At the end of May, I had new floors installed in my house. For a month before that, the house was a whirlwind of moving EVERYTHING into the basement, culminating in about two weeks of painting.
The living room and half of the kitchen (the half involving the wall behind the fridge — there was some strategy involved) were painted before the floors were installed on the theory that it was better to drip paint on the carpets that were being removed than on the new floors. Time ran out however and most of the painting was done with a great deal of caution so as to avoid any spills.
By mid-June, the entire house had been painted except for some touch up work in two of the bedrooms and the upstairs hallway, and that pesky other half of the kitchen. That’s when the procrastination set in. Fast forward through June, July, August, September, October and the first week of November.
This past weekend, I decided to stay home on Saturday and did all the touch up painting. The upstairs bedrooms and hallway are painted, and I even put an area rug in the master bedroom. Sunday evening, I put the curtains back up for the first time since May. (This is about as “domestic” as I get.)
All that remained to be done was to finish painting the darn kitchen.
Tuesday was Veterans Day and I had the day off from work. Here’s how the kitchen looked by mid-afternoon. Everything off the counter, painters tape on all the edges.
The paint had dried by Wednesday evening, so I took down all the tape and put up the curtains. This evening I put the various wallplates back on the outlets and switches. Here’s how the kitchen looks now.
I still have stuff to do — it’s a house after all, so the TODO list never ends — but at this point, I’m ready to declare this particular project complete.
Category Archives: Photos
Entries with photographic accompaniment.
Foot Warmer
In the past month or so, I’ve discovered that one of the downsides to the wooden floors is that as the temperatures drop, wood isn’t nearly as warm as carpet. This makes getting out of bed just that much more difficult. (Wylie’s perspective is that because it’s more slippery, wood floors make it more difficult to launch yourself onto the bed. He gets stuck halfway about once a week.)
Last night, instead of dancing, I stayed home, and after some minor prep work, touched up the paint in two of the bedrooms. (When I took down the masking tape a few months ago, some of the new paint came with it.)
This afternoon, with the paint dry, I put the furniture back, and at long last put down my first area rug.
I think it looks pretty darn good, but now I’ll have to find a new excuse for oversleeping.
Grocery Shopping with the Undead
As mentioned a few days ago, I attended a Halloween party in The Kentlands this year as a zombie. It was my homage to the Frederick Jaycees’ Haunted Hayride.
One of the fun things to do after working at the hayride was once things were over for the evening, a group would usually go out for dinner, still in makeup. When a group of a dozen more zombies walks into a restaurant, it never fails to get the attention of the other diners and frequently led to opportunities to promote the Haunted Hayride or (better yet) the Jaycees.
I had no sooner mentioned this then Julie spoke the fateful words, “I dare you to go over to Whole Foods dressed like that.”
Get into mischief? Me? 🙂
Well there was no point in a zombie going shopping without an audience. You have to a few people going along to witness the silliness and (of course) take a few photos. So after seeking out a few people dressed in what passed for everyday street clothes, Julie, Melissa, Stephanie and I set out for our little adventure.
I don’t know how she managed to capture a photo of them (I didn’t even see them myself) but during the walk to the store, Stephanie managed to capture an image of what I can only describe as ghosts.
The person working at the meat counter left right before I got there, so I couldn’t ask him about any fresh brains. But don’t you think that stuff behind the glass looks rather cerebral?
There was someone working at the fish counter though. She took it completely in stride when I asked, “Do you have any fresh brains?”
“No.” she replied with a laugh, “Maybe next week.”
“Damn, just my rotten luck.” (On the other hand, can you imagine if she’d said yes??!!)
Most of the other shoppers in the store seemed to be oblivious to the dead guy walking the aisles with them. It makes me wonder, at 8:30 pm on a Saturday, is it possible that the other shoppers were the real zombies?
When I walked into the produce department, one of the stockers was unloading a box of some sort of melons. At first I didn’t think he saw me looking over the papayas on the other side of the display, then the woman at the fish counter got his attention and trying not to laugh he called back to her, “Yeah, I see him.”
With not quite a week to go until Halloween, of course there was an endcap full of Halloween candy. What a perfect place for a zombie to stop and try to blend in!
And over in the chips aisle, there was another ghost!
The few shoppers who did notice me in the store tended to look at me very strangely. (I don’t understand why.) It wasn’t until arriving at the checkout that any of the other shoppers was willing to make eye contact. Along with the cashier and the bagger, she was clearly entertained. But again, most of the shoppers zombies in the other checkout lanes were oblivious. (It somewhat reminded me of a scene from Dawn of the Dead with the zombies returning to the mall, unaware of their own demise.)
Many thanks to:
Julie: For suggesting this escapade.
