Pink and Gold

  

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I'm obsessing about everything pink and gold lately...are you?

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check those pom pom fringed pillows!

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At work I'm always trying to lead people towards buy a Chesterfield 

when they are considering a leather sofa.

Unfortunately, most of the time...they go for a big squishy sofa over the tufted Chesterfield.

Personally, I like the way a Chesterfield sits. I think the stiffness of it is a plus.

But most people don't like the feel of it. That one above is amazing in silver.

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gold touches and pink wallpaper

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Mirrored furniture with pink is always good...but adds some gold and its really special.

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Just a pink throw adds something special to this room.

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I love how this piece appears to be dipped in gold.

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Little bits of pink and gold jazz up this room.

Just my thoughts on pink and gold.

Update on Violet...she had a good day today.

She woke up acting like her old self.

Two days on medication.

I'm being very careful about what I feed her just in case that is part of the problem.

If all days could be like today...we'd be golden.

She was feeling very good.

Thanks to all of you that have written expressing your concern about her health.

I've also appreciated all of your suggestions.

Some of you I've tried to write but you are "no reply" in the comments...as I'm afraid

I am of late too when I comment on other's blogs.

I hate how when you change it ...it automatically changes back to "no reply" after a little.

Very frustrating. 

We had snow here today but not very much.

Suppose to snow again tomorrow.

I'm hoping it will be a light snow again.

Spring will be here soon...I can't wait.

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Build.com

Just a Little Update

 

(aren't I cute?)

 I got an email the other day from a nice lady asking if I'd be interested in blogging

about my experience shopping and using Build.com's products.

She asked me to view the site and let her know which items I might want.
Well, I wrote back and said I could redo my whole kitchen with what is on Build.com.
Let's start with a farmhouse sink, new appliances, etc....

She wrote back and gave me a budget.
So I'm starting small....

 

New cabinet pulls. I've wanted bin pulls for my drawers for ages but could never find 

any the right size. I wanted some that would not involve me drilling new holes.

On Build.com you can search by style, color, metal and measurement!

That led me to several options including the one pictured above.

14 please! 

I'm keeping my existing knobs as they are perfectly fine and anything new

I would want, would look pretty much the same.

 

(Can you imagine it with the bin pulls instead?)

Not a big changed but I have just always wanted bin pulls.

 

So since I didn't spend much on the kitchen...and I already have a new kitchen faucet 

just waiting to be installed...I turned my attention to the master bath.

I like my faucet just ok in there....so a new one seemed like a good choice.

 

Pretty...right?

And it says HOT and COLD...I always like that vintage touch.

As I typed this the door bell range and it was Fed Ex with my bin pulls!
Faucet is coming, separately.

I can't believe how fast the shipping was.
I chose like last Friday and here it is Wednesday and they are here already.

I can't wait to get in there and do the ol'switcheroo.

But first today on my day off...I'm going to the vet to pick up more
antibiotics for Violet.

Last Wednesday she had another seizure.
Scared me bad and I called my Vet at home.

He said just to watch her and if she has a third...we'll do something.
Next night...Thursday...she has another!

So painful to see her struggle afterwards.

As I sat with her after the third one...I thought about is there anything different in her life
that might be causing this...since the vet did blood tests and couldn't find anything wrong?

The only thing different in her life was a new food I'd fed her.

I'd bought on a whim Iams dog food...dry...naturals with no grain or chicken.
Violet has been eating canned food for the last three years because she does better on it.
She is allergic to grain and chicken.
Every once in awhile I'll buy a dry food to try her on...and she usually gets stuffed up in her nose and coughs a lot!

So I tried this new food and she seemed to do well.
She ate it and her canned food off and on for about maybe a week.
Then she had the seizure.

I took her to the vet and he said her teeth needed to be cleaned and she had an infection.
He put her on an antibiotic which I had to feed mixed in the canned food.

So she only ate canned food for a week.

A week goes by...no seizures.
Then last Wednesday, I had a doctor's appointment and I was running late...so I just poured out
some dry for them to eat until I could get home and properly feed.
That night she has a seizure!

