Author Archives: zefiart

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About zefiart

Blogger, DIY-er, poodle lover, graphic designer, dog groomer, recycler, artist, wonder woman in my spare time.

more on that embarassing desk makeover

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Once upon a time I decided to make a new/bigger desk for Wayne – who’s office is in the living room. I had been through two desks up till that point (three if you count the original desk in the office he never used!) and Wayne was sort of over it.

Anyway, the desk I decided to remake was one he’d had in the garage since we moved here – a big, heavy solid piece with a ruined top due to it being used to hold chainsaws. The thing with these old desks is that you have to have the legs of a Monster High doll to fit into it without banging your knees at each turn. So, I decided that since I had to replace the top, I may as well separate it into two drawer units and put an old door across as a top… cause don’t old doors make the best tops? They’re huge and the ones I had were gorgeous.

This is the first attempt at the desk… ugh. In a nutshell, it started like this…

Step one: paint it white. With chalk paint. Obviously!
Put castors on it, stencil on it, top it with a shed door. Obviously.
It didn’t look right. So repaint it. Just the drawer fronts. Chalk paint. Dark grey.

Okay… not quite right… Still wrong somehow.

Wait till Wayne’s away for a few days and sand it back, then lacquer it in gloss… hm. I like it better.

I may have left a bit too much paint on the drawers, you can see the grey, the white and even some of the stencils… I like it. Its so me.
Yes, its not my desk… I know that. But its in my living room. I have to look at it all day, so I wanted something I didn’t dislike. This blends in much better with the room divider I created so I’m happier.
Won’t Wayne be happy when he comes home and finds I’ve changed something again? 
hehehe.
He hates it. In fact, every time he’s going to be away for more than a day his last words to me as he waves goodbye are: “Don’t knock down any walls.”
He didn’t say I couldn’t rip up floors though… hmmm…
z
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cluttered easter sideboard

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I don’t usually do special things for Easter. In fact, I barely do special things for Christmas… I mean, who remembers the chalkboard Christmas tree when I was too lazy to make a real one? Or the book stack tree? Even when I did make an effort, it was minimal.

Well, this Easter, inspired by the anti-bunnies I’ve been making for my Etsy shop, and finding a rusty rubbish bin in my stash, I’ve gone all out.

Working on the theory of more is more, and the design principle of clutter is good, I’ve decorated our sideboard with a mix of vintage, rusty, junk and food.

I like it.

Of course, unless the hot cross buns get eaten soon they’ll have to be covered, ditto the chocolate, but hey, for one day it looks great. When the food is gone I’ll just add a few other things to maintain the cluttered look.

Its not like I don’t have a lot of junk.

So, what’s taking up space on my sideboard today?

Starting on the left, a couple of empty frames I’ve moved from one house to another and never got around to filling ‘frame’ (hahah) an antique vent I found at a tip shop. Just had to have it. I mean, could you resist that shape? Sure, its not exactly your average sideboard decor…

A couple of funnels add the necessary (in my life) rust factor. And a couple of anti-bunnies sit back and enjoy the view.

What are anti-bunnies you might ask? Well, they’re scrappy monster bunnies, kind of the opposite of cute Easter bunnies. Not that they aren’t cute. These guys are cute as. They’re made of a mix of recycled and vintage fabrics. I recycled bits of fabric out of an antique armchair the poodles pulled apart. Turns out it was stuffed with fabric scraps. Who knew.

The middle section is the serious section – ie the food section. Since I sold all my cake stands and haven’t made any more (yet) I’ve had to improvise using one of my retro kitchen scales and an antique serving dish. The dish holds eggs of both kinds: real and chocolate. I bet you know which I’ll be going for…

You can’t have Easter without hot cross buns, and naturally you need butter for those. I don’t have a butter curler so I’ve had to make do. The napkins are vintage ones I’ve collected over the years from different places. One on the right under the side dishes was given to me by my aunt Marissa in Greece – it used to belong to my grandmother.

