diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index a495e1c..6f36f1e 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ begin
     gemspec.homepage = "http://github.com/couchrest/couchrest_model"
     gemspec.authors = ["J. Chris Anderson", "Matt Aimonetti", "Marcos Tapajos", "Will Leinweber", "Sam Lown"]
     gemspec.extra_rdoc_files = %w( README.md LICENSE THANKS.md )
-    gemspec.files = %w( LICENSE README.md Rakefile THANKS.md history.txt couchrest.gemspec) + Dir["{examples,lib,spec,utils}/**/*"] - Dir["spec/tmp"]
+    gemspec.files = %w( LICENSE README.md Rakefile THANKS.md history.txt couchrest.gemspec) + Dir["{examples,lib,spec}/**/*"] - Dir["spec/tmp"]
     gemspec.has_rdoc = true
     gemspec.add_dependency("couchrest", ">= 1.0.0")
     gemspec.add_dependency("mime-types", ">= 1.15")
diff --git a/examples/model/example.rb b/examples/model/example.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 10d1536..0000000
--- a/examples/model/example.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,144 +0,0 @@
-require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'lib', 'couchrest')
-
-def show obj
-  puts obj.inspect
-  puts
-end
-
-SERVER = CouchRest.new
-SERVER.default_database = 'couchrest-extendeddoc-example'
-
-class Author < CouchRest::ExtendedDocument
-  use_database SERVER.default_database
-  property :name
-  
-  def drink_scotch
-    puts "... glug type glug ... I'm #{name} ... type glug glug ..."
-  end
-end
-
-class Post < CouchRest::ExtendedDocument
-  use_database SERVER.default_database
-  
-  property :title
-  property :body
-  property :author, :cast_as => 'Author'
-
-  timestamps!
-end
-
-class Comment < CouchRest::ExtendedDocument
-  use_database SERVER.default_database
-  
-  property :commenter, :cast_as => 'Author'
-  timestamps!
-  
-  def post= post
-    self["post_id"] = post.id
-  end
-  def post
-    Post.get(self['post_id']) if self['post_id']
-  end
-  
-end
-
-puts "Act I: CRUD"
-puts
-puts "(pause for dramatic effect)"
-puts
-sleep 2
-
-puts "Create an author."
-quentin = Author.new("name" => "Quentin Hazel")
-show quentin
-
-puts "Create a new post."
-post = Post.new(:title => "First Post", :body => "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit...")
-show post
-
-puts "Add the author to the post."
-post.author = quentin
-show post
-
-puts "Save the post."
-post.save
-show post
-
-puts "Load the post."
-reloaded = Post.get(post.id)
-show reloaded
-
-puts "The author of the post is an instance of Author."
-reloaded.author.drink_scotch
-
-puts "\nAdd some comments to the post."
-comment_one = Comment.new :text => "Blah blah blah", :commenter => {:name => "Joe Sixpack"}
-comment_two = Comment.new :text => "Yeah yeah yeah", :commenter => {:name => "Jane Doe"}
-comment_three = Comment.new :text => "Whatever...", :commenter => {:name => "John Stewart"}
-
-# TODO - maybe add some magic here?
-comment_one.post = post
-comment_two.post = post
-comment_three.post = post
-comment_one.save
-comment_two.save
-comment_three.save
-
-show comment_one
-show comment_two
-show comment_three
-
-puts "We can load a post through its comment (no magic here)."
-show post = comment_one.post
-
-puts "Commenters are also authors."
-comment_two['commenter'].drink_scotch
-comment_one['commenter'].drink_scotch
-comment_three['commenter'].drink_scotch
-
-puts "\nLet's save an author to her own document."
-jane = comment_two['commenter']
-jane.save
-show jane
-
-puts "Oh, that's neat! Because Ruby passes hash valuee by reference, Jane's new id has been added to the comment she left."
-show comment_two
-
-puts "Of course, we'd better remember to save it."
-comment_two.save
-show comment_two
-
-puts "Oooh, denormalized... feel the burn!"
-puts
-puts
-puts
-puts "Act II: Views"
-puts
-puts
-sleep 2
-
-puts "Let's find all the comments that go with our post."
-puts "Our post has id #{post.id}, so lets find all the comments with that post_id."
-puts
-
-class Comment
-  view_by :post_id
-end
-
-comments = Comment.by_post_id :key => post.id
-show comments
-
-puts "That was too easy."
-puts "We can even wrap it up in a finder on the Post class."
-puts
-
-class Post
-  def comments
-    Comment.by_post_id :key => id
-  end
-end
-
-show post.comments
-puts "Gimme 5 minutes and I'll roll this into the framework. ;)"
-puts
-puts "There is a lot more that can be done with views, but a lot of the interesting stuff is joins, which of course range across types. We'll pick up where we left off, next time."
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/couchrest/model/base.rb b/lib/couchrest/model/base.rb
index 5a80d49..2a5c602 100644
--- a/lib/couchrest/model/base.rb
+++ b/lib/couchrest/model/base.rb
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ module CouchRest
       attr_accessor :casted_by
       
