Inequities Remedied

What an effective day it has been, love it! I got the sofa I had only just discovered around midnight on craigslist in by early morning, hours only before the ladies were to leave town. I love the warm wood of this futon frame and am particularly fond of the cabinets on both sides. I always wondered why those spaces would go wasted? My main motivation though for this acquisition has been the inequitable sleeping arrangements in our home of late. My little Sumo-boy insists on sleeping with me. The moment I lie down, no matter the time, he will race towards me in hopes of pressing his back against my side all night long. The kitty will join in the morning, but for Isabella-girl there simply has been no room, my daybed simply is too small and narrow for the four of us. 

For the first 2 1/2 years of living with my furry ones I had no intention of sharing my bed and furniture. I had done all my reading in preparation of Isabella's, my first dog's arrival and got her and each subsequent furry one a nice fluffy white bed of their own. When Sumo joined us about half a year after Isabella's arrival, I was rather harsh in getting him off the furniture, including my table. I started to lose my resolve with the arrival of our Pretty Kitty, our Black Panther, our independent spirit who will hear nothing of others boundaries and preferences. How could I keep my little dog off when the cat took over and made himself comfortable right on top of me? When I strained my back and had trouble moving and walking my pups, that is when I caved in and let Sumo sleep in my arms. While in so many ways he is a real guy, independent, fearless, eager to go out and explore, hunt whatever comes his way, and making cunning use of his small size and large spirit, in some ways he is simply a lap dog looking for the most comfortable spots, be it my or another's lap. I must admit though a little warm fuzzy, furry one can feel very cozy, even healing.

Once Sumo is settled the kitty moves in and I watched many a time with fascination as he keeps on sneaking up at Sumo, driven it seems by a powerful desire to cuddle and rub up against. Isabella almost the size of three Sumos is kinda left out in all this. From the very beginning she has offered her bed, her toys, her food to Sumo, willing to share all she had, but Sumo will have none of sleeping with girls, no matter how small she presses herself in to a far corner of her bed. Sumo seeks closeness to me, the Pretty Kitty and Isabella seek out Sumo. My heart hurts for those twos and this happened way before I ever let this little guy sleep with me, happened almost every night for 1 1/2 years.

So, it is my sincere hope that finally with a big enough bed for the four of us we will all be back in one pack with no seeming preferential treatments. I hold high hopes that this will address my girl's bad mood of late where she seems to have a need to assert herself and test her alpha status with other dogs.

Don't they look like they belong, 

like this has been their spot forever?

Acquisitions

 

Today, in the spirit of celebration, I treated myself to not one, but two new Orchids. I placed them together with my  now crestfallen white Easter Orchid inside the milky white glass top of a now defunct lamp, which happens to fit perfectly in to this old, but favorite bamboo basket. I hope the glass container will be suitable in holding the moisture for these plants which show over 30 potential blooms, now still in a bulbous state. Did you know Orchids grow naturally up in trees and love the feel of circulating air?

Since it is my birthday today, I got up with the dawn of light and made it out to the dog park by 7 AM, before the heat of the day and undeterred by the lure of the internet. An hour later we were hanging at the coffee shop, me with a double Cappuccino and my pups with treats they provide. On impulse I stopped by the adjacent book store where I had seen The Lazy Dog's Guide to Enlightenment and snatched up the second to last copy on sale. While the images in it are not of the greatest quality, they convey the message and one page after another makes me smile from one ear to the other.

We all make mistakes, but who we are is not one of them.

Will it do it's intended service and inspire me to a compilation of sorts of my own making?

Despite my expenses in an intolerable, unsustainable race with my laughable, defeated from the outset income (not because) I recently acquired objects I predict will stay close to me and my heart for a long time to come:

My 'Kentucky Derby Hat' makes me feel more, rather then slightly ridiculous wearing it, but at my age that is no longer a deterrent. The truth is my Anglo light skin is in dire need of protection from the sun when walking my pups and this to me justifies the expense. The Video Librarian's encouraging "go for it" helped me too in my decision to splurge.

A heavy duty wooden black shelf of folders, so necessary for the endless flow of papers that threatens to overtake my tiny by some measures space, proved irresistible. The introduction of this shelf necessitated a rearrangement of my whole working space, a work in progress. The heavy duty serious leather bag, hanging now on a heater that has not been used in decades, is actually what I have been missing when taking my laptop to a nearby coffee shop on bike. It is in perfect condition with all zippers working, I bless the writer lady that no longer wanted it along on her journey, may she travel safe and that much lighter to Hollywood and find the success she undoubtedly is seeking.

I sign off with another quote that I hope will make you smile and a shout out to Nancy who inspired this post with her request, thank YOU and thank you all for reading! 

Leave no door unopened ... unless it's time to nap.

Way Cool

My most recent, amazing find from Habitat's ReStore is this incredibly heavy, solid metal table top lamp. It features two settings bright enough to read under  with a very unusual, beautiful design that offers various knobs to fiddle with.  The lamp makes  for an interesting contrast to my warm, wooden furnishings and adds sparkle to my soft white accents. For seriously amazing, space saving multi-functionality in furniture check out this Italian site:

Impromptu Acquisition

I left home looking to replace my rain barrel and came home with a monstrous leather chair:

The kind I had been dreaming of, soft, comfortable and not torn. A perfect place to read. (What happened to the times I could read anywhere anytime, including on my way to school, under the covers in secret, in the bathroom in the bath tub, sitting, standing, lying down ... what happened?)

These days the light is not right, the reflections bothersome, my eyes are too tired and my body tosses and turns. If I could I would try reading in a head stand, it can't be worse then what I am doing so far.

But now I got this comfy huge throne in my tiny home. For a moment I feared I might not get it through the door, but with a little help we did it, and ever since I am rearranging my whole home to make things fit. There are always more then one way to do one thing, just as there are many roads that lead to Rom and certainly many rivers that find the ocean. Never mind that I liked it that one way, it's good to be flexible, it's good to invite change and sometimes it is excellent to buy on impulse.









New chair

new bike

new camera

I better get my butt moving,
then get stuck in comfort zone.