Push, Pull Rotate- with Brinks Home Security

Pictured below is the Glenshaw Privacy Lever from  Brinks Home Security. This lever door handle features the new push and pull technology. A technology that offers a  new hands free way to open doors and only door lock that opens 3 ways. You can push it, pull it or rotate it. It is easily opened with a hip, finger or elbow, etc. The door can be opened by simply pushing or pulling on the knob or lever. But despite being so easy to use, they still maintain the high security standards that you would expect from Brinks.

They are perfect for front and back doors, and for all interior doors too, which is why it also works great for the RV bathroom door. And doing renovations in the RV we decided to change the handle and make it more convenient for our usage.

This was very, very easy to install. It took Gerry less than 5 minutes  minutes to install and he only needed a Phillips Screwdriver. We also much prefer not only the look of the new "lever" to the old door "knob", but ease of use. Highly recommended for your next at home project.

Part 2- RV Bathroom Before and After

Looks like we have some more pictures for everyone! 

The bathroom cupboards and walls have all been completed, in the RV. Paint used once again was Farrow & Ball, and because the textures of parts of the cupboard doors are not real wood and non paintable, we had to improvise so to speak and do parts of it with paint and leave other parts in it's original covering. But both of us think it turned out quite nicely.

The light fixture, originally gold, was scraped right down to hold the spray paint, and spray painted white.We replaced all the handles and hinges that were gold and the hand towel bars as well were switched from gold to a brushed nickel.

Congrats to Daughter Erika for Rappelling 17 Stories for The Make-A-Wish Foundation

Our daughter Erika, rappelling today in Calgary,  in support of the Make A Wish Foundation of Canada.

Erika rappelled for the first time ever - 17 stories. Unfortunately we couldn't be there but her in laws were and we were still able to see some great photos! And a video!

Happy Independence Day to our American Friends and Neighbors!

Wishing a Happy Independence Day to our American Friends and Neighbors!

Part 1 - RV Bathroom Before and After

Think I had mentioned before that we are starting some re-doing in our RV.
We partnered as well with Farrow & Ball- eco-friendly, wallpaper and paint experts. A company that has set themselves aside from other paint companies by creating a product of quality, using only the finest quality ingredients and rich pigments. 

Gerry started on the the part of the bathroom that houses the toilet, which is a separate room off the main bathroom area. We had originally wanted to paint all the cupboards in there, white, and then do some wallpapering. Unfortunately, due to the gloss surface on most of the wood, we had to change our plans. Part of the cupboards Gerry said had real wood and part was not a real wood and with a gloss surface. He tried sanded that, but still would not hold a primer, so just had to change what we were going to do.

As you can see by the before and after it still turned out nice.

We changed over the toilet in there to a ceramic toilet, from the other that was in there. Also covered the factory papered walls and part of the cupboard doors, with a Walmart paper we picked up. Then Gerry painted what parts of the cupboard he could with white paint from Farrow & Ball. A nice paint to work with, with low odour.

Stay tuned for Part 2 when we continue with the rest of the painting in the RV bathroom.

DIY Home Bars: 5 Must-Haves For a Well-Stocked Home Bar For Your 4th of July!

Own a bachelor pad and love entertaining? You sure need a home bar, stocked properly. There is also a need of a drink, well-mixed which helps schmooze the romance when your girl is around, to impress drinking buddies or maybe to floor the boss and his wife, when they come calling. And moreover, the difference of having a drink with friends at a bar around town and mixing one at home is chalk and cheese.

Get all swanky like it was in the 1960s, before the advent of mixologists and when real gentlemen poured drinks in their mid-century Baskervilles. To start a bar can be a daunting task, says who? Home bars are fun to DIY and from scratch that too- believe us when we say it is fun, easy and wouldn’t pinch your pocket too hard!

Rules for the home bar

Before we tell you how to go about stocking the home bar, the rules first!

