Habitat House

Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to spend several hours working at the Habitat for Humanity house in our town.  My sis (you all know her as Bambi) is on the board.  

We started at 8:00 and I was given the job of installing hurricane tie-downs onto the rafters.  Now, I'm guessing Otin knows what a hurricane tie-down is, but I had no idea.  It's a piece of metal that is attached to the rafter and then to the outside wall.  That way, if a big wind comes along and tries to take off the roof, the whole house will be taken instead!

Sounds easy enough, right?  But actually, those things were a booger to install.  Attaching them to the wall, was no problem.  It was attaching them to the rafter, through that metal plate thing you see, using a special nail that was thicker than the "8 penny" nails I used to attach it to the wall.  So it was kind of slow going and I got a blood blister where I hit my finger with the hammer (see Bambi's for a visual, mine popped and all the cool red stuff oozed out before I could get a picture of it). (But isn't that cute we both got blood blisters).

My next job was sealing windows.  It was a 2-person job so I got Bambi to do it with me.  It was a straight forward job.

What'd I learn during my Habitat Day?

• Hold the nail with a pair of pliers.  That way you can hit it hard without worrying about your finger.
• What hurricane tie-downs are and how to install them.
• That building a house is fun.
• That it's a small world - one of the guys in charge is a really good friend of our former neighbors.  It was our former neighbors who recommended a real-estate agent when we sold our house and that agent is the wife of the guy who was in charge.
• That Habitat for Humanity used to get a lot of stuff donated but the big stores that used to donate won't even give them contractor's prices anymore.
• That people of all skill levels can make a difference helping someone into a decent home.
• That it feels good to work on a Habitat house.

The Indignity of it All

Hello blogosphere friends.  Sassy here.  You will not believe what happened to me today.  I was minding my own business when Barb got home and offered to take us for a walk.  We were so excited.  All 3 of us got our leashes on and set out on one of our normal walk routes through the neighborhood.  But then Barb took a new direction.  The direction that leads out of the neighborhood.  Well, that's fine.  It's fun to go to new places, smell new smells, see new sights.  We walked happily along for not too long a stretch when we came to the big road.  We had to wait for the light to cross, and I got really spooked when a big, loud truck went by.  After we crossed the street, we went into a wonderful smelling place.

I realized right away that this place smelled familiar.  I'd been there before, but it had been quite awhile.  We walked past some amazing smelling treats and toys, for we were in a pet store!  They've got cool beds, and silly-looking coats.  All kinds of stuff for me to check out.  They even have dried pig esophagus chews!  Really.  They keep them right next to the pig ears.  Just as I was starting to get really happy about where we were, we went into the back room.  You won't believe what they have in the back room!  Bathtubs!!!!!  Oh, the horror!!

See, Happy Gilmore, my foster-brother, had a bit of an accident in his kennel.  Barb thinks he's doing it on purpose.  Anyway, he needed a bath.  So I got my leash tied (can you believe it! Tied!) to a bathtub.  This place is a "bathe-your-own-dog" place.  So Barb put Happy into the tub.  He didn't seem to mind too much.  I thought we'd leave when Happy was done.  But no. Barb put Ginger into the tub.  It was pretty funny watching Barb struggle to get Ginger in there when she obviously didn't want to.  But Barb won and Ginger got her bath.   Then, well, you guessed it, Barb put me, Queen Sassy, into that tub.  I was not a happy camper.  

Of course, I'm a lady, so I let her do it.  And I guess I'd have to admit that my coat is nice and silky looking.  And I haven't had a bath in quite a while.  I don't smell bad, mind you.  But I guess I can use a bath once or twice a year.  The nice lady there gave Barb some doggy cannoli treats since we were all so good for our baths.   So, all in all, it wasn't that bad.  But I'm still unhappy about the bath.

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Love, 

Sassy

Rhyming Wednesday

It's rhyming Wednesday.  I'm not a poet, and I know it.  But I wrote a little rhyme based on the current positions and occupations of my dogs.  It's a dog's life!

Ginger's laying on the floor

Sassy's on the chair

Happy's sleeping on the couch

None has a care to spare

These sweet dogs are the lucky ones

they run, they lounge, they play

They've been out already for a walk

And they've been fed good food today

Well, that's it.  It doesn't seem finished.  And I know it's terrible.  But I can't just sit here all day and wait for the muse to show up.  I've got dishes to do (the dish washer is doing them).  I've got laundry to do (the washer and dryer are both hard at work).  The floor needs sweeping and vacuuming (well, I've got Roomba working on that).  I guess I'll just go eat lunch!

House Full of Boys

How can one tell that I have a house full of boys?  There are several clues.  This is one of them.  I found it in the landscaping by the front door.

First Day of School

I was starting to feel guilty about being happy about school starting.  Several of my facebook "friends"  had been lamenting the end of summer.  They hated the idea of sending the kids back for another year.
I, on the other hand, could not wait for school to start!  

Rhyming Wednesday

Rhyming Wednesday! 

I was inspired by Otin's poem.  So I thought I'd do a quick one.

My little Happy boy

He's cute as he can be.

So why, I ask myself

Does he still live with me?

We finally got some meds

So his poop's no longer loose.

He usually pees outside

And he hardly ever pukes.

So if you need a lover

One who walks on all fours

Call or come on over

Happy Gilmore is all yours

To Market

"To market, to market, to buy a fat pig.  Home again, home again, jiggety jig.  To market, to market, to buy a fat hog.  Home again, home again, jiggety jog."

I love market day.  In our little town there is a farmer's market every saturday from May through October.  You can find all kinds of veggies, fruits, meats (both fresh frozen and dried varieties), baked goods, etc.  It's not only food, though.  It's also an artisans' market.  

Lots of jewelry, painted stuff, hand-made cards, bags, etc.

What did we come home with?  Well, we did not buy a fat pig or a fat hog.  

We did, however, get some bacon from a guy who raises his own pigs and cows.  

We picked up some round steak and summer sausage from him too.  We got a baker's dozen of David's favorite sweet corn.  

David was the guy selling it.  And those bakers can't count!  My 6-year-old had a great time shucking, anyway.  

And I got some beautiful sunflowers from a lady whose farm is two hours away.  She gets up at 4:00 to get to market on time.  We shared the cherry pie we bought with Bambi's family.  We ate the sun-dried tomato and basil bread with the sweet corn.  We got some eggs and okra, too. 

As a starving artist myself (well, I've never actually tried to sell any of my art.  With the exception of some really cute cards at a sale to benefit Hope Rescues.  None of them sold), I had to check out some of the artisans' booths as well.  I couldn't resist the cute rocks painted to look like cheese and mice.  

And I was lured into a ceramics artist's tent.  He told me not to stand on ceremony.  Or the street.  So I stepped into his world and came out with this adorable fox whistle. 

He also had banks with a plug in the bottom so one could "take a loan without breaking the bank" and some interesting vases made to look like a pair of hands are holding the flowers.  He said they'd come in rather handy.

My 13-year-old was fascinated by the leather worker's craft.  He bought this cobra phone

 holder and a matching one for his dad.  (Bless Dad's heart, he said he'd even use it!).

Wonder what we'll find next week.