Tricia's Musings

Random Thoughts about life in general, living in the big city of Toronto



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It’s amazing how the right lighting can change the look of a room

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The weather here in Toronto was cool for the month of May, but now that June is here it’s starting to heat up. By Friday it will be 31 Celsius (87.8 F) and we haven’t even put the air conditioners in the windows yet.

Since we’re unlikely to have air conditioning by Friday I’m glad that we have several ceiling fans throughout the house. They stir the air and even if the house is too warm that breeze created by the ceiling fans is helpful.

Actually, we use our ceiling fans year round. We reverse their motion in the winter so that warm air can circulate through the house better, and in the summer we reverse them again so that they can fan the cooler air. We can keep the thermostat a degree or two lower in the winter and save money on our heating bill thanks to the fans, and I’m sure they help when we use air conditioning as well.

All of our ceiling fans are equipped with lights so they provide some of the lighting within our home as well. Luckily all but one ceiling fan can use the low wattage florescent bulbs so we save money on our lighting bill too.

Earlier this evening I was reading a home lighting article on the HGTV website and, as usual, whenever I read home decor articles or watch decorating type TV shows I start thinking of what I can do in my own home. Remember we’re renovating, but when our work is done it will be lovely and I’ll need all kinds of new decor – especially lighting.

I visited the the Littman Bros website and had a look at their lighting products. They have quite a large selection of home lighting. They have just about every kind of lighting product you can think of – ceiling fans, under cabinet lighting, ceiling, wall, bath, lamps and even outdoor lighting.

While I was browsing the site I ended up looking at their forecast lighting. They have some lovely forecast chandeliers – ones that might look beautiful in our dining room when we’re done renovating. Sometimes changing the whole look and feel of a room is as simple as changing the lighting and I’m sure one of those chandeliers would make a huge difference in the look of our dining room area. They’re gorgeous.

If you’ve been thinking of purchasing new lighting for your home, or perhaps buying a ceiling fan to help cool your home on warm summer days (and save on your air conditioning bill) take a moment to visit Littman Bros, I’m sure you’ll be pleased with their selection. Oh, and they’re having a sale on landscape lighting right now too – 40% off. That’s a good deal!





Our puppies becoming a real drag

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Midnight is growing up. It’s hard to believe that she’s just over 9 months old now! She’s been with us for 6 months and it’s amazing how many changes she’s gone through in that time.

Last week we took her to the vet for a heartworm test and to start her on her first prescription of heartworm preventative medications. She’s had needles at the vets before but this was her first blood work. She did well and the heartworm test was negative.

While we were at the vets she got weighed and she’s up to 27.1 kg or 59.7 lb. Considering how sick she was the first two months she was with us I thought she’d probably top out at around this weight, but she’s still got some growing to do, so she might get a little bigger.

Anyway, with her weight up to close to 60 pounds I now know why she’s pretty much pulling Chris and I off our feet when we walk her. You wouldn’t think she’d be strong enough to pretty much drag an adult around, but she’s darn strong! I guess because she’s still quite low to the ground she’s able to pull us off balance.

We’ve tried taking her for walks with just a leash on – way too much pulling, used a gentle leader for a while but that took the hair off her muzzle, tried the Sporn halter for a few months and that worked well up until about a month and a half ago and then now we’re using a Comfort Wrap harness. The comfort wrap is working much better than the Sporn, but walks are still almost unbearable.

It’s gotten to the point that Chris complains that his knees are sore when he comes back from walking her. His shoulder is also sore too. I’m barely walking her these days. In an earlier post I explained that I’ve been dizzy several times over the last couple of weeks. If I’m feeling dizzy or weak or if my stomach is causing me pain the chances of her making me fall when I walk her is even greater. Just letting outside on her leash to do her business is a tug of war too.

It’s not like she hasn’t had any training. I work with her all the time to teach her new commands and tricks, plus she’s been through puppy training and intermediate dog training as well.

Earlier today I took her for a walk to the local corner store. Walking there was ok but she was acting up in the store. The store owner needed to get one of the things I was buying from a back storage area so I decided to continue our walk and then return to the store. Well, on our way back the store owner saw me being dragged around by Midnight. She thought it was funny, but I was exhausted by then! I was also frustrated and angry at Midnight. Crazy hyper Labrador Retriever puppy.

Any suggestions as to how we can get her to stop tugging, or do we just have to wait for her to calm down a bit more? She’s pretty good when she’s indoors, but she gets so excited when she’s outside that she barely listens to our commands.

