Reviewing "Room"

I just finished reading, Room, by Emma Donoghue, and I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised, especially considering the real stinker books I've been through in the past few weeks.  Room is written from the first person POV of a five year old child.  And even though you'd think that the language may get pretty annoying after awhile, it doesn't, the author does a really decent job of keeping the reader interested while Jack tells you his story without making you want to roll your eyes at the five year old vernacular.

Room is about a woman who was abducted by a psychopath, Old Nick, who has her locked up in a tiny garden shed for seven years while repeatedly raping her.  Jack, is the byproduct of one of the rapes and tells the story of, Ma, and himself from the eyes of a very believable five year old.  This story isn't adult graphic, everything that happens to Ma is interpreted by an innocent five year old brain which doesn't understand what is happening.  Donoghue does a really good job of creating Room into little Jack's world.  If anyone is looking for a good read I highly recommend this novel. 

Here's Karson!

Alright anyone who knows me can just mum up right now.  Yes I have gone over to the dark side and have adopted one of those feline types.  Meet the newest addition to Kitpu Estates, Karson the Cat. 

Karson has spent approximately six hours now here at Kitpu Estates, and in that time has been wet 95% of the time.  She is the official Lolly-Cat of the house. 

Renovations and More Renovations

Things seem to be progressing on the renovation front, as everyone now knows we have a new bathroom.  And we are very close to having a new bedroom, all but the flooring, we will be doing flooring last for pretty much the rest of the house.  (Oh my knees are soooo not looking forward to that.)  And as of today we are back down to having only one bathroom as the old one has miraculously turned into a new entryway.  Well it still has a toilet right by the front door, but hey, who doesn't like the convenience of that right?

The bathroom that was. Gotta love that wallpaper. 

In progress.

Outside view in progress.

Almost there.

Thar she blows!

Outside view of new entryway door.

New view from the kitchen.  Now we just have to widen the doorway and make a closet where a bathtub once lived. 

An exhausted hellhound after all her contributions to the project.

Bathroom Within A Hairsbreadth of Completion

Yesterday started out to be a kick back day, no one was in the mood to do the lumberjack thing and I was keen to finish up on all the small tasks which needed to be done to complete the new bathroom.  So I puttered around for awhile, did some touch up painting and then went outside to pull some weeds out of the flower garden while waiting for the paint to dry.  That ended up becoming a four and a half hour lawn mowing experience.  Yes Kitpu shack has a LOT of lawn, acres of it in fact, and it takes a long time to mow.  Even with three people working on it.  But I digress.  So last night I finally put some sealant on the grout lines and I thought that was going to be the final touch.  (But alas, things did not work out that way, we have to fix part of the wall which somehow got missed during the mudding and sanding process.  So here are a couple of pictures of the almost finished project. 

Just a reminder, this is what the room use to look like.

This is what it looks like now.

This is the new bath tub.

This is the new sink area.

So as you can see things are pretty darn close to being completed.  I still have to get a curtain, although there isn't a huge concern that the local deer population is interested in my bathroom activities, I know that any visitors may be a little more comfortable if they had some privacy.  The old door is still on the hinges, but I figured once all the rooms are done then we will replace all the doors in the house at the same time.  And I am allowing the paint to cure on the newly built cupboards before adding anything which may become a permanent attachment.  So there we go, one room within a hairsbreadth down, six more to go. 

Here is the progress on room number two.  (It was a small secondary bedroom and will continue to be a small secondary bedroom.) I know it's really back lit but such is life.  This room also had that odd window up against the wall thing going on.  So we had to pull some of the gyprock off the side of the wall as well as the back wall in order to rip out the old window, and centre the new one in the room.  The room is starting to come together pretty good already. 

Dodging Another Rapture Of Doom

Well for all those people who read the news today you will be aware that the world did not end.  Both the holy and unholy folk of the land are still here.  Well except for all those who didn't make it, my condolences.   It looks like we managed to dodge another religious doomsday.  Thank God!  (hehe, sorry I couldn't resist) So much for Harold Camping's math formula, (5 x 10 x 17) x (5 x 10 x 17) = May 21, 2011 @ 6pm local time. My bet is on (666 x 666) + (666 x 666) = Time to send me more of your donations. 

