Welcome to my
Perfectly Imperfect Life..........

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

My Heart Aches for you Cyndar

We found you on the back roads,
cars were swerving all around what I
 thought was a calf that had gotten out.
Upon approaching you,
 I realized you were a very frightened dog.
I pulled over, you came running to the car.
 I opened the back door, you climbed right in
and made yourself comfortable in the back seat.
You're your back legs had puncher wounds 
and you were thin as a rail.
A collar but no tags.
We took you to our vet where you were given
 the medical care you needed so badly.
You had been chipped but no one had bothered to register it.
Our vet traced the chip back to the vet who installed it.
He had only seen the owner that one time, but gave his info.
The phone number had been disconnected.

You became ours.
Our couch potato.
That was a short 8 years ago.
 
You loved paper plates,
with whatever was left on them ~ 
and straws ~
 thinking if you had one you should get a drink too!
and yogurt containers with whatever remnants were left inside.
How your got your big tongue inside the
yogurt cups are beyond me! 
You filled our hearts with your sweet demeanor
and so much love.
You were definitely a Gentle Giant.
 
Except when it came to the raccoons.
You gave them hell and
payed for it with bites and tears all over.
You were so brave. My hero.
Large breeds don't live as long as smaller ones.
You've had issues with your back and heart.
I was aware that large breeds were prone to bloat.
I promised myself that would not happen to you.
Unfortunately, I let you down.

Last night we had to make a difficult decision.
Our beloved Cyndar was put to rest do to bloat.
My bed was empty last night.
Katie and I missed you terribly.
She doesn't know what to do with herself,
neither do I for that matter.
Yes, you took up a lot of room but now,
the house feels so empty and big and lonely.
I will miss you twirling in the living room when I arrive home,
you kicking me in the middle of the night while dreaming,
you snuggling up with me in bed
 
but most of all I will miss your hugs.
You are now pain free to cross over the Rainbow bridge.
Toby, Baylee and even Angel will be waiting for you.
Run pain free like a pup and
 let the others now they have never been or ever will
be forgotten and that I love them all dearly.
 
I will always love and miss
you terribly my sweet Gentle Giant.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Best Giveaway!

Have you heard about the giveaway over at Sweet Magnolias Farm ?
There will be
 not 1
not 2
or 3,4,5
but 6
winners!
AND be sure to check out their Etsy Shop!


A Laugh a Day Keeps the Doctor at Bay

A nice, calm and respectable lady went into the pharmacy, walked up to the pharmacist, looked straight into his eyes, and said, "I'd like to buy some cyanide."
The pharmacist asked, "Why in the world do you need cyanide?"
The lady replied, "I need it to poison my husband."
The pharmacist's eyes got big and he explained, "Lord have mercy! I can't give you cyanide to kill your husband, that's against the law? I'll lose my license! They'll throw both of us in jail! All kinds of bad things will happen. Absolutely not! You CANNOT have any cyanide!"
The lady reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband in bed with the pharmacist's wife. The pharmacist looked at the picture and said, "You didn't tell me you had a prescription.
 

Monday, April 22, 2013

Ideas Come to Fruition

I've had a lot of different ideas running around in my head lately, some old, some new.
A lot stayed half finished for quite a long time.
I've finally accomplished a few of them.

I took the top off one of those solar garden lights
(from the dollar store).
Placed it in a layer of sand and topped it off with pale blue beach glass. A bit if trim around the neck and
you have a cute romantic patio light.

 I picked up this teapot at a sale and could see it as chimes.
A few teaspoons and prisms for drops
and they're you have it!

Another sale find turned grubby frame into
 elegance.
Painted white with MOP buttons
and some pearls 

Clear glass vase paired with clear glass bowls
became Mushrooms for the garden


Sunday, April 21, 2013

How to Fix a Cracked Tub Part 2



In yesterdays post we had just finished filling the holes with Latex Sealant and were waiting for it to cure.
And cure it did!
We all got in the tub and it is SOLID!!
Yeah! Yippee!
Now on to the next part,
The Acrylic Repair Kit.
There is a few steps to finishing the repair of the tub.
 Scoop out the amount of Repair Paste that you think
 you'll need into a plastic cup.
Add drops of toner to get the paste closest
to the color of your tub.
Stir well.
Cover all the holes and cracks with the Repair Paste.

Once all is covered let cure.
The box says about an hour,
but it was still tacky.
We decided to leave it over night.
The next day is was nice and hard.

Now to sand it down so it's nice and smooth.
 Be sure to wear a mask and keep the bath fan on.
It really kicks up the dust.

See what I mean?!  

Here we go again trying to take a photo of white on white,
but T did an amazing job getting it smooth.

 AND matching the color too!

Vacuum out the tub again and
wipe down to remove all the dust from sanding.

Here we are at the last step.
Rubbing it down with buffing compound.

Not too shabby for a few of portagees! LOL

Now I get my shower back to myself!




Thursday, April 18, 2013

Flaunt Those Flowers!

I did manage to get a few projects done recently.
Finally the bike is planted with trailing Petunias
and placed in the front garden.
I have longed for this for so long.
We had about 2 weeks of strong gusty wind
(a few neighbors lost their fences!)
Silly me, thought the wind was done,
so I planted and placed the bike.
I even raked all the mess up...
why does everyone's trash get blown into my yard?!