The next day...I fed as usual...then they acted like they were hungry later in the day so I poured out
some of the dry. That night Violet had another seizure!
All three of these seizures have happened while she was sleeping.
But afterwards she cannot sleep and she is totally out of it and crying and it takes hours for her to settle down and go to sleep.

So I looked up on the internet to see if seizures can be related to food and read that they can be.

So....I called my vet yesterday to tell him what I think and he says I could be right.

So now...she's going to have another week of antibiotics and I'll watch her and then we'll decide
if we'll do the teeth cleaning or not.

She needs the teeth cleaning cause we don't want the infection to spread to her organs.

For a few days she seemed a little unsteady on her feet but she seems to have recovered from that.

The vet said she could just have been sore from the actual seizure.

Plus she seemed like she couldn't see well...he said that too can be an after affect but that hopefully her
eyesight would return.
I think it has.

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It's Weenie Time!

After work...most days...I spend a little time on the deck with the weenies.

Here is Franklin...he's panting because it was so hot out...like mid 90's.

He's a full grown lovely boy now! He's over two years old.

He is very very sweet and gentle. He's very attached to me. Likes to be near me at all times.

He's an easy dog. He comes in when I call now and the only thing he is crazy about is squirrels 

but I never have to worry about him trying to get out. He seems perfectly content in my backyard.

When I had Newman I was constantly scared that he was going to find a way out or hurt himself doing

some daredevil thing. Franklin is full of fun...but he's not hell bent on destruction. 

He's a happy little guy.

I tried to get a photo of his full body, so you could all see how handsome he has become.

He has a very nice tail but his ears are a little funny. 

The hair stays short on the tips and is long on the tops.

Many of the photos turned out like this because he kept trying to come up and kiss me while I was shooting.

I haven't shown Harvey in awhile. He is much thinner than he used to be.

Here's a photo of how he used to look....

Very adorable but very fat.

He's is still chunky...but he has lots more energy now and can run and jump a little.

He's lost weight since I started spoon feeding them.

I don't leave food out for him to eat when he wants any more.

Still adorable.

I began this diet after discovering Violet is allergic to grain and chicken.

She had a terrible sinus infection and cough last year that just would not go away.

Many trips to the vet did not solve the problem.

The vet said it was just chronic and nothing to be done about it.

Well, I switched to canned food just because I'd run out of their normal dry.

That canned food was beef only. 

Mom had brought it when she came to stay with me.

After a few days on that food...Violet was so much better!

The coughing stopped and way less snotty nose.

Recently, I went grain free too and she's 100% again.

She has always sneezed a lot in the spring and summer but last year after she caught kennel cough 

from Franklin...she was sick most of last year.

I wonder why my vet didn't think to suggest it could be a food related allergy.

Her skin was itchy and broken out too.

Now it seems obvious.

Anyway, I wanted to tell about it here in hopes of helping anyone else that has a dog 

with a constant cough, runny nose and itchy skin.

Try taking chicken and grain out of their diet.

Poor Violet, she is not very photogenic. She is much more beautiful than this photo shows.

She is very hard to photograph too...she doesn't care about having her picture taken at all.

Newman used to stare right at the camera and I'd get lots of good shots of him.

Funny how some dogs like their picture taken and some don't.

Sally doesn't mind although she wiggles too much when close up. 

She is probably thinking about rolling in something in that top pic.

She likes to do that a lot.

Here she is being good. Such a silly girl with a silly smile.

Sally's lost weight too....Franklin has gained a little which is fine but poor Violet has 

gained several pounds. She used to pick at her food but since I changed it

she wants to eat lots of it. I think she knew it made her sick and ate as little as possible. 

That's what's up with the dogs.

Nothing much up with me.

Which is good....it's good when things are dull...don't you think?

Nothing bad happening...and that is good. 

sharing at

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Romantic Kitchens

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Can a kitchen be romantic?

Why of course!

That one above is definitely romantic.

The frilly details of the cabinets and the sconces make it so.

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This one is -  in a bright airy way.

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Pretty brackets, dishes and flowers makes this one dreamy.

That marble doesn't hurt either.

