Skunked.

Well, in all of her 11 years, Lucy has never been sprayed by a skunk.  Until last night.  We awoke to what smelled like burnt rubber oozing from what seemed like every room in the house.  Tom even crawled up on the roof to check our swamp cooler for smoke.  We spend 1/2 hour at 4:45am trying to locate this item in our house that was potentially overheating. 

After unplugging many electronic things, and putting a fan in our bedroom window, we went back to bed.  It wasn't until we got up this AM that I realized it was coming from our dog!

So, thank you to Google, once again, for providing the answer to our woes:  a mixture of baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and liquid soap seems to have taken care of most of it...  Poor Lucy.  I do hope she knows to stay away from her striped friend the next time he/she visits our backyard.

Who knew that skunk spray on a dog does NOT smell like the skunk you notice outside in the open air...inside it becomes something that makes my husband almost hurl (his words). 

Paint & Floor

Well...progress! They finished the drywall last week so Tom and I painted all weekend and now they're installing the floor! The rooms are really coming together.

About two more weeks of construction, more or less. I have to say, Tom is sharing his bathroom well (and keeping it clean). However, the spiders in the basement leave something to be desired. I will not miss them!

Pictures below of both bathrooms, as is. And, no that is not wood floor, but the newest ceramic tile to hit the market - it looks just like wood. Who knew?!

Now, who wants to be the first guests to use the guest bath?

Messy, messy men.

Drywall guys. Good, Fast & Messy. I have to say they are the messiest so far of this entire construction process.

Tom had to pick up tools from the front yard, a drywall screw from the street, and there is drywall dust permanently ground into one of my rugs. BUT, we have walls! Fantabulous walls. Views into both bathrooms below...

Soak, anyone?

I know, I know, not very exciting for a blog entry, but we have a tub!! The first piece of our new bathrooms is officially IN! We came home last night to our hallway bathtub sitting in it's rightful spot. Ah, what a sight...

They have been making great progress, but it's been mostly hidden to us, in our crawl space (plumbing) with some electrical work added in (we also have our first recessed light operational).

So, as the walls go up, expect more pictures!! Boooooring (for everyone but us).

Stud Tour

No, not hot guys - just our bathrooms "walled out" - or whatever proper home improvement speak is.  Basically they finished our demo and got the walls in - it's SO very cool to see the new spaces and their layouts & sizes!  It just makes the remodel all the more real, if you know what I mean.  It's all looks good on paper, but until you actually see it, it's just hard to visualize.  A video tour should be attached to this post for the curious-minded.

The only snafu they've had so far is a mis-measurement that caused a window to be moved 4" to the left today, but at no additional cost to us, since it was their mistake.  And it actually resulted in our livin' large tiled master shower being 2 inches wider, so we'll be livin' even larger.  I hear the plumber comes tomorrow, we'll see what he (or she, of course) finds in the crawl space besides dead spiders (which is why I refuse to go in there).

Demolition Day...

First day of our dual-bathroom remodel and most everything is GONE!  Walls are down - the only stuff left is the drywall surrounding both bathrooms, our cool retro mustard yellow tub - groovy - and the cheap shower pan from our master shower.  And, now to share one basement bathroom with my not-so-tidy hubby for the next 4-6 weeks - let the games begin!  Oh - and to post A LOT of bathroom fixtures on Craigslist, let's hope no crazies respond.

Battle of the bees...

Question: how many cans of hornet spray does it take to kill a nest of bees living in a hot tub?

Answer: a lot

Cheese, please.

How is it possible that I can think we "may need" Parmesan cheese every time I go to the grocery store?! Is it age-related forgetfulness or my never-ending love of cheese? I don't know. But one thing I do know is that we're having Parmesan tonight.

(Tom and I did this with nutmeg for awhile. We had at least 4 jars of it. I see a theme.)