 
-      # Instantiate a new ExtendedDocument by preparing all properties
+      # Instantiate a new CouchRest::Model::Base by preparing all properties
       # using the provided document hash.
       #
       # Options supported:
diff --git a/lib/couchrest/model/extended_attachments.rb b/lib/couchrest/model/extended_attachments.rb
index 8d1e6ed..42bccec 100644
--- a/lib/couchrest/model/extended_attachments.rb
+++ b/lib/couchrest/model/extended_attachments.rb
@@ -7,11 +7,15 @@ module CouchRest
       def create_attachment(args={})
         raise ArgumentError unless args[:file] && args[:name]
         return if has_attachment?(args[:name])
-        self['_attachments'] ||= {}
         set_attachment_attr(args)
       rescue ArgumentError => e
         raise ArgumentError, 'You must specify :file and :name'
       end
+      
+      # return all attachments
+      def attachments
+        self['_attachments'] ||= {}
+      end
 
       # reads the data from an attachment
       def read_attachment(attachment_name)
@@ -30,13 +34,13 @@ module CouchRest
 
       # deletes a file attachment from the current doc
       def delete_attachment(attachment_name)
-        return unless self['_attachments']
-        self['_attachments'].delete attachment_name
+        return unless attachments
+        attachments.delete attachment_name
       end
 
       # returns true if attachment_name exists
       def has_attachment?(attachment_name)
-        !!(self['_attachments'] && self['_attachments'][attachment_name] && !self['_attachments'][attachment_name].empty?)
+        !!(attachments && attachments[attachment_name] && !attachments[attachment_name].empty?)
       end
 
       # returns URL to fetch the attachment from
@@ -62,7 +66,7 @@ module CouchRest
         def set_attachment_attr(args)
           content_type = args[:content_type] ? args[:content_type] : get_mime_type(args[:file].path)
           content_type ||= (get_mime_type(args[:name]) || 'text/plain')
-          self['_attachments'][args[:name]] = {
+          attachments[args[:name]] = {
             'content_type' => content_type,
             'data'         => args[:file].read
           }
diff --git a/spec/couchrest/attachment_spec.rb b/spec/couchrest/attachment_spec.rb
index 75331e1..420b88c 100644
--- a/spec/couchrest/attachment_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/couchrest/attachment_spec.rb
@@ -30,6 +30,13 @@ describe "Model attachments" do
       @obj.delete_attachment(@attachment_name)
       @obj.has_attachment?(@attachment_name).should be_false
     end
+    
+    it 'should return false if an attachment has been removed and reloaded' do
+      @obj.delete_attachment(@attachment_name)
+      reloaded_obj = Basic.get(@obj.id)
+      reloaded_obj.has_attachment?(@attachment_name).should be_false
+    end
+    
   end
 
   describe "creating an attachment" do
@@ -46,14 +53,14 @@ describe "Model attachments" do
       @obj.create_attachment(:file => @file_ext, :name => @attachment_name)
       @obj.save.should be_true
       reloaded_obj = Basic.get(@obj.id)
-      reloaded_obj['_attachments'][@attachment_name].should_not be_nil
+      reloaded_obj.attachments[@attachment_name].should_not be_nil
     end
   
     it "should create an attachment from file without an extension" do
       @obj.create_attachment(:file => @file_no_ext, :name => @attachment_name)
       @obj.save.should be_true
       reloaded_obj = Basic.get(@obj.id)
-      reloaded_obj['_attachments'][@attachment_name].should_not be_nil
+      reloaded_obj.attachments[@attachment_name].should_not be_nil
     end
   
     it 'should raise ArgumentError if :file is missing' do
@@ -66,19 +73,19 @@ describe "Model attachments" do
   
     it 'should set the content-type if passed' do
       @obj.create_attachment(:file => @file_ext, :name => @attachment_name, :content_type => @content_type)
-      @obj['_attachments'][@attachment_name]['content_type'].should == @content_type
+      @obj.attachments[@attachment_name]['content_type'].should == @content_type
     end
 
     it "should detect the content-type automatically" do
       @obj.create_attachment(:file => File.open(FIXTURE_PATH + '/attachments/couchdb.png'), :name => "couchdb.png")
-      @obj['_attachments']['couchdb.png']['content_type'].should == "image/png" 
+      @obj.attachments['couchdb.png']['content_type'].should == "image/png" 
     end
 
