HFM

Adrienne & I were busy with lots of small doings this week. First, there was Christmas. We had our usual table-top decoration, made from a discarded bough of a Christmas tree, ornaments given by family and friends, and paper decorations we made ourselves: Under the tree (and the table), were numerous presents: The big box in pink on the left contained a circular saw, which I have had my eye on for a few months to speed up the completion of a few of my projects around the house. Top of that list is replacing the fence/wall under Adrienne's office that separates our property from the property of our neighbors to the north. Here it is, off to a decent start: This fence/wall is key because cats, raccoons, rats, and other assorted animals like to hang around in the 2-foot-wide space between the houses. Do you know who likes to chase animals? Pickles, that's who. The fence/wall is made with reused scrap materials from other parts of the construction project. Eventually, it and th...

This week, we tried to make more progress on the bathroom counter & backsplash downstairs. Mr. Bunkport took the counter out of the form today: With all the rain we've been getting, it hasn't hardened enough to sand it down and seal it yet, even after five days. So now we just wait.

Four things this week! First, I finished sanding and sealing the back door. Just in time for a massive rain storm! (I skipped taking photos, because you can't see a before/after difference. It looks great, though, and is similar in color to the counter.) Second, I replaced a piece of backsplash next to the sink that came off at some point a couple months ago. Probably when that half of the kitchen came off that one time . Before: After: Third, I took out this bush that mysteriously died: And replaced it with this succulent planter, made out of red concrete garden borders that were part of the garden when we moved in (every single plant in the yard was surrounded by these things), and old clay pipe fragments that were dug up out of the pit during the excavation phase of the project: Here's how it looks, from across the yard: Over to you, AJ, to work your plant magic! Speaking of plant magic, after all this rain we've been getting, that random lily that the construction worke...

Back on the ranch this weekend. On Saturday, an HVAC guy came to replace the old transite (asbestos-cement) flue for the heater, & do some maintenance on the heater itself. Done! On Sunday, I did a couple things on my to-do list: Job number one was yet more mouse-proofing in the kitchen. This round involved taking a countertop off a set of cabinets to stuff more steel wool in various places. While I had the countertop off, I also fixed a drawer, and, using my brand new jig saw (!), made an improvement to the shelf I had put in The Disaster Cabinet (which, as you may recall, is not a cabinet with disaster supplies, but rather a cabinet that is a complete disaster -- see the previous post here . Shelf Version One kept falling down, leading to the return of the disaster state.). Job number two was putting our fine fruit and veggie basket back up: Next week: sanding and sealing the back door, and replacing a small piece of backsplash next to the sink. Maybe also doing a walkway pro...

The day after the funeral, we got a call from the Schools reporter for the Lowell Sun. She had seen Jack's obituary, and noting how he had dedicated his career to the schools in Lowell, wanted to do a piece on him. It appeared today : Generations of kids knew he cared Firm and funny, 'Jack' O'Brien left impact on students, colleagues at Lowell High By Amelia Pak-Harvey John "Jack" O'Brien, a city native, was a leader at Lowell High for decades,  serving as housemaster for 25 years before  being named master in 1992. He died on  Nov. 21 at 74 after a battle with cancer. LOWELL -- Former Lowell High School administrator John "Jack" O'Brien was a fair but firm educator who stood his ground. That's how City Councilor William Samaras, a former Lowell High headmaster, remembers the high school's former master. When disciplining students, O'Brien would still listen well, Samaras said. "Even if he were to administer a punishment for ...

While AJ & I spent a wonderful Thanksgiving -- full of great food, delicious homemade wine, and warm thoughts of Jack -- with my family, Susie & Paul were keeping the home fires burning on Mars: Caramel apple pie, with a gingerbread layer (and a fierce game of Bananagrams) Homemade apple cider Feast! Pickles, meanwhile, celebrated spending a contented week with friends in the way that best expresses her happiness -- snoozing: Photo courtesy of Amanda, who probably got pushed out of the bed by the dog at least once this week. We are very, very thankful for the love and support of our friends and families, particularly during this difficult time. Thank you all so much!

Last week, instead of working on the house, we flew back to Massachusetts to help celebrate the life of a true giant of a man, Jack O'Brien. Senior portrait, 1957 There were more than 200 people at his wake (same thing as what's called a "viewing" in other places). He is much loved, and will be missed by many. He was a wonderful partner to my mother, and a wonderful father to me, for the 25 years we had the great fortune to know him. Here's his obituary, from the Lowell Sun , for those who weren't able to meet him: John F. "Jack" O'Brien Obituary John F. 'Jack' O'Brien Retired Lowell High School Master 1940 - 2014 CHELMSFORD -- John F. "Jack" O'Brien, 74, a Chelmsford resident and former Lowell resident, died Friday November 21, 2014, following a period of declining health. He was the loving husband of Linda M (Pereira)(Desrosiers) O'Brien of Chelmsford to whom he was married for 17 years. Born in Lowell on February...

