Monday, January 23, 2023

January 23, 2023 Monday--2:30am

Good Early Morning again!

Blogging as long as I was still awake and couldn't sleep.  :)

It is the Chinese year of the rabbit in 2023.  According to google it is supposed to be a year for "focusing on relaxation, quietness and contemplation".  The rabbit symbolizes "peace, prosperity and longevity."  Sounds good to me!  Relaxation is even listed first--my word for this year from the angel cards.  I was born in a rabbit year (1951), but I didn't realize that there is also a rotation of elements that changes, too.  This is a water rabbit year and I was born in a metal rabbit year.  Interesting.  Do you know what symbol you were born under?  What element?

Well, let's see...last week I left a recorded message that I just wanted to talk to Gerald but didn't have an emergency or anything broken...so he hasn't stopped by yet.  But I have the paperwork ready on the sauna for him.  

Was very slow moving this past week.  Mostly was baking, cooking, doing laundry, and all those exciting things--lol!  But after I'd finish whatever I prioritized that day I was pretty shot...enough so that I didn't even work on letters.  Just binge watching a series on Netflix called Deadwind--with subtitles.  Looks like it may have gotten cut off by covid, though--not sure.  Anyways, when I have to read and watch a show I can't do anything else--so I save those for when I am basically a noodle.  :)

Still been below freezing so lots of guests at the Critter Cafe.

Some partridges were waiting for their turn.
Believe it or not that was all the critter pics I took this week.  I should grab one of Miss Allie before I'm done here--lol!

Monday
The company came to work on the cement floor.
They cleaned it up--whatever their term is for that.


Kind of grinding/sanding off the top layer.


On Monday Ian tried rented snowshoes at the golf course.
Here he is being silly with his poles.
Next time Leah said they might try cross country skiing.

Tuesday
Okay.
The floor.
Now out of these stain color samples we decided on the top center color.
Walnut brown.  Looked like a nice rich brown on the darkish side.  That was what we were expecting when they came back to do the staining on Tuesday.

Now I haven't seen it in person and have only seen the same pictures you guys are seeing...but I also only saw the samples in the same photo above that you're seeing and not in person for those, either....and they hadn't polished it yet...but...
...it is nothing like we expected.
Looks way lighter and more grey.
If the light hits it right it does show a little more brown...
...but mostly it looks a dark grey to me.  
A grey with a brownish tint?  To me it looks closer to a lighter version of the color sample to the right of the walnut.
You can see it looks obviously darker than the pale cement back behind the furnace and water heater.  So it is better then pale cement grey--yes.  Definitely.  But when you are paying several thousand dollars for it...
...well, it is not the brown color we were expecting.
Leah saw it first and was surprised.  She sent me the pictures and that was the first thing I thought, too...not the color we expected from the sample.  Dagan came home from work--and thought the same thing.  All of us were disappointed--separately.  So...Leah talked to them, I believe, and instead of them coming back to polish it...now they are going to see if there is some way they can make it darker for us.  They may have already put the sealer on, though.  They're going to try a couple experiments on samples at their shop this week and get back to Leah.  Will probably be back out next week it sounds like.

If nothing else, it is not plain old light cement grey if they can't fix it.  Looks better than that, at least.  Do you guys think the three of us are being too picky?  I guess I trust Dagan and Leah and they're the ones who have seen it live and in person, so to speak--and they were surprised it was so light--and more grey than walnut brown.  Maybe they need to have better samples to show people that are more realistic...or show prospective customers photos of places they've done maybe?  Hindsight, eh?

Well, so--a delay.  But that is the way it goes with construction.  We'll be dealing with plumbers and electricians...and supplies needed...you never know how things will go.  This wasn't the worst that could happen...and however it ends up it will be okay.  And it will be polished and sealed so it will be easy to clean...and I will have a few rugs around.  :)

(But it still would be nice if they could have it look more like the sample--fingers crossed.)

Meanwhile--the other cup and mug came!  
First the agave cup arrived.
I didn't show you the infuser last time.
They're really nice--holes very, very small so only tea dust can get through.

Then the last one came.
The cherry blossom cup!
They are all so pretty...and different designs.  Makes me happy.  

I've already grabbed just the cup for water for taking my pills in the morning.  Maybe I could dedicate one of them to be my pill water glass--but that would be a waste of a good tea cup!  Maybe I actually should have a real dedicated pretty pill glass or cup.....

Anyways, I've been sleeping well and longer more nights (and later)...but some not sleeping very long.  Was up all night one night this last week.  At least it has been quite a while since that has happened.,,and it was just the one night.  whew!

Keanna comes on Tuesday.

Been relaxing.
More because haven't felt the best...but doing okay.

Today--whenever I do wake up--I need to do laundry again.  :)

There are warnings about freezing drizzle--again.  32F for a high today it says...so we might get above freezing.  Nice!  It's harder for the critters to dig through a layer of ice.  The ice makes driving trickier.  More accidents.  Apparently people forget how to drive on ice or are just impatient sometimes or late for something and not thinking...you see them speeding past you...and later sometimes in the ditch.  Of course, then there is the dreaded black ice you can't see no matter how careful you are driving (or walking)--but easier to deal with if you are going slower.  Oh, winters in the North Country.  ;)

We had some sun again yesterday--two days in a row, I think.  Nice!  The days are getting longer.  We'll have 9 hours and 13 minutes of daylight today.  I hope you all have a really good week!  Till next time...