Stephanie: For taking on the role of photographer.
Melissa: For a complete lack of adult supervision.
I wonder what sort of mischief I can get into next year?
Halloween Costume
A few days ago, I promised a photo of my costume from last weekend’s Halloween party.
This get up is, of course, very similar to how I was made up last year when I was chasing people through the cornfields, and that was quite deliberate. The Frederick Jaycees didn’t run their Haunted Hayride project this year, so this was my “Tribute Costume.” (You can’t tell from this photo, but the shirt is a Haunted Hayride “Event Staff” shirt from the 2006 season.)
There is also a series of photos from an adventure I went on during the party, but those will have to wait until at least this evening.
Carving the Meta-Lantern
The original plan was to draw a rabbit on it and carve the lantern so you could see the rabbit. There were a couple reasons for this, one was that everyone carves faces or ghosts or (if you’re really good) a witch on their Jack-o-lantern. So I was going to draw a rabbit.
The other part of the plan was to take a photo of the Jack-O-Lantern (with the rabbit on it) and put it on the Shore Leave web site for Halloween. (The convention is named for the Star Trek episode titled “Shore Leave.” The episode includes a brief appearance by the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, so the convention adopted the rabbit as a mascot.)
Carving a drawing of a rabbit onto a pumpkin was definitely ambitious, but I thought it was doable. I’ve been drawing rabbits and putting them on the convention web site for the past several years. This was just a new medium is all.
Reading Bunny |
Ze Artisté |
Costumer Bunny |
Security Bunny |
It was easy enough to draw a rabbit on the pumpkin. It was an unfamiliar medium, but aside from a little extra waviness in the whiskers, it was pretty straight forward. That’s when I realized how much detail is involved in those rabbits. The teeth, the whiskers, the noses, ears, and so on. I’ve been getting better at carving pumpkins, but that amount of detail was going to take most of the night. (Note to self: It might be a good idea to start carving the jack-o-lantern a little earlier than 10:45pm on the night before Halloween.)
So, it was clearly time for Plan B:
Yes. That’s right. I carved a jack-o-lantern with a jack-o-lantern on it. I call it the “Meta-Lantern.”
Those with a sharp eye may have noticed something amiss though. There’s a figure lurking in the shadows off to the meta-lantern’s left. What the heck could that be? Let’s take a closer look, shall we?
Could that be…? Let’s turn up the lights and see if that’s who I think it is….
Oh no! It’s a Captain Jack O-Lantern!!!
Gold
The past few nights have been hovering just a few degrees above freezing, with day time highs in the upper 50s to just barely 60s. So far, the plants are holding their own. The marigolds still look gorgeous.
Red
Tonight’s weather forecast includes the first possible frost of the season. I suspect the plants right up against the house (such as this one) will probably be OK for a little while longer, but this is probably close to the end for the tomatoes.
Arrrr!!!
Talk Like a Pirate Day was two weeks ago. That was a Friday this year, which made a perfect excuse for celebrating an entire Pirate Weekend. A few highlights from this year’s festivities follow.
For any well-dressed pirate, eye patches and hooks are optional, and of course all swashes should be buckled appropriately. Traditionally, proper pirate headgear has included both bandannas and pirate hats. In more recent times, the latter category has been expanded to include sports caps for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Seattle Seahawks (beware though, wearing another team’s hat may have you walking the plank).
Can you guess which pirate makes her own chain maille?
This bloke be Claire.
According to Wylie (the obligatory not-so-scurvy dog), heaven must be a lot like this.
Sure, Sue thinks its funny now. But what’s she gonna say when Jacob tries the “Pull my finger” routine on her?
These swabs must be music pirates.
The most fearsome pirates of all.
Mantis
At least once a year I find a Praying Mantis somewhere around the house. (This time on the back of the house, about two feet from the basement door.) I’ve seen a number of them (including some young, less than half an inch in length), but this is probably the best photo I’ve taken of one to date.
Putting It Back Together
It’s been a while since the last update on putting the house back together. Part of that’s because when it comes to putting things off, there’s nothing amateur about it, I’m a pro-crastinator. But I have been making some progress lately.
One of the big changes is that the home office is somewhat back together, albeit in a different room.
In addition to the desk, the bookcases have made their way out of the basement along with a large percentage of my books and the big bulletin board. There’s even space for a chair for a second person!
For the first time in the nine-plus years I’ve lived in this house, none of my houseplants are on a tem-permanent card table!
A few months before the big renovation project started, the house started falling apart when the railing going to upper floor pulled out of the wall. The railing needed to come down anyhow so I could paint, so it went into the basement for a while. As of this evening, the railing’s back on the wall.
And now for the next project:
