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.
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 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.
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.
I don’t think my family ever really saw any/many of my Amsterdam pictures, so here is an overview of the awesome trip I took in the summer of 2011!
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!
In January 2012 we hired a contractor to install hardwood flooring on our 2nd floor and down the stairs. We already had hardwood floors on the 1st floor. This is one of the few projects we have hired out.
Last year, before I knew much about DIY stuff, I decided to regrout a small portion of the master bathroom tile with… *gasp*… Spackle. I realized my mistake right after doing it… it looked horrible and I could tell it wasn’t going to last. Last week I went to Home Depot and bought some sanded grout in “Natural Grey”. I was hoping it would be a close match to the current grout, but it’s a lot darker. It still looks better than Spackle!
After 2 applications of joint tape, 3 coats of joint compound, and a whole lot of sanding, the repair to the drywall tape crack is finally done! I touched up the wall paint around the repair site and it’s looking amazing! Next up will be painting the ceiling and hanging tiny LED star lights to look like the night sky. The project cost about $20 and took about 3 weeks to complete.
Last week I was in need of drywall tape. I never made it to Home Depot myself, so hubby got me some last week! I applied it along the edge of the ceiling, along the crack, then spread joint compound over it. After letting the compound dry for a few days, I sanded it down smooth. Then I applied another layer of joint compound. Once that’s dry, I’ll sand it down and will probably have to apply a 3rd touch-up coat since I can still see a bit of the tape.
