Grandkids

While it may be an inconvenience to find the toilet seat wet most of the time, it is nice to have reading material close by such as Marvin K. Mooney or books to help me with the alphabet.

Bonfire of the ....

bank statements.

As is our annual tradition - we burn the 6 year old* statements/tax returns etc.

My off-the-grid-wife insists on receiving paper statements. I am not sure why - tho it may just be so we can burn them once a year.

We used to have a wood stove at the old house, and you can burn anything in those.

This new house has a gas fireplace. Which I love for its cleanliness and push button convenience - but burning in there is a huge no-no.

Thus the outdoor fire. In a camp stove no less, as we no longer even have a firepit.

We turned this years burning into a weeny-roast - so its an environmental win/win, as well as being delicious.

*keeping the customary last 5 years

Lymed

What's that saying - you can't swing a cat without hitting somebody with Lyme.
Add me to the list.
But please don't hit me with a cat, I've got enough going on.
Holy crap - what a tick can do.
Crazy that our natural predators are the size of "."

In May I had some sort of bite or some such thing on my shoulder. I thought it was a pimple.  Oops.
So this thing got infected pretty fast, causing a rather large red rash over my entire shoulder area, and I felt pretty crappy. I even had the rigors one night. Have you ever had rigors? That is some crazy shit.

Blood tests at that time revealed a bacterial blood infection - so I was dosed up with antibiotics. These didn't kick in fast enough, which landed me in the ER to get IV antibiotics. Several doctors saw this rash. No doctor mentioned Lyme or even tested me for it at that time.

So I got 3 weeks on Doxycycline and Keflex. These two drugs are a great summer combo. With Doxy you can't go out in the sun - for me...not at ALL. I became super photo-sensitive. And with the Keflex you can't have alcohol.
This was perfect... I had to stay inside, and not drink ... and I live at the beach.
Good times.

After I got past that and the days went on I started to feel, achy and tired and sweaty and bloated and swollen and generally crappy.
I thought it was ..."THE Menopause".
But I was in alot of pain and had tremendous stiffness. It started to get harder to get out of a chair, I had trouble walking, the pain kept me up at night.
 I thought - hey, if this is menopause women would not make it to old age - this is just too hard. So I went to my primary and to my Gyn and pleaded with them to make it stop.

That's when we found the Lyme. That was 4 weeks ago.
While I have had improvement - today I am having a change up in my meds as symptoms are returning.
Lyme is not something to trifle with, even when you find it early.

For the love of data

I was trying to remember something last week and ended up using this blog to figure out when something had happened. It's wonderful to have this searchable record to look back on.
It then occurred to me then that my laissez faire attitude for blogging has caused me to miss the last couple years of ...
THIS

I plan to rectify this.

fit bits and de tox

What have we become.

I actually heard myself say this morning...
"I have switched from wine to beer this week to see ...who really cares..."

But wait - let me see... hold on...checking.. yeah I have 2371 steps so far today.
Wheeeee

So this is it. This is what we do now.
We deny ourselves foods that are perceived as bad. We cut out dairy, or wheat, or carbs, or chocolate or meat or eggs or heroin.
Then we track our steps. How many steps to the car, to the ladies room? If I drink alot of water I will pee more -- more steps!

I am looking forward to retirement. When I won't have to care. I can check out.
Tho its no longer acceptable to look forward to something - because then I am not being 'present'.

Maybe I'll just go back to drinking wine. I hear a Cabernet pairs nicely with Twinkies.

The knowing

Traffic was the usual stop and go crawl this morning. It was chilly out, despite having had a nice, sunny, melty day yesterday. As I rolled along in the center lane, creeping slightly faster than the right, I came upon a car with the drivers window down.

This is unusual tho not unheard of. I generally expect to see a smoker behind the wheel, or perhaps an old, crusty contractor (not sure why those guys are always so warm).
But this was a woman. As I drew closer I could see she was about my age.
I looked over as I passed  - we shared an almost imperceptible knowing glance.
Because of course I understood.
I had just shut my window.

9

It was 9 degrees this morning.
I do not say that like its remarkable in any way.
It's not.
It's often 9 degrees.
While my car was warming up I shoveled a thin layer of snow off the driveway, tidied up some edges...
My coat was open, I wore no hat. The remaining dampness in my hair froze.
I was un-phased.

Acceptance?
Denial?
Does it matter?

Does anyone talk about anything else anymore

excerpt from an email to my neighbor across the street:

I have gone into a deep, deep state of denial. My usual “weekday wine abstinence’ has fallen by the wayside.Even in less disastrous years I am not a big fan of the whole spring melt-down.Compound that with continually adding to the overall generous amount of snow already on the ground – and I am really starting to think about taking up a whiskey habit.

