Ely1

Please don't give away your cat There are ways to stop your cat from peeing/spraying. If he's suddenly doing it outside the litterbox, it's usually a sign of trouble - an underlying disease; the litterbox is not cleaned regularly enough; the placement of it is too near the food/bed etc. There is a repellent I use with community cats when I encounter residential complaints about cat spraying, and when they take their complaints to the town council to get the cats culled. You can buy it from Pet Lovers - do give it a try first. Repellents (even those meant for dogs) work like a charm, and I never receive follow-up complaints after. Use a solution of half vinegar and half water to remove the scent of cat pee (I know it isn't pleasant) and it may stop him from returning. Your cat could also be depressed - try Feliway available at Pet Lovers too. It works for stressed out, frustrated cats and helps calm them down, and perfectly safe. Many people say the diffuser is more effective than the spray or droplets (Richard's Organics or something like that). Sorry if I'm adding to your guilt but do try out some of these options first. I'm a HUGE animal advocate and volunteer with strays, and I know how low the adoption rate is. If you already have a good, loving forever home lined up for your boy, then it's all good. Otherwise a 7 yr old black cat (even though its long fur is a huge asset) is harder to adopt out - I foster animals, and ashamedly, I do select the ones I deem "adoptable" to foster. It is never an easy decision but I will end up a real crazy cat lady otherwise. Usually, it's the Caucasians who would consider a black cat. Do PM me if you need more help, I'm more than happy to help you and your gorgeous puss. Feel old *sniffle* I have two feral cats at my parents' place so unable to keep the peace. I tried with another female cat and even after an entire year of waking up to blood and fur splattered on the walls, I had to rehome the new addition. The two feral cats are... very different, and have very specific needs so they cannot be housed with another, even though I have 4 dogs, an Amazon parrot and fish here. Just brought home the male thug from the vet because he got so stressed out, he started to bite and claw himself till huge patches of his skin almost turned gangrenous! When I foster kittens, even for a few days, they wouldn't return home for weeks after so yeah, it was an extremely hard decision but I'm glad Bondi has been well taken of and I'm getting the apartment done up nicely for him to make it up to him! Maxey, the Chihuahua, returned home with me from Perth though - I knew he would fit right in with his gregarious, tolerating nature. As the posts have been stemming in the direction of pets, here's a lively video of the last kitten I fostered (part of the volunteer work I do - He now lives at The Sail!! ) - Maxey was his nanny: -Ely

LOL! Too funny! It's just like when I enter True Colours (makeup store) and say "Hi, can I have an Orgasm and a Deep Throat for my friend here?" (Nars' blusher colours...) So when people compliment me about my rosy glow, I always have to clarify it's "Orgasm" by Nars~ Cute kitty pic btw, here's to spread more love: -Ely

Croutons from a packet doesn't count!! Now I feel I need to go Lush Lush too. Hmm. P.S. Love that OXO mat!! Gah! -Ely

And gratefully accepted. No offense taken. Oddly, that was one of FIRST things we bought for the house. I think our priorities are a little mixed up lol! We still don't have a couch, or coffee table, but are researching bookshelf speakers for our tube amp. I seriously need a reality check. Never in that area. Made the special trip to see Molecule and iwannagohome - had a blast at Lifestorey too (hello, vanity chair! you're sooooo mine - need to return to get it). Moleclue was way out of our budget - $18k for a couch?!?! /cry Their cowhide rugs were $2k, and I managed to get them online at $288 each (with postage). Having problems with vPost though - no towel rack registered as delivered though it was signed for on 30/03 - getting annoyed. -Ely

No harm done, ED. It takes a lot to offend me, and I think RB is right to say that I'm no doormat. (My previous posts last year regarding the HDB ruling is testament ) But knowing someone has my back definitely is comforting Are you saying I'm old! Humph. But yes, definitely encountered worse, not just in Australia but here too, so certainly not a cultural debate. My friends come from all over the world, my best friend is Swedish, and with online gaming, my guild comprised mostly of Americans, Europeans and Australians. "Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls. The most massive characters are seared with scars." - Khalil Gibran -Ely

You, reglxt, marshy, may dream - with the pretty kitchenaid mixers, the gorgeous ladders, the perfect built-in store room rack, the galore of drool-worthy partitions, the beautiful customised home sign, etc!! Ima not even read your t-blogs anymore! Can be seriously harmful to the wallet - I suggest you add disclaimers before you post any links! -Ely

Not sure if there's too many but we know we won't use half of them, or at all. I'm more a desk lamp/candles type of girl Stop being a slacker and get to work on the HTS! /cracks whip Very, very rarely at Great World but felt like I was passing out from excitement when I went to iwannagohome. Am planning a trip to Hommage before I confirm my choice of sofa. And I'm annoyed going to ignore the conntation. But yes, Bondi is a pretty kitty - he's coming home in 13 days!! I can't wait to see him! I knew I HAD to get the Good Grips towel holder. It's looks as good as it's practicality. The soap squirting brush is more of a novelty, but the reviews are great, and it also means I'd need less hand cream! -Ely

You can find them at HomeFix at Marina Square I got mine online though. -Ely

All your fault imo! You guys had to link me omgah! Never going to click on any of your links again!! -Ely

Drexter, if you need to add more choices (and confusion) to the mix, I'll lend you my D20 dice -Ely

Doing my best to fulfil the complimentary 1-month Amazon Prime membership! Here's today's haul: Cuisinart Brew Central - sorry but we love our coffee, needed one drip machine in addition to our Bodum french press, and espresso machine (which was promised to be a housewarming gift ) Also got 3 water filters (1 year supply) because we don't carry Cuisinart coffee machines in Singapore so best to stock up now. Simplehuman sink caddies: Oxo squirt brush: Oxo Good Grips: -Ely

I do actually really paint my own lol, though I do it horribly! Here's one I did, also about a cat, at one of the places I lived in in Perth: And um... abstract... -Ely

Thank you, sir. The brown is supposed to bring out his copper eyes Btw, the cat's fur is considered "blue" in the cat fancier's world

Didn't take any photos, and the delivery is scheduled for end of the month but I'll post pictures when everything is in place! -Ely

New collar for the kitty: For doggie: + Haven't found a suitable scratcher lounger bed for the cat yet, as the ones I like are too expensive, but I'm hoping to find something soon, and will DIY some cat steps so he gets some time-out from the energetic Chihuahua -Ely

You must have not read every page of my blog! Humph. Those were actually my first few purchases for the home haha! But here's a recap anyway: For the doggie, in our bedroom: Cat litterbox stand, for the laundry area: Dog/cat end table + bed, for living room: The spoilt ones: -cont'd

DAY 42 Met up with the ID again a few days ago to reconfirm laminates as, like most people, we start to question our choices. Afterall, a thumbnail of the product can be so deceiving! Made a couple of changes, and whilst they're all boring and black/white - I'm hoping they become more lasting on the eyes. However, I tend to be very consistent with my likes/dislikes, so I'm sticking to boring Made more changes yesterday by doing mock-ups of the wardrobes using photoshop. It's going to be a lot darker, but I'm hoping the lights and accessories would liven things up. I believe it's the accents that would make a home more personalised, and I love all my quirky objects, quotations, framed art, and have a lot more DIY projects planned! We also have a lot less built-in furniture compared to others because we want to be able to change things around. I'm making space for a foyer after scrapping the display partition-cum shoe cabinet because we realised huge objects like the bed would have a hard time getting through! So, still looking for a gorgeous modular open shelf that would serve as a partition and yet provide me the essential space for my many, many books. Saw a gorgeous one at Molecule but the styrofoam shelf cost $780 each!! Would need at least two and for styrofoam, The Husband was more than approving. I definitely picked my vanity stool at Molecule - it's a whimiscal pop art piece, and I'm going to love it forever! The bar stools too are going to be bought from Molecule, and we're still contemplating their couches. We had a great time at iwannagohome though - made MANY purchases I know would love forever. Picked an outdoor couch for two (sorry, cuddling party only meant for two!), a set of outdoor tables, a faux croc skin tray table, a chaise lounge for the bedroom, a rubbish bin for the dry kitchen, tissue box holders for the common bathroom and living room, cushions, artifical flowers, mugs, espresso cups, an ottoman for the walk-in-wardrobe - definitely an extremely fruitful trip! It felt like I died and gone to heaven when I entered the store - it beats chocolate ice cream, the heady rush of falling in love, a spa massage... It felt too **** good! I was so excited I could hardly contain myself - had to remind myself to breathe. Back to earth: False ceilings are up and perhaps this shows the number of PLC lights better:- This holds the 8 downlights and it suddenly doesn't look like it's too many: The dry kitchen, with the weird step box to conceal the pipes, but I'm going to fancy it up to look like a feature. We could have it even with the other part of the false ceiling but I opted against it, it would make the ceiling look too low, and besides, I quite like how quirky it is: The middle beam holding our kitchen island lamp: Our finished roof, and view from outside: A little regrettable about the window/sliding door frames being white, but they were the ones available at cost during that time so we took it. Would have gone black if we had the choice. The top hung windows look odd too, but we felt was necessary for ventilation whilst preventing the pets from going outside unsupervised. Oh well. At least from the inside, we'd have blinds and curtains to hide the eyesore! -Ely

You so should - We have three Not so much quality loss - it also depends on the format, and if you're limited to 4GB due to FAT32. MKV and M2TS are popular, and you can still retain 5.1 DTS audio, but the file sizes would be much larger -some are above 20gb for one movie alone. Check the specs of the resolution: 720p or 1080p - some are widescreen (1280 x 694) (1920 x 1080), some are not (680 x 280), and the codecs and kbps of the audio - they all tend to vary, some 448 Kbs, some 536 Kbs, 640 Kbs some 1536 Kbps (esp for concerts) etc. RimBlock will have better advice. I'm only a novice! -Ely

Hi January! Thanks! We're definitely feeling like we're moving forward! Thank you for your valuable input about the lights - You're right that we can't dim the PLC lights, so I've changed the switches to only dim the chandeliers and halogens. I actually believe I won't be using half of the lights, as we like super-dark environments. As for the lights in the bathroom, the reason why the point is above the toilet is because practically speaking, there would be some light reading there The mirrors are all lit - common bathroom is the infinity led light, so don't want to distract the effect from it by using a light above, and for the master bathroom, it has a mirror cabinet with T5 lights above and below. I thought that since the mirrors at the sinks are all lit, we can focus the lights above the toilet. I insisted on two PLC lights in the common bathroom's shower because of the matte in-laid floral print - I need it to shine through or else my pick of the tiles would be redundant. We have the halogen tracks above the couch because of the metal art pieces we'd be putting up. The artist suggests 3-5 halogen lights to fully bring out the effects of the metal, to give the art more movement and depth - but we don't see ourselves using it so much unless people come over. We'd probably use the T5 lighting at the sides of the feature TV wall console most, or the standing lamp, with lots of candles! The halogen track along the corridor is also for a piece of metal art, but it also serves to look like a runway - we're having a mirror door at the end for a catwalk effect. So vain, right?! Can perfect the strut everyday with shimmying hips~ Plus, they're all dimmable, so it won't be so hot. Same goes for the chandeliers - we don't want the kitchen island to be burning hot. If you notice, we dont have a dining area at all. We eat in front of the TV anyway, but if guests come over, we'd use the island, or at the balcony. Our dining area is basically alfresco. Very few lights there too - I'm focusing on candles, and floor lamps, and probably only one light in the water feature. Here shows how the lights are connected, and dimmable lights are boxed: -Ely

That's actually a great idea! Helps you know where to hunt for bargains every weekend~ Romantic conversations between The Husband and I: Him: Want to go somewhere today? Me: Let me check RT thread Me: John Little Expo Sale or Audio House Electrical sale? Him: What's good? Me: Audio House has $1 thumbdrives leh! And HP printer only $39! But only one per customer Him: Wah! We go Audio House sale then, I bring my troop of workers. Me: Do we need so much stuff? How about fake baby? Him: Okay, put it in dog stroller! Me: We're so SMRT! *loving embrace* -Ely

Thought I'd give a heads up to peeps looking for a bargain: What’s interesting and usually get a lot of folks all excited is their S$1 & S$39 deals. Such as: -Philip DVD Player @ S$1 -4GB Thumb Drive @ S$1 -Vacuum Cleaner @ S$1 Or -22 Inch LCD TV @ S$39 -LG Blu-Ray Player @ S$39 -3-in-1 HP Printer S$39 -Digital Camera @ S$39 -Netbook @ S$39 -Ely

There actually will be one in the bathroom... For um, passing time. Definitely, I sooooo wanted one, but couldn't because of space constraint. Same here, there are weekly stuff, day/night stuff, daily stuff... This was previously my shower area (all mine) and the glass shelf collapsed! I may have a bench in the bathroom itself so I can 1) move it into the shower and sit on it should I be exfloliating 2) move it to the shower and sit on it to enjoy 30min-long rainshowers 3) sit on it and read magazines when applying hair mask/body mask and cannot afford to sit anywhere else because I would leave clay/mud everywhere 4) Do aqua step aerobics? Haha, I just simply love the look of a bench in a bathroom! So envious! -Ely

That's a nice looking, spacious fridge! Good buy, I reckon, with free rice cooker and vacuum cleaner - less things for you to buy! -Ely

I agree! It looks fantastic! -Ely

OMG May Dream, you're exactly like me!! I, too, have like 20 bottles of stuff in the bathroom because um, well, there's anti-residual shampoo, volumising shampoo, anti-frizz shampoo, shampoo for curled hair, shampoo for colour-treated hair, shampoo for dry hair, all the different conditioners that go with the above shampoos, hair treatments, body scrubs, face scrub, make up remover, facial cleanser, clay body cleanser, normal body cleanser, whitening toothpaste, whitening polish toothpaste, whitening + mouthwash toothpaste...oh gawd. Decided to streamline the whole thing because I hate the sight of ugly bottles (already need to purchase many plastic bottles to house the different products), so I swap my hair products around (keep the straightening stuff when my hair is permed etc). And I built a recess to hold all the stuff - so anything that doesn't fit will have to go into the cabinet. I also wanted a seat, because it's so much more convenient to exfloliate legs, feet, or just sit there to wait for the mask to work while enjoying the makeshift "sauna" effect. (That is why I need 50l heater!!). @ Csingeu If space is of concern to you, how about getting a fold-down? I see them on allibaba, and they come in different finishes. -Ely