Mis-Adventures in Dogsitting

taken while housesitting in beverly farms

I started dogsitting/housesitting in 1999 to supplement my income. I was working full time, but the money wasn’t great, so I collaborated with a woman I used to babysit for and together we started a dogsitting business. After a year, she dropped out, but I continued for 11 more years! It was a fun way to earn extra money.

Fire Alarms: Do Not Paint…

painting the fire alarm in upstairs hall white

The fire alarms in our condo are hard-wired to the walls. Over the years they’ve become very ugly and yellowed. Particularly the 3 upstairs alarms – one in each bedroom, and one in the hallway about 15 feet up. They all say “Do Not Paint” on them. So last weekend I finally got the last of them painted. You saw that coming, right? I made sure not to paint over the green light. Or the red light. Or the slots where the smoke and fire get in.

Amsterdam 2011 – Part 3

raw herring sandwich with pickels and onions in amsterdam

Amsterdam has many, many canals. And because of that, many houseboats. Some were beautiful and covered in plants, and some had cats and/or dogs lounging on the roofs, although I didn’t get any decent pics of the houseboat pets.

Amsterdam 2011 – Part 2

view from the top of westerkerk tower in amsterdam

One of my most favorite things in Amsterdam was Westerkerk Church & Bell Tower. It was a block from our hotel and we could hear it ringing every quarter hour. And also, as my brother pointed out AFTER I got lost for 7 hours in the city, you can pretty much see the tower from anywhere. Wish I’d thought of that… *grumble*! The tower is very beautiful & distinctive.

Painting the Girl Cave Walls

painting the girl cave walls

When I first considered moving into the condo, back in January 2012, I convinced my husband to let me turn the 2nd bedroom into a GIRL CAVE. Thankfully, he agreed 🙂 I mean, a girl has to have somewhere to hang her dragon stuff, her knife collection, her disco balls, and set up her art studio, right? After spending many hours in the cave over the following 18 months, I finally decided on a color scheme for the walls!