Business Side of things--Busy time of Year

Guten Morgan Friends, Family & Fellow blog followers!!!! How has everyone been doing? Things on the "Business Side of Things" has been wonderful & busy. We have a lot of fellow furry friends whether they are cats, dogs or bunnies visiting Pets Can Vacation Too Doggie Services the past few months. For some it's just that time of year where your travel steps up a bit more & for others it's pcs season. We have had lots of play days with friends. It's just safer when the movers are coming to have your furry friend over at a safe vacation place. Certainly don't want your 4 legged family member to go missing right before a move! We have also been helping foster pets when the new place families are moving too is too hot & the airlines won't fly their pet until Aug. Or the airlines just won't fly their breed of dog or don't have enough room. Needless to say we have been more than happy to take several trips up to Frankfurt International Airport to make sure our friends get safely on the plane to meet their families in the states. The main company we have been working with is PetAir and in the 4years I've known about them, I've never heard an ill word about the company...with the exception of their pricing. Other than that, I've heard people use their services for horses, dogs & cats and all those clients have been satisfied customers!!!!! We at PCV2 doggie services, are so blessed that so many old & new friends intrust us with their very special loved ones. As of August 1,2012, we will officially be taking euros for payment since our German business license & all that goes along with it finalized in June. We wanted to allow a grace period & I firmly believe in keeping your word, especially when it comes to price quoting. So we have stuck with, if you were quoted a dollar price before a certain date & have confirmed booking we will honor those rates! For any confirmed bookings after the rate will change to euros, fair enough we think :o) Everyone has been so warm & accepting & understanding about some of the new policy changes. I was very nervous, but all has gone very well! Another change is the creation of our Services & Agreement Statements, which we are wanting to also create digitally for families to have the option of filling out & then either re-emailing it back to us or them printing it out and bringing at drop off. It is a one time fill out & then if there are not changes needed then they just simply sign...and if there are changes they can make them & sign/date. We have also created and finalized our business cards & we just LOVE them! On the backs are the 2012 calendars and a slot for you to fill in your next booked vacation :o) 


Pets Can Vacation Too Doggie Services Pet Services & Agreement



Pets Can Vacation Too Doggie Services Business Cards

My next goal in the next few months......hahah I'm so funny ok, so really we have a million ideas for our business so I guess I'll just list them.

1. Create a logo for shirts & to put on our walking bags

2. Sell doggie bandana's with our log on them

3. We would like to start designing & creating my favorite around the world suites! So Italy, London, Germany(obviously), the US & Greece are just a few suite themes that I would like to start working on.  So each room our friends will feel like they are traveling on their own world vacations! 

4. We also are going to be changing up the backyard a little bit...this one I am sure will be a long term project as we always have friends vacationing with us & want to make sure their play area is always safe! Backyard design's are in the works & any tips and ideas you may have are of course always welcome. As my mom always says, two heads are always better than 1!

We are continuing to always test out new products/toys, our favorites so far are the JW gummy bear/bones/balls(all rubber), the dog whisperer frisbee and the dog whisperer outdoor/indoor house. We are also huge fans of the dog whisperer pet cleaners, they are safe and honestly what does it for me is they DON'T make me gage! For all you pet owners you know what I'm talking about...there are just some cleaners that not only are not pet friendly...but are so strong that you seriously need a face mask to use those products they are so strong and harsh! Our favorite shampoos we have found so far are an Oatmeal shampoo that is all natural & one made my Hartz that is pink and the smell is tropical, very very nice! Our local KMCC has started to step up their pet supply department and we got a few new KONG toys...which we are HUGE fans of! I've washed the balls/football so many times and large chewer dogs have had tons of fun with & they are STILL going strong. Now I am referring to the large size ones...the smaller balls don't last as long but that's to be expected when larger dogs are playing with them :o) Soon we will be making a big purchase for some awesome leashes. Now, you can get leashes for super cheap, but these will run around 200.00 total for 2 & they are to help alleviate strain/injury for our friends that are "pullers" for example huskies & beagles. Now, with that said any dog can be a "puller" So these will work with any breed & size dog. As soon as those come in I'll definitely be blogging about them & add a link to where you can find them too! There are just so many injuries a dog can get in their back/neck/chest area from a simple walk.