1.      Pick alcohol that you personally enjoy imbibing and serving. Spirits that impress you would sure be hits when you lovingly curate them and make a sparkly drink in those glasses. Pick what only you like, because in most cases the home bar’s main client would be you. This allows you to share your personal tastes with all around, and enjoying a conversation over the same too. Talks can happen over what you stock and why you stock- reason enough to pick what you like.

2.      Spend less and start small. Instead of hoarding the bar with plenty of bottles, most of which you wouldn’t like or drink- remember, your money is your money and you need to spend it wise. Dropping a boatload at the local liquor store would make the shopkeeper happy, but not you. People would expect you to make more drinks, some of which you haven’t and this would be a mess. So start small and grow as you move along.

3.      Practice to get comfy with your mixes and drinks, and slowly expand the menu to accompany each drink too. It would be best to notify your buddies of what you have, and to learn of their favorites too.

What alcohol to keep

The sanctorum at home (the home bar) should be stocked well, so let’s begin with alcohol choices.

For the base spirits while mixing cocktails

1.      Gins rule- Start off with London Dry gin, add Plymouth to it or Old Tom.

2.      Vodka for shots- Who doesn’t love shots, babushkas especially, and the good old Bloody Marys or the sizzling Cosmopolitans.?Perfect for mixing since the odor isn’t too strong. Try Absolut or Stolichnaya, and if you want it nicer- Grey Goose for sure.

3.      Bourbon whiskey anyone? Gentlemen and their whiskey shots, they love the sips and the Old Fashioned classic tastes. Wild Turkey and the quaint Jim Beam for mixologists are the best, especially if you are a novice at mixing.

4.      Jack Donaghy Scotch whisky for the home bar is a must. Soul soothing and a reason why the deepest of man thoughts happen while sipping this bad boy from your glass. Stock on a bottle of Rob Roy for the classic touch, and blend it with single malt for finesse.

5.      Tequila- Ahaa! Must-have and perfect for margaritas too. For mixes, try the Gold Tequila, and for the straight up shots- the silver tequila does justice. But do stock the bar with Patron, go ahead and try it!

6.      Rum- Caribbean or Cuban, you just cannot say NO to it. Darker the better in this case and perfect for mixing too, you should start with light rums and add darker ones later as the party or the gathering progresses.

What about the mixers?

It all depends on the concoction and magical Bacchus mix that you would like to present the attendees with, so here’s a list of what the home bar should have.

1.      A bottle of club soda

2.      A bottle of tonic water

3.      A couple of aerated drinks

4.      A couple of fruit juice bottles (tomato included)

5.      Angostura bitters

Presentation matters

Garnishing a drink makes it full of fun while serving the glass happens, and you do not need to be a pro at that. Use your imagination and creativity, and go right ahead. From lemon slices to fruits, olives to onions for cocktails, horseradish to spices (Tabasco sauce, pepper, salt et al) and yes, ice and sugar too.

Cutlery and glassware

And how are you going to serve what you just concocted? You need the right glassware and the cutlery for serving smart, isn’t it? Go ahead and get spoiled for choices at Target.com. Also, you can use Target coupon deals and get hold of a myriad range of swanky and uber-cool kitchen-aid products, by which you can wow your guests with your mixology skills.

A well-stocked home bar should have the following-

1.      A couple of martini glasses

2.      A set of rock glasses

3.      Wine glasses (separate for red and white wines)

4.      Tall stemmed glasses

5.      Highball glasses

6.      Pint glasses

7.      Beer mugs

8.      A strainer and a shaker for martinis

9.      Toothpicks to support the garnishing and embellishments

10.  A box of napkins

11.  A recipe book to assist you in mixing

12.  Music CDs to soothe the soul while you and your buddies sip

Storage and stocking

Finally, you would have to invest in a small wine cooler, a wine rack, serving carts, pub sets, four bar stools and one bar table, bar cabinets to store the bottles and cutlery well-defined. While the bar stool seat should be at nine to twelve inches for comfort, just below the bar counter top, think of cushions for the cozy feel and extra comfort too.