On the right its ‘help yourself’ with a stack of smaller plates and knives. But it can’t be too practical… Old timber cogs, old books and a couple of sets of salt and pepper shakers, topped off by a wooden duck finish the look… Cause what sideboard is complete without a duck?

Above it all hangs the masterpiece. A rusty galvanised bin lid I scrounged from somewhere years ago. Does anyone remember my previous bin lid projects? I love rusty bin lids. This one holds more anti-bunnies and a couple of vintage Easter greeting cards I found online. The cards are held in place by vintage earring magnets (also for sale in my Etsy shop).

This rusty lid has little hooks on the side so I tied a bit of hemp rope to hang it with. I placed a few of those floor protector felt pads on the back to stop it from marking the wall.

The sideboard itself is something I acquired via barter. Barter = good. A friend of mine had a sideboard I’d admired and he admired the oriental cabinet I used to have my TV on. We swapped. Everyone is happy.

The sideboard is a very heavy solid tassie oak piece, made in Tasmania. It holds all kinds of useful things and doubles as our bar. Its very useful and very pretty.

Speaking of sideboards and cabinets, I saw this one in my online browsing and fell in love. I want it. Its nothing like the oriental – or ‘ming’ cabinet I had my TV on and swapped for my sideboard (ie it has the same ‘locks’ on the doors)… its way better!

Anyway, back to reality, you know what its like with these vintage cabinets – they have keys and if you lose them you’re in trouble. I think I have one key to share between 3 bits of furniture – including the small cupboard in my office.

In order to make this key less prone to being misplaced, I’ve added a tassel I made of jute string. It was okay, but a bit too plain. I thought the sideboard needed a bit of bling so I steampunked it up a bit with bits of chain, crystals and other bits from an old necklace.

Much better.

There you go. Our sideboard is finally all dressed up.

Now… what else can I decorate…?

z

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fun junky planters

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I’ve been a bad blogger. I’ve let other things (like working and earning money to eat) get in the way of sharing all the exciting things going on around here. I know you’ve missed me and are dying to hear how things are going at Wind Dancer Farm.
Well… not much really. Except that I’m about $1200 poorer thanks to Romeo. First a couple of weeks ago while grooming him, I found he’d got a grass seed in the sheath of his penis. Yikes. And while investigating that I saw he had a lump on his flank. It didn’t look like a grass seed but I took him straight to the vet. There was nothing in the privates, whatever had got in had got out thankfully. He got a course of antibiotics and it cleared up.
The other thing, the lump, the vet was concerned about. The ‘c’ word was mentioned. So Romeo went in for surgery to have the lump removed and a biopsy done. We then waited a week to hear. Romeo limping uncomfortably cause he also seemed to have a grass seed in his left front paw. I searched but couldn’t see anything so I waited to see if it would improve.
The biopsy said the lump was cutaneous reactive histiocytosis. Not something usually found in poodles or even, for that matter, on that part of the body. Wierd. We are waiting and seeing if it was a one off… I’ve got my fingers crossed.
When the stitches came out I asked the vet to check his foot which was not improving. He couldn’t find any indication of a grass seed either and thought Romeo might have broken his toe. He gave him anti-inflammatories.
Well, it got worse and worse till I saw that there was now a hole in the webbing between his toes. I searched and pulled out a grass seed spike and took him back to the vet. They kept him for the day and searched but didn’t find any more foreign bodies. They cleaned it out and sent him home with a red bandage, antibiotics and he’s also on anti-inflammatories again. It should clear up now but till then we call him Limpy.
Poor Romeo.
Other than that all is well. The garden is looking shocking but given that a reader commented on my old toolbox planter I thought I’d share some of my whimsical plant containers.
I have quite a few old and rusty galvanised buckets. This one, one of my favourites, sits on the porch cause the begonia doesn’t like it too hot or frosty.

Last year I bought this gorgeous 60s planter from a garage sale and have put small pots with succulents in it, as well as a cutting of a beautiful pinky white geranium I’m growing.