     it "should use name to detect the content-type automatically if no file" do
       file = File.open(FIXTURE_PATH + '/attachments/couchdb.png')
       file.stub!(:path).and_return("badfilname")
       @obj.create_attachment(:file => File.open(FIXTURE_PATH + '/attachments/couchdb.png'), :name => "couchdb.png")
-      @obj['_attachments']['couchdb.png']['content_type'].should == "image/png" 
+      @obj.attachments['couchdb.png']['content_type'].should == "image/png" 
     end
 
   end
@@ -113,7 +120,7 @@ describe "Model attachments" do
       file = File.open(FIXTURE_PATH + '/attachments/README')
       @file.should_not == file
       @obj.update_attachment(:file => file, :name => @attachment_name, :content_type => @content_type)
-      @obj['_attachments'][@attachment_name]['content_type'].should == @content_type
+      @obj.attachments[@attachment_name]['content_type'].should == @content_type
     end
   
     it 'should delete an attachment that exists' do
@@ -143,6 +150,27 @@ describe "Model attachments" do
     it 'should return the attachment URI' do
       @obj.attachment_uri(@attachment_name).should == "#{Basic.database.uri}/#{@obj.id}/#{@attachment_name}"
     end
-    
+  end
+
+  describe "#attachments" do
+    before(:each) do
+      @obj = Basic.new
+      @file = File.open(FIXTURE_PATH + '/attachments/test.html')
+      @attachment_name = 'my_attachment'
+      @obj.create_attachment(:file => @file, :name => @attachment_name)
+      @obj.save.should be_true
+    end
+  
+    it 'should return an empty Hash when document does not have any attachment' do
+      new_obj = Basic.new
+      new_obj.save.should be_true
+      new_obj.attachments.should == {}
+    end
+  
+    it 'should return a Hash with all attachments' do
+      @file.rewind
+      @obj.attachments.should == { @attachment_name =>{ "data" => "PCFET0NUWVBFIGh0bWw+CjxodG1sPgogIDxoZWFkPgogICAgPHRpdGxlPlRlc3Q8L3RpdGxlPgogIDwvaGVhZD4KICA8Ym9keT4KICAgIDxwPgogICAgICBUZXN0CiAgICA8L3A+CiAgPC9ib2R5Pgo8L2h0bWw+Cg==", "content_type" => "text/html"}}
+    end
+  
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/couchrest/inherited_spec.rb b/spec/couchrest/inherited_spec.rb
index a661d01..69eba6a 100644
--- a/spec/couchrest/inherited_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/couchrest/inherited_spec.rb
@@ -21,14 +21,14 @@ begin
   class ExtendedChild < ExtendedParent
   end
 
-  describe "Using chained inheritance without CouchRest::ExtendedDocument" do
+  describe "Using chained inheritance without CouchRest::Model::Base" do
     it "should preserve inheritable attributes" do
       PlainParent.foo.should == :bar
       PlainChild.foo.should == :bar
     end
   end
 
-  describe "Using chained inheritance with CouchRest::ExtendedDocument" do
+  describe "Using chained inheritance with CouchRest::Model::Base" do
     it "should preserve inheritable attributes" do
       ExtendedParent.foo.should == :bar
       ExtendedChild.foo.should == :bar
diff --git a/utils/remap.rb b/utils/remap.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 131aeb3..0000000
--- a/utils/remap.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-require 'rubygems'
-require 'couchrest'
-
-# set the source db and map view
-source = CouchRest.new("http://127.0.0.1:5984").database('source-db')
-source_view = 'mydesign/view-map'
-
-# set the target db
-target = CouchRest.new("http://127.0.0.1:5984").database('target-db')
-
-
-pager = CouchRest::Pager.new(source)
-
-# pager will yield once per uniq key in the source view
-
-pager.key_reduce(source_view, 10000) do |key, values|
-  # create a doc from the key and the values
-  example_doc = {
-    :key => key,
-    :values => values.uniq
-  }
-
-  target.save(example_doc)
-  
-  # keep us up to date with progress
-  puts k if (rand > 0.9)
-end
diff --git a/utils/subset.rb b/utils/subset.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 0b7adb9..0000000
--- a/utils/subset.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-require 'rubygems'
-require 'couchrest'
-
-# subset.rb replicates a percentage of a database to a fresh database.
-# use it to create a smaller dataset on which to prototype views.
-
-# specify the source database
-source = CouchRest.new("http://127.0.0.1:5984").database('source-db')
-
-# specify the target database
-target = CouchRest.new("http://127.0.0.1:5984").database('target-db')
-
-# pager efficiently yields all view rows
-pager = CouchRest::Pager.new(source)
-
-pager.all_docs(1000) do |rows|  
-  docs = rows.collect do |r|
-    # the percentage of docs to clone
-    next if rand > 0.1 
-    doc = source.get(r['id'])
-    doc.delete('_rev')
-    doc      
-  end.compact
-  puts docs.length
-  next if docs.empty?
-
-  puts docs.first['_id']
-  target.bulk_save(docs)
-end
-