Squirrel, oh Squirrel

A friend texted me this picture today (thank you, Ceci) - it was just too funny not to post! 
Enjoy! (especially my fellow yogis)

Why Tom shouldn't leave for the weekend.

Spider in water glass by bed - GROSS!  (way too close to my head to leave it there all night)

Melissa puts book over glass to trap spider.
Taps spider off side of glass (ick factor already pretty high here).
Attempts to throw spider in toilet.
Spider hangs on and dangles in web.
Melissa freaks out, drops glass.
Spider floats on water, glass shattered (cannot flush spider due to broken glass).
Tries to drown spider with many MANY glasses of water (from new glass) unsuccessfully.
Spider triumphs and still lives.
Eventually, gets fly swatter, swats water (toilet water flies all over bathroom).
Spider Dies.
Tom returns home to this scene.

Summer Visitor

Well, like clockwork, Lucy has the inevitable giardia and clostridium bacteria again. It's her summer visitor every year.

Due to her requiring a bland diet of rice and hamburger, It's also one of the few things that has this vegetarian cooking meat in our kitchen (besides Tom's breakfast bacon, of course). Do you think she knows it's for her? I think so.

Bye bye birdie...

Remains from Guinness' first kill of the season. Late start this year, she must be getting old.

Happy Monday, or is it Sunday again?

First, I'd like to say Happy Memorial Day to all of those who have faithfully served our country and gave their lives to make world a better place to live.  Thank you Thank you Thank you.

Yesterday, I asked Tom how long I have to wait until I talk to him about our next vacation.  He said a few weeks.  I failed to wait that long...  I'm thinking maybe Montserrat - the Carribean island that was decimated by a volcano back in 1995.  It is quiet, out of the way, a few scattered bed and breakfasts and few tourists.  It sounds perfect!  There's nothing quite like an island vacation - no pressure to move around a lot, hot days, muggy nights - lots of sun, sand, snorkeling and exploring.  We can just pick one hotel and stay all week, beautiful.  I think September would be a good time to visit.  :)

Enjoy the last day of the long weekend, back to the ol' grind tomorrow, ugh...

Melissa

Home Sweet Home

We arrived home last night, greeted by tons of doggie kisses from Lucy.  It's good to be home.  Tom went fishing with Lucy this morning, and I got a trail run and hike in...life is good. 

I slept through a pretty hefty car accident (drunk girl ran over sign and fire hydrant) 2 houses up from ours last night and I also awoke in the middle of the night and looked at our bedroom and asked Tom how to find the bathroom - in my sleep-deprived travel "where am I?" haze, I did not recognize the inside of our bedroom, too funny.

Things I missed when on vacation:  Lucy, trail runs, easy access to vegetarian food, regular ol' American drip coffee and the beauty of Colorado.
Things Tom missed:  Lucy, fishing, regular ol' American drip coffee and probably a few more things I'm missing.

I am enjyoing this whole blogging thing (surprisingly), so I may just keep it up while NOT on vacation...

Melissa

Noapte buna (good night)...

Well, our last night in Romania. We are back in Bucharest after an all day journey from the Danube delta. Looking back, this trip has been absolutely wonderful. Thank you to our travel mates, Kristen & Todd, cheers to another fantastic trip!

Romania has an emerging tourist industry, so many towns and villages are virtually tourist free. It is easy to get off the beaten path and socialize with the locals. With a few words of broken Romanian on our end and broken English on their end, this country is pretty easily navigated and has a lot to offer in cultural diversity, cuisine (if you like pork) and natural beauty. A few odd thoughts for this closing post from across the pond:

1) This trip has made me value the smoke free environment many cities in the USA have created. Here there is smoking in almost every restaurant, it is accepted from the open doors of trains and is present nearly everywhere you go. I have not smelled this much cigarette smoke in years and years.

