Today's Special

While I've been busy STILL installing hardwood, Norm was building a bulkhead to hold the pendant lighting between the living room and dining room. Since I got to a point in the floor where it couldn't go any further because we need some stair nosing (hard to come by on a Thanksgiving Monday) I was enlisted to help with the wiring. Rory supervised, as usual. And Gotham? Well, I know he's coming out of his shell because any cardboard and bubble wrap that landed on the floor was promptly carted away by a playful puppy.

Gotham Under Construction

This is a very wary Gotham right after I picked him up from the airport. Happy to be out of his crate and no problem getting him IN the truck (it was raining and cold though, so he probably wasn't so interested in me or the truck as he was in staying dry).

His first meeting with Rory was at the dog park, where we went directly after the airport. I had Norm meet us there with Rory so they could get to know each other at the park and then Gotham could just `follow` us home. That was fun for Rory. For a while. But then he didn't leave. So far, they are pretty much even on the 'instigator' scale. Here they are having a discussion about Rory's favourite toy.

 This one is Gotham's second trip to the 'big' dog park yesterday. He ventures forth a bit more each time. We've been going to the park a few times each day. There is a lot he needs to get used to, including dogs other than the ones he lived with, and traffic. He's taking things in stride, walks beautifully on a leash, and liver treats and general  "are you still there?" worry ensure his recall is excellent.

Rory and Gotham tag team the little white dog that loved being chased.

Friday afternoon Gotham met some delivery people at the house. Saturday he met my mother and aunt, and he was introduced to power tools. Today he met the floor nailer. I was a little concerned since it's really loud and sporadic. Gotham pretty much slept through the drone of the drill while I screwed down some subfloor yesterday but today I had to lay more hardwood down. He's not as interested in sleeping right beside where I'm working like Rory does, but happily plunks himself down a little further away and plays, sleeps or watches. Though this photo is from yesterday, you'll get the idea of how he's fitting in.

Old Habits

One weekend down, and half of a dining room floored. Doesn't seem like much, does it? My quads and calves tell me otherwise. I really didn't want any more dust in the house, so I'm cutting in the garage. Flooring layed at a 45 degree angle (or 44.5 - 46.5, depending on what wall you're at) means a lot of cutting. Walk 9 steps through the kitchen, down four steps to the back hall, five steps to the garage, 11 steps to the end of the garage and there's the saw. Back and forth, back and forth.

This morning, Rory was acting like he had ants in his pants. Construction noise doesn't bother him so it wasn't that. It wasn't time for a walk. I'd given him a chew-treat. And he was still pacing around and every so often would come over and poke my arm with his nose. NOT conducive to detail work.

You know what his problem was? C'mon, guess.

I'd moved his blanket so I could start installing the floor. And there was his morning sunbeam, slowly making its way across the floor. Without Rory. I'm almost positive he was worried he'd miss it.

The toughest part (aside from solving Rory's problem)? Backfilling as I came around the wall and into the living room. Now I have about 15 rows of straight down and back from in the living room and the dining room before I hit another wall. But that's enough for this weekend.

Rory isn't my first Ridgeback. So, I expect certain things and much of his doggy-isms don't surprise me. They've all had distinct personalities. And they all get to a stage where they look, well, regal. That's probably the best word for it. This December Rory will turn four. Regal is rare.

Even his stalking can be lackadaisical. Today we were hunting German Shepherd. Only the stalking part turned into a bit of a lay-down. Or maybe he was in super stealth mode trying to meld into the ground. Hadn't thought of that until just now.

But then, there was this! Look...regal!

Oh. Wait. Look closer. See? This is more what I expect from Rory. I'm surprised it's not a big stringer of drool instead of grass. Maybe it won't show up so much on the blog. It definitely shows up in the full size version on my desktop.

This is much more typical Rory. Examining the piece of fluff that just floated down to his toes.

Fluff?

We came home from lunch today to find Rory had fallen into a vat of paint. Okay, that's a lie. But he looked like he had fallen into a vat of paint. His entire left half was grey. Just dust, as it turns out. And the culprit? A sunbeam.

We tore up floor yesterday, down to the planks. It made a lot of dust. A lot. Here's our hero, making sure he gets evenly toasty. And evenly dusty.

I've had Ridgebacks who knew how to pull their blankets around to follow the sunbeams through the house. Not Rory. He chose to lay directly on the wood planks even though his blanket was ten feet away. I've since exercised my considerable blanket-relocation skills, much to Rory's satisfaction.

Two Steps Forward

Two foward. And none back. So far. Keelan was kind enough to donate his muscle and a couple of hours of time to get the rusty plush off the stairs and pull out all of the staples, carpet tacks and nails.

Much to our surprise, the stairs turned out to be oak, and possibly salvagable. Some sanding and some stain to match the new tiger wood, or just a clear finish. Who knows, maybe it`ll work.

See the feet on the left side of the photo? Those are the feet of a true friend. One that thinks spending a day or two out of the last long weekend of the summer pulling up subfloor and screws and nails is, well, better than what she had planned. She`s crazy but I love her for it.

And the square of carpet in the photo above? It`s the last remnant of the shaggy stuff. It looked kind of lonesome, up close.

Progress

Install:
Hood and fan, check.
Stove and gas, check.
Base cabinets, check.

View from the dining room.

 View from the far side.

Still to go: Counter. Upper cabinets. Cabinet doors and drawers. Crown molding. And no doubt lots of little futzy things we haven't thought of yet.

But I'm feeling happy.