Apparently It’s Not Eli That Charlie Bows To, It’s The Color Orange.

photo taken November 2009 • title thanks to laura h.

one year ago: Self Expression
two years ago: Another Leg

If you have not read the comments on this post, I can only assume you are a masochist. Read them! It will make your day better and you will laugh.
PS: White is Lava! Orange is Safe!

I currently have 178 entries tied for first place and some animals that need attention so I will be posting the winner this afternoon!

I’ve been revamping my floors.  This floor is a poured concrete slab which Mike & I did ourselves and let me tell you, it was a horrible job.  Horrible both in the doing and in the end result.

For those who’ve not had the pleasure, pouring a concrete slab is a race against time, shoveling concrete madly as it shoots out of the truck (concrete is heavy!) and then trying one’s best to level it and smooth the surface before it gets tacky.  Well, my floor ended up just plain tacky.

The final result, after such wretched, strenuous labor, was a plain, unfinished concrete slab ~ ugly, uninspired, dreary… altogether yucky.  Also extremely difficult to clean, as concrete is so rough and porous.

In late Fall, Charlie’s instincts come to the fore and he gets very concerned about his territory ~ in the wild, this is the time of year when coyotes are searching for and/or defending their territory.  And so he marks it ~ a bit on his food dish, a bit on his bed ~ and while it’s not drastic, inevitably some pee gets on the floor.  I quickly became so over scrubbing bare concrete!  So I decided to paint it.

This is the floor just partway done ~ the light rust (looking orange in this pic) is not fully across the floor and the second color has not been applied (the white is just primer).  I promise to show pics of the completed floor!  It looks so fantastic.  Bonus: several coats of semi-gloss paint has created a surface layer that is a breeze to clean.

Charlie came inside once the first section I’d painted was fully dry and he became obsessed with the colored paint.  He paid no attention to the white paint but somersaulted and rubbed his body all over the colored squares.  He is weird.  Please title this photo.  You’ll be in the running for an equally weird prize.

454 Responses to “Apparently It’s Not Eli That Charlie Bows To, It’s The Color Orange.”

  1. Beth aka EweMama Says:

    Charlie, Going Dutch
    (I think orange is the official color of The Netherlands)

    Back to Square One

    Shreve, Orange You Glad You Took Charlie’s Photo? (LOL)

    Nobody Puts Charlie In A Corner

    My Tile, For A While

    Holding Down The Floor

  2. Jenny C Says:

    He’s just floored over the new designer color…

  3. Laurie "Wo" Smith Says:

    ‘Kneel’ Diamond

  4. Jane Stanley Says:

    Art in the Wild

  5. Sara R Says:

    “If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense.” (Lewis Carroll)

  6. Castronaut Says:

    B-boy Charlie Busts a Move.

  7. Kathleen Says:

    “Come on baby, let’s do the twist”

  8. Robin N Says:

    I BLEND!!! I BLEND!!!!

  9. Dave Says:

    “let’s play Twister!”

  10. Nellie Says:

    Twist and Snout!

  11. David N. Says:

    At a complete loss for words!

  12. shyam nunley Says:

    I would simply title it “Unfinished”
    that is a gorgeous picture.
    You just get this wonderful sense of a hard job, a good life, a weird girl ~ all unfinished.
    Perhaps even: A Moment on the Edge of Now.

    Thank you for the visual wake up call this morning.

  13. LHays Says:

    Checkerboard Charlie

    Or

    Coyote Chess

    Or

    Coyote Twister

  14. shyam nunley Says:

    By the way, I meant “weird” in the quirky, fun, unpredictable sense of the word. I just ASSume since I always take it as a compliment that everyone else does too. ;p

  15. Betsy Says:

    “Ok – I think I’ve got it!! Quick Chloe ‘n Eli – use the staple gun before it gets away!!”

  16. Debi Says:

    Knight Charlie to L7…..

  17. Patti Says:

    Orangecicle Dreams

  18. Kat Smith Says:

    White is Lava! Orange is Safe!

  19. Lisa Says:

    Did I win Twister?

  20. Annie Says:

    Square Dancing

  21. Heather L Says:

    Concrete Coyote

  22. Amanda Says:

    Diamonds in the Rough

  23. Carrie Says:

    Party Trick! Watch me turn into Scrat the Squirrel from Ice Age!

  24. Tom Says:

    Charlie scores in Knoxville!!

    http://smokeys-trail.com/TN/images/checkerboard_endzone.jpg

  25. D'Ann Says:

    Charlie’s checkered past

  26. Heather L Says:

    Concrete Cowboy

  27. sally Says:

    just doin the twist.

  28. Heather L Says:

    “Ruff in the Diamond”

  29. Mark Says:

    Charlie performs Hamlet, Act V, scene II.

    “Must…. wipe…. up…. nasty paint… hiding my… lovely marked concrete below. Be free, my dull grey conquest!!!”

  30. Heather L Says:

    Charlie’s Out of Line

    or

    Coloring out of the Lines

  31. Mandy Says:

    Hop-Scotch, anyone? or “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up. I’m stuck to the orange floor like a peanut butter cup.”

  32. Heather L Says:

    Fool’s Gold

  33. Holly Says:

    If I lie down and rub, it will smell just like me.

  34. Heather L Says:

    Back to Square One

  35. Susan Says:

    Coyote Catnip

  36. Breane Says:

    Bread always lands butter side down, but Coyotes land butt side up.

    “I can hear the prairie!”

  37. Rebecca Says:

    Rough in the Diamond

  38. D'Ann Says:

    Home, home on the Orange….

  39. Barbara Says:

    Mine, all mine!!!

  40. Heather L Says:

    Charlie Covets the Color

    or

    Charlie Covets the Concrete

  41. Sim Says:

    Look! I match!

  42. D'Ann Says:

    Charlie is such a square

  43. Debi Says:

    Charlie knows… “it’s hip to be square”!

  44. sybann Says:

    Argylie Coyote

  45. Joe Says:

    A wild game of Twister!

  46. Sam Says:

    Who says coyotes can’t see color? They feel it, too!

  47. Vicki Y Says:

    Missed a Box

    King of the Board

    Charlie’s Adventures in Wonderland

    Through the Looking Glass

    Down the Coyote Hole

  48. Treva Kensler Says:

    Check Mate!

  49. Christina Says:

    “all the ways about here belong to me”.

    From “Through the Looking Glass, when Alice talks to the Queen. Or:

    “turn out your toes as you walk — and remember who you are!”

    from the same scene.

  50. Hawk Says:

    Have to admit, “Orange this my territory?” came to mind first, bad as it is.

    He looks like he’s trying to mark it the way my cat marks my clean laundry – the face rubbing method, obviously not the urination method!

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