Funny Face

Roger here...   Today's post is dedicated to selected shots of Dianne as she finishes up the last of her self-imposed painting tasks - finishing up the coach house.  "Self imposed" refers to the fact that I am not allowed to touch a paint brush; therefore, all the painting had to be done by Dianne.  I will also talk about a family reunion for Bandido, minor surgery for Chaplin, and the completed outdoor areas of the coach house.

Dianne has always accused me of being sloppy with a paint brush; however, my mishaps have never reached the level of the bronze paint fiasco.  Notice the dark bronze accents on Dianne's face and hands?   I don't have a shot of her legs, but let me just say they looked as if they were covered with very dark varicose veins.  Don't you just love the way that she managed to make perfectly straight parallel lines on her nose?  The oil-based metallic paint was applied to most of our outdoor furniture, and also to Dianne.  The kicker here is that even paint thinner would not remove the shiny bronze from her skin.  She literally would not go out in public for four days.  I must admit,  however, that the results were great.  Our outdoor furniture has never looked better.

After a few days of rubbing toxic chemicals on her legs and literally scraping the paint off, my lady Van Gogh tackled the white undercoat and finishing paint on bathroom cabinets and shelving. Note the results.  Dianne does indeed have a set style in her self-decoration.  I like to call it post-modern splotchilism.

Time to move on...  Yesterday we were invited to bring Bandido to the RV Park next door, Bentsen Palm Village.  The residents of the RV park were presenting a check for $2,000 from their annual pet parade fundraiser to Suzanne, the owner of the Cinderella Pet Rescue Center where we found our little guy.  Everyone thought it would be fun for Suzanne to see the eight dogs that were adopted from her rescue center who now have permanent homes in our RV communities.

Bandido had a great time reuniting with his old buddies from the shelter.  The highlight for us was his reaction to seeing Suzanne.  There was no doubt that he remembered the lady who literally saved his life, as he jumped all over her and smothered her with kisses. When she found him in her burglarized bed and breakfast at the age of three months, he was covered with black oil/grease and had no fur.  He is now a frisky, friendly, intelligent young guy who has won our hearts.

By the way, we now know his heritage.  The tissue sample that Dianne sent in shows that he is one-half Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler), one-quarter Belgian Shepherd, and, believe it or not, one quarter American Bulldog.  We expected the Blue Heeler result -- he has all the markings -- but were very surprised about the Bulldog thing.  However, when you look at Bulldog photos, Bandido really does have similar ears and those huge paws.

We also have news about Chaplin.  He has been afflicted with skin lesions for a couple years.  They appear, stay for a month or two, and usually dry up and disappear.  Unfortunately, if they don't go away on their own, they get large and they bleed.  Last May, our Indiana veterinarian (who was not sure what they were) surgically removed one of them.  Saturday, a local vet from the Banfield Clinic removed one that was bleeding and three smaller ones.  He called them skin tumors and sent one to pathology to see if he can find the cause.  We'll find out in early March when the stitches are removed if we have reason for concern.  In the meantime, we have to be careful about allowing him to do the 35 mph whippet run for fear of tearing out the stitches.  Poor puppy.  He also has one of those attractive neck umbrellas, that he hates.

Dianne will tell you about the final results of the inside of our coach house on the next post.  I get to show you pictures of the outside.  

First, a couple of overall shots of the back patio area and our new pergola.

We turned our antique copper cauldron into a water feature with the addition of a solar fountain.

Our new hand-painted Talavera bathroom sink that was accidently broken before installation is now a bird bath - very popular with the gang of mockingbirds that hang around.

Dianne had fun building a cairn from the rocks we have collected on our travels over the years.  It is a temporary thing that will be replaced by a propane fire pit (surrounded by our rocks.)  But for the time-being Bandido likes to pose by it.

I spray painted our outdoor pots.  I am allowed to use spray paint as long as I am outside and at least 25 yards from any structure.  (An added caveat is not having Dianne in the vicinity to supervise.)  After a couple of trips to Home Depot they were filled with brightly-colored flowers.

We haven't had time to lounge around back there yet, but we will.  We did, however, get to entertain our new neighbors, Bob and Linda.  (Dianne here:  I'm editing this to add the exciting news that our blog friends, Bob and Linda K., whom we mentioned in our last blog, have purchased the empty lot next door!  We'll soon be Retama neighbors!!  If you want to learn more, read the last few blogs of Bob's (Because-we-can) -- link at the left of our blog.)

The front of the coach house is decorated with a rustic planter that contains a copper water feature that once belonged to my parents.  The second photo shows the area at night and offers a sneak preview of Dianne's soon-to-come post showing off the inside.

The doggie picture of the day does not feature a doggie, but it does involve a doggie and his new discovery of paper towels.  As you look at the photo, imagine the tune and lyrics from West Side Story with a slight twist....  "Oh No, Bandido, (Bernardo) No!  Bandido, No!"