At the end of the porch I have my lovely old mop bucket. We had one of those things when I was growing up. I much prefer it as a planter.

Since its now autumn the garden is looking pretty awful. Most plants have finished flowering and look ratty. But some are coming up again. Like the sweetpeas in the rusty old washing machine tub and the columbines in and around the old ammo box.

The steps up the porch have some new seedlings in them, alysum and lobelia which will fill and overflow the old pots and loaf tins they’re in.

I’ve replaced the succulents in the bike basket with plants which will overflow and cascade as well. Cat mint, which has purple flowers, in one pot and a pink groundcover I’ve forgotten the name of in the other.

In three pots in a basket on the back of the bike I’ve got a white daisy like plant, some alysum and lobelia. The white will grow upwards and the others should cascade. One day it’ll look great… one day.

The succulents I put in my stacked containers are coming along nicely. I have three of these but the third isn’t looking too good yet. I made these a couple of years ago for indoor storage but decided they’d work better with plants in them. They’re made of spindles and baking tins.

I made hanging baskets out of old strainers and steamers, put succulents in them and hung them on the wall near the door. Only succulents do well in planters with so many holes as they dry out very quickly.

I’ve had this old cane chair for many years, I bought it in an op shop when I was living in Fentonbury. When I got it it was dark brown, I used a wire brush to brush off the flaking paint and sprayed it white. The paint is flaking off again now so I decided to relegate it to a garden ornament.

A bright petunia will full the jam pot. Next spring I’ll put in another one – this time in spring so I have flowers through summer.

I used to have a lot of old toolboxes with succulents in them but this is one of the last ones. I sold a few of them at the market stall I did in January. I love old toolboxes and this one in blue and rust is just gorgeous.

The last one is the one on the back of this little tricycle.

You’ll notice the flour sifter near the old (cheap) half barrel planter that I can’t move without it falling apart. I have 3 sifters but this is one in best condition – ie the plant is still thriving.

One of the other sifters lies next to an overturned pot full of succulents. Hopefully the succulent in it will grow and spread. If not I’ll just put another in there!
This little area is in a wasted corner of the driveway where the retaining wall meets the steps to the path. I envisage that the succulents will grow and fill the area.
The other side of the retaining wall is decorated with some more buckets and drums.

And more ammo boxes… with more seedlings in them!

Do you get the feeling I love rusty old things? Well, you wouldn’t be wrong!

I do need to get out into the garden and begin trimming things back for winter and, if things go to plan, there’ll be a ton of flowers next spring.
I’ve been holding myself back waiting for the right time to cut things back. I get the urge to do it as soon as things begin to look ratty. Well, time is fast approaching. Time to tidy the garden, plug up all the holes the birds use to nest in, continue making the yard safer for the dogs next summer (ie keep them safe from snakes).
Lots to do.
Always.
z

sometimes you just gotta stop and admire your new boots

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Yes! I got new Blundstones!

I love my blunnies. They’re the Aussie country footwear of choice. And now they come in all kinds of new styles and colours.

I bought my first pair of blunnies the year I moved to Tasmania. I mean, if you’re gonna live in the country you gotta have the right footwear, right? I wore those things till they began to fall apart. Then I glued them back together and wore them some more. I repeated this process till I all I was wearing was bits of leather, rubber and glue.

Then I bought myself another pair. I seem to get somewhere  between 8-9 years out of a pair of blunnies – that is, the ones which were made in Tasmania. Not sure how the new versions will hold out given they’ve moved production overseas. We can only hope.

They’re the most comfortable boots ever. Seriously. They take a while to break in, but once they do they’re like a second skin. As I said, I live in mine. My current brown everyday work on my feet as we speak pair have paint on them, have had the tags chewed off by a dog (what is it with the tags that say ‘chew ‘me’ to every dog that sees them?) but I am not willing to part with them yet.

It was time for another pair that I could wear out without embarassing Wayne.

