So, we have two giant Labradors- they’re adorable, but they are 200lbs of dog who eat 30lbs of dog food a week, and put out quite a bit of dog doo in our yard. We tried composting it traditionally (above ground in a mesh-type composter) but we needed it to decompose faster. You can buy commercial kits, but we were unable to find anything as big as we were hoping for (we made a 30-gallon bin) and the 10-gallon systems are easily $50-60+ online. Onto the interwebs for inspiration, and a Saturday project later, we have a working doggy doo waste bin for about $41.

To do this project we used a large heavy-duty plastic garbage bin with lid, some rocks (we bought a bag of river rock), and some septic tank bacteria solution.

1) First, we cleared an area where we wanted the doggy doo bin, at least ten feet away from the vegetable garden. We chose an area under some bushes where it wasn’t easily visible, but still right near the yard for easy waste disposal.

2) Marmot dug a hole, deep and wide enough that the garbage bin can sit in it, but not so deep that we can’t still get the lid on.

2) We  cut the bottom out of the garbage bin, although you can always drill holes in the bottom too.

3) We put the bin in the hole, and packed the dirt around it, building up towards the top.

4) Poured the rock into the bottom.

5) And then added doggy doo! I’ll spare you a picture of that, and highlight one of our adorable doggy doo suppliers instead.

6) Last step was adding some septic tank bacteria solution, which we’ll do about once a month. The bottle we bought is enough for a 500-gallon septic tank, so with a 30-gallon bin we’re thinking the bottle should last over a year.

And ta-da, we have a great doggy doo composter that will allow the doggy doo to degrade and be absorbed back into the soil!

With the heavy-duty garbage bin ($31.99), river rock ($2.59), and septic treatment solution ($6.99), our total was $41.57.

It was a housekeeping disaster. After finally realizing the sources of my pitiful dishes- the spots, the film- it comes down to the lack of phosphates. I’m admittedly not a true eco-minded individual so I’m probably the last person to know that you can’t get phosphates in anything anymore. But hey, I’m recycling. Baby steps! The discovery was incredibly frustrating (I checked the garden aisle too) but it did get my dishwasher off the hook because I thought it had totally crapped out of me. And a dishwasher was half the reason we bought this house! Well not really, but it was a big selling point.

So onto the interwebs to find a new dishwasher solution, because the only other option is to start handwashing the dishes again and I would rather be shot in the head just rather not. I was going to make my own automatic dishwasher detergent (everybody is doing it right?) and I was sure I had Borax in the basement. But newsflash, Borax will kill you. So there goes my homemade detergent idea.

Next up, Googling non-Borax homemade automatic dishwasher detergent and the results were a little overwhelming… But, I stumbled onto a forum that was discussing it, and after doing some Amazon review reading, I bought the stuff they were discussing and tried it- the results are in, Lemi Shine and Biokleen are the dynamic duo, my dishes are spotless. SPOTless I tell you.

So in case you were also feeling like you would like to bash your head against your disgustingly spotted dishes, here is a lifeline. The price isn’t horrible, which only perpetuates my joy. I’ve found that Lemi Shine is cheapest at Walmart, and Biokleen is about the same price on Amazon as it is in our local natural food store. So there, the housekeeping tip of the week!

~HB

Gift. This month, gifts and gift-giving can seem inescapable. What’s the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year?

This year, I received the gift of a second chance. After college, I majorly screwed up my finances and my chances of ever owning a home. My parents gave us a boost we didn’t deserve, and FICO was kind to me. I got a second chance with our house, and I will never forget it.

Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out?

I hate to even admit how long it took me to think of a wise decision. lol

But I think the best thing we ever did was walk away from the house that I fell in love with. We went back and forth with offers and counter offers, and finally just made the decision to walk away. It turned out to be the best thing for two reasons- one that our original financing fell through and getting financing again would have made the deal fall through anyway (they were very specific on the closing date, and we had to delay closing for two months), and the fact that the week after we walked away, we fell in love with the house we’re in, the House of Dreams.

Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?

This year I made a very sad house into a home. We bought our house after the previous owner, a woman in her 30′s who had struggled with depression, had passed away. The house was full of stuff, very dark, and it just seemed sad. We spent a solid six weeks of painting, ripping up carpet, and breathing life into the house again- our materials were some paint, and sheer determination – because we could see the potential. We have a few more things to do, a rug in the dining room and a new exhaust fan, but overall the transformation has been amazing. Making this house into a home has been our proudest achievement for 2010!

Marmot and I have had ‘clean the basement’ on our massive to-do list since we moved into the house in June…but its been the type of project that seemed so mammoth, its hard to even think about starting it but once you do, the momentum picks up. So yesterday, I decided to move some things around on the shelving in the basement and seven hours later, the basement didn’t know what had hit it!

So I was working in the corner with the shelving, had the Shop-Vac and was sucking up the dust and dead bugs when I saw it. This thing:

The biggest spider known to man. And it was LOOKING AT ME!!

The following text message transcript began:

Me: I just vacuumed the biggest f-ing spider I’ve ever seen. My hands are still shaking! Holy bejeezus I need a drink. How long do I need to run the Shop-Vac until we can reasonably assume its dead?

Marmot: Might still be alive, who knows.

