Staying Away From Open Flames

The Geek and I celebrate Hallowe'en.

A Place to Hang Around

The hooks are now installed. Frankly, this looks better than either one of us were expecting.

One place tho', gave the Geek grief. Many a screw met their end in this one spot.

We're Hooked

The coathooks for the back hall have been cleaned, polished and waxed.

Can anyone spot the fox in the henhouse?

What's Goin' Down

The Marmoleum is down now in the landing, held in place by some weights.

All we need now are some little gap-covers, like in the bathroom.

What's Up?

The old tiles on the landing have ben ripped up.

And the planks for the coat hooks have been hung up.

How to Make A Hampelmann

Find a trace the Hampelmann (jumping jack) that you prefer.
Prime and paint.
Add the colours.

Put it together. Play.

Not on the Level

Today, after we hung the storm windows, The Geek went around the east side of the house to tighten the strapping on the rain barrel downspouts. They had been leaking all summer down the side of the house.
After she had finished that, she figured she would move the extra sand we had stored there. That is when she discovered the paving stones she had laid in 2004 had started tipping and were now angled toward the house.

So she pulled the ones against the house up and sloped them so that any water would not run into the foundation.
We had planned to go canoing today, but this was a job that needed doing and would have been terribly unpleasant if it was cold. We are now planning to try the canoe next Saturday.

We reached 16 beautiful degrees! What a great day to be outside.

A Steal of a Deal

A local garment making business recently decided to sell their industrial sewing machines. The Geek had been talking about getting one for awhile, so the opportunity was too good to pass up.

We now have a very heavy beastie in the basement. A fellow I with whom I work, and one of his friends helped us get it down the stairs. The Geek had taken the machine he bought to his house so they considered this a fair trade.

It has a pneumatic hookup. When attached to an air source, t can lift the presser foot and cut the thread when you step back on the treadle.

And the electronics are quite impressive. You can program it to automatically backstich at the end of a seam, and more. It runs on three-phase electricity but if we can't get that hooked up, it will just be a regular heavy duty machine. Which is fine.

I spent some time talking to the fellow who maintained these machines, and he seemed rather heartbroken that they were being sold. They definitely seem well looked after.

Delphiuniums are Really Arctic Plants

They only started to bloom after the frost and the snow.

McCain's Does Not Feel Threatened

...by the massive potato harvest from our garden.

There Was Once a Crooked Branch....

That became a crooked tree ...
...and that is now going to become a crooked rail for coat hooks in the back hall.

Ice Wine, Anyone?

Another casualty of the frost. The grapes didn't even have a chance to start ripening.

Fast-Forward to Winter

The first frost and the first snowfall happened within hours of each other.
The hollyhocks are the only flowers in the backyard that could handle the chill.

A Canoe

We have been given a canoe.
The widow of the former owner did not feel she could manage to use it on her own, so she gave it to us.
What a great way to have a loved one remembered. We shall undoubtedly think of him every time we use it.

Funny Line

On my way home from school today I was listening to an interview with Hilary Mantel, winner of the Man Booker prize this year for her historical novel Wolf Hall. The interviewer suggested that by winning this prize, Ms Mantel may increase the interest readers have in historical novels. To this, Ms Mantel retorted that by the time many novels reach the publisher, they could all be considered 'historical'.

Making A Break For It

I'm not sure where this nasturium was trying to go, but it put alot of effort into getting there. I've never seen one of these plants put out runners before-especially one this long.

Slip-proofing the Stairs

The melamine alone is very slippery so to increase traction the Geek has added some sand to an area of wet paint, let it dry, and then applied another two coats of paint over top.

Constructing A Stencil

The Geek wanted to make a couple of stencils, but did not want to try to get the computer/printer combination in the basement working.



So she traced them from the monitor and then covered them with masking tape.

No Longer Green

The stairs receive their first coat of melamine paint.