She replied with an offer to assist in the new habit.

I love my neighborhood.

Maxine is right. I believe she may always be right.

Elizabeth...can you confirm?

No Maxine, I am not done yet

It has been brought to my attention that it has been 363 days since my last blog post.

Had that been my last menstrual cycle, I could officially consider myself in menopause.
Alas, I am not that lucky.

So no.
The blog is not over.
It ain't over 'till I say its over.
I may never say that.
Never say never.
You can't win if you don't play.

The Final Chapter

Riggs 
Nov '01-  Feb '14

There is not much more I can say about the FREE Dog that I haven't said before.
(FREE Dog Chapters 1-12)

Irresistable as a pup.

She was truly unique.

Never the snuggly dog we imagined. But clever, caring and strong and beautiful.

 

 

And in her old age - she mellowed.

 

She got sweeter and friendlier.

And rather calm.

 

She got as close to being cuddly with the kids as she could manage.

 

 

 

Rest easy sweet girl.

 

 

 

 

 

 (note some pics are missing...working on that)



Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

 

 

live a little

people.
put down your phones.
WATCH your life
with your OWN eyes.

if something magical happens
TELL the story
again and again
for years to come*

you will tell it better than any video
because you took the time to LIVE it.



*this method also allows for healthy embellishment.

It's all in my head

I write a blog post in my head almost every day.

Why they don't seem to make it here elludes me.

SOD

Sensing a theme here?

But no, I am not referring to rolled up grass.
Nor do I mean it as 'fool' or 'idiot', or maybe I do...

It's my own personal acronym.
You've heard of SAD... that Seasonal Affective Disorder,
well this is Seasonally Overwhelmed Disorder.

I get this way in the spring and the fall. In fact... I've blogged this before.

When the seasons change there is much to do.
And for some ridiculous reason I get all anxiety stricken.
Like OMG I need to wash the windows, plant some grass, wax the car, take in the screens, get a new storm door, wash the floors, tidy the garage, test the snowthrower, do the laundry, change the oil, lose some weight, find the missing house key, wash the dishes, organize my sock drawer, clean the oven...

and on and on it goes.

Why o why did I also decide this was the time of year to cut back on my wine consumption.

I have no one to blame but myself

I am making an effort to getting back to documenting life (and renovations) here at the brick house by the marsh.

I wanted to write something current. Very current.
I sat and pondered.
Whats happening... let's see... whats happening right now. This week.

Not the giant front yard project to begin next week.
Not the plumbing project to begin asap in the basement.
Right now.
And what popped into my head ?
grass

Yes. Grass.

Technically the lack thereof.

Somehow... after moving away from a lawn the size of a small ranch.


Maintaining large, diverse grassy areas. A pleasure to stroll.

 

sunny parts

shady parts



even outside of the fence there was GRASS

so much grass

somehow I have managed to utterly destroy this tiny little backyard.

There was neglect.
There was arrogance.
There were rookie mistakes.

And now there is crabgrass and dead grass and weeds and ...utter despair.

I simply cannot get myself to upload a picture of it.
ohhh the horror.



oh right...the fireplace

sorry got distracted...

The original fireplace surround (using the word original loosely- I think the 'actual original' was just brick) was a brown tile circa early 70's Brady Bunch era I would guess.
The fireplace screen had little swirly iron branches with acorns and maple leaves - not very beachy.

(note in the picture below the diamond placed tiles in front are not part of the hearth...we were just checking colors... didn't seem to have a better 'before' picture)

We replaced the tile with beachy seaglass and used some of the marble from the foyer to tie it together and break up the field of tiny tiles.

 

To save some money my clever wife took the original screen apart - removing all the forest-y details.

and gave it some fresh paint (yes..more silver paint. I believe the can is still not yet empty... more on that  to come).

 

 

 



The end is in sight

Whenever I say to friends we are nearing the end of our renovations, they just sort of smile and nod.

But really just about the only thing we haven't changed here is the bricks. So the end will come.

This house was like an onion. A big stinky onion. As we peeled away the layers of filth we found ...well more filth and lots of things just done plain wrong.
While removing all evidence of several previous owners and poorly done renovations we have tried to retain any features original to the house (this will be evident when i post about the first floor bath).

So nearing the last items to be changed were the tile in the foyer and the tiled fireplace surround.

So the foyer:

We actually started with the stairs.

The newel post was that same dark cherry stain that was slathered on all the wood throughout the house, and the spindles were black iron, and frankly we hated the whole thing. Granted they went really well with all the dark, dank mobster decor - but we needed to lighten things up.

I tried to get the spindles out to replace them - but without dismantling then entire railing it was a no go.