They come in so many styles and colours now it was a hard decision but red seemed frivolous enough for me. Next time I’m getting another brown pair, with coloured elastic, or striped elastic… Ditto with the pair after that… which will be black…

Can you tell I like my blunnies? Or have I been too subtle?

Just call me Imelda Marcos of blunnies.

But enough about that. What’s been happening at the old homestead you may ask? Well, my dog grooming business is going well. I’m still working on new signage but should be finished by the end of the week. If I get cracking.

I’ve finally cleared out the casita workshop and am now selling things I don’t need on Facebook just to clear out room to move. Its a slow process but eventually I’ll only have projects I’m working on in there and not a pile of stuff I ‘plan to work on one day’…

I found my circular saw – and have used it! – since the last post. And I finally re-opened my Etsy shop which has been closed for years. I’m now selling my make-over dolls in there. Please visit and share. I’m a poor starving artist after all…

This is Abby from NCIS, new to the shop. I’ve also got characters from Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. More coming as I finish them.

So I’m getting there. The To Do list gets items crossed off all the time, but new ones are added daily. Now the hydrobath is clogged up so have to fix that… but all in all things are progressing slowly but well.

Its going to be a hot week which means no work in the garden. That’s good cause I was planning to put it off a little longer anyway. Any excuse will do!

z

new grooming room… almost done!

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My new grooming room is almost finished. I mean I’ve been using it for weeks, but I’ve almost got it how I want it now. Not that I’ll ever stop making small adjustments and changes – I am who I am, after all. Being able to say its finished is a big thing for me.
Last week Wayne made me a ‘portico’ for the entrance. I love it. I just wanted a plain old canopy over the door but he created this wonderful little space which protects the door (and room!) from the wind and rain. He used materials we already had – some cedar boards a friend gave us, leftover bits of laserlite and treated pine from the stable makeover.

You can see where I’ve put flashing to stop water from seeping into the concrete. Hopefully that works… we’ll see when we get the next big rainfall.
Of course, you may have noticed there was one problem with this design… Its dark. Too dark. The three single fluoro lights in the grooming room didn’t seem bright enough any more. But I have a cunning plan…. watch this space.

The outside area is almost finished. I put two large pots out there with cuttings from my white hydrangeas in them. Both are doing well even while the original bush the cuttings came from seems to be dying. Even if its not dying it will die soon as I plan to dig it up. Its just not doing well at all.
Anyway, back to the groom room yard… last week, feeling energetic, I decided it was time to fill the yard with pine bark. I’d already lined the ground with newspapers, old rugs, old carpet, whatever I had lying around to stop weeds coming up. I’d ordered a load of pine bark which was sitting in the driveway… I had a shovel and a wheel barrow… what more could I want?

I’ll tell you what: a younger back. 
Or more sense.
I did something like 24 wheelbarrow loads of pine bark. I was breathing hard. I was tired. I was aching. But I kept pushing on. I kept thinking ‘not much more to go and it’ll be finished’…
Big mistake. I stopped about 3 loads short of finishing cause by then I was too sore to move.
I couldn’t walk for a week.
The original plan had been to put some sweet peas along the fence but I’ve decided against it. With the snake incident I’ve become a little bit too scared to let my dogs outside unless I’m home… However the snake lady who came to visit gave me some advice I’m following. She basically said two things: 1. get rid of the food source (ie keep all horse and chicken feed in sealed containers which won’t attract mice and rats) and 2. don’t try to keep snakes out – they will get in anyway if they want to – allow them a way out if they do get in. ie The one thing you don’t want is a snake trapped in with your dog.
So, I’m not putting plants in the ground in my little yard. I’ll let the sweet peas grow on the outside of the fence so if a snake wants to rest in a cool spot, its outside the fence. And if one gets in somehow, it will have plenty of gaps to escape through.
As for the embankment with the tyres – where the snake was – the snake lady suggested we fence it off. Again, using what we have, we decided to put an electric fence across it, thus stopping dogs from climbing onto it, and again, allowing any snakes that may get into our yard a way out.
Lets hope no snakes come into our yard again.
Its looking good though, isn’t it? I have little metal poodles which will have arrows on them to point the way, and a large sign on the wall. Hopefully people will then know where the grooming room is…
Inside is still a work in progress. I have hooks for my dremmel and clippers. I have paintings and photos on the walls. The door has a window and a handle!