Today while I was waiting for all the naked floating people to go by I managed to finish my bills, work on my budget, put supper into the slow cooker, bake chocolate chip cookies, and go for a walk with the dog.  Now granted it is pretty overcast and cloudy here but I figured that once the whole "rapture" thing started that the clouds would clear up so that god would give all the rest of us dammed souls a good view of the goings on, because it wouldn't really be all that much fun for him to torture us for the next six months without everyone being in terror of the coming apocalypse.  Then again if he did give us the heads up suddenly there would be a raft of repenting going on, and where would the fun be then eh?   Oh well let the cognitive dissonance start now.

But all joking aside, there are many, many activities related to "Rapture Mania" of the past few months which I find to be so sad.  To begin with much of the millions and millions of dollars that Camping received from the other crazies out there went to advertising this apocalypse.  Hasn't there been a few hundred years of advertising for it in their bible?  Wouldn't this money have been so much better going to other deserving organizations, such as, the Heart and Lung Society, the Haitian relief fund, the Japanese, me?  Think of the poor schmuck who cashed in his life savings of $140,000 to run ads in New York. I bet he's feeling pretty stupid right about now.  Oh and poor.  

I really want to know what exactly it is about most religions which makes it's followers swoon with delight at the concept of the end of the world?  Sure I know that there are some really shitty things that are happening around the globe, there are floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, wars, and famine.  Unfortunately there always has been and there always will be.  But then there are some really cool kick-ass things as well.  People helping people, the smell of fresh cut grass, a baby's unadulterated laugh, a new book yet to be read, the sound of a loon calling on a still lake, being kissed by your dog (well okay that one may not be that great).   Every single day brings so many good things with it but most of us are too busy to stop and enjoy the smell of rain in the air, or the sunshine on our faces.  In fact many of the righteous are trying to figure out ways of stopping those moments permanently for as many people as they can.  I want to know why.  I also want to know if anyone is working on medication for this problem.

Blue Nose Burqa

Today was a surprisingly hot and muggy day.  Surprisingly because it started out being foggy and cool but then later on in the morning the heat started seeping into the air and it became warm, really warm.  Like 27 degrees warm.  Which meant I quickly disrobed because typically I become "Ye olde puddle of sweat" at the best of times, and as I was breaking a sweat just from breathing I figured it would be a good idea to break out the shorts and tees. 

The day was somewhat satisfactory as I managed to pull all the tiles from the ceiling, and even better, all the &#%$ staples from the ceiling as well.  Then I pulled up the laminate flooring and the rather scusting underlay as well.  Oh and did I mention all the staples holding down the underlay.  The outside wall was quickly dismantled by Mr Renovating Machine, and a support wall was added so that part of the house doesn't fall down before a new header has been built for the new window.  I did some more painting for the new bathroom and Mr Renovator cut the molding.  So things are progressing in a timely manner. 

This evening after supper I decided to take the hell hound for a bit of a walk and luckily I dressed for the occasion.  Holy Smoley Batman, can you say black flies, because I sure can.  Luckily I didn't just lather on some bug spray and decide that all was well.  I actually put on pants and then tucked them into my socks, wore a long sleeved shirt, and wore a hat, AND put a mosquito net over it.  Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster for that otherwise I'm pretty sure I would be bloodless right now.  The nonstop rainfall we've been experiencing for the past month has filled every pot hole, mud puddle, creek, swamp, ditch etc with water, and with this warm weather things have hatched all over the place.  So a walk that could potentially have turned into a screaming run for shelter wasn't too bad.  Thanks to my burqa. 

Rolling in Paint

Kitpu Shack is on the countdown to having a new bathroom!  Yippee!  The second coat of paint has been painted, the new cupboard is drying as I write this, although it is still in pieces and will need to be assembled before it is installed, the vanity is in place and waiting for some flex hose, and even the mirror is in place.  I suspect that I will be taking a shower in my new bathroom sometime next weekend.  Then it will be time to say goodbye to the old bathroom.  So long green toilet, arrivederci green bathtub, and yes, au revoir green wallpaper with the pink roses. 