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The hot pink towels make it clear that this kitchen is intended for romance.

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This kitchen is divine. 

Chandeliers....beautiful furniture and a fireplace...complete the romantic ambiance.

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More marble, pretty china and flowers take this kitchen from ordinary to precious.

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This is a glamorous kitchen. Clean and pretty and flowers.

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This kitchen is for romance most assuredly. 

Perhaps too much romance going on here and not enough cooking.

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This I think would be the most romantic kitchen of all...side by side stoves.

You each have your own stove to cook on!

It's a great kitchen too!

Though I don't live with another person...I do have someone to cook with.

My Violet.

I cook pasta a lot and rice too...things that need to boil and then simmer for awhile.

I will start the pot and then come in and get on the computer and before I know it I've forgotten all 

about my cooking pot.

But Violet doesn't...she will come in when she knows it's done. 

She can smell that it's ready.

So many times I've forgotten I was even cooking anything and then here she comes

with her demanding bark.

Many times...I've said.."Now, hush!"

"You've already been out and you've eaten."

"What could you possibly want?"

I totally have forgotten I had something on the stove.

Violet becomes more insistent.

Barking her loudest bark and lunging forward.

Finally, I get up to go see what she wants only to discover my pasta is boiling or 

the rice is about to scorch!

And then I feel so bad for putting her off!

She knows the food is done and has come to tell me!

She always gets a big thank you and bites of whatever I'm cooking.

Of course she knows she will get her share which is why she watches it so closely.

She doesn't want me to burn her dinner!

So I'm thinking about kitchen stuff because I bought a new kitchen faucet about a month ago.

And now that life has settled down...I'm thinking of installing it.

Have any of you installed a kitchen faucet yourself?

The only thing that has me worried is where you turn the water off.

I'm not sure about that. 

Let me know if you've done it and if it was very hard.

I watched my Dad install a bathroom faucet once in my old house.

He made an awful ruckus about having to be under the sink.

I fear that is the hardest part.

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Recovery

Mom swears the dogs are aiding in her recovery from heart surgery.

She's got a bed full of them most of the time.

These are her two, Daisy and Rosie....they are Violet's full sisters.

When I took these photos the other day, Franklin was outside chasing squirrels.

Harvey was at the end of the bed trying to take a nap.

Sally has been sequestered in my bedroom.

Her and Marcus have issues.

That's Marcus, Harvey's brother.

Those two are the gruesome twosome together.

I call Marcus, Moose. He is a big old Moose.

Rosie is a prima donna. I tell Mom she's not a dachshund, she's a poodle.

You can't help but smile at the lot of these.

See Mom's scar? That was several days ago.

It is so much better now. 

She'd kill me if she knew I'd put this out there for the world to see.

Oh...maybe not...she's at the point...where she really doesn't care.

A pretty shot of Violet and Marcus.

Yes, a bed full of them. Marcus doesn't like Franklin very much.

He barks at him constantly. Franklin ignores him.

Franklin pounces on Harvey a lot and that makes Marcus mad.

He loves his little brother Harvey and never ever gets mad or barks at him.

He is his great protector.

That's good. With Marcus around Harvey can rest easy knowing his big brother is 

on the job of HIS homeland security.

So, new plumbing is being put in on Wednesday.

Fences will be torn down.

That means I will be walking dogs one at a time on a leash out the front door.

With seven dogs, this should pretty much take up my whole day.

Thank goodness I'm off work that day.

Life is never easy, is it?

I thought...if I could just get through Mom's surgery....everything would settle down.

But then...here we go with more craziness.

Mom and I are talking about hitting the movie theaters soon, though...and seeing all the movies 

we've missed. 

I have not gotten to see American Horror Story in weeks.

I think I've missed three episodes.

I keep thinking I'll watch On Demand and catch up one night after work but I keep falling asleep

when I sit down to do it.

Maybe tonight...maybe tonight. 

Pier 1 is still having it's store wide clearance sale.

I got some good things for next year's Thanksgiving table at a fraction of what they cost originally.

Mom and I are itching to get out and go shopping together.

One day...soon...

We can't wait.

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