Okay, not in this photo, but it does. My first ever door handle! I’m so proud of myself! 
I still have tools lying around everywhere so excuse the mess.

I even made myself a scissor rack. What self respecting groomer doesn’t have a scissor rack?

I have a cute little stool for visitors…

Of course I have a cd player, and a cute poodle planter holds my business cards.

Pictures, paintings, old ads featuring poodles… my aprons on a huge nail and a plaque painted by a friend many years ago.

I bought this mantlepiece years ago and have never had anywhere to put it. I decided I’ll use it as a shelf for now – to display some of my poodle items.

Eventually I’ll have all my poodle collection on display in there, along with items for sale. Since I now have a separate area for drying dogs things don’t get covered in dog hair in the room. Its such a relief!
Anyway, I’ll take more photos soon, as things progress – like the signs and the change to the portico…
z

one thing at a time

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Disclaimer: This is a post I wrote last week, before Erik took huge chunks of our hearts with him. I was in a great mood and words came easily. I haven’t felt like blogging since, but I saw this and wanted to post it. Life goes on, doesn’t it? It has to.

I know I’m not alone, but it sure is nice to see confirmation that there are others out there struggling with the same serious, debilitating issues as I am on a daily basis.

The problem is ‘zoning’ or becoming too focused on one thing till it takes over and eating up your time and overwhelming your brain.

What I’m trying to say is I have a problem. I look around me and see so many things that need to do be done (or I want to do) that I become paralyzed by the choices. Cause one job isn’t just one job. One job is a week of mess and hard work.

I read Donna’s post on Funky Junk today and she has the same problem. Turning “10 minute tidy job into a week long event that requires a trip to the dump”.

I can relate!

Cleaning up my office isn’t just tidying the office. Its starting to pick crap up off the floor and putting it away where it belongs, then putting up shelves so I can store things better, which means cutting wood, painting it, finding brackets, putting them up. It involves buying cheap boxes and spray paint to paint them all white so they match, which means a couple of days of layers of paint, then labelling them and finally filling them with stuff and putting them on the shelves. It means filing all the paperwork I picked up off stacks on the floor. Picking up and sorting all my fabrics into stacks according to use, colour, whether I’m likely to use them or not. It involves filling bags with rubbish and boxes with stuff that needs to be elsewhere – some of it needs to be photographed and listed for sale on Facebook or ebay, some of it needs to be scattered around the place in better spots.

Needless to say, cleaning up the office has been a week long job and is still not finished.

The grooming room? Well, that’s on the home stretch now. The main stuff is all done, Its usable but there are still things to do… and will always be things to do cause I know myself.

But an offshoot of doing the grooming room (and moving into it) is the old grooming room – now crying out for help. I go in there and am instantly overywhelmed by the piles of boxes and drifts of dust, dead bugs and dog hair which have accumulated in corners over the last 7 years. Aided by the ripped bag of dog clippings. Thanks poodles.

And the workshop? sigh. Remember the garage sale that never was? All the preparation that went into that… locating everything I wanted to sell and moving it into the workshop for easy access…

Well, most of that is still there!

I can’t work in the workshop cause, well, its full of stuff I need to get rid of.

When I want something, like a screw driver or my circular saw, I have to step over power tools, squeeze around chairs, lean over frames and, oh no… its not there! Look on the bench, under the boxes and drop sheets, oh, there’s my hammer. I’ve been looking for that for 3 days!

z

PS. Have you seen my circular saw?

i was featured!

