Readjusting

This is more of a plea for help/advice post. You may recall from my last post that I was most worried about the Scarecrow and Toto adjusting to the new flat. Turns out that it's Maybelle that I should have been concerned with. She has NOT been adjusting as well as I thought she would have. I thought that she would have been happy anywhere, as long as she was with us. She'd been pretty mopey apparently when she was left at our previous residence. But now she's developed all sorts of nasty habits.

For example, the first night we brought her over she whimpered, whined and barked in the living room from her bed and wouldn't relax unless I was in the room. So I spent her first night sleeping on the couch. I've had to do it one other night as well. She's gotten better about that the past few nights so I've been able to enjoy the comfort of my own large, luxurious mattress.

Next, Scarecrow walked in and found Maybelle chilling on the sofa that is not strictly ours. No good. I went into town today and experimented with the good ol' tin foil on the couch trick. And I can verify that it did indeed work. So for extended trips outside the house there is now a long strip of tin foil that will be gracing our sofa. So there's 2 bad habits knocked out of the sweet pup.

Bad habit #3, taking food off of the counter. She has a track record with this from her half-starved rescue dog phase. She once ate an entire loaf of bread and half a tub of butter. No wonder she's on a diet now. But today Toto forgot her breakfast on the counter and let's just say it wasn't there for long after. I think the only thing to really do here is for us to not leave appealing foods for her on the counter.

The habit that is currently distressing me the most is her inability to do her business outside during her walks. She's had a couple of major accidents inside and it seems as though she's just holding it in until she can't wait anymore. And that seems to generally occur when we are out of the house and she can't be taken outside. We walk her at least twice a day, generally along the same route in order for her to get comfortable. She has done the deed in the pebble half of our patio and so I was hoping that it would become her "spot" where she could smell her territory. Today I even took some of her, ahem, presents and put them outside in the pebbles in the hopes that she would realize that this is where it should go. I generally think that she'd much rather be inside with us or walk with us that she's putting off this basic function.

So besides getting her to go where she's supposed to go I am also wanting to find ways to keep her entertained during the day. Between Scarecrow, Toto and myself we are generally out of the house anywhere from 6-8 hours a day. I feel terrible that all she's doing is lying around all day long. And so I'm trying to research ways to keep her somewhat occupied during the day.

I'm sorry if this seems like rambling, but I am really worried about this sweet girl. I don't see the point of having a pet unless you're going to responsibly take care of that pet. And so, dear pet owner friends, I'm appealing for any tips, suggestions or advice. How can I help my country dog become an apartment dog and be happy about it?

Maybelle was a great comfort to me when I first moved here. She gave me someone to love when I felt alone during the day when the Scarecrow was at work. I want to be a comfort for her now.

Return of the Twister

The Twister has come again. This time it's swept the Scarecrow, Toto and this ruby slippered girl into an adorable 2 bedroom flat right in the area we wanted to be. I can hardly believe it! From viewing the apartment to moving in it was only about 2 weeks. We've since been moved in for 1 week. I'll be honest, it's not the cute little house I imagined our first place would be. But it's adorable and I love it. It's about a 20 minute walk home for Amy from her bus through a residential area and about 25 minutes walk for me to work. It's a ground floor flat which is perfect for Maybelle and even boasts a little patio area. Let the projects begin! (Caution ahead, lots of pictures. Yep, I'm excited!)

Our Target bedding that we still love. Our room came with two bed side lockers, a dresser, and a BIG, BRAND NEW MATTRESS! We opted to swap the bedside lockers and dressers for our own. Definitely kept the mattress!

The master bedroom is really big. The space from the wall to the wardrobe is thankfully big enough for both of our dressers to fit. I was worried we'd have to try and share. Yeah, that wouldn't have worked at all. Scarecrow has way too many clothes.

Oh, and the wardrobe is massive. I can finally see my shoes!

En suite shower! Praise the Lord! It also just had the shower head replaced given that for about 4 days we thought it was broken. Turns out there's just a pump that has to be turned on for it to work. Never mind that now we have to turn on the sink first in order for it to work. Call it a quirk. Also, check out the super cute bathmat. Only Penney's finest for this crowd.

The other side of the en suite. Why yes, that is a giant blank wall that I want to fill somehow. And yes, I did have to stand in the shower to get this shot. No shame here.

We waited about a week before bringing this sweet thing over. She's been a little anxious but hopefully she'll learn just as when we first got her that we aren't going to abandon her or forget to feed her. She wouldn't stop whimpering from her bed in the living room last night so I slept on the couch. This too shall pass...hopefully.

You thought you'd seen all the bathrooms? Oh no, my dear friends! Main bathroom sports a lovely bathtub and an eclectic selection of tiles and a stenciled mirror. As Tim Gunn would say, make it work.