Well each man to his own (home bar), but as a gentleman with taste so pure and dapper, imagine how proud you’d feel flaunting your home bar by using the tips in this guide. The best way to tell the boss “See this bar right here sir, I built it from scratch”- a priceless achievement and to that we say. Cheers!

Today's Quick Tip

Save your bread bags for putting smelly garbage items into a bread bag, before you throw into the garbage. With summer heating things up, it doesn't take much for things like tuna cans, strawberries, etc., to smell up the garbage pail in the house!

Review: The Kurgo Wander Bench Seat Cover

Review by: Erika and Jon

We were especially excited when we had the opportunity to review Kurgo's Wander Bench Seat Cover since we just recently bought a new SUV and our dog "Be" loves to ride in the car and go to the dog park!

The Wander Bench Seat Cover is everything it says it is. The cover was easy to install and fits snug and secure without sliding around - the regular size was perfect for our SUV, however, the Velcro openings didn't line up very well with our seat belts so we just kept them closed.The storage pockets work great for toys, treats, etc.

It's also waterproof so you don't have to worry about anything soaking through onto your seats. The cover is stain resistant and keeps dirt and muck from getting around the rest of the vehicle. If it does get dirty, a quick toss in the wash and it's as good as new.

Overall, we were very happy with the Wander Bench Seat Cover from Kurgo and based on these photos, I'd say Be approves too!! 

Review: Before and After with Extend-A-Shower

Since we decided to re-decorate and renovate the RV, one of the things that had to go was the glass shower doors, trimmed in gold. Gold is really out style. Well for us anyhow. Wanted to change those out but what could we do? What would we replace them with?

After doing some searching online, I found the Extend-A-Shower . It lets you enjoy the comfort and privacy of your RV’s shower. It also creates more room in your RV’s shower. And when not in use it just simply folds out of the way, with no need for tools.

The Extend-A-Shower is like a slide out room for your shower. They have a lot of different models in varying widths so you can find one that will fit your particular shower. And they also come in many different colors too. Like for example: white, chrome and bronze. We chose the white as it was going to be the best match for what we were doing.

These are really very nice, and  great how it  pivots out of the way. It can easily be folded right into your shower stall, so you can have more room when not using. Another cool thing you can use the Extend-A-Shower for is to drip dry your laundry in your shower basin.

It was an easy install and we're quite happy with the turn out.

Sunday- June 28

It's a warm one today... 31 degrees- and alot of forest fire smoke in the air today as well.

I decided to get the cushions washed from the couch today- so threw them in the tub with some laundry soap, rinsed, and threw up on the clothesline.. and almost dry. They would have shifted too much throwing them in the machine.

First thing this morning Gerry was out staining the back deck.After doing the front step, it was quite noticeable that the back one wasn't done.. and looks so much better now. ( Had left over stain for both decks/ steps from a project we did last year to re-stain, so that worked out well for us.)

With it being warmer too, we've had to turn on the a/c's, and the one in our room, hadn't been blowing right. I mean, it worked but it seemed to be blowing the cooler air up towards the ceiling. Gerry is usually good with coming up with ways to solve problems so, I asked him if he could make something that would direct the air downwards more towards the bed. Well, he came up with hot gluing some old blind slats, onto it, still allowing us to move the way the air flow moves right to left, and it's already working perfectly! 

He's still been doing some work on the bathroom in the RV and we should have those before and after pics coming soon.

Health wise, Gerry still is having issues with his ear plugging up on him, limiting his hearing and making it most annoying. I'm still waiting for an appt. with the hematologist in the city, for my low iron. And newest problem is with my right shoulder. Got x-rays on it, although they said x-rays are fine, but for about 3 weeks already it's very stiff , bruised on the back, and burns at times within the muscles. May have to  make myself a chiropractor appt. to see if they can figure out anything with it. Not sure what they charge but may have to look into it this week. 

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer! As usual, we're keeping busy.