Perfectly Ending Weekends...

There's little more satisfying than sitting outside on a beautiful Sunday evening with a glass of sauvignon blanc and a feeling of accomplishment.

At long last, the weather has turned into the beautiful spring days expected of early June. The humidity is gone, the breeze is cool and the temperature is reading 78 degrees.

I can't argue with that. This is the weather I've been craving and now it's here, I took full advantage of it.

We did have a hot and humid day yesterday. I decided to forge ahead and lay down the vinyl tiles on the floor. It was hot work but with the help of some upbeat music such as Guns n' Roses, Bon Jovi and, of course, Green Day, coupled with some Frank Sinatra, it wasn't too bad. Of course, Sookie and Rory were of no help at all. For some reason, they decided their job was to lie and doze in the exact spot that I was intending to tile. Also, they decided it was their job to show me that they loved me by trying to climb in my lap. This was appreciated except my fingers were always a little gluey from the sticky tiles and dachshund hair is not fun to have to scrub off with the glue.

Still, I got the job done. The only minor mishap was that during a particularly enthusiastic moment with my Fat Max knife (it's real name!) in which I was cutting a tile to size, I accidentally sliced off the top of my finger. Fortunately, my nail was long and that prevented too much damage but as it stands, I now have a bit of a flat finger and rather a deep cut which went several layers deep. There was quite a lot of blood too. I'm not particularly squeamish but it was not the prettiest thing. Since I originally thought I'd actually sliced my finger off, I was, however, relieved it wasn't that dire.

By the time the room was done, so was Saturday, for the most part. I was pleased with my handiwork. Even though it's not perfect and completely flawless, I love the way the new tile looks and, even better, I did it myself.

Today, I bought some rugs for the room. I bought a 5' x 8' rug and two 2' x 3' rugs for $50. I have a great store nearby for stuff like that called Old Tyme Pottery. It's also fantastic for dinnerware. If ever I'm cooking something fancy and don't have the right plates, that's where I go.

So, with the addition of the rugs, at long last, I can say my Tuscan room is complete. The last touches will be two pieces of unfinished furniture that I want to get and stain myself in a rustic green colour. I need a chest of drawers to hide some of the 'contempory' stuff that I want to store in the room and not display such as my Playstation 2 and I'd like a free standing cupboard for all of my kitchen applicances that don't quite fit in my kitchen cupboards.

Still, even without the furniture, it's a pleasure to sit in that room now. Before I redid it, the room had 1970's dark panelled walls, orange-green shag carpet and rather frumpy flowered curtains that were lovingly made by the former owner of the house but just not my taste. Now, the panellng is a sunny yellow, the floor is mock-teracotta vinyl tiles and the curtains are simple white muslin tied backed with red raffia. I like the final effect. On each wall is a variation on a picture of Tuscany with poppies in the forefront. I love poppies. Poppies are one of those flowers that just make me smile when I see them.

Even though I woke up today stiff and sore from my tiling, I still had an odd need to be productive. Some weekends are like that- I just want to get things done. Thus, I spent the day doing the following:

1) Buying rugs
2) Exchanging the propane tank for my grill. I've become a huge fan of grilling lately. It's quick, easy and the result is pretty darn yummy.
3) Grocery shopping at Jungle Jim's/shopping for my dad's Father's Day present. I'm making him lunch as part of his gift but it isn't as complex as the five-course meal I made for Mother's Day so I got him a bottle of Santa Margherita Chianti to try. He loves the Pinot Grigio and he's a fan of Chianti so it seemed like a smart choice.
4) Mowing the lawn.
5) Weeding the front garden.
6) Making a yummy Fourme d'Ambert baguette sandwich for lunch. Fourme d'Ambert is my current favourite cheese- it's a blue, creamy cheese from France and it's heavenly. I've decided my next culinary challenge is to learn about cheeses. (side note: I need a good book about cheese- any recommendations?)
7) Planting my vegetable garden- I planted peppers, heirloom tomatoes, squash and cucumbers.
8) Cleaning my patio, finally putting my outdoor rug down and setting out the furniture.
9) Cleaning my house- mopping, vacuuming, dusting and bathroom scrubbing.
10) Walking the pups.
11) Sitting outside with a glass of wine and being happy that I've had a productive weekend.

Obviously, the last one is where I am now. I'm smelling both the scent of fresh-cut grass coupled with Pine Sol. It's a good smell. I find that some weekends are best for relaxing but others, like this one, are best spent getting things done. I have to say, I like being productive. It's a wonderful feeling.

Even though it's back to work tomorrow, I can live with that because even though the weekend is waning away, it's waning away as I continue to sit outside, with my laptop, a glass of wine and a dachshund on my lap. It's another one of those moments that's as close to perfect as life gets.