Don't mind the dog collar. Madam Maybelle had herself a bath today. Managed to spray all the walls pretty good. Thankfully each bathroom comes equipped with a smaller HEATER to remove all water spots from the wall. This is going to be mainly Toto's bathroom. She has an adorable little room that she's decided to give a French theme. No pictures of that, no way I'm breaching that privacy agreement.

There's a really good sized open space right when you walk in that then branches off into all of the separate rooms. Seems a little unusable/wasted. I can't decide exactly what to do with this little gem of an alcove. Toss up between book shelf or coat area. There's also a LOT of white walls in this area that will need some TLC. Currently the only piece of art in here is a Van Gogh poster that was in the back of Toto's closet. Hey, it was framed and is well proportioned. Not my favorite of his but it'll do for now.

I have felt so terrible that we haven't been able to use hardly any of the beautiful wedding presents that we were given a year and a half ago. Ask the Scarecrow, the pile of wedding presents outside our bedroom was a constant source of frustration to me. Now to try and figure out how to appropriately show them off.

Our main space consists of a living room/dining room/kitchen arrangement. The couches are pretty new and so is the coffee table. The only additions we've brought to this so far are a corner TV unit and a bookshelf currently stuffed with DVDs. Oh, and Grandma Pat's beautiful, handmade afghan along with some cute pillows we picked up in Heaton's. We only went for glass jars for flour and rice. Left with just a bit more. OK, more than a bit.

See, giant bookshelf of DVDs. I think the majority of the boxes we brought had DVDs in them. They are the Scarecrow's vice. Better than drinking I guess. See second adorable little couch by the door and awesome little corner unit for the TV. Also note the LARGE amount of WHITE wall space. Trying to come up with apartment friendly projects for this. I found where they sell Command hooks. That will definitely help.

My sweet Scarecrow's contribution to decorating thus far. I worked late nights this past week and told him I was feeling slightly overwhelmed with unpacking and organizing everything. Came home to dishes done, laundry folded, and perfect little touches like this. That painting of the Kansas City Temple was the first thing we hung (there was already a hook there). I thought I wouldn't leave it since it looked so small and lonely on that big wall. But I think next to everything on top of the shelf it's perfect now. Perhaps we'll get a copy of the Family Proclamation to accompany it.

The view from the door of our "living room". Maybelle's bed is the latest addition though she much prefers laying exactly behind you when you're working in the kitchen.

One entire wall of the "main room" makes up the kitchen. You've got to hand it to the Europeans, they know how to get a lot out of a little. The appliances include a freezer unit (far left corner), washer/dryer (left of center), oven and stove top (right of center) and refrigerator (far right). No dish washer, but it's worth if for having a full size freezer instead. Loads of storage too.

Perhaps one of my favorite things. Lovely wedding gifts on our table including our I Can't Believe It's Not Buddha butter dish from Grandma. She just gets me.

She's been following me EVERYWHERE. Poor thing, she's just so confused.

We bought ourselves a big Le Cruset pot with some wedding money. I love it against our hunter green back splash. Here's to years of stews and crusty bread with this bad boy!

A mix of wedding presents, Christmas presents, and moving out presents. I don't know why but this cabinet makes me really happy.

Why is there an adorable box sitting on a table behind our couch? It's holding a wonderful little secret.

Yep, the modem for our 50 M BROADBAND!!!! This blog post is brought to you by UPC, giving me the fastest internet I've ever had in my life. And a big shout out to Pinterest for the cute way to hide the ugly modem and assorted cables.

And the box of magic and phone sit atop a gift from Scarecrow's aunt and uncle. I wasn't sure if we'd have space for the pair of them but I'm glad we did. Now to jazz this glass topped, gold legged beauty up. I feel a project coming on.

Yep, still watching. And not laying in her bed. Such a funny creature.

How we've managed to fit so much into such a small space. Suitcases and under bed storage bins. 12 euro in Dunnes but absolutely worth it. The bin with the red box in it contains all of our current holiday decorations. Gotta love smart storage solutions.

Large window and glass door leading out to our patio. The place feels so much bigger thanks to this gem. There is SO much light thanks to being a ground floor, corner apartment. And yes, another project. This bad boy definitely needs some curtains. Hoping to hit up Guinney's today and praying they have something good.

Our patio! The clothes horse will be leaving soon. Planning to have a small container garden. There's someone that lives in the same unit as us in another one of the apartment buildings who has totally pimped their patio. I'm talking mosaic tile on the ledge, gate leading to the parking lot (very jealous) and a retractable awning. Hopefully we'll be moving into a house in about a year but I'm still hoping to make this feel as much like home as possible.

It has taken some adjusting, I think for Toto most of all as she was with her mom this past week (our first full week). I'm hoping she'll be happy. I'm hoping Scarecrow will be happy. They've both lived most of their lives in Scarecrow's parents house. It's new and different, but here's to making this little place our home.