Belle testing out the dog toys....JK rubber ball is the first one she Picks

Lijah is one of our friends that vacations with us & more than willing to test new products for PCV2

 

On that note:  Thank you so much for following my blog!!!!  Stay tuned for the NEW LEASHES, MORE PRODUCT TESTING & for a special segmant on HOME MADE DOG & CAT TREATS!!!!!!  They are sure to be paw-licking but we will let our 4 legged friends tell you themselves how they like them!!!!!!

Bev

Chalk Board Paint Recipe

So today I just found out that I no longer need to spend $15.00 plus for Chalkboard Paint!  I'm making a chalkboard and need a lot of the paint, but for only about 4-6ounces at 15.00 bucks a pop, it's been a slow process.  So what am I to do with this newly found information?!  Why Share my dear friends.............

So here it is from the Martha Stewart website, free tips/tricks/design ideas: 

Pour 1 cup of paint into a container. Add 2 tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. Mix with a paint stirrer, carefully breaking up clumps.

2. Apply paint with a roller or a sponge paintbrush to a primed or painted surface. Work in small sections, going over the same spot several times to ensure full, even coverage. Let dry.

3. Smooth area with 150-grit sandpaper, and wipe off dust.

4. To condition: Rub the side of a piece of chalk over entire surface. Wipe away residue with a barely damp sponge.

 Stay tuned for the finished product of my dinning room Chalkboard.

Thank you so much for following my Blog!!!

The Re-decorating Frenzie....

The Re-decorating Frenzie


So after a morning of breakfast at a german cafe, "forest treasure hunting" &  shopping at the Fundgrube in Kusel....I excitedly drove home to partake in 3 things:  1.  Clean up the back patio & make it look more inviting 2. take all the clutter out of my kitchen and re-decorate and 3.  Clean up and re-paint my bookshelf back to its vibrant white.  All were completed and then some.

 

Back Patio getting cleaned up


I scrubbed the tile with good ' ol fashioned soap and water and then bleached the wall/patio.  Since my business is also in my home, it's important that when I use harsh cleaners such as bleach that I either rinse it all away or re-rinse with a pet friendly cleaner.  I chose to use vinegar.  Works great & the bugs hate the smell!  Though honestly, I'm with the bugs....something about being a kid and my mom rinsing my hair with vinegar left a gagging memory burned into my brain.  Lol....The patio table broke not even a few month after we purchased it so nothing like strong duct tape to keep it all together.  A lot of times we have a table cloth on the table anyway, so no one even sees it.  The umbrella I found at the Fundrube in Kusel for 8Euro!  The same one I had seen for 20.00usd at the base.  Way to save 10bucks!

My beautiful wooden Chandelier find from my favorite store nestled around the town of Idar-Oberstein.  It was down in a basement, wooden and looking slightly dusty.  At first glance, I turned up my nose and kept on walking.  A friend with a talented eye saw more...much, much more & by the end convinced me to make my purchase of wait for it.......20EURO!!!!  Did I meantion it worked?!  Yup, that's right, now the way it was wired only every other socket works, but with as much light as it puts out, I'm 100% ok with that.  Anway, back to my story.....I cleaned it up, went to the local hardware store, here the store is called Hela, in the states they would be something such as Lowe's or Home Depot....and went to purchase my paint.  Haha, easy enough right?  Did you know there are more than 6 cream choices???  I figured 2 cream glossy or cream matte...well finally after about 10minutes of deciding, I walked out with my 11euro can of spray paint.  Man spray paint is expensive...I thought.  A few days later I realized if I had looked through a few more of the isles I would have come across spray paint for under 6euro, which is about 7.50usd.  The paint I had purchased was for vehicles!  No wonder it was so flippin' expensive...hahaha...
So after spending 20.00euro for the working chandelier, 11euro spray paint & 4 ikea light bulbs I already had at the house....my gorgeous chandelier cost me a grand total of 31EUROS...which is equivalent to $38.08!

