Doug's Project 365

I am fixing some of the split stair treads on the stairs to the loft.  It’s true what they say…

you can never be too rich, too thin, or have too many clamps.  No really.  If I had more clamps I’d be done by now.

The approaching storm (not tropical storm Dennis, but a front ahead of it) made for some impressive-looking weather over Boston Harbor.

Tonight’s dinner called for both of the following items.  Fish sauce is one of those ingredients that sounds like it can’t possibly be good… and then you smell it and have no desire to have anything to do with it.  But it does, in fact, taste good — even Lis’s sensitive palate would agree. 

In our house the Vietnamese hot sauce, however, is mine alone to enjoy.

I saw this hawk hanging out on a light post while I was sitting stuck in traffic.  I could almost hear the thought process… “Can’t eat that, can’t eat that, can’t eat that…dammit!”

Tonight’s dinner was a specialty of the house, which we refer to as Doug-fried chicken.  The pieces are coated simply in a flour mixture, pan-browned in a little oil, then finished in the oven.  Sometimes it’s the simplest foods that are tastiest.

After a year at my new job, I’ve moved into an office with a window, instead of one with a great view of the server room.

The first flight of stairs is done, and that was the easy part.  The second flight of stairs (to the third floor) not only needs painting, they need repair.  I’ve been taking off some treads to peer inside, and have discovered several old items that have fallen inside.  Here we have a Christmas postcard from 1919, and a price card from Warren School Hairdressing — 50 cents for a facial massage!

Stair project is done! The bulk of the work today was in doing touch-up on 3 colors and painting the surrounding trim white to bring out the cream of the stairs themselves.  The kitties have been released from their prison, though I don’t think Winnie realizes it yet.

Stair project, almost done. Here we have the final coat of all the colors.  What remains is some finishing touches.

Stair project, day 4: all the missing cove moulding has been replaced, all the blue border has been painted, and we’ve put down an example of the final tan color for the center of the faux runner.  All in all a pretty tiring evening.

And yes, that’s a footprint on the bottom tread — the paint was dry to the touch but still tacky enough in all this humidity to grab onto dirt on both Lis’s and my feet.  It needs a second coat anyway.