How I Spent My Christmas - Part Three

Well, it is one of the better pics - it shows the darkness of the color but still light. It is the most realistic pic that I could get.

This turned out to be quite a bit of work. I think there is an art to painting around the tape. I found that even though I stayed within where I wanted to paint, the paint stuck to the tape and kind of pulled off. That may be the melamine part, though.

Also, the floor is slightly gummy feeling. It is dry and no paint is coming off but... Thinking that I needed to put laminate or something on the floor, I went back to the hardware store. A very nice lady there told me that melamine takes about 30 days to cure and to just not work the floor hard, don't wash it and just wait. I shouldn't need to top the floor with anything. Personally, I'd love to slap another layer of paint on it but we'll see. It was relatively easy to do this as I just moved the cat box to the hallway by the door and adjusted my needs but with two of us it might not be as easy.

As you can see, part of the tub was painted. This wasn't the initial intention - just the baseboards was but with the extra paint and the fact that I don't have steady hands it ended up being part of the tub. Yes, there still needs to be some final touch ups - some of the loose paint needs to be removed but I think I have had enough for now. This has taken about six days to do, counting the drying time. This can be done whenever.

The things in the middle of the side of the tub are stick on tiles. I think they broke up the stark white a little.

And to think I thought about doing the walls. I'd love to do it the Canuck burgundy/red color but the thought of it is headache inducing. That color would look really neat on the tub, though!
The melamine should be really nice in about a month. I'm really looking forward to it.

I hope Husband likes it. If not, well, then maybe he should have used the sealant.

Or stayed home at Christmas.

hee hee hee

How I Spent My Christmas - Part Two

This is about the best pic I could get of the floor. The floor itself is a little darker than the pic but the other pics show it to be almost black and this shows the details a little better. I ended up cleaning the floor and leaving it overnight and then marking with the tape. There will still need to be some clean up afterwards but I believe I have some good stuff for this.

I ended up getting a fair amount of paint all over my hands. Of course, there are no hardware stores within walking distance so I head off in the car with little red gloves on as my hands are all sticky. If you ever need something good, "goop remover" rocks.

The only bad this is now I have a slight chemical burn on my hands, but it can't be any worse than the mutilation that the rats produce.

There are uneven spots on the floor and it was quite difficult to get behind the toilet but as far as I am concerned it is a heck of a lot better than the white tiles. I don't care if it is the new style. White tiles and white grout on a bathroom floor is idiocy.

Now I have to wait and try to dry this.

How I Spent My Christmas - Part One

This is the bathroom. On the floor are little white tiles with white grout. Foo foo fancy and quite difficult to keep clean. Husband was supposed to put sealant on, but we are still awaiting this. It's kind of hard to nag a man who doesn't nag about the critters so it was just something that never got done.

He had to leave sometime and going to see the folx at Christmas is as good a time as any to make a mess. That'll teach him to procrastinate. heh heh heh

Off I go to get the paint. I have been looking at the web to see what can be done and figure that an oil based paint will stick the best. Epoxy is suggested but I feel more comfortable with the oil based. In the back of my mind I am thinking of the Canucks colors but will see what is there.

Lo! There are the Canucks colors. Actually, there was every hockey team color available but this is a Canucks household. Looking at my choices, the melamine looks most appropriate as it is made for more wear and tear. I only need a quart but end up with a gallon because this is the only size I can get with my needs. Anyone need some paint?

So, with some cleaner, paint tape, roller, brush, etc off we go.

Finally! Pix! Let's Introduce Clementine:

This is Clementine. Like Hilda, we aren't sure what her age or background is and whether her and Hilda may be sisters. She is definitely more feisty and nosy than Hilda and roughhouses with the other ladies quite a bit. Clementine and I had to get to know each other a little bit sooner than otherwise may have happened as Clementine came to us sick. We had noticed shortly after coming home that she had a rash or something on her front paw (you can see the redness in the pic) as well as some kind of problem with her chin.

We ended up taking her to the vet to find out what the problem was. The paw is just dermatitis but the chin problem turned out to be that her mouth was full of pus. The vet said that he could clean it and I could take her home and give her antibiotics and see if that did the trick. The other option was that he could put her under and clean it out and see exactly what the problem was. I opted for the latter and she had her mouth cleaned out, the dead tissue removed to clean to bleeding tissue, a stitch and then reversed from the anesthesia. Poor baby. I'm starting to learn with rats is to just pay the money and get it over with because it will alway be something!

So then more fun with medicine. She didn't want the chocolate syrup (what is it with these rats, anyways??? Pass on chocolate????????) or the yogurt so we had to do it the fun way. She is a forgiving and sweet little girl so it wasn't that bad. At least she didn't do the Nibble trick which is to put the tongue in a certain way so nothing gets down the throat. She wasn't happy, but did swallow the medicine. Yay! The vet gave her pain killing drops and some kind of saline as well. She is doing much better. She wasn't happy to have been separated from the others during the first almost week after the mouth repair, but we couldn't take the chance that they other nosy parkers wouldn't have made it worse or pulled the stitch or cause some kind of trouble that only they could cause.

We will enjoy having Hilda and Clementine with us for as long as they will have us.

Finally! Some Pix! Let's Introduce Hilda:

We brought this lovely lady home on the evening of November 16. She was one of a group of rats that were dropped off with SARS and they had no idea how old they could be. Hilda is quite shy and likes to hide but is getting along quite nicely with the other ladies. I am not sure if she is a sister to Clementine as she is about twice the size and quite a bit more reserved (I would say more mature as well). I am still trying to figure out her personality but really don't want to scare or stress her out any more than need be. We are still quite happy to have her with us and she is a sweet little lady.

It's Been Awhile and Things Still Suck

It has been a most hideous week or so in Canuckland. Can't really think of much to say except that it is getting easier to heckle the games.

I guess that's a positive.

I wonder what will come first - some trades, a firing or a ten game losing streak?

Meh.

On a positive note, found a great video to cheer a hockey fan up, even one who like myself is not a big fight fan. Two actually and then a cutesy one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfXCYIUJcNg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfjrHD0Dgfg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyjq9RJ-_yM