Ever bought something gotten it home and then end up not using it?  Well almost 4yrs ago that happened to me.  But I finally found a use for it.  If you look closely there is a silver bar that I nailed into the wall, used the matching hooks that I just happened to have in a drawer, still in the ikea packaging and hung my coffee cups on them.  I would recommend using 2 hooks for each cup.  I can't remember for sure but I believe the bar was about 5euros or less and the hooks I honestly can't even remember how much they cost, but they too weren't expensive.  Since my walls are concrete I did have to rummage through my husbands nail stash...but other than that this little project took me a whole 15minutes.  Not to shabby for a girl who is anal about making sure things look straight.  :o)  In the same photo:  I re-painted my bookshelf the same color, white with left over ceiling paint I had in the house.  It really brightened up the kitchen!  I had used it for extra storage, but it ended up becoming more of a catch all.  Kind of an eye sore!  Not anymore though, wine glasses that I used to have to search through my cabinets for are now easily accessible & used quite frequently.  My plates were on the counter in a 3 tier rack, but not all the plates would fit, so they too were scattered, now they all fit on the bookshelf, are easily accessible & look great to boot!  I have a metal basket with potatoes and a polish pottery bowl that holds my onions.  The 2nd to last shelf holds ALL of my cookbooks and the bottom I added a wine crate to store my coffee pot and other extras.  

 My dinning room.  It's not completed but the working metal chandelier I found for 10euros, I added potted fake orange flowers to the table , the back bar has pots that I have collected throughout the years all at flomarkts and all for under 10euros each and on the back wall will be a chalkboard.  That's another one of those bought and never used it items.  A few years ago my husband and I went to a flomarkt in Homburg, Germany and there was a man selling frames.  We had been looking for a large frame for a painting we had won on our honeymoon cruise but ironically hadn't been able to find a large enough frame.  Of course the specialty shops had them for a nice chunk of money, but for a painting we won was not something I was willing to spend over $200.00 for!  Anyway, So we purchased this frame for 40.00euros got home and IT WAS TOO BIG! Ugh, really?  Now what the heck do we do with this thing, its huge!  The only thing we could do, put it in the storage closet...until now :o) All I need now is to get over to the Hela with my exact measurements for the wood, make a stop at the arts and crafts store to buy some chalk board paint and then fit into the frame like a piece of glass.  For now it's a great conversation starter!!!!!

A closer look...

 Had a foam medallion on my ceiling that I finally took off.  Ugh, that was a nightmare.  I had a round light fixture that blew and needed to be replaced.  Well as you can see we replaced it, but then the medallion looked strange around this basic light fixture.  It took me 2 1/2 hours of trying to scrape this thing off!!!!  Foam and plaster were flying everywhere & my dog kept trying to eat it!  So after finally grabbing a baby gate and keeping him out of the living room and dinning room, which I might add, Orian was pissed off about....I went to scraping again....by the end I had foam pieces in my hair, down my shirt, somehow in my shorts, some had flown in my eye & of course all over my living room this was the end result.  As of right now, YES it does still look like this, it will probably take another week or me starring at it and then avoiding it to finish it.  It's definitely been a love hate kinda project.  I know I'll love it once finished but for now, I've hated the whole process!


So as you can see I've been in a re-decorating frenzie....literally!!!!  I've pulled all nighters running on excitement of wanting to see it all done & coffee.....lots of coffee.  I have several more projects in mind and are already in the works & will be sure to blog again soon with updates.  Until then, thank you so much for reading my blog!!!!!


Bev :o)