Betty

Betty is curious about what mummy and daddy are doing. (Hint: making costumes for the pug crawl.)

Kitchen Floor Installation

We're installing the kitchen floor this weekend! Just having the underlayment down feels like progress, but I can't wait to have a real floor after many months of plywood. We're using a product called Marmoleum Click, which is a true linoleum (made from cork and linseed oil). It comes in tiles which "easily" click together. In the YouTube video it only takes about seven minutes to install, so we should finish it up by mid-2017. 

We've moved back in to our place again after a couple months of no toilet or shower. The bathroom is amazing, especially the shower. We just have a few finishing touches, like a glass shower partition, shelves and towel racks, and we'll be set.

Here's to hoping that everything goes smoothly! Included are a couple bonus pug photos. Brian and Betty stayed at Grandpa and not-Grandma's house last week, so it's nice to have them back. They're a little unsure of their new surroundings, but I think they'll adjust soon enough.

Guest Bath

We're making progress on the 2nd bath addition. For such a tiny bathroom, it's been a big headache. A lot of planning goes into such a tiny space. I agonized for weeks over the placement of the bathroom, and then where all the fixtures will go. But it's going to be worth it!

In order to maintain the attic space as a bedroom, there was really only space for a half bath. However, we really wanted to have a second shower and a dedicated guest space, so the idea of a wet bath was born. It's essentially a shower stall with a toilet and a sink in it. Good thing felines don't like water, because there's not enough room to swing a cat in there. Anyone who has been to my (condo)minium knows that I do have a fondness for small spaces.

The electrician was here today to do the rough wiring, so this weekend will be spent furiously waterproofing and tiling. Fingers crossed we can get it done by next week!

Outside looking in. It's hard to get a good photo of such a small space!

Ben hard at work. I wasn't allowed to do much for a few weeks after my surgery, so I was in charge of photography and handing Ben tools. It was horrible!

After the plumbing work, the most costly part of this project has been purchasing all the waterproofing supplies, so I really tried to keep the cost of tiles down. Luckily I was able to take advantage of the Pratt & Larson Outlet Store. Pratt & Larson is a local tile manufacturer. All their tile is handmade at the factory in SE Portland. We ordered the tile for our main bathroom from them. They make everything to order, so we'll have a locally made, custom pattern (more on this later). Doesn't get more Portland than that! Anyway, they have an outlet with factory seconds, and I was able to pick up 20 square feet of floor tile for a steal! The walls will be tiled in a basic subway tile.

We've borrowed most of the tilling tools from the North East Portland Tool Library (NEPTL for the win), and we're doing the tiling ourselves, so we've been able to keep the cost manageable.

Bonus pug photo.
Not long after I made the bed this morning, I went to check on the dogs, Brian had buried himself under the covers. 

You want us to go where in this weather?

Assistant

Betty's in charge of hammering.

B & B

Brother and Sister

Sunbaking pugs

New Digs

Our pied-á-terre has finally come together, and it's nice to be settled. My mom and I built the table in the right of the photo of the kitchenette,  and my dad and I put up all those shelves today. We're using my great-grandpa's sewing machine for a computer desk. You can see the manual foot pedal used to run the machine.

I had a great first week at my new job last week,  and I'm looking forward to another one. 

Bye for now!  

Morning Walk

Brian and Betty took me on a long walk* this morning and then they got a bath. Now they smell like Mango Tango! We've almost got our little apartment set up so I'll post some photos when it's done.

*long walk in pug terms

Prada

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Betty Betty Meat Mouth post dog park

Snug as...

Anyone feel like pugs in a blanket?

Brian Wants his Bone Back

Found this video this morning and wanted to share. Betty was hoarding both their bones, and Brian was virtually powerless to do anything about it. Also included in this post: bonus cute photo of sleeping pugs!

Excuse the state of our house in the video; this was the day our stuff arrived from Aus.

Tired Pugs

Worn out after a long walk to the farmer's market yesterday.

Camping!

A few weeks ago we embarked on our first camping trip of the year to Assateague National Park. The park is located on Assateague Island which is a barrier island off the coast of Maryland. One of the interesting aspects of the park it that it's home to a herd of wild horses, some of which we saw grazing through the campground.

As we all know, organized camping is happy camping, so I spent the day before departure packing and preparing meals. I recently acquired a food dehydrator and that baby was working around the clock to dehydrate delicious meals and snacks. I made kale chips, sweet potato chips, mango leather, and dehydrated veggies in peanut sauce to serve over noodles.

Dehydrated spinach, mushrooms, carrot and cauliflower

Kale chips in the making

As usual, our trusty CVT tent did not fail us. Karyn was travelling with us, so she stayed in the granny flat (the annex on the side of the car). This was the first time we had been camping since all our camping equipment arrived from Australia, so we had (almost) all the comforts of home.

Our humble abode for three nights of camping

It was a bit cold, so Brian and Betty spent much of their time cuddled up beneath sleeping bags and next to the fire.

It's not a tumor

Snug as a pug in a rug

We made a special version of 'eggs in jail' for breakfast.

Yum

Much more delicious than an industrial prison complex

Relaxing at the campsite

Brekky time

Grumpy Brian

Brian helping with food preparation

Vikings are important when camping

We saw a number of run down barns and houses. Man vs. nature. 

Nature wins

Can you guess what this is?

Colloquially known as a mermaid's purse or devil's purse

It's an empty egg case from a skate! I found it washed up on the beach. Some species of skates, sharks, and chimaeras are ovoparous, which means they lay their fertilized eggs in these cases. Some shark egg cases are corkscrew shaped. Yikes.

We also found a horseshoe crab washed up on the beach. Horseshoe crabs, who are more closely related to arachnids and ticks than crabs, are often called living fossils, because they so closely resemble the fossils of their ancestors from 450 million years ago. Did you know that they have nine eyes and their blood is blue? In fact, their blood is collected for use in medical applications. Unfortunately, their numbers are dwindling due to loss of habitat, which goes to show that as a society, we should protect wildlife habitat, not just for the sake of a healthier natural environment, but to help ourselves.

Horseshoe Crabs mating off the coast of Cape Cod. Image from "Under Cape Cod Waters" by Ethan Daniels.

We had a fantastic time and can't wait until the next trip!