2) I love to travel through places where you stick out like a sore thumb, have no idea of the most of the local customs, and can't really speak the language. I find it very refreshing to step out of normal life and shake it up a bit. But this makes me appreciate the value of being comfortable, enjoying effortless communication and sleeping in your own bed each night. Ahhh, the comforts of home! And I miss Lucy :) I'm ready to come home.

3). It is challenging to be a vegetarian here. I am labeling this trip as my weight loss plan. :) I'm a bit worn out on fish and vegetable soup (ciorbe). Their staple food is meat, pork to be exact. I have found a few good veggie foods - their mushrooms are wild picked and fantastic. The polenta is amazing, potatoes quite tasty and their gelato is yummmmmmmy! However, I believe we will be partaking in Thai or Indian food very soon after arriving home.

Ah, Romania, you are an amazing country on the rebound after communism. The people are friendly and helpful, dogs cute, landscape beautiful and culture diverse for a country only the size of Oregon. Thank you for a great 2 weeks!!

Pictures: the very very crowded early AM ferry (standing room only), and waiting for our train in Tulcea.

Happy travels,
Melissa

On the move again!

It is 6am. This time, we are starting the long journey home. By ferry, train, then plane...I'll write when I can!

Picture: from our boat trip on the Delta yesterday.

On the Danube Delta

Well we made it to Sulina on the Black Sea today. It is quite the out of the way town, accessible only by water. Here you'll find only a few small hotels (pensiunes), restaurants and mini markets. It is a sleepy little fishing town on the edge of nowhere and the easternmost point in Romania. The Ukraine is just across the river, the Black Sea is on another side and there are nothing but delta canals, trees and national conservation land all around us. Very remote.

What this town does have are plenty of homeless pups that run in packs. It could really be an episode of something akin to DOG GANG WARS. They are more aggressive than in the rest of the country (but not toward people, just other animals) and pick fights with each other quite often. One pack started to harass a horse and the horse kicked the furriest dog into a pit of sewage. Unfortunately, the dog was trapped and would've been pulled down into the flowing sewage pipe and drowned, but Tom reached down and pulled him out by the scruff of his neck! He (the dog) was half coated in black sewage. Totally gross. We saw the same dog later running from himself (picture attached of the half coated dog).

Tomorrow we will either search for bikes to rent and ride along the coast or hire a boat to take us into the small hidden canals in the Delta.

Pictures today: the cemetery we visited, which holds tombstones from everywhere (this region of Romania has been a big melting pot of cultures for centuries), the view from our hotel of the Danube, and stinky butt dog, of course.

Tulcea (tool-cha), Romania

Really beautiful! We just arrived after a long journey from Moldavia. Going to head out for a run with Kristen, then find some beers and dinner!

Our hotel is the nicest place we've stayed in, complete with two white terry cloth robes, ooo-lala.

Photo: the view from our hotel room!

In transit...

Sadly, we are on our way to our last stop in Romania: the Danube Delta. We are hoping to get all the way to the Black Sea coast, provided there is room on the ferry. We plan to see many birds, eat a lot of fresh seafood and spend some time in a small fishing village. I hear we can even rent bikes and ride for tens of miles along the coast.

The weather was super cold and a bit rainy today. We even awoke to a fresh dusting on the roof of our hotel in the mountains. Let's hope for sun the rest of the week!

Tomorrow we will visit a winery and travel quite a ways to our next stop in Tulcea in the delta.

Today's photos...a picture from one of the many painted monasteries that dot the land, a vista of a village in the Moldavia province, and a pair of storks in their nest, so darn cute.

Salt mines, Ice caves and Dracula (again).

Tonight we are staying in Castle Dracula hotel at the top of Borgo Pass, this is the birthplace of the novel Dracula, and wins the award for most cheesiest Dracula place. Ever. Complete with a fake coffin in the basement. But we gotta, right? And there is quite a cold rainstorm blowing out there right now, how very fitting for a fake castle on top of a pass.

