" Fourpaws.  Here's two pictures of him.

When we were first dating, Lili came over to my place and we made popcorn.  She said that Monster liked to eat popcorn.  I thought, "really?"  I didn't know if dogs should eat it or not.  But she said it was okay.  So I get a pie plate and put the popcorn on it for him, and put the plate in his food spot.

He sniffed it, and looked at me.  Then he looked at Lili.  I said, "I thought you said he liked popcorn?" 

Lili said, "Well, did you put salt and butter on it?" 

I said, "No of course not."

To which she said, "Well you have to put salt and butter on it."

I thought about that for a minute, and then said, "okay."

Well, I put salt and butter on Monster's popcorn, and put the pie plate back at his place.  He then sniffed it, and started eating it.  I guess a dog knows what he wants.

Adrian, Amateur Painter: The Front Steps

Again, in a continuing series of me fixing broke stuff, I present another Amateur Painter series.  This time I am painting the front steps to my Girlfriend Lili's (not her real name) house.  I already tested out the paint primer and red paint on the back steps, and they turned out great.  So I got on a roll, and started to paint again.  (Sidenote: I'm actually starting to get good at this painting gig.)

So here's what I had to work with:

So first things first.  I put down the Kilz 2 paint primer first.  Again, I had it tinted gray so when I put the red paint on it, it wouldn't show up pink.  One thing to note.  Where there was already red paint, (in some places) I decided to not paint the primer over it.  I'll just put the red paint over it when the time comes. 

So here is the result of my hard work:

Due to the position of the sun, the photos can look a little washed out in places.  But overall, I got what I wanted painted.  Today was the perfect day to paint.  It was cool and dry, and those days don't come often in Florida.  Especially with a clear blue sky out. 

So here's the fun part.  I get to do it all over again tomorrow.  That's when I put the red paint on, and make it look really nice.  I'm not worried about the primer not being dry, as it was almost completely dry in places after only an hour.  And the other good news?  That means another great blog coming up. 

Read you then!

Adrian: Amateur Handyman/ Bathroom Remodeler

As promised, here is my adventure in painting.  I truly feel like a weekend warrior, if that warrior was named Homer D. Poe.  (See previous post.) 

Here's the beginning of the story.  Like I have said a few times, my girlfriend Lili moved into a new place.  The people who lived there before did their best to destroy the place.  The bathroom was really hard hit.  The landlord repaired a lot of water damage and completely replaced the floor.  The bathroom was also painted, but it was painted in a dog shit brown kind of color.  And it looked like it was done in a hurry, so it was a piss poor job.

That's where I come in.  I had talked to Lili about painting the bathroom and doing a little remodeling on it.  She completely agreed.  Luckily, I have a lot of tools and such so we kept the cost down.  We only had to buy one gallon of wind swept blue paint, and the landlord will take the cost off the rent.  So really, we are keeping the cost of this project way down. 

As always, I have taken a bunch of pictures.  That way, you can really see the transformation.  First off we start with the "before" pictures.

So yeah, you can really see that it is just a terrible brown color.  Next up comes "the taping."  Honestly, we put painter's tape everywhere.

We decided to put the blue down first.  There was more of it, and all the trim was going to be white so it only made sense. 

 

Next up it was time to add the white paint.  Actually, it was more of a cream whitewash, but it blended nicely.

Of course there was a lot of things that happened in-between pictures, but I am doing the Cliff's Notes version of things.  That, and with pictures.  Next up is our finished project.  Let's look!

What an awesome outcome.  With a lot of hard work and elbow grease, everything just fell into place.  The bathroom looks really inviting with the new colors and a brand new shower curtain.  And I'm proud to say we did it without me and Lili trying to kill each other.  So in closing I want to say I am really excited about this, but would also like to thank my little helper.  That would be Monster the Dog.  (See picture below.)

Adrian: Amateur Gardener, Part 4

To catch up on this ongoing story, read these blogs first.

Adrian: Amateur Gardener
http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2013/03/adrian-amateur-gardener.html

Part 2. 
Adrian: Amateur Gardener, Part 2
http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2013/03/adrian-amateur-gardener-part-2.html

Adrian: Amateur Handyman
http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2013/04/adrian-amateur-handyman.html

Part 3.
Adrian:  Amateur Gardener, Part 3
http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2013/05/adrian-amateur-gardener-part-3.html

Basically I wanted to do an update on all the plants that I planted for my girlfriend Lili (not her real name.)  Here in Florida we are starting to get into our rainy season, and honestly, the rain has been coming down. 

First up, the Coleus.  When we first got them, they were maybe five inches high.  With a little water they kind of grew.

Yeah, they got tall really quick.  I mean, I didn't think Coleus got that tall.  And I don't think they are done yet.  There are some very small buds starting to pop up.  I think I will be posting another blog about these Coleus in the future. 

Next up are the Vinkas.  They had a few buds on them, but again, with a little rain they have really taken off.

Even the donkey's ear is doing well.  I think it needed to put down some deep roots first, but it has been steadily growing.

And the bromeliads always do well. 

But look closer at that picture.  Here, let me help.

They are starting to breed.  And they are wanting to take over.... the flower bed.

More updates to come.  Stay tuned.