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I’m still not in a place where I want to share much. Its not just what happened with Erik this week but ongoing issues in my life that have to do with my employment…. not my dog grooming.

That’s all I’ll say about it, but the stress of it all has come to a head and with what happened this week I find I’m not coping well at all.

One lovely thing that happened is that my blog was featured on Talk of Town Link Party! I feel so honoured. I’ve never been a great blogger, I’ve been intermittent with my posts and all over the place with my projects.

To be featured is so amazing!

Thank you guys.

z

goodbye erik, you left a hole in our lives

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Every now and then a very special dog comes in to your life.
Erik was that dog.
A good friend of mine offered me Erik to have, to show, to love. I said YES. I wanted him from the day I saw his photo as a puppy. It was fate, I knew it. He was mine.
I told her he’d be happy here, he’d be adored and he’d love to live on a farm with 3 other dogs to play with, with geese and ducks and chickens to watch, horses to learn about. I’d take him everywhere with me and he’d be my No. 2 meet and greet dog when I was grooming. Barney is No. 1 meet and greet dog, but Erik was better at it. He would greet everyone who came as if he’d known them all his life, he’d stay by my side while I groomed, content to lie and nap while I worked.
I promised my friend that he would live a long happy life here, with us. But I was wrong. Erik died of a snake bite yesterday. I’d only gone out for 2.5 hours. I drove into Hobart to pick up Wayne and go to the hardware store and for coffee and I didn’t think it would be a good idea to take the dogs. Not even Erik who I spoiled. I didn’t think it would be an issue. We’ve lived here for 7 years and in that time we’d go to work and leave the dogs out in the yard, with the porch and grooming room for shelter, for 8 or more hours at a time. 
We’d never had a snake in the yard before. 
I wish I could go back in time and take them all with me to the city. I wish I’d left them locked up in the house. I wish Erik was still here with us. He was that one in a million dog who came into our lives and won us over instantly. Two and a half weeks with Erik was enough to imprint him on our hearts forever. He brightened our lives and made us smile every day in the too short time we had him. 
Since he died I’ve been tormenting myself. If I hadn’t gone out. If I had taken him (them all) with me. If we didn’t stop for coffee. If we didn’t stop at the letterbox. Coming home to find one dog missing at the gate and a dead snake on the drive will haunt me forever.
I’ve spent the day reading everything I can find on snake bites and dogs – It was probably a tiger snake, this year has been worse than ever for tiger snakes in Tasmania apparently. Its the most venomous of snakes. He could have died anything from 15 minutes after being bitten to 2 hours or so. Maybe I could have saved him if I’d been here. Maybe not. I’ll never know, cause I wasn’t home.
I’d like to remember Erik in this post because I know I have to stop crying and begin living again and I hope that this will help me say goodbye to him. I love him. I miss him.
We picked him up from the airport on January 28. He died on Valentine’s Day, February 14. He was only 13 months old.
Here he is with Wayne. He walked out of his crate and wrapped Wayne around his paw. It was love at first sight. I thought I’d have to convince Wayne to keep another dog… No need. Erik did that on his own.

Erik was so affectionate. He would come to you and just lean in, rest his head on your leg, and snuggle up. When I patted his face he’d close his eyes in bliss. His skin was so soft and smooth.
He loved to lick – an annoying habit really, but he quickly learned ‘no lick’ and would give you a sneaky quick lick then act all innocent. He had a way of looking at you through the side of his eyes that we couldn’t resist.
On our way home we stopped for coffee at a cafe in New Norfolk. Erik was wonderful. For the first time in my life I was the one with the best behaved dog, others were the ones embarrassed for their dog’s behaviour.
I gave him the bacon from my BLT.
When we got home Erik met the other dogs in the driveway – when Erik saw the horde coming for him he ran up to them, full of joy to meet new friends. They then raced around the yard like lunatics till they were worn out, then they lined up for pats from daddy.
Erik adored Barney on the spot. Barney is so easy going, he’s never minded being licked to death. Erik and Barney would roll around on the floor together, mouthing each other every day. It was a game that never got old.
He was such a beautiful boy, not just on the inside, but on the outside too.
First night at our place Erik chose to curl up at Wayne’s feet. He loved to lie on his back and expose his tummy for a rub. I couldn’t resist kissing him every time I walked past him.