Oh, and I asked Miss Allie if she minded a picture.

She had been almost asleep with her head hanging over the folding table next to my chair because it is just too annoying to be on the chair with me when I am typing and she really wants to catch a few winks...but she reluctantly obliged.  ;)

Have a relaxing week.  ;)

14 comments:

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Construction never seems to go exactly as you hope, but I am sure that in the end all will turn out well. I have known people build custom homes and still have to fight with the trades every step of the way.

Deb J. in Utah said...

Hi Rita. Glad to see all the progress being made on the basement. I agree that the floor color looks different than the sample. I am hoping they can make it a little darker for you. You are really keeping your critter well-fed. Glad to hear you are sleeping a little better. I hope the coming week is a good one for you. See you again soon!

Anvilcloud said...

That’s a bit of a disappointment about the floor. Did they look at the tiles in the light where they were later installed? Maybe different lighting will make it look different too as the place takes shape.

Janie Junebug said...

I don't know anything about symbols or elements of my birth. What's the difference between a water rabbit and a metal rabbit? Cross country skiing is supposed to be really good exercise. Maybe someday Ian will go to the Winter Olympics to compete in cross country skiing! It's difficult to judge the color of the floor, but for thousands of dollars, it should be the color you want. I love the longer days. I need to get some groceries and will probably be able to do so after work today. I avoid any driving after dark. It's too hard to see. Good morning, Allie! Thanks for letting us see you in a photo.

Love,
Janie

Divers and Sundry said...

I don't think it's at all too picky to expect the color to look like the color you chose. Odd that it's so different. It's good to see progress, though.

They are saying there's an outside possibility for a bit of snow here Tuesday. I doubt it, but you never know...

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

To answer your question, you are all not being picky because when you select a certain color in fabric, flooring or anything else, you would expect the result to be close to your selection. The flooring does seem more gray than brown and maybe as AC commented, the colors were not looked at in the light during installation? At any rate, it seems the company is willing to try and make things right and hopefully will be able to do so.

I checked my zodiac birth year and 1949 was the year of the earth ox. I know that my horoscope sign is Aquarius (really like the song too). It was interesting to read about the personality traits of my zodiac sign, many of which seemed spot on.

The new cups look great. I have a couple of cups dedicated to tea drinking and what I like best about them is their colors, which re both dark so tea stains do not show😉

jinxxxygirl said...

That is a bummer about the color Rita.. I wonder if they had cleaned it up before the pic was taken.. you know mop it or something.. might be dust .. and i'm sure the shiney top coat sealer would bring out the more true color... Thankfully they seem willing to work with you and help you.. so fingers crossed! Terrible when you spend so much $$ and it doesn't come out the way you want.. Been there done that.. Thats why hubby and i usually do things ourselves.. when we can and as we get older we can do less and less and are at the mercy of others.. Hugs! deb

DJan said...

I looked it up online: I was born in the year of the Water Horse. I don't know what the difference is in the four different horses. I hope you will all be satisfied with the final look of that floor. And thanks for all the pictures, ending up with Allie! :-)

Jeanie said...

How frustrating about the floor. That has to make you a bit crazy. Maybe it darkens in time but usually it seems things get lighter so I hope they can fix it up. At least all three of you were in sync on it!

Jon said...

I haven't been commenting lately but I'm still here. I was born in a rabbit year, too, but I don't know what element. I think your new future home looks great. It will be exciting when you finally settle in and get everything fixed up (not exactly an easy task...)

The photo of Allie is beautiful.

Juli said...

I am a wood tiger. Oldest is a golden dragon. It happens once every 60 years and is reported to bring much wealth to the family. A friend of mine who was Asian was pregnant at the same time as me and she said that people were CRAZY in her community about getting pregnant so their child would be born in the golden dragon.

At some point I will be emptying pout the entire garage and doing an epoxy floor. I hear you on the color thing, it's so hard to choose and then when you do it's never quite right. course, with an epoxy floor I basically choose white, black, or gray with colored specks. So there's that.

Far Side of Fifty said...

maybe when it is polished it will look darker? I hope they come up with something that gets is closer to the color that you want! It rained up here this morning...stay warm sounds like we are in for a cold spell!

Jim and Barb's Adventures said...

I believe I am a tiger, about 90% sure. As for the floors, I see your point. Hopefully they can do something but if not, they still look nice. You sure have a lot going on right now!

Rosie said...

I have a hard time choosing colours and don't seem to be able to imagine the finished product, so I know how frustrating it must be for you all, but at least the contractors are trying to solve the problem. Once you get your own things in you might be surprised at how much you like it. I enjoy your winter pictures as it has been so hot here we are tired of summer but today is cool at 35C and now it is trying to rain. We are waiting for some cooler weather so we can do some travelling again. Thanks for your blog.