HFM

Another festive Christmas was enjoyed here on Mars. As usual, we began our Christmas decorating by hanging Momma Arave's festive glittery bough: And Mama O'Brien's stockings: More holiday doo dads: AJ's special purple lights: And our traditional set of winter-themed paper cut outs on the dining room table: On Christmas Day, our friend Brian came over, bringing his famous homemade cranberry-chocolate rugelach for breakfast: We went out for a movie, and then returned to Mars for lunch, and started cooking dinner. Delicious cheese, crackers, pickles, and nuts to tide us over: For dinner this year, AJ made a crab curry, accompanied by slices of the world famous king of all breads, the Tartine country loaf : The finished crab, potato, okra, coconut milk curry, complete with crab meat piled on top: For dessert, AJ once again made a salted honey pie, with homemade crust: Thank you for all that effort, AJ, and thank you, Brian, for your usual sharp wit, good company, and delic...

This week marks five years since we moved into our Martian palace! Reflecting on the five years of posts here, we're feeling proud and grateful -- proud to have worked hard to make this place our own, and grateful to have had the loving support of our family and friends throughout. Particularly after a terrible rain storm last week, and with nights dropping into the 30s (a rarity here), we are so thankful to have a warm, dry, safe place to call home. Thank you! We are grateful, just as Pickles is grateful to have happened upon this pile of blankets to rest her head and paws on, in high Princess & The Pea style: Happy dog, and happy people.

This year, instead of having Thanksgiving on Mars, we took on the horrible, arduous task of staying at Jon's gorgeous new getaway home to help him make sure it's ready for guests. It certainly is. Here are some photos of this little slice of heaven: Sorry, we had already ruined the lovely pillow arrangement by the time I took the photo The above is Pickles going to the giant deck doors to admire this view: At sunset: Almost as soon as we got there, Chef AJ got to cookin' her famous apple pie: Pickles dutifully helped keep the floor clean of any food debris: Then it was on to crab, greens, and mashed potatoes. Here is the end result of all her hard work: It was a wonderful meal, and a relaxing few days in Jon's perfect little cottage. We are thankful for Jon's generosity, thankful that crab season opened this year after not being able to open in 2015, and most of all, thankful for the love of all our friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving!

This week the cinder block wall dividing our property from our neighbors' was replaced! We had been hoping to do it this week for a while, but weather and uncertainty about Mr. Bunkport's schedule had us crossing our fingers. The finger-crossing apparently worked because it happened (this is how science works, right?)! Here are some photos of the wall. It's unreinforced masonry, which in earthquake country means "uh-oh." (If you're wondering, the boards and tile shards to the left in the photo are just an attempt to keep the dog from getting muddy in the rain we had recently.) There was a good jolt in October of 2011 -- just before we moved in -- that put a crack right in the center of it. It was barely visible when we moved in in December. Over just five years, it has opened up this much: Here are some photos of the brick retaining wall at the base of the cinder blocks. It's a little tough to show just how screwed up this thing was. Try to look for the ve...

This week we have been celebrating Todos Santos, a time to remember and honor our loved ones who have passed away. As always, we put together an altar of photos and momentos: This year, AJ also made her famous pan de muerto, a sweet bread made with oranges: Pickles got to enjoy some too this year, when she stole the slice off the altar when we weren't looking.

Happy Halloween from Pickles Stumpf, former CEO of Wells Picklesgo bank!

The hard work in the kitchen is officially done! While I was out of town, Mr. Bunkport came to wrap up some odds and ends, including fitting this nice collar to the top of the vent hood: The past week has been all about dealing with the mountain of debris in the garage. Believe it or not, getting rid of the stove and 50-pound cast iron sink were the easiest part. The trash collection company gives us two free "bulky item" pickups per year, so all we had to do was schedule the pickup and drag the things out to the curb. I spent a day breaking down the rest of the stuff and moving it all to where the stove had been so that we can load it in a pickup truck and bring it down to the city dump. I spent another day setting up this bank of cabinets for the workshop area: That vise on the left side of the counter was left in the house by the previous owner. It's at least sixty years old. I also decided to reuse the rest of the upper cabinets: Better to put things away where they w...