Month: October 2009

Our guest room now looks like someplace someone could sleep in peace.  As opposed to the mustard-colored monstrosity it was before, sure to provoke dreams of hot dogs.  Lis really needed to get this done, though I was not convinced how bad is was until after we were done.

Marc & Michaela, we promise the bed will be made by the time you arrive.

This morning, there was a small tree in this space.  This tree, though small by tree standards, was much too big for the space it was in, crowding the house & porch leading to moisture problems.

Now, the tree is in those barrels (well, plus the pile of branches) ready to be hauled off.  And we have a space for our trash cans.

The Stairs of Doom are no more!  Michael’s friend Jeff (a carpenter) came and strengthened & leveled them for 3 nights this week.

Here I have primed the top few steps.  The rest still have the measles wood filler marks.  I think the fisheye gives an interesting perspective here.

It’s here!  My new stove, being installed. 

It’s 3 weeks later than expected, but still in plenty of time for me to get used to it by Thanksgiving.

We went out to dinner at a local deli tonight with Lis’s mom & uncle (in from rural North Carolina, thus the deli).  They had Sarsaparilla soda!

The taste is much like root beer, but with more of a wintergreen flavor.

The season is getting colder — time to replace the old thermostats (one of which is mercury-based) with spiffy new programmable ones.

Lis had a surprise waiting for me when I got home from work today… she had made a good start painting our guest bedroom.

This is a fairly decent reproduction of the old color; the new one is not this electric.  Even the big camera had trouble with the white balance here.  And yes, the contrast between the new & old colors really was this hideous in person!

Newton’s new automated trash collection, complete with robotic arms on the trucks, begins this week.

You can see our neighbors’ old barrels across the street — they are going to be disappointed when they’re not picked up.

After a summer of being busy, being unable to get near it due to traffic & parking, and just plain forgetfulness, I finally made it to the Waltham farmer’s market today.

Most of this stuff is already eaten!

The kitties have a new favorite hangout, at least in the morning.

I think they’ve discovered, as the weather gets colder, that the sun warms this room first.