Wednesday, February 27, 2008

It's so soft-looking but it was sweating, talking only when necessary.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Feel-goodery

Now that we have free time, we are amusing ourselves by recreating moments from the past--specifically the first few weeks after we bought the house, nearly a year ago. And oh, the present is so superior.

If only we could communicate the difference in smell along with the visuals. You'll just have to imagine a fragrance of dust and dead ladybugs (then) versus good food and recent showers (now).

Behold, the great before-and-after project:





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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Very few things have been lost. A number of things have been cut.

At any time we can exit the house and walk into the homes of hundreds of birds.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Last days

So we painted the living/dining room again! Jumped through all the hoops one more time of getting chips, buying samples, squinting at them for a few days, then picking a color. "Onion powder." And we brought back the idea of red in the dining room—"Ancient Copper," a squirmy kind of name but a very nice color—and confined it safely to one wall instead of letting it close in on us from all sides.

Painted it all up over a few nights after work, and here it is!



So that was the last task in this phase of renovation. As we've found out, the whole idea of being "done" with this house work is quite slippery, since the minute we finish one thing we both look directly at the thing next to it that still has to be done. But we need a rest and we're slowing down a lot for now, doing leisurely things, and basking in all those tasks we've put behind us. The heat system, for one—it's keeping us warm! That means a lot after the three months we spent installing it last summer. We smile at each other whenever we hear the floor creak as the water moves through the radiant tubes.

OK, so we have poked at a few house-related projects. One, we did a deep cleaning of most of the downstairs and brought in a couple pieces of furniture. Amazing what a simple bookshelf can do to make the place feel better.








Two, we started cleaning out the basement. We'll bring our tools down here and set up a work area—you know, the very thing it would have been so handy to have for the last year.

Three, we've been talking about ideas. Ideas for the house and for the blog. Things are going to happen. That's all I can say for now.

- Erika

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The Exorcism

I primed over the gingerbread. Aahh, what a relief! Now we're deep in discussion over what color's going on top of that. More soon, pumpkin lovers!

- Erika