There's a new girl in town...

i'd like to introduce everyone to Montefellow's newest resident: Eleanor. she was found as a stray in north minneapolis (represent), and taken to Animal Control. with her short time on earth rapidly ticking away, in swooped Pet Project Rescue to save her from being euthanized. and, after some manipulation by my friend katie, she came into our care.

she is absolutely the sweetest puppy i have ever met. her disposition is docile and friendly, much like my own (ahem). we were told that she's a german shepherd/lab mix, and have no reason to doubt that. i toyed with the idea of training her in german, to honor her heritage, but decided against for two reasons: even i am not that pretentious, and allison doesn't speak german. of course, only one of those is true, but that is neither here nor there. anyway, as allison would say: "ich liebe eleanor!"

A bird in the hand...

if you were wondering whether bird netting works to protect your berry bushes, let me assure you that it does. while out picking some raspberries the other day, allison noticed a little bird who fell prey to his own greed for berries. it must have been a tragic and shocking death. there he is, just flying around, and he sees a plentiful raspberry bush, ripe for the picking. he swoops in to take a bite, and, in a flash, he is trapped. he can't fly away, he can't move at all. the more he struggles, the more trapped he becomes. he chirps to his friends for help, but they are no where to be seen. slowly, he loses his strength and relents to the pull from the other side. rest in peace young bird. and let your death stand as a warning to berry poachers everywhere: stay away from Montefellow!

What have you done for me lately?

don't be fooled by the fact that i haven't posted anything for a while; allison and i have been as busy as ever over at Montefellow. since you last tuned in, our meager little garden has grown into a mini farm. we even painted the "garage" barn red! the vegetables may be small, but the yield is gonna be high! readers, if you like cucumbers, zucchini, celery, beans, peppers, and (lest we forget) tomatoes, then you should come by with a basket. and then there are our raspberry bushes...holy crap, those things are prolific! there is really nothing more delicious than popping a freshly picked berry, warmed by the summer sun, into your mouth. i made a raspberry vinaigrette from scratch the other day, and it was divine. we put in a little bench (tip my hat to donald) with some flagstones on the edge of the garden, and there we sit to enjoy the fresh fruits of our labor. seriously, hand picked green beans are a better snack than any chip.

to the west of the garden is a giant dirt pit. sounds awful, you say? oh no, my friend, not at all. it is the future site of our pergola and brick patio. the bricks are ready, the wood is on order, and the pit is dug. ok, not completely dug, but it is well on its way. plus, we have enough bricks to for a grilling station, and a nice walkway. it's going to be good.

inside, the bathroom walls have beautiful new oak wainscoting (allison is quickly becoming a master woodworker), and our Koehler sink is up and functional. we decided against tiling the entire bathroom, and went with the oak wainscot, in the interest of time. it's in keeping with the style of the house, and looks fabulous.

i am going to be more diligent about posting, so check back soon for more updates!

Bricks are heavy

for those of you who have been on the Macalester campus on a snowy or rainy day, you have most likely almost broken your neck, slipping on the bricks outside the library. well, they dug them up today. and Allison and i were there to collect. after almost 5 hours, and 3 trips (poor horatio), we have almost 1000 bricks for our soon to be patio. god, I love fortuna.

Famous last words?

some of you may have seen the picture of the (former) pigeon's nest in our gutter. as pigeons are filthy creatures, we purged the gutter of their disgusting nest, and hung some chicken wire in our eaves (that's where they would sneak off to do their nasty pigeon business). well, the pigeons have spoken, my friends. they must have sent out their carrier brothers to spread the word, because our recycling bins have become the target of their fecal terrorism. this is no accident. this is no coincidence. this is war. sadly, it is a war they can not win. for, not only are they too stupid to choose a viable target, but i am just crazy enough to take this to the next level: pellet gun. oh, i'll do it, folks. and while i'm at it, rabbits and squirrels be warned: Montefellow is no place for disease carrying vermin!

When the cat's away...

while i've been soaking up the love of my nephews in Ann Arbor, allison has been as busy as a bee. [tangent: are bees really that much busier than other species?] remember when she ripped out those useless Ikea shelves next to the refrigerator? well, in my absence, she has hung sheet rock. yes, friends, the trash nook is soon complete! are you excited as i am? i hardly think so. because not only has she done a perfect job of sheet-rocking, but she also removed the nasty basement shower! it's amazing what she can achieve without me there to distract her!

that is not to say that i've been sitting on my hands. my sister and i went over to the Motawi Tileworks studio gallery, and perused their selection. holy moly, they have some gorgeous stuff! i'm going back tomorrow to pick up a couple of Dard Hunter Rose tiles for our bathroom project. i only wish we had enough money to do the whole room...and the kitchen, for that matter. if you'd like to send in a donation for such a project, please feel free to contact me for a mailing address.

What could go wrong?

"It's my last day on the force! I can't believe I made it to retirement without getting killed...all I need to do is finish this one shift, and I am home free. [Gunshots] Oh God, I've been shot..."

remember when i blogged about our new sink? we were so close to having a finished bathroom. remember that? well, it was our last day on the force before retirement. you've seen it in the movies so many times. the greeks called it hubris. what could possibly go wrong? when we took the old sink out, we pulled the board off the wall. with the board, came part of the wainscoting. ok, we need to replace that section of wainscoting...but, if we are going to do that, we might as well rip out the nasty boards, which the previous owner passed off as trim. ok, well, maybe we should rip the floor out and do the whole thing properly!

thank god, wiser heads prevailed on the final part, but the "trim" came off and the wainscot came down. after seeing how much it would cost to tile the walls, we've decided to put some new wainscoting up, with proper trim, and tile the backsplash behind the sink. yes, folks, we did pay to have our bathroom walls refinished...but that was the top...and we're talking about the bottom here!

the up side: we get to hone our dry-walling skills in a place that no one will really ever see. besides, once we get our fat check from uncle same next year (thank you president obama!), we can tile the floor and the walls together. this just needs to get us through until then. besides, it will look great. we picked out a nice tile for the backsplash. it's going to class up the place. besides, we don't need your approval! besides besides besides...i'm beside myself with excitement!

DO fence me in!

it's amazing how much impact $5000 worth of of ceder can make. yes, that's right Montefellow fans, we have a fence! it is absolutely gorgeous, and smells divine. we sat out last night and enjoyed our private sanctuary. plus, allison's friend karlyn (a professional gardener) came over to help us plan out the landscaping. i can't wait. i might have to get one of those heat lamps you see at restaurants, so i can enjoy our sweet backyard all year round