My friend told me he never got on furniture… Not in this house! Our dogs own this house as much as we do. Erik curled up next to me on the couch too on his first night here. He didn’t play favourites. He loved us both and made sure we knew it.

On his second day, Erik battered his nose digging in the garden. How’s that for a show dog, huh? A nice big pink spot on his nose. He was not ashamed of himself, not one bit. He was such a happy boy.
A few days after he arrived I decided to cut him into a continental. For two reasons. I didn’t think I could maintain that much coat (I was right). And I wanted to see what he’d look like. Ok, three. I love a poodle in continental. 
And he looked spectacular.

Erik was with me while I groomed every day in the short time he was with me. You can just see a little dog behind him in the picture below. I didn’t have enough time to take more photos. I thought I had years.


Erik would lie on the floor while I groomed. In the old grooming room he’d lie on the concrete, even though there were beds and rugs on the floor. At least in the new grooming room I had vinyl. Even in the house Erik would often prefer the floor to the couch or the beds. He’d sleep outside our bedroom gate. If the gate was open he’d come in and say hello, then go back out to sleep in the living room with everyone else.

I took Erik to a cafe in the city to meet a friend. I took him into New Norfolk to meet other friends. I didn’t have enough time to do everything I wanted to do with him. Everyone who met him loved him, even if they did think his haircut was weird. He was just that sweet. He brought so much joy into our lives.

And there were more games. Lots of games. I bought him a rope ball with a loop, he loved it. He’d torment the others with it, instigating chase and tug of war. He was the only dog I ever had that always brought the ball/toy back.

There was a lot of peeing. My guys have learned to empty their bladder in one go but Erik liked to stretch out his pee, encouraging a bit of ‘I can pee over your pee’ in the pack.
And then more chase! Erik brought new life to the pack, even Barney was running more despite his arthritis. And barking. A lot of barking. Barney, not Erik. Erik rarely barked, and when he did he had a huge bark, the bark of a much bigger dog. Surprising when he was smaller than Romeo and finer than Montana.


Here are the only photos I have of my bigger pack. I loved having three standard poodles. I loved having four dogs again.
They all became best friends. He fit into our family so easily. We all miss him. He was my baby boy.
Every morning we’d pile into the car and take Wayne to the bus stop. In the afternoon we’d pile back in and pick him up. I’d take the long way so they could all get a bit more of a car ride.
Erik loved to look out the back window, never the side or front. He was so funny… his butt on the edge of the seat so that if I hit the brakes he’d land on the floor. Yep, back to looking out the back window. My funny little man.
And kisses. Lots and lots of kisses. Both ways. He gave my ears a few good cleans. And I’d kiss him on the nose, on the neck, on the cheeks, on his thighs, on top of his back. So soft, so smooth, so warm.
He had the most beautiful full tail. He had the best angles and pretty feet. The cutest expression. Such energy. Such love of life. So much fun in the way he lived every minute of the day.
Then this weekend I decided I would cut him off. I know I was planning to show him, but after spending 3 days dealing with huge matts, I decided to give it up after one two hour session that got me nowhere. I clipped him off all over. You should have seen the way he kept looking back, like “where did my hair go?”
I’m glad he had some time to just ‘be a dog’ before he died. I’m glad Wayne got to play with him without me worrying about his coat. I hated telling Wayne not to rub his coat, or to be careful when playing with him. I didn’t want him to pull away from Erik. So I cut it off. And Wayne was able to spend a few days rubbing Erik all over, scritching his shoulders and rough-housing with him. I’m so glad they had that. 
I’m glad he was able to be a farm dog for the tiny amount of time he had left on this earth and that I wasn’t too worried about his coat to let him enjoy it.
The only photos I have of Erik without his coat. Sleeping on the rugs while I groom. I shall be so lonely grooming now.
These are the last photos I have of my little man. The night before he died. He jumped up next to me on the couch, between me and Montana. I watched TV with my hand on him.
They say only the good die young and you were the best. Maybe that’s why you had to go. You have left a hole in our lives and our home, way out of proportion to the time you shared it with us. The house is quiet without you, the other dogs are subdued, we are heartbroken.
I wish we’d had more time with you little man. I will miss you every day till the day we meet at the Bridge.
z

