Bruce is Molting

He's a mess. He looks like he has permanent bed head.

I just want to ketch him and pull out all his loose feathers. 

Mr. B won't let me. Probably because he would have to help.

Hopefully in a few weeks he is back to his regal self. 

Runner 5293

Saturday was my big debut. I participated in my first run. I ran, yes ran there was no walking, the Crazy Legs Classic in Madison. Me, the person who used to hate running and thought those people be crazy, completed an 8k.  That’s five miles people!

I ran it with a few friends, although it was decided that we didn’t have a problem leaving the others behind or be the one left behind. We would meet up at the finish. And that we did.

It was the best feeling rounding the corner and entering Camp Randal Stadium to finish on the 50 yard line and to see Mr. B standing there waiting for me.  

My goal was to complete it in under an hour. I came in at 49minutes 41 seconds.  Much better than what I thought I would do. 

Happy Monday

On our morning commute today something flew off the utility truck ahead of us and smashed into the windscreen.

Poor Giselle.

Not what I wanted to deal with Monday morning.



Water, Water, Everywhere

It's been raining. A LOT. Everything is mushy and muddy and wet. There has been no yard work, the yard is a soggy mess.

Not only is it wet outside it is wet in the basement. According to Mr. B, the water table in our area is high and has been made worse by all the rain we have been getting. This was followed by a simple explanation of what the water table was, rather than having me try to explain it for those of you who were like me and don't know, I'll let National Geographic tell you.

Since the water table is rising the water isn't leaking through the walls, it is seeping up through the floor. It's coming along the seam between the concrete floor and field stone walls. But for those of you who know our house and our basement you know that it isn't all concrete floor. Half of it is still dirt. That side is a little soggier. No fear, this has happened once before, the first spring we were in the house. We were prepared this time. Everything a few inches off the floor and/or stored in plastic totes. We have a submersible pump that we have been using daily to run the water outside and down the hill. Now we just need it to stop raining so it can dry up and we can air out the basement and get the dehumidifier running.

Sorry no pictures it is dark down there and Mr. B didn't want our messy wet basement on the Internet for everyone to see.

Guillermo & Miss Talula Bell

He was getting over his broken foot. The limp was going to be permanent but not a hindrance to his quality of life. She was building a nest, hoping to be a mom this spring.

I am sorry I wasn't here to protect you. Sorry that I had to make the tough decision Guillermo. You were suffering. I will miss you chasing the car, teasing the dog, and making a fuss on the porch.  It will not be the same with out you two. 

Spring Came

Spring came on Sunday, it was a beautiful sunny day. I went for a nice long run, yeah I'm still doing that, I don't understand were the drive to do that comes from either. I just have to. Gus and I took a walk around the yard to survey the damage from the winter. Boy there is A LOT. But we will get to it. I'm sure we will spend the next several weekends putting all the gravel back into the drive way and picking up all the branches and tree limbs that fell. There will be a nice bonfire for any one willing to come help, hint hint sistas....

We have some flowers coming up! Which means I better get on it and rake out the gardens sooner than later. 

I brought out the kiddie pool and the birdies had the first decent bath since the fall. Did they enjoy that. 

Geeky side note, look how I was able to capture the water droplets. I told you that having a good camera would instantly make me a better photographer. 

 Spring was here this weekend, then it went away and has been cold an rainy for the past few days. Oh well I've been honing my driving skills. Mr. B and I recently acquired Giselle. She's a MINI Cooper. And a six speed manual. Thank goodness my husband can have the patience of a saint. I'm getting there. No panic attacks or meltdowns while driving, even though I did stall a few times at a light today. Yeah I was that person who held everyone up at the green light. It was rather mortifying but I held it together. I was in the car all by myself no one to rescue me. I had to do it, and I did. We had another lesson tonight and I am starting to understand the feel of what Mr. B refers to as the "sweet spot" on the clutch. 

We did it ourselves and I'm so proud of us

A few weeks ago we refinished the floor in the future crafty room. We were so pleased with the way it turned out that we decided to do our dining room and living room floors as well. We decided to do them both in one long weekend. Get it over and done with, only have to clean up the dust once.