Unspecial Hero

Ah today was a great day if I do say so myself.  I got up relatively early, around 6:45ish (I love the fact that I think 6:45 is early) and went for a small walk out to the back forty.  I stopped by the old trailer and retrieved a bug net, which I am sure will add vastly to my sex appeal.  It’s like my very own blue nosed burqa. Then I made some biscuits for breakfast (they turned out not too shabby).  Then after a leisurely tea drinking episode I put myself into painting mode and spent the day taking the paint from the cans and applying it to the bathroom walls.  The first coat looks pretty durned good, if I do say so myself.  

Now as I had about six or seven hours of painting to do I allowed my brain to drift along in any path it chose.  Sometimes it chose to listen to the radio, other times it chose to think about rutabagas, but that is a topic for a different day.  For a while as I applied paint to wall(s) I thought about how great it would be to have the power where all I had to do was think about the finished project, and presto, whammo it would be done.  This led my brain in the direction of the series that I just finished watching the other day, Heroes.  Which lead me to think about other series that I have watched in the past few months, which lead me to the conclusion that the people who are writing and producing these shows have about as much mettle as a bowl of Rice o Roni.

Now Heroes is about as comic bookish as a series will get, in fact as they moved through the first season it became even more comicky, which I didn't particularly mind, in fact I expected it to be so.  I actually kind of liked it.  It had some pretty funny lines; my ultimate favourite was Unspecial Ando.  It also had enough twists and turns to keep it interesting until the very end, which is where the writers and producers ended up with the smallest, teeniest, tiniest, itti-bitty little balls in the world.  The last show was anticlimactic, predictable and boring. 

Why?  What is it about the world of television that makes a bunch of talented writers becomes a bunch of pansy arsed wimps?  All I am saying people is TAKE A CHANCE.  Why be predictable, weenie, or down right barfable?  Can't you write something which will be satisfactory, interesting and new?  "If it pleases your honour I refer to Exhibit A, the conclusion of Lost."  Which as anyone who bothered watching the final season knows was the greatest piece of crap ever written and aired in the history of shitty endings.  It won't even be necessary to pull things like the last two seasons of Battle Star Gaglactica out to air in public. 

So this has become one of my new pet peeves, shows which kowtow to what they think the vast majority of TV viewers want.  Take a chance TV Land people, I will bet that there are a substantial number of viewers out there who's main talents aren't based on blowing the biggest spit bubbles in the world.  In fact you might be pleasantly surprised; you may find that there are a number of people who can actually read without having to sound out the letters first.  And even though I technically don't watch regular TV, because frankly I don't want to, I will watch box sets if given enough of a nudge by others (yes this means you my love, based on your advice I will give Dexter a chance, but not until I finish the bathroom).

So as you can see a good day was had by all.  Me and my brain, which I can now take out and put into a jar beside the bed.  Hold on!  Just a minute, I'm sure I had it a minute ago?  Whoops, so sorry, it's been in the jar all along. 

Sunshine and Blackflies

Yippee!  Woohoo!  The sun came out today.  It was warm and sunny and boy was it ever nice for about four point three seconds that's when the black flies found me.  They are pretty nasty and we hates them, we hates them forever.  Isn't that right my precious. 

So today is the first day of no pitter pattering of little feet in the shack which is under construction.  Things have returned to the quiet of the country sticks living.  So today I swept, vacuumed, washed, dusted and basically cleaned the shite out of the shack, then I started on the 'heap big pile o laundry', spent about four hours working on my budgeting records and paid some bills, caught up on emails, returned all the plants to their former homes and watered them, ventured to the back forty for a quick walk, chopped down some branches which were sticking out of the front lilac bushes before being chased back into the house by blood seeking bastards of the east, primed a cupboard in the works and the ceiling in the hallway, made lunch and supper, finished reading a book and I still have time to sit and post on my blog.  This is what the world is like without having to watch children.  It is beyond astonishing what a person can get done when they are not otherwise engaged in feeding children, cleaning children, watching said children so they do not try to kill themselves when they 'discover the world', and trying not to make noise when children are napping.  This last month has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that people should never, ever, ever wait to have kids.  If you want them you should pop them out immediately, waiting until you are older to spawn will only make you very, very tired.  Take my word for it. 