grooming room leash storage

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The grooming room is slowly taking shape. I’m moulding it into ‘my’ space.

And by ‘my’ space I mean I’m slowly filling it with things which I love, I made or which suit my needs.

Don’t know if you remember the tap coat rack I made a couple of months ago…

Well, I really liked it. And I needed somewhere to hang dog leads in the grooming room. Ideally somewhere near the door so I wouldn’t forget to hand people their leads as they leave with their dogs.
I’m notorious for forgetting. I still have some leads left over from last year…
Another thing I needed was a chalkboard on which to write dog names so I would know which lead belongs to which dog.

So I made this quick chalkboard, lead hanging thingy.

Ok, the spacing between the taps is off. No idea how I managed that as I actually did measure it all out before drilling holes… But I’m talented that way.

The chalkboard part is part of a box I’d pulled apart. I made a key storage out of one part, and I still had one door and a couple of box sides left.

I used the door for the chalkboard and one of the sides for the tap rack. I had a bit of the green paint I used on my meat safe towel cabinet left over…. it was almost dry but I managed to dry bush it onto the timber piece.

Do you get a sneaky feeling I like green? That antiquey greyish, bluish green?

Why on earth would you think that?

z

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my new towel cupboard (in my new grooming room)

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Yes! I’m in the new grooming room!

Its not finished. Well, not entirely. But then again, is anything ever really finished?

Ok. So the grooming room is usable-finished. I began using it as soon as I got the vinyl down on the floor. Even before I had most of my stuff moved in there. Or the door finished. But I have a new cupboard for my towels!

I’m sorry I don’t have any before photos – cause when the urge to paint hits, well, its all I can do to put on painting clothes!

***** I found the before photos. Well, more like the ‘almost before’ photos. Here it is with legs and masking tape…

And here it is with the painting just finished.

I got this little meatsafe/cupboard from a tip shop a few years ago. It had no top or legs, and was a stained and varnished wood colour. But the metal screen was fine.

I used a piece of pine I had to make a top for it and searched my leg collection for some legs that would work with it. I wanted it tall enough to be out of ‘pee’ reach.

It IS a grooming room after all!

I had some old green paint from a room I painted long ago (it was a hideous colour, no idea what I was thinking!). I poured some of it into a plastic container, added a bit of light blue I’d made up for another project and voila: the perfect antique green!
Being the lazy sod I am, the only prep work I did was mask off the handle, hinges and metal screen.

Since I chose not to sand, I mixed some fine grout into the paint, making it a chalk-like paint and just slapped it on. It took 2 coats. Once dry I gave it a light sand to encourage a chippy look.

The new towel cupboard sits behind the inner door of the grooming room. Its not big enough really, but its pretty. I might one day make a base for it, another cupboard… Who knows? For now it holds clean towels and my cd player.

So here’s a pic of the other side of the new grooming room, in use! Erik lies on the table with the dryer on him. Such a good boy. He didn’t move while I changed cds and took the pic!

There’s a lot to do but I’m taking my time. The old grooming room wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but I got used to it – I worked in there for 7 years! It kind of grew around me. It’ll take a while for this room to grow around me too. I’ll need shelves and hooks for my tools. I’ll need pictures on the wall and hooks for leads…

I’ll need to put the window on the door! And a door handle!

Its a work in progress.

z

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