We moved all of the furniture into the crafty room and sealed the door as well as we could to keep the dust out.

Like the crafty room these were the original floor boards, mainly unfinished with a painted boarder. These rooms had a much larger painted boarder, which meant more intense sanding.

 But before we got to that part we had to fix a few boards. Wes started at that while I ran to the hardware store to rent the sanders. I came home and he is trying to rig something up to hold a board steady while the glue dried. He was using my hand weights, string, and a screw hook.  He gave me that look when I asked him what he was doing. You know the this would be a hole lot easier if you just let me buy the expensive quick clamps that I wanted so this is all your fault and I'm going to by pissy for the rest of the day look. He forgot that I had some clamps hiding upstairs in my sewing room for the quilting frame. I felt really good being able to save the day. BTW: quick clamps have been added to the pick-up-at-the-home-improvement-store-when-we-have-some-extra-cash list. To avoid future looks while trying to glue the floor back together.

After the boards were fixed and most of the nails set, it was time for the sanding.

It took allot to get all that paint up off the floor.

Fourteen hours of sanding. Fourteen hours of back and forth with the drum sander and squatting down with the edger. I found that I couldn't kneel and do it so I had to be in a half squat. My poor tush and legs were so sore the next day.
And my back and my arms and my abs...

We did about an hour break in there. The edging sander took a poop. Turned it off to change out the paper and it wouldn’t turn back on. Off to the hardware store we went. I was crossing my fingers and toes that it could be fixed. They only had one at that store and the one at their other location was rented out for the weekend. I wanted this project to be done this weekend. I would probably would have gone into melt-down mode if they weren't able to get it up and running.

Before we went the boys took it apart, cleaned it, and did some trouble shooting. They thought it might be the switch. At the hardware store Mr. B changed it out and it started right up.  The clerk was busy with other customers so he set up Mr. B with the tools and the new part and let him go at it. It’s times like these that I’m so glad I married a handy man!

 

The next morning we drug our tired, sore asses out of bed and finished cleaning up the dust on the floor.

Then it was time for the polyurethane. Two coats on Saturday. Then we were off to my parents to escape the toxic fumes and celebrate Easter. Man does that stuff stink. Mr. B swears he was getting high off the fumes by the time we left.

 

Unfortunately two coats wasn't enough. When we got home there was some blotchy spots and bubbles. I cried. More work, more time that our house was turned upside down. I pulled it together and we sanded and ran to Menard's that night. The next morning we put a third coat of poly on the floor before we went into work. Poor Gus was confined to the mud room and didn't get any good naps in. He told me that he needs to sleep on the ottoman or the bed. He's an old man and the floors aren't comfortable.

The floors do look nice. I am glad that we did the extra work and put the third coat on.

Tonight we finally get to put our furniture back! Mr. B did hook up the TV in our room, so the past few nights we've had movie nights in bed. It's a nice treat but I'm ready for things to go back to normal.

Mr. Stinky No More

Gus got a bath tonight. He is Mr. Stinky no more. 

Well, at least till tomorrow afternoon when he goes on his adventures. 

Easter Brunch and An Egg Hunt

We went to my mothers over the weekend to celebrate Easter. As usual she hosted a delicious brunch. With all manner of wonderful things to eat. 

My big sista made a sausage roll, OMG wonderful.  My little sista made us a spinach and mushroom frittata. Mom supplied the ham, a fruit tray, and some pancakes. I brought the cake. 

She also hosts an egg hunt for the grand-kids. This year it was a scavanger type egg hunt with clues to find your next egg and ultimately your Easter present. My parents and I fun the night before thinking of all the clues. 

Gus on the other hand decided he need to have his egg hunt on Saturday. See these beautiful eggs. Miss Talula Bell has been working on this nest for over a week. 

Gus took himself on an adventure Saturday while we were working on some major renovation project, we shall talk about that tomorrow. His adventure took him all over the neighborhood and then back to the porch, where he found the nest and the four eggs. He snatched them and ate them. All of them! The odds of us having any goslings running around just went way down. I think she will still be laying for the next few weeks. I might have to purchase a incubator and snatch the eggs myself this time.