So having said that I will now go and make myself a cup of tea, download a new book and enjoy the rest of my evening. 

Tickville Meets Kitpu Shack

So I guess the month of May must be tick season here in the eastern shores of this great country.  Today we found four ticks on, TTM (The Tick Magnet), aka our German Shepherd puppy.  I am hoping that I can become acclimatized to the presence of ticks because quite frankly they creep me out.  They also ook me out, but I won't get into that right now.

TTM has just gone through surgery to have all her pesky reproductive organs removed.  We asked if they could replace it with some additional grey matter.  Looks like I need to get my money back, it didn't take.  She is a bit on the crazy side right now probably because I have been keeping her house bound until her stitches are removed, which should happen in two days.  Then she can officially run around and wear off some of that pent up energy.  I am hoping she will be moving so fast that some of the local parasitic blood suckers will fail to latch onto her as she dashes by.  In the meantime she has started digging a hole which is quickly becoming large enough to pour a second basement into.  She has eaten two pairs of shoes, and has decided that all the toys that belong to those little bitty humans invading her house are all hers, so every time I turn around I find at least four new items in or around her bed. 

And speaking of the visiting itty bitty little humans, they will be flying home with the parental unit in three days.  I have mixed feelings about that.  On the one hand there will no longer be the pitter-patter of little feet running around at mach ten, the cuteness factor will be significantly reduced around the house, and my heart will no longer be melting as I listen to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Tar. On the other hand life will be significantly much less complicated.  Have you heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child.  Well they forgot to mention that it also takes a moving van full of vitally important stuff.  Stuff like car seats, play pens, high chairs, strollers, DVD players, building blocks, tea sets, dolls, trucks, blankets, diapers, bottles, formula, rice cereal, crayons, colouring books, soothers, and sippy cups, to name a few things. 

Getting ready to go into town is not a matter of putting your shoes on and grabbing a jacket when you have kids hanging around.  The process becomes more like a military styled logistics routine.  Did you remember the warm bottle for the trip into town?  How about the two cold ones for the cooler, just in case you are delayed a bit.  Then there are the books, the $35 giraffe, the doll, the coaster from the living room, and the backpack the size of a small apartment building.  Getting out the door in less than two hours is the work of the finely honed skills of the parent.  There are no medals given out for this feat but there should be. 

So now I have to go because TTM has decided that it is vitally important to take up residence under my desk while I am writing this and I cannot convince her to bugger the hell off, and even though she is using her wily ways to endear herself to my heart like smelling like a wet dog and chewing on my shoe, I am getting the crawlies so I will call it a night. 

Short And Sweetened

Yikes!  And yikes again.  I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted.  But then again life has gotten pretty busy here in the shack.  We have visitors of the short and pitter-patter kind, and let me tell you, they are non stop all the day long, so consequently yours truly has been side tracked.  Even now I am but taking a moment or two to check emails and look quickly through some of the sites, so this will be short and sweet.  Well short anyway. 

Lately the weather has been rather caca here, rain and more rain.  Not exactly the best visiting weather, but never the less we have still been out and about.  We have been doing some house hunting, some hospital visiting and some kid chasing.  The hubby has been plugging along on the renovations so there has been a wee bit of progress on the up and coming bathroom.  Perhaps it will be done before the company departs, it would be nice if the little ones could enjoy a bath or two in the new tub.  We moved mom from her third floor apartment to her first floor apartment and after a day of work there was zero to show for our efforts.  Well actually we did manage to move everything and put it into the new apartment, but seeing as the place has an identical layout to the new one, and we did not change the set up, it looks exactly like it did at the start of the day.  And the worst of it is I'm not even sure if mom will be able to enjoy living on the first floor, she may not be able to live on her own once she gets released from the hospital, if she does. 

Oh and just a note, while house hunting the other day we looked at a place on Kitpu Lane, and I was thinking that would be a great name for the Shack, Kitpu Estates.  I'll have to sleep on it.