Dec 25th - Our First Christmas in the New House

A couple days before Christmas it was decided the family would come to our "house."   We pulled out a few decorations from the storage unit and made the great room festive.

 

Our Christmas day picture...with Fred!

 

And the family photos:

Paula, Raymond, Sheila, Robert & me

The Fortner Family: 

 

Robert's Family:

 Russell (Duke), Caitlin, Karrell

Robert & Cathy

Paula's Family:

Veronica, Paula, Vincent

This was our 2010 Christmas picture. We're also in the great room but in a slightly different location!  We had another little tree like this one in the trailer this year, too.

December - House Update

I've had these picture loaded but never had time to complete the page before the holidays!

Several weeks ago, Gerry mocked-up the two shallow steps from the kitchen hallway area to the great room.

And we moved a ping-pong table into the master bedroom.  Don't you have a ping-pong table in your bedroom??

 

We also bought my new spa tub which has both massage jets in strategic places and effervescent air holes that encircle the bottom of the tub.  Here it is in the master bath where it will be installed.

 

Then we took it outside and tested it per the manufacturer's instructions before it gets installed. I wanted to put hot water in it and jump right in!  I thought the air bubble mode would be really quiet but it's not.

Fred got his first bath and he did really well.  We filled several buckets with warm water and bathed him in a shallow bucket. No barking or fussing.  We think he actually liked it.

Dec 17th- Update on Fred

The lady that called about Fred never came to pick him up.  Gerry called the number and left a message but no one returned his call.  I followed up with the Torrance Animal Control to find out what our obligation was to find his owner.  They said after 5 days, they either adopt-out a dog or send it to the shelter.  As far as they was concerned, we no longer had to try to find his owner, especially after I relayed the series of phone calls.

Here he is playing with Gerry & his new Santa Sock Monkey.

 

Nov 25 - Dec 16 - Fred Our Studio Guest

Meet "Fred."  That's what we named this cute little dog who was found roaming the neighborhood the day after Thanksgiving.  The neighbor's daughter actually found him early in the morning, but they were on their way to a weekend camping trip so Gerry offered to take him and put out signs.  I also took a flyer to the local shelter and gave the Torrance Animal Control a description and our number in case anyone called looking for him.  

After  three weeks, we figured he was ours since no one had called....until last night.  His owner finally saw one of the signs and called.  Where has she been for three weeks that she didn't see one of the signs before now?  Hadn't she looking for him? She only lives a couple blocks away.  And then she said she'd pick him up today day since she had a "program" last night!  If I had just found my dog after he'd been missing for three weeks, I'd leave work to go get him.

As you can see. he's pretty cute.  Gerry was growing attached to him.

Unfortunately, Fred has a case of "separation anxiety" and will bark, jump and chew whenever Gerry is out of sight for more than a few minutes.  So, Gerry made several dog run tie lines throughout the yard, patio, and in the house so he could hook up Fred where ever he was working.  Fred has also been on field trips to Home Depot a few times, Lamps Plus, Ferguson's Bath Showroom, a car trip to Long Beach, and a few trips to Moog.  He's well behaved in the truck; he just lays down next to Gerry and he doesn't seem interested in looking out the window like most dogs.

He slept in the studio for the first couple nights but we moved him to the trailer patio when he started barking and scratching up the sliding glass door frame.  He sleeps in a warm, cozy, foam-insulated, blanket-filled, box on the patio.  He's fine as long as Gerry is in the trailer.  I can come and go and he stays in the box, but as soon as Gerry steps out of the trailer, Fred is out of the box.

There are also a few dog beds in the studio that get moved here and there, inside and out, in the shade and in the sun...where ever Fred wants to take a nap!

And he got some new toys.  He's good at playing fetch for several throws.   When he's had enough, he takes the toy being fetched to one of his beds and sits.

Fred and Gerry the morning before his owner picked him up:

November 30th - Kitchen Lighting Mockups

We're currently trying to decided on the kitchen and dining room lighting fixtures so Gerry can install the electrical boxes.

How many lights over the bar--two or three?  Gerry made coffee jar "light fixtures" to help visualize the number of lights across the bar area; the height between the bottom of the lights and top of the counter; and the position of each light. 

These three "red lights" are over the larger bar area (1):

The hanging piece of wood over the island (3) represents an island chandelier:

 

This "blue light" is over the short bar area (2) and it may or may not be the same model as the fixtures over bar area (1):

 

All 5 fixtures as seen from the refrigerator area:

 

This is the dining room chandelier:

I actually think Gerry would prefer his plastic-jar-and-cardboard chandelier over the "frilly" ones I'm looking at!

Nov 25 - 27: Torrance Memorial Holiday Festival

Gerry took a break from the house remodeling to help me with my tree for the holiday festival.  Thee tree is sponsored by the company I work for, Moog Inc.  The theme is "Iditirod to Santa's Village."

Gerry built Santa's sleigh, the 3 igloos, the 2 igloo doghouses, and he made 10 Iditirod road/milage signs which I hung along the trail:

 

I made the snowmen!

 

There are 9 festively dressed huskies pulling Santa around the tree to Santa's Village at the top:

  The punk rocker:

Each husky had a harness made from red patent-leather belts cut in half lengthwise.  They were attached to each other with reins made from the same belts.

 

 

The princess:

 My tree received the "Best Use of Theme" award:

 

The back of the tree:

My tree sold on the first day at the fashion show for full price, $1550!

My fried Lisa helped me decorate all weekend long.  I could not have finished without her help.

Nov 21 - Attic Stairway Handrail and Storage Area

Mama squirrel was in the bird feeder snacking on peanuts and sunflower seeds this morning.  Gerry was standing about 2-feet away when he took this picture.  She's been around for a few years so she trusts us as long as we don't make any quick, sudden moves.

 

There's a pull-down stairway in the laundry that leads to my attic storage area.  Gerry added a handrail which makes it much easier and safer to get into the attic as well as get back on the stairway to climb down.

 

Lots and lots of storage!  The neighbor has already pitched in with these Christmas yard decorations!