Day #560 Daisy's Footprint

When I bought this house almost eight years ago, it was in an as-is state, which meant a great deal of it was fairly shoddy. Over the years I’ve replaced all the major appliances, the furnace, the toilets, most of the faucets, and the water heater (my wonderful plumbers, at Keep Smiling Plumbing, love me). 

I had to rip out ALL the carpeting because what was here was so filthy. Because I had a bunch of cats, though, I chose not to put in any new carpeting except in the one completely cat-free room in the entire house.

I probably should have replaced the linoleum that goes through the dining room and kitchen, but I decided that, with some elbow grease, I could put up with it for a few years. The other floors, the ones without linoleum, were just the bare sub-flooring, so I cleaned them all, bleached them, sealed them, and painted them various colors. I now have green floors upstairs, blue on the middle level, and a red floor downstairs. 

Four years ago I decided to repaint the blue floor -- it was getting worn in a number of places, and the white sealant was showing through.

So, I strung up chicken wire to keep the cats off the floor while it was drying.

Right.

That cruddy linoleum ended up with Daisy-footprints all across the width of the dining room.

I was almost finished cleaning them up, when it occurred to me that the one little footprint remaining might be kind of cute if I left it there.

So I did.

It's getting a bit worn, unfortunately, so I try to keep from stepping on it.

It covers about one square inch, and I laugh whenever I see it, so I thought I’d share it with you. See what I mean about the cruddy linoleum? Those scratches and the ground-in dirt have been there for eight years. They’ll last a few more. After all, If I replace the flooring, I’ll have to get rid of the footprint.

That would never do.

BEEattitude for Day #560:

       Blessed are those who don’t bother to plan ahead, for they shall find surprises along the way.

_______________________________ 

The teeny details:

my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.

my eBooks for Kindle:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Fran+Stewart 

Day #329 Water - Saving

Bees are very aware of water.

·         They need to drink a lot of it

·         They have to evaporate a great deal of it from the nectar to form honey

·         They have to avoid flying in it

I’m aware of water, too. I’ve been thinking a lot recently about my new bathroom faucet. The good folks at Keep Smiling Plumbing put it in several weeks ago to replace a leaky, yucky iron-deposit-laden mess.

My new faucet even has a name. “Eva.” I didn’t name it. I think I mentioned a while back that the people who manufacture these Moen faucets name all their plumbing fixtures.

  

Well, why not? I named my car EllieBug, and the faucet is about the same color as the car (although without the yellow polka dots).

It was hard to turn the old faucet on, and even harder to turn it off. In the middle of this drought that Georgia is experiencing, a leaky faucet is downright irresponsible. Of course, most Americans use WAY too much water. Think about it next time you’re getting ready to turn in for the night.

·         Why do we leave the water running (down the drain and into the sewer or septic tank) while we’re brushing our teeth?

·         Sometimes it’s because the doggone faucet is too hard to turn off. But now, I don’t ever have to worry about that again.

And all because of Eva . . . They oughta write a song . . .

BEEattitude for Day # 329:

       Blessed are those who use water wisely and who make sure we bees have some to drink, for they shall eventually get lots of honey.

_______________________________

Get Your Dog in My Next Book!

From now through the end of September, anyone who donates $10 to WAG, also known as the Walton Animal Guild, will be automatically entered in a raffle.

If you win, your dog will be in my next Biscuit McKee mystery!

http://www.wagwalton.com

The donate button is right on their home page

Every $10 donation is automatically entered in the drawing

See Blog #324 for the details.

Forward the link to your friends who have dogs!

Day #310 What do you get when . . .

a.      I had a faucet replaced recently by my favorite plumber people, Keep Smiling Plumbing.

b.      I caught two bees inside my house Wednesday night. They were looking for a way back out, of course, so I clapped a little plastic container over them (one at a time) and ushered them back outside.

c.       These two events got me to thinking …

 

What do you get when you cross a bee with a plumber?

 

Send me your answers by email or post them here.

 

BEEattitude for Day # 310:

       Blessed are those who return lost bees, for they shall sleep better.