Great selection of bar stools at Premiere Barstools

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As my regular readers know Chris and I are very slowly renovating our home. It’s definitely a work in progress. I do however have all the plans in my head of how I’d like to decorate once our renovations are complete.

When we finally get to the kitchen renovation I want to open up the wall between the kitchen and dining room / living room. I don’t want to knock the wall down, just have an opening like a large window. We’d use that area as a breakfast nook, as a way to visit with our guest while preparing items in the kitchen and of course as a way to serve or pass food from the kitchen to the dining room.

I’ve been keeping my eye open for either some nice kitchen bar stools or perhaps counter stools that would fit into our decor.

It will be at least a year before we start renovating our kitchen, but since I’m picky about decor I’m already looking for bar stools and all the other items that we’ll need.

If you are also looking for barstools for your kitchen, dining room or perhaps a bar area you might want to visit Premiere Barstools. They have a large selection of discount bar stools, counter stools, kitchen barstools, pub table sets, outdoor stools and tables and even extra tall stools.

I’ve spent some time looking at the various bar stool styles and I’m impressed with the selection. As I said earlier I’m very picky about decor. When I’ve seen bar stools in retail and department stores they often only had a few styles.

Well designed bar or counter stools can enhance the look of a room and add functionality. As I said earlier I think our guests will probably end up sitting on the bar stools in order to visit with us as we work in the kitchen preparing a meal or snacks.

What I like about the Premiere Barstool site is that you can search for bar stools by height, by style – kitchen, counter, bar, outdoor and so on as well as by the material the bar stools are made from such as metal, wood, contemporary, backless, or Upholstered. You can also search by price range. I love sites that offer a variety of ways to find the items that you want.

Premiere Barstools ships free to all of the continental United States and they also ship internationally.

I’m going to take a look at all the styles and see if I can find something that suits our home. Why don’t you take a look at their selection too.

Lily flowering tulips really do look like lilies

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You might remember that I’ve posted some photos of what are called Lily flowering tulips. Some of their petals are longer than the rest and when the tulip is just beginning to open it had an unusual yet lovely appearance.

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The lily flowering tulip is most lily like when it’s fully open … this one is just about done it’s bloom and is staying open all the time. Wouldn’t you have mistaken it for a lily if I hadn’t told you it was a tulip?

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If you have a garden make sure you look at your plants and flowers every few days so that you can see how they change as they age. I find it very interesting!

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information. GTS participants remember to check in at As the Garden Grows each week so that we’ll know you made a new post!

Need parts for your car? Check out Go-Parts first

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A few weeks ago our car broke down while we were on the way to Chris’ parents house. We ended up getting our car repaired in another city and the car was basically stranded there for three days!

We normally have our car repaired and get regular maintenance done at a garage just around the corner from where we live. The garage is owned by the sons of one of our close neighbors. As a result we get quick service and sometimes get a deal when they can manage to give us one. They also allow us to order our own parts. Sometimes that has worked out well because we’ve been able to get parts cheaper than what they would have sold them to us for, so all we have to pay is labor when we supply our own parts.

If you happen to enjoy working on your own car or if you’d like to see if you can get parts for your car or truck cheaper online than what your local garage will charge why not visit Go-Part.com.

For example, you can visit their site and look for Nissan parts, or parts for just about all of the top vehicle makers such as Ford, Acura, BMW, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Jeep, Buick, Cadillac, Lexus, Mazda, Porche, Saab, Toyota, Saturn, Volvo and many more. All their vehicle parts are sold at discount prices.

Now I don’t know that much about car parts, but this site looks easy to use. Just click on your car makers name in the left hand menu and once you are on the manufacturers page you can select your car model and search for parts from there. For example if you have a Nissan Pathfinder just click on the word Pathfinder and a selection of parts will appear beneath the vehicle name.

Lets say your Pathfinder is a 2006 model and you need a left taillight. Just click on the 2005 – 2007 Nissan Pathfinder left tail light link and you can read the product description – such as what models it’s compatible with and then place your order.

Likewise if your Nissan Altima needs a new A/C condenser or a right side mirror for your 200sx you’ll be able to find the part at Go-Part.com.

Go-Part.com has a toll free number if you need to speak with their support personnel, plus there’s also live chat support as well. Plus this company ships to all countries which is good news since I’m in Canada. So the next time our Ford Contour breaks down, if we need an expensive part I’ll check online first.

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