Not a problem for my artsy and ever patient wife. She painted the newel posts white...ahh so much white here- crisp and clean, and the spindles she did in bright silver (remember this... the silver... because she has more paint left and you know what that means...)

still old foyer tile here...

With a brush. Whew.

I have no patience for tedious tasks...

In the top photo you can just see a small portion of the old tile in the foyer. It was white marble.
Ok ..kind of plain - not hideous..but .. yes... we hated that too.

Had to go.
So here is where we ended up.

weird little hole... odd.

kidding...

Here is where we really ended up:

It's marble - yes we replace marble with marble.

Our marble - a beachy, warm marble has a soft matt finish - we added tiny glass mosaic inlays.
I adore this tile. It feels delicious under your feet. It makes the foyer feel clean and inviting.

Next the fireplace....

follow up

Just to swing back around to an unfinished project before moving on.

This weekend we installed new screen/window things on the screen porch.

 

Each unit arrived packaged up nicely. There are 10 in all, each custom sized for the opening.

 Starting on the back wall.
(my new ladder - my overly cautious wife made me buy a new one after I fell off and bent my old one)

 Here are the first two installed. The first unit has all the windows closed. the second has the windows all tucked down to the bottom - leaving open screen at the top.
The 'windows' are a thin, lightweight vinyl.

 Whala! It took about 5 or 6 hours to do the entire install. I was a little slowed down by choosing to work at noon in full sun. Duh.

Free Dog has acquiesced. I think she preferred the room with no walls at all.

For her we have all the windows stacked at the top. Allows a nice breeze.

The windows also come out if we wanted to store them over the summer season.
But we'll leave them -- its nice to sit out in the rain and keep all the furniture dry.

OLFs

The OLF*s are here.

They are calling our house home base for the week while their parents jet across the country to a destination wedding.

Today as I sit at my desk shivering because the corporate air conditioning seems to be set to the lowest common denominator... they are at the beach with "auntie".

I believe they are at "aunties BIG beach". This is the beach we drive to (we can walk..but NOT with four year olds...whew). It boasts a concession stand with DORA ICE CREAM, a playground, places to play basketball, tennis or skateboard and a finely groomed beach with lifeguards. The girls LOVE this beach.

Sometimes we go to aunties 'little' beach. We walk there.

Our favorite activity there is to throw rocks into the water. It's a natural beach with no stands or bathrooms and NO grooming. This is the beach we frequent when we are alone. Its also the same stretch of beach where we launch our kayaks.

Near this beach...well technically on this beach is where we get 'breakfast on the patio'. Another favorite thing to do at weese and aunties house.










Then of course there is the playground at the elementary school around the corner. The routine is for the girls to get their purses (in which we have placed a dollar or two) and we walk over to the deli. There they get to pick a treat there - perhaps a cookie or an ice cream, maybe some candy. Then we walk up the street to the school playground (unless like today, its actually a school day).

Then we go back to auntie and weese's house where the fun will continue.


and so it will go until mommie and daddie come home.
I trust there is much swilling going on with mommie and daddie right now.














*Our Little Friends - our neices

finishing touches

When we last left our kitchen renovation - hmm, I believe we were here:

she loves the plywood counters i made her

A functioning kitchen with plywood counters and no trim.

This kitchen... oh this kitchen.
When we first moved in - this was the room we started to demo first. I blogged about that here.
Its been a delightful challenge ever since.

We lived with those plywood counters for a very LONG time. We knew we wanted butcher block - but evidently there was suddenly a huge RUN on butcher block. huh. Go figure.

Sometime during the time we were hunting down butcher block - the giant back window started to leak. As a stop gap measure - duct tape and plastic sufficed.

notice Ferris and the FREE dog do not seem to mind

Plywood and plastic...classy.
Can you see the plastic over the window? We then lived like this for another LONG time. It felt suffocating.

After much research and calling and begging(ok we really didn't beg - we just wrote a check) - we finally acquired some butcher block.
To save some money we spent hours in the garage (later to be the studio) sanding and treating them ourselves.

she is such a perfectionist

They came out pretty nice.

 

 

 

Since that time - we've had (all) the windows replaced.  I trimmed around this giant window myself- and my rather flexible wife installed delicious backsplash tile.

 

And then the finishing touch..

 

We had purchased a counter depth fridge and had our cabinets designed to fit that fridge size - but these are stock cabinets, not custom, and so there was a gap over the fridge of just a few inches (you can actually see it in the first picture above.). So when we had the under cabinet lighting installed we asked the electrician to put a light tucked up under the cabinet that sat over the fridge with a separate switch.

 

Well - in getting good use of her new studio - my clever wife finally found time to pull this all together.

 A close up - because I can't seem to capture the amazing colors and textures of this piece with my crappy camera.

 

 ...more stained glass pieces to come.