More progress this week! Roofer! It's hard to see in this photo, but there is now a strip of flashing all around the top of the wall, finishing off the last of the roofing work: Bathroom! Not yet. Mr. Bunkport was going to come by to work on the bathroom, but the baby has a fever, so he stayed home to help out. Instead, I took another crack at clearing out the yard. This pile of stuff was becoming home to some sort of critter(s) that Pickles is now barking at every night: After: Still waiting for Mr. Bunkport to take some stuff out of the garage before we can get everything back to normal in there, so these items remain. The tire will someday be a practice taiko drum for AJ. The wooden box on top of the metal shelf is this large planter  (slightly taken apart) that we are going to put at the entrance to the yard, alongside the steps that lead down into the downstairs room. It will be planted with something tall that will act like a screen to give us some privacy when we're sitt...

Roofer! Bathroom! No! That all fell through this week, so the project was not able to get much closer to being fully complete. I continued with my tiny-things-I-am-able-to-do list, however. I put a threshold down between the kitchen & living room floors: This is the slightly-worse-for-wear brass one that was here when we moved in. I have been meaning to buy a nicer wood one, but hey, at this point, let's just cut to the chase. We've given up the ghost on Mr. Bunkport's being able to make time to rewire the broken front porch light during this project. When we take the 25 year-old vinyl siding off the front of the house (someday), we can ask him to do it then. We really only need the porch light for food delivery people anyway, so that they know we're actually home -- having no light is not a safety issue because there is a steel gate preventing lurkers, as my mother calls them, from sneaking around the front door. I took a tiny battery-operated LED light that I had ...

Today we welcomed the memories of some of those we have loved and lost. We also brought in the memories of some we never knew, but who were killed at the hands of police this past year, including our neighbor Alex Nieto, Bernal Heights born and raised and murdered in a hail of 14 bullets in the park at the top of our hill while having his lunch one March afternoon before he was off to work. You can learn more about his story here:  http://justice4alexnieto.org/alex-story/ Kevin, Rebecca, Alex Nieto, Mike Brown, VonDerritt Meyers, Grammy, Grandfather, Vovo, Auntie Beckee, Uncle Joe, Granpa, Joaquina all the people feeling broken and lost...presente!

This week, I took a doorknob off one of the doors in the yard & put it on the closet door in the bedroom, which had no doorknob. Everyone can rest easy now that the closet door has a doorknob. And I swept the garage. Pickles thought the push broom was an exciting new toy. Then we played soccer in there. Next week: roofer! bathroom! yes!

Gruff Halloween greetings from Sal Pickles of Pickles' Saloon! This is one bar you don't want to start trouble in.

Thank you, AJ, for your exciting post last week! This week another thing was completed: electrical! The electrician came on Thursday, and installed the light over the medicine cabinet: He also added the little plastic box that keeps the outdoor outlet dry: And replaced two light sockets in the garage that had been destroyed by other subcontractors: We no longer need a flashlight to get around in the garage at night! Lastly, he passed the final inspection: What a relief to have another thing fully completed! In other news, I discovered this week that we are being invaded by mice again. You may recall the Great Mouse Hunt of 2013, that involved a weekend of extensive mouse-proofing in the kitchen and back porch, and resulted in the live c apture of an invader in the bedroom , thanks to the assistance of Sergeant Pickles of the Rodent Roundup: This time, I discovered the intruders myself. I got up early for work and was standing in the kitchen, drinking my coffee, when I realized I wasn...

Hello everyone! It's your lucky day. Christine's out of town and I'm your guest blogger for the week. I've got my supplies for this task: $5 is the for the delivery of my dinner. I can't cook AND blog. And now for the part where I show you all the pictures Christine took of this week's progress. Folks came by and put this translucent sheeting over our staircase. You probably can't see it in this picture cuz, uh, it's translucent. This way we can stay dry from the rain that never falls here while we walk down to our awesome new room. Also, the dudes put in the cabinet that Christine lovingly restored. It looks so nice with the repurposed wood that frames the tub. Can we please, please, please get water to come out of these things soon? Also this week: Christine busted her butt to make things look even nicer around here. She sanded and stained our front door so it's freshened up and also matches more closely the windows and counter in the kitchen. She...