The past couple of days, we've been out of WiFi range traveling through northern Transylvania and stayed in a farmhouse/guesthouse last night. We had a wonderful home cooked meal and plenty of quiet...well, except for the dog and roosters. We've visited the Turda salt mine with gray salt swirled covered walls (that really looks like art) that has been lovingly turned into a tourist trap, complete with a ferris wheel INSIDE THE MINE. Today we crawled down over 200 steps to visit a very cool ice cave and have also seen plenty of curvy roads, rivers and mountains.

I have learned three things in the past few days. (Yes, maybe only three.)
1) Romania has chicken flavored potato chips and these quickly moved to the top of Tom's favorite foods list.
2) If you were to squish Idaho, Vermont and Colorado together somehow, you'd end up with the landscape in Romania.
3) Storks nest on electric poles and eat frogs.

Tomorrow were off to Moldavia. This area of the country borders Moldova and has many painted monasteries to visit, and hopefully some hiking to offer! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for better weather.

Pictures today of those famous chicken chips, the Scarisoara ice cave and Turda salt mine.

Leaving Dracula behind...

...in favor of countryside, underground glaciers and painted monasteries.

We have been in fairly noisy areas since we arrived in Romania and I'm looking forward to finding some peace and quiet. It's so nice to be in the ancient citadels, but continuous buildings and cobblestone roads echo even the smallest of noises, especially at 1am!

It'll be hard to leave Sighisoara, what a beautiful place. A bit too much play up on the Dracula angle, yet you can't even buy fake vampire teeth in the place where Vlad the Impaler was born, WHAT? (Tom's tip of the day: Bring your own set when coming to Romania).

We head Northwest tomorrow into Northern Romania to see natural gorges and underground glaciers, fantastic! More on the ice cave we will visit can be found here: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scărişoara_Cave

Two pictures today... The first is my peaceful spot of the day, the cemetery by The Church on the Hill, up 127 very old steps from the citadel floor. Towering oak trees and the view from this spot put it pretty high on the "OK places to rest in peace" list. The other picture is the dragon "dracul" from the house where Vlad the Impaler was born and spent the first few years of his life.

Viva Romania! :)

Bell Towers and Citadels

I've always loved ringing bells. I used to live near a church in Cincinnati that rang its bells, so beautiful. Well, walled citadels (where we are spending 5 of our nights) in Romania have many bells, a very nice unexpected bonus. There are so many churches and bell towers that one is both lulled to sleep and woken up by them. For me, this is wonderful!

So, today we landed in our second medieval walled Saxon city: Sighisoara (pronounced Seeg-ee-shwara). This one built in the 13th century, and the birthplace of the infamous Vlad the Impaler (aka Dracula). This is a quaint city nestled among many green hills, and it oozes charm from every old building and cobblestone street. I can't wait to explore more tomorrow!

The photo is taken within the citadel, with the beautiful clock tower in the background.

Transylvania

Wow. What a day. We saw three castles/fortresses and some beautiful, beautiful scenery. Transylvania is a gorgeous place! Our driver used to be a rally car driver, ugh, can you say CAR SICK, even in the front seat?! Now I think Tom is a slow driver (don't tell him that). Off to dinner...

Day 2 - Brasov

Ahhh...we made it to Brasov. We are staying inside the original walled citadel from the 1500s. Very cool.

Most interesting thing seen in Bucharest: a hair salon/tattoo parlor combined. Or the older couple we saw from the train, dressed in what appeared to be European swimwear, but standing in a field...what?!

So far the people are welcoming, the food is yummy, the country beautiful, coffee mediocre and the beer selection leaves something to be desired.

The picture is of Brasov from atop one of the many hills that surround the city! It's a beautiful place.

Across the pond we go!

My First Blog Entry!!

Wow, I have a blog.  I thought the day would never come...  I've started this blog so that while I am travelling through Romania, family and friends can keep up with my husband Tom, myself and our friends Kristen & Todd.  We start our 2 week journey on Saturday, May 5th.  Check back for updates!