HFM

It's been a very busy month here on Mars! A friend from work, Masha, returned from a trip to Russia, and brought back a new little (about a foot tall) resident for Mars. This is Kuzya:   In Russian homes, Kuzya keeps an eye on things, helping to prevent catastrophes and assorted bad things from happening. Masha thought that Mars could use a little help in this department. Indeed. Thank you, Masha! We also did some more tidying & decluttering this month. I tackled the kitchen Junk Drawer, which really should have been called the Drawer of A Thousand Pens: How did that happen? I would blame Kuzya (who is apparently also responsible for low-level mischief around the house), but I know this happened before he came to stay. We got rid of a medium-sized box of old kitchen utensils and mugs and things, as well. Progress! Our friend Jon has been taking a pottery class, and offered us some of his beautiful work. I have been wanting something to display some marbles and pieces of broken ...

We are on a massive tidying and decluttering rampage. The house isn't overstuffed with junk, but we both have had it in mind for a while to go through our stuff and get rid of things that we aren't using anymore. Recently, we learned about Marie Kondo, a Japanese cleaning consultant, and her method . Essentially, the idea is to only keep things around you that you really like, and instead of going through the house room by room, work through specific categories of items across the whole house because most of us have stuff in each category scattered in various rooms (ex. books, jackets, mice). Pulling everything in a category out into one central room for sorting helps you see just how much you have (she says most people who hire her are surprised to see that they have twice as much as they think they do) and helps you get through the process faster. Her book is short & practical, and is actually a little bit deep -- her method is ultimately about changing your relationship ...

Hello, everyone! As the newest member of the Mars household, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I'm Joan The Mouse: I'm living in the upstairs bedroom, and I have to say that I'm very pleased with the accommodations. The room is spacious and warm, and the furry thing with the teeth who also lives here leaves behind plenty of crumbs for me to eat. The two fur-less ones that live here have been cleaning up the crumbs far too thoroughly and far too often, in my opinion, but I'm sure they can't possibly get all of them every single day, so I'm sure I will be fine. I plan to stay forever. It's certainly a fun place to live. I miss my mouse friends -- the tall fur-less one has figured out how we were getting in (again) and blocked up the holes (again) -- but this week, there was some sort of occasion, and two other fur-less ones came over and spent the day cooking and laughing. The ones who live here put together a festive centerpiece of flower...

Not much excitement to show lately -- it's been rainy and chilly, so we're spending our weekends doing some tidying up & decluttering inside the house -- but I thought some of you might be interested in this: My dad wanted me to have one of his guitars. It arrived safely last week, and last night I put a wall mount up in my office (I don't like the word "office" for this room, but I haven't come up with a better one. "Den" isn't right, either. Any ideas?). Looks pretty good there, next to a framed series of Lowell postcards that belonged to Jack. Now I just have to re-learn how to play it!

Back on Mars this week, just in time for two important events: Pickles' annual Halloween portrait, and the celebration of Todos Santos. At Amanda's suggestion, Pickles decided to be a justice this year. While taking the portrait, however, she discovered that she wasn't really into the wig: She received many treats as compensation for her dissatisfaction, however, & finally agreed to sit still for fifteen seconds, Presenting the Honorable Zo E. Pickles, Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Critter Justice, California District: Happy Halloween! The next day, we set up our altar for Todos Santos (Day of the Dead), where we remember and honor loved ones who have passed away:

No work on the house again this week. Instead, we both flew back to New Hampshire to say goodbye to my father, Bob. 1962 He was a funny, humble, affable guy. He was a fixture in the neighborhood, spending summers sitting on his deck, looking out on the lake, and waving to neighbors driving by. About 70 people turned out to pay their respects at the memorial on Friday night. Here is his obituary , for those who never had the opportunity to meet him: Robert R. Desrosiers June 3, 1944 ~ October 13, 2015 Robert Rene Desrosiers, 71, passed away at his home in Derry, NH, on Tuesday, October 13, 2015, surrounded by loving family. Bob was born on June 3, 1944 in Lowell, MA, to Albert Desrosiers and Florence (Lemire) Desrosiers. He loved playing the guitar, spending time on his boat, and cooking for his family. He was also a proud veteran of the Navy. He leaves his devoted wife, Toni Desrosiers of Derry, NH; his daughter Christine Desrosiers and her partner Adrienne Johnstone of San Franci...

Last week we got a surprise in the mail -- this beautifully painted portrait of Pickles! The card with the cute owl didn't say who sent it, but we suspect it's one of Pickles' admirers in the great Commonwealth of Virginia. We love it very much, and put it up immediately in a place of honor in the kitchen: It's basically the first thing you see when you walk in. Just as it should be! Thank you so much, Secret Admirer! Please come visit again soon!

No mural this week after all. We got the front & back yards tidied, AJ fixed her bike, & I got the present AJ gave me for my birthday set up: Of course I had to try it out for a while, using these great mitts she also gave me: Both the mitts and the speed bag are vintage, to go with the overall aesthetic of the garage/workshop/DuserHaus. Of course, at this point, vintage can refer to things that are much younger than we are, but they do look great down there with all the 60+ year old stuff from the "rooms" under the kitchen. After all that, I was pooped. So, no mural. Next week, I'm going out of town for work, so maybe no mural then, either. But it's next on my list!

It took a few evenings & one whole day, but the bedroom is now done! The pink trim has been eradicated: I did two of the walls in the same blue-gray as my work room, and two the same ivory color of the new rooms: When the construction guys jacked up the back of the house to repair it, they caused a shift in the bedroom wall that loosened & tore some old wallpaper that people have been painting over for decades:  When we saw that, we immediately peeled some of the paper back, to make sure the wall wasn't cracked. It wasn't, but we exposed a couple large bare patches of old plaster that we've just been living with all this time. As a quick cosmetic fix, I tried to cut away as much paper as I could to get to the places where it was still stuck to the wall, while not making the holes too much larger, and then painted over the holes. It worked pretty well: It doesn't catch the eye when you're in the room, so all's well that ends well. We can do a real fix lat...