And you just can't beat that, even when a Monday is looming.

Happy Monday!

Wunderbar Wonderbar....Cupcake

I have decided that it’s quite hard to get back to work after a rather nice little mini-break. Even though this week is shorter because of Memorial Day on Monday, time seems to have slowed down.

It doesn’t help that things are a little slow in the office either. It’s the type of week where people are sliding out a little early each day and going home. It’s also been a nice week, weather-wise. Since we’ve had so much rain lately, the rare treat of a warm week with sunshine and no rain makes it a little hard to focus.

I didn’t sneak out early yesterday but I did leave on time. I’ve decided the best way to not be sad that my trip to NYC is over for a while is to throw myself into some projects I haven’t been able to get to because of the rain. The number one project is finishing my pesky Tuscan room. I’ve had the floor tiles for ages but because the room is an add-on to the house, it’s the only way out to the back garden for the dogs and for me. This means that trying to do the floor while it’s raining would be a little silly because it would constantly have wet dog footprints on it. Also, I have furniture in there that needs to go outside while I tile the floor so rain doesn’t help that matter either.

Fortunately, this weekend is going to be dry and hot. I figured I wouldn’t get another opportunity for a while so I decided that this is the weekend the floor goes down.

This means that the carpet in the room had to come up. Since it was rubbish day yesterday, I wanted the carpet to get pulled up and taken away immediately. Thus, last night, I spent the evening pulling up carpet.

I do not enjoy pulling up carpet. It’s not so bad cutting the actual carpet up and getting rid of it. It’s just that around the edges there are these nasty little things called tack strips. Since these look somewhat like one of those weird bed of nails that people sometimes lie on in order to get attention in a public place, they’re not a good thing to leave sticking up. I know they’re there so I wouldn’t accidentally step on the but try explaining to two dachshunds that they should watch where they walk.

So, I had to pull up those tack strips. Fortunately, thanks to Google, I already knew the best method of doing so was to buy something called a Wonderbar pry bar from Lowes. So, last night, I stopped off at my neighbourhood friendly Lowes and bought one.

I have recently discovered that it’s quite nice to pretend I don’t know what I’m doing in Lowes. I actually do know where most things are there and, even if I don’t, I’m quite good at locating them. Until very recently, I got annoyed that as soon as I walked in, I’d be asked if I needed help by some male employee of the store. I know it sounds sexist but that’s the way it was- I think they assumed because I was female, I needed help. This used to annoy me.

However, recently, I’ve found it quite fun to pretend I need help. It sounds silly but it’s rather nice to have someone make sure I find exactly what I want. Even though there are times when I know where I really need to go and the employee doesn’t, it’s actually quite fun to watch them get a little stressed until they help me locate my item.

Yes, yes…I know. I’m betraying feminist strength all over the place. The thing is, I’m a single woman and I do find that being very independent is rather intimidating to men. It’s a stereotype but it’s a stereotype for a reason. Thus, I’m trying to be less intimidating. Hey, you never know.

Anyway, I did finally get my Wonderbar last night and I’m rather glad I did. That thing is a bloody marvel. All I need is my handy dandy hammer and the Wonderbar and the tack strips came up with just a few taps. I like that.

In the end, I actually did get the carpet up and all the tack strips removed. I also removed these evil metal things that may or may not be called bullheads that were firmly fastened to the floor near the entranceways.

The room is looking better. Under the carpet was a nice thin layer of vinyl tiles that is smooth enough to provide a good surface for my new tile. All I have to do is finish pulling up a few stray nails in the floor with my Wonderbar. I’m very pleased with that purchase. I’m actually amazed at the things I now own that I’ve discovered are quite useful. For one, I now own a hacksaw with a blade for cutting both metal and tree brances. I also own a nifty screwgun that is WAY easier than using a screw driver for things. Also, I own a pipe wrench. Now I own a Wonderbar. Who knew being a homeowner would inspire me to own such an interesting collection of tools.

Of course, the problem with the Wonderbar (and I realize this is a highly personal problem) is that every time I write it, say it or think it, it reminds me of something you’d get out of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. This, in turn, makes me suddenly want something sweet which, thanks to Saz and Magnolia Bakery’s introduction of good cupcakes into my life then makes me want a cupcake quite badly.

As I said, I realize this is a highly personal problem. Only I could turn a prybar into a cupcake in my mind. I don’t know what’s more annoying: The fact that I’m now craving lemon cupcakes with buttercream frosting even though I’m not a cake person or the fact that I can’t have one.

Ah well, maybe finishing up prepping the floor for the new tiles will help take my mind off cupcakes. Of course, I will be using the Wonderbar so maybe not.

Crap, I did it again. Now I want a cupcake.

Happy Thursday and thanks for reading!