Me: Eff, are you serious??

Marmot: Google it.

Me: This is NOT a time to joke, when will it be dead?!

Marmot: The sucking action should have killed it, I’ll clean the Shop-Vac out when I get home. You don’t have to keep the vacuum running.

Me: Ok, the vacuum will be waiting for you. Running.

So I kept using the Shop-Vac, but didn’t turn it off until I was pretty sure that I had sucked up enough particles to pummel the spider to death. You can’t be too careful with giant spiders, and this one was mean looking.

But by the time I got done with the basement, I had sucked up seven spiders, and had stomped on at least twelve. As it went on, there was less screaming and swearing with each kill.

And Brewer stayed close, ready to bark everytime I screamed and threw the Shop-Vac hose. He’s my bud.

And the basement? Much improved, de-junked and swept and sorted and the spider population has been significantly thinned. Before and After pics coming as soon as Marmot hauls away the garbage pile. But the psychological trauma lives on, last night I had nightmares about spiders.

Anyone know of a spider-repellent I can douse the basement in??

• Invite Queen B. over to help remove wallpaper, she arrives two hours late.
• These projects are always best started with breakfast. Something nutritious like Golden Puffs.
• And then maybe a shopping trip.
• Trip to Lowe’s and $125 later, time to start.
• But its lunch time now, better eat lunch before we start the project.
• And its such a nice day, let’s let lunch digest while we sit in the yard and drink lemonade.
• Ok ok, so we’ll actually start.
• Removing wallpaper is a bitch.
• There I said it.
• {Sorry Mom.}
• The gel Dif is shit.
• {I know Mom, you raised me better than that.}
• {But its true.}
• Carpal tunnel five minutes into an entire dining room project can really take all the fun out of the whole thing.
• Plastic scrapers work better than metal, but you still have a buttload of adhesive left on the wall.
• Switch to the half bottle of liquid Dif from the basement.
• Dif water isn’t bad, but its runny- we now have more Dif in the carpet than on the walls.
• How many calories do you earn from swearing and throwing a plastic scraper?
• Google best wallpaper removal system.
• Order Wallwik because their YouTube video was awesome!
• Choose the slowest shipping method possible, and we’re done- we start removing wallpaper in a week. Ta-da!

It has been a long time since I’ve posted. But its been a busy long time! We got moved to WordPress, moved to a new house, got the wonky feed issues worked out, the entire house was painted, and we’re back in business!

Here is what has been going on in the meantime…

• I am in the midst of the worst case of baby fever, ever. Like epic. Baby fever to the point that YouTube videos of women having a natural labor has not brought the fever down.
• But my office upstairs is painted a shade of blue that would look gorgeous as a nursery.
• Marmot says could we please just have the guest bedroom not be neck-high in boxes before we start thinking nursery?
• Even though the guest bedroom is a disaster, the house overall has undergone a HUGE transformation. I’m working on the photo album right now, and OMG its amazing.
• The best transformation is the living room with a gorgeous Persian rug that looks like it was made for my living room- and a steal at $200 for a $1500 rug. I heart Craigslist with big BIG hearts.
• And speaking of good deals, the couches that were left in the house are awesome- we’re using them in our formal living room. I have learned that while I do have some pride, I have more cheap.
• Brewer (the new dog) uses said couches as his own personal House of Bounce, which I am still trying to catch on video.
• Max and Snooty Kitty are SO not amused by Brewer.
• Speaking of not amused, Marmot invited his entire family (four adults, one toddler) to come stay with us the last week of October.
• Yes, that would be all of us sharing the one bathroom with a shower.
• And since we lived like college students before moving here, we have to buy two more beds or the guests are sleeping on Brewer’s House of Bounce couches.
• But if we have a baby, couches used as House of Bounce is only the beginning right?
• Oh the baby fever rages on…

So what have you been upto these last few weeks??

The dining room went from this...

...to this! Still work to do, but wow...

The kitchen got painted (goodbye hideous border!)

The new dog is settling into his new home! More on him to come...

The living room painting is in progress...

And we finally trimmed the bushes that were taking over the front yard!

You know its been quite a week when at 6:30pm, you’re contemplating going to bed…lol

Let me tell you about wallpaper.

Aside from being pestilence and the bane of my house decorating existence, its like a fricking weed. You can’t kill it!

I was so irritated after the Dif spray gel didn’t work well that I Googled best wallpaper removal system and found a You Tube video using the Wallwik system. I was immediately sucked in (excellent advertising!) and ordered it. The sheets were amazing! They held the water onto the walls so it all got damp- the newer wallpaper (and by newer I mean ~20 years old) peeled right off, but even the older wallpaper (~50 years old) scraped right off. I so should have asked for free Wallwik in exchange for blabbing about it, because it is such amazing stuff that I really can’t shut up about it. Seriously!

Wallwik sheets in action!

And once the wallpaper is up, the painters work their magic! I’ve got three colors going through the house…

'atmospheric' for the office and dining room...

'pale honey' for the master bedroom and living room...

and 'soft chamois' for the bathroom, guest bedroom, foyer, kitchen...yeah, pretty much the entire rest of the house!

Really really can’t wait to put up the Before-During-After photo album, once the House of Dreams is finished…