The day after the wind was back, gustier than ever.
Good thing I took these photos when I did,
cuz everything was whipped silly
and does not look like this anymore.
Today is the first day I have been able to water in about 4 days.
Yes, the wind has stopped...for now,
so it's water everything quick in case it returns.
Hellebore is blooming
I guess the Mocking Birds have decided 
that I need another Fig Tree.
But why did they put it in the front garden?! 
Bergenia has finished blooming.
But look at all the Columbine sprouting up.
 Love plants that reseed and take care of themselves.
Looks like the birds have also planted a Grape in the Bergenias.
The only grape I have is Thompson Seedless, so Lord only knows where they picked this up from.
Here's a mature Columbine blooming

I have completely ignored the house and gardens for 2 1/2 yrs.
If you follow me, you know I am going through a divorce.
I didn't want to put anything into the home
should I not be able to keep it,
even though I have been told I will be.
Why should he reap the benefits?

BUT my mind set has changed over these past 2 1/2 yrs.
I'm going to believe my lawyer and the Judge and claim it.

I am so surprised how many plants have hung in there with me.
Very little water, no pruning, just plain ignoring.
Yes, I was detaching, something I've learned to do all too well
from all the transfers from station to station over the last 38 yrs.
 I just couldn't look them in the face wondering
 if I would be able to keep them.
Since 90% of my plants have come from my parents farm,
by way of propagation,
I believe they have been looking down
and giving them strength to grow so that when I did
come to my senses they would still be here to make me smile.

There's more but you'll have to wait for my next post,
this one has become long enough.


Monday, April 15, 2013

How to Fix a Cracked Tub Part 1

Don't act so surprised, you all new we were cracked! LOL
In the lovely new home we purchased in 1994,
within a year we, as well as our neighbors,
had long lists of issues with our new homes.
The builder didn't want to cooperate
and fix said issues, so we all got together to form a group.
As individuals the builder blew us off but as a pretty large
 and boisterous group we got them to listen.
And eventually fix most of our issues.
 
One of ours were our bathtubs.
Both of them had hairline cracks in the bottom. 
We had lived in many homes, apartments,
 and duplexes over the years and
had no experience with cracks in bathtubs. 
The closest we came to a leaky tub/pipe
 was in housing in Miami.
We knew and told maintenance that we thought
we had a leaky tub or a broken pipe in the
 upstairs bathroom wall that was shared
with the master bedroom.
Maintenance came out and looked
and agreed we had a small leak
but since we were to be transferring within the year
 they would wait until we moved to tear the wall down.  
We thought "hey, great! We don't have to deal with it!"
but at the same time wondered how much mushier
the wall could get before it failed.
We went on our way and transferred about 6 months later.
About a year later one of our neighbors was
transferred to the same station we were.
He had a great story to tell us.
Maintenance didn't close up our unit to fix the pipe
and promptly moved the next transfers in.
They came home one day to find their upstairs bathtub
and master bedroom in their downstairs living room.
Yep, it fell thru the floor!
They were very lucky they weren't home,
someone could have been killed.
But now we know...
a slow leak will take about 18 months before it
collapses a wall and a floor.
  
But I digress.
The builders sent a company out to fix our tubs.
They simply recoated them.
I thought that they should have found out why they had cracked,
but what did I know. They looked a lot better, cosmetically.
Not to long later the hall tub had small cracks in it again.
We were past our warranty and I had
other things going on in my life at the time
and a cracked tub was at the bottom of my list of priorities.
OK, fast forward to last month when T fell in the tub .
I think the jar not only hurt him but the tub too!
The cracks seemed larger....time to do some research.
Do I spring for a new unit ( it's an all in one) or get it fixed.
BUT first, why did it crack in the first place?
It didn't take me long to figure it out after searching the net.
The tub was not correctly installed and supported properly
. Uh duh, why didn't I figure that out on my own so much sooner!! When you step in certain spots in the tub
it's "soft", it "gives", while others are hard.
 The builder only had put a band aid on the problem and not properly "fixed" the issue.

Purchasing the correct products to fix it were more cost effective than hiring a professional or purchasing a new one.

First of all clean the cracked area thoroughly.
When finished wipe down with rubbing alcohol.


As you can see we had a lot of hairline cracks
 that ''spidered'' out in a lot of different directions.

Drill a hole at each end of each crack,
this will prevent the crack from cracking further.

We ended up with a lot of drill holes
due to all the different ways the cracks "spidered". 
When finished drilling,
vacuum the tub really well to remove all particles.

You will need Latex Sealant.
 Latex expands to 75% as soon as it is applied.
Do not use expanding urethane foam insulation
that you would use on/in your house.
Urethane foam gradually expands to 200%
and can cause warping or distortion. 
Latex only.
Clean up is a breeze with soap and water too.

Insert the tube into the nozzle and fill those holes.
The fumes are strong so make sure you have a mask on,
the bath fan on
 and any windows open.
It took us 2 cans to fill all of ours.
 Between bending over and holding the trigger
we all took turns.  
Only drawback I found was how slow the sealant comes out,
But that just may be me..I'm always in a hurry! 
It's so hard to take photos of white on white.
After we were done filling, I took a putty knife
to scoop up any "spilled" sealant
and spread it into the holes.
Waste not want not!

Now wait 24 hours for it to cure.

Stay tuned for the next post
 and see how we faired,

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