Saturday, April 29, 2017

LG Hydroshield Washer & Dryer ⭐⭐⭐


Let's review, shall we? I've thought a lot lately about doing some reviews on my blog. I'm a consumer and I'm pretty opinionated when it comes to stuff I have to put out hard earned money for. I've noticed recently that some things I've purchased I am absolutely IN LOVE with, and others not so much.

Let's take the LG Hydroshield Washer & Dryer that we bought. My Whirlpool Cabrio washer bit the dust. I LOVED that machine. When I bought it I asked for an agitator and since that was an option..I got it. Then over just 8 years or so, the bearings went bad and we had a black greasy mess underneath. When the repairman came over, he said that happened a lot with those machines and he suggested either a Samsung or LG. Originally we were just going to replace our Cabrio washer with one of those but I really couldn't find anything to match the dryer.

We went with a pair of LG Hydroshield. What beautiful machines these are!!



The front loading dryer
Top loading washer
Check that out! I love being able to see inside through the glass top. I love the humongous stainless steel drum. This bad boy can wash my king size quilt! Now I chose the top loader over the front loader because I like to 'dump' my clothes into the machine rather that scoop and lift. I bet the front loader cleans a hell of a lot better than this!

You might be wondering why only 3 stars. Well, they are a gorgeous pair but they don't do the job they were built to do. Which is clean clothes. My mistake, and I admit it, I like pretty things! I'm a crafter! What can I say. I'm also a techie. When I see buttons and features and different configurations of whatever..I'm in heaven! I bought the damn machines because they were sooo cool! Now, I did figure out why the washer doesn't clean like my workhorse Cabrio did, NO AGITATOR! Hello? Plus, they now have this water saving feature on all machines..the 'he'. Figuring less water is better for the environment. They can't recycle water? So, without enough water and without the agitator, this is what a normal load looks like...


Do you see that? This is 3/4 of the way through a wash cycle. Half the items aren't covered in water!!! And because there's no agitator, the clothes really don't get that clean. Paul and I are runners..we have smelly workout clothes. On the plus side, the dryer has an antibacterial cycle. So I just dry the shit out them with that cycle which is super high heat.

Speaking of heat. The dryer tries to detect when the lint filter is dirty and instead of just blinking a light or making a bell tone, it stops drying. So no matter how many times and how much you clean the filter, it says it needs cleaning and stops drying after about 10 minutes on the normal cycle.

See the little Clean Filter indicator?
Clean filter indicator after cleaning the filter on normal dry setting..

Ugh!! So, damn do I wish I had bought another Whirlpool Cabrio WITH an agitator. These days (I'm showing my age perhaps) the appliances just aren't made like they used to be. And, you can get an agitator with the 'he' models. Damn, what was I thinking?

As always...

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Project Life March 2016

I noticed I did not have March 2016 PL on my blog (or if I did I couldn't find it).










So as always...

Friday, April 14, 2017

Project Life March 2017

This one I had fun with. So much going on this month-some exciting and fun, and the very sad loss of our buddy Winston. I only used the Collect App for the beginning...

Becky Higgins Design F

American Crafts 6 4x6 insert



Becky Higgins Design A
As always...

Project Life February 2017

Not too much happening in February so I was able to use only 1 page. Still using the Collect App to catch up..


Sorry for the glare. As always...

Project Life January 2017

And..I haven't finished my Project Life for 2016 but I don't want to get too far behind in 2017 so I caught up using the Collect App on my iPhone.

January 2017..




As always...

We did it!

On April 2nd, Paul and I went to Painsville and got us a puppy! The lady had 2 males left and this one stole Paul's heart..


We named him Bentley. He was 14 weeks when we picked him up and almost 3 lbs. He really has turned our sad house into a non-stop frenzy of excitement and happiness. For Paul and I anyway. Kitty isn't thrilled at all and just hisses and growls everytime Bentley comes near him.

Now Toby is a different matter. He seems to tolerate him much more and even makes Bentley chase him once in a while. He's only hissed at him a couple of times. I am hoping that they'll become friends.

I had to go to Amazon (amazing place btw) and buy him a harness as there are not any pet stores that carry one so small. He does like to run around and he's fast so the harness and leash is becoming a must for potty breaks. I have taken him down the sidewalk a couple of times to tire him out if I need to go somewhere, I'd rather have him tired in his crate so he can have a nice nap.





Bentley meets Jenn for the first time 😊

So we are in love. As always...

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Is it too soon?

It was a week ago today that we had the heart wrenching and emotionally draining experience of letting Winston go. It started on Tuesday, March 21st, he had an appointment with his Dr. She said we could wait another month (that would make it 3 months since being diagnosed with kidney failure) and see where he's at with his kidney levels. We took him home and he stopped eating. For 4 days we couldn't get him to eat anything. Not his favorite canned food, treats, scrambled eggs with cheese, scrambled eggs without cheese, peanut butter on a spoon..nothing. We watched him lay in his little bed, sometimes getting up trying to get comfortable, tremble, stumble to the water dish only to throw up what water he did drink. He would barely make it to the back door and just look at us like he wasn't sure what to do next. We started carrying him outside I think it was on Thursday or Friday.

And then...it was Saturday. Then the call to Dr. Letosky to find out she wasn't in that day. Then the decision to have a different doctor other than the one whom he had been seeing for the last few years. Then the guilt of "should we have waited until Monday when our Dr. was in? Would we be able to continue to watch him be that uncomfortable for two more days? Maybe we should have called her on Friday and she may have been there".

His ashes came in I believe on Wednesday. That was emotional.  The realization that our little guy was somehow in this box I could hold in one hand...the whole thing has been torture on the heart. They also gave us a little plaster heart with his paw prints, which we were just able to look at today.

So, his ashes came in and Paul and I every day since Saturday have felt lost without our little Winston. We've talked about getting a new puppy.  After reading some articles online of "when is the right time to get a new puppy", the answer is, "it's different for everyone." I knew they were going to say that. Isn't there a definitive answer? Is a week too soon? For some people yes. For others it fills the void. Right now at my house there's a big void.

I realize this sadness I'm feeling will always be here because Winston will never be again. I will never miss him less. I will never not hurt because he's gone. But if I'm able to redirect some of the energy I'm using to be sad and to fight tears all day long, and instead use it to love another dog...I think that's a good thing-not just for me but for the dog who needs love and for Paul. Paul has said it to me recently, how good it would feel to redirect our focus. Will we have weepy days ahead? I'm sure we will. We were so lucky to have had Winston for 15 years. I have no regrets. He knew we loved him every minute of every day.

Am I thinking some people might say "wow! that's really soon"? Sure I am. Maybe that's why I'm writing this blog post. Should I care what other people think? Oh hell NO I should not!

As always...