DG Creations

Art, photography and writing by Diane Garrett

Jay the dog

Lessons from my dog: Be true to yourself

DG Creations, Writing

I love my dog, but he continues to confound me. Every dog that I have had before him would insistently clamor for a morning walk and breakfast and expectantly wait for supper.

Not our Jay.

He’s simply not a morning dog and lets us know — if we are paying attention — that he is ready to go outside and do his business by throwing himself on the ground and loudly wriggling around. If that doesn’t get our attention, he comes upstairs and looks at me or my husband meaningfully. Similarly, when he is ready for a meal and one is not forthcoming, he licks his empty bowl until we get the idea.

There are no set behaviors or timetables with him. Food can remain untouched in his bowl for hours or be hoovered up immediately. Sometimes he’s in the mood for a long walk, but other times he will simply turn around mid-walk and head home. Again, unlike any other dog I’ve had.

Growing up, I used to frequently go on runs with our family dog, forging ahead even in inclement weather. (Sorry, Zeke!) Jay, whom we suspect to be part whippet, can really race down the street or the length of the local dog park when he wants to. But he simply cannot be cajoled into a sustained run around the neighborhood or a trail. Believe me, I’ve tried.

The biggest adjustment for me came early in our relationship: The rescue organization warned us that Jay prefers men over women, and that has definitely been the case in our house the past two years. I was the one that campaigned for another dog for years, but Jay prefers my husband.

My ego can mostly handle it, but there are times, like during my husband’s recent absence on a business trip, when I find myself again resorting to treat bribery to get Jay out of the door for a walk. (Jay logic: if I leave the house, I might miss the return of my preferred human.)

He’s also the sniffiest dog I’ve ever had, which can be vexing if I’m in a rush. But I counsel myself to be patient, and maybe even take a lesson from him: It’s okay to stop and sniff ALL the roses if you want to. Work can (usually) wait.

midmod style cabinets

Lessons in Remodeling: Be Grateful for What You Have

DG Creations, Writing

Grimy kitchen cabinets (and walls) aside, there is much to be grateful about our new house — including some of the changes the previous owners made.

Near as we can tell, they opened up the kitchen design — and it looks much better than an old photo floating around the internet from the listing prior to their purchase. Another thing we love: the wood cabinets they installed in the great room. Aside from being handsome, the cabinets evoke the mid-century modern origins of the house.

I was reminded of this when WordPress dredged up a long-forgotten post I wrote about a renovation of a mid-century modern house in Lodi nearly a decade ago. That house was in far worse shape when my in-laws purchased it — there was a hole in the roof and kiddie pool to catch the water, among other things. And in the process of turning the house around for new owners, they (or their partners, can’t remember) ended up stripping out some of the groovy interior design, from a retro lamp evoking the 1967 Debbie Reynolds movie “Divorce American Style” to a kitchen that evoked “The Brady Bunch.”

Our new house isn’t nearly as stuck in time, and there are many other things about it that we love. More on those later. In the meantime, I vow to appreciate all the good features of the house … even as I wrestle with home improvement projects before we move in.

Lessons in Remodeling: Tidiness vs. Cleanliness and the Joy of Peel and Stick Wallpaper

DG Creations, Lessons in Remodeling, Writing

Yes, I did buy Property Brothers peel and stick wallpaper for our new home, feeling kinda ridiculous as I made the purchase. But so far it is working better than expected as a short-term remedy for unexpectedly grody kitchen shelves.

It’s been a while, but I moved a lot in my younger days, first with my family, then as a young adult. And maybe I’ve forgotten the state of past domiciles, but I simply do not recall any being so repellently dirty when I moved into them.  

What were you thinking, I kept muttering to myself in an imaginary conversation with the former owners as I clean the kitchen cupboards, which looked acceptable from the exterior but were revealed to be stained and damaged on the interior when the house was emptied. What caused a fuchsia stain in so many drawers? Why was a rollout shelf inside the pantry door so black with grime? What were you, former owners, doing on that shelf? How could you think it was acceptable to leave it this way for yourselves, let alone others?

Mind you, I am not a persnickety housekeeper – just ask my husband – but these shelves have been a real eye opener. Especially mind-boggling: the wife of the splitting couple that resided in our new home bills herself as a tidiness expert. Can we attribute the mess to the husband and kids? Was it a big cause of tension in the house? Was this grime okay because it was behind cabinet drawers? I have so many questions that I will likely never get the answer to, but am now clear on one thing: tidiness and cleanliness are not necessarily linked together. I’ll take clutter over grimy cabinets any day.

I have scrubbed the repellent (to me) drawers with various cleaning products but some of the most persistent stains – and visible wear – remained, so I tried using non-adhesive shelf liner left over from our current home’s kitchen remodel to obscure problem areas. That didn’t do the trick. Next, I applied old-fashioned contact paper, wrestling with it as I retrained myself how to apply it. Not satisfied, I placed non-adhesive liner on top. When that still didn’t completely hide problem corners and damage, I moved on to peel and stick wallpaper that I spied at the home improvement story and once would have scoffed at using.

It has been, as the above narrative indicates, a learning process, and I have a long way to go before I become adept at applying any form of wallpaper or contact paper on shelves. My fix isn’t meant to last forever, but that’s okay – we just need it to cover the stains and wear until we can replace the shelves. Turns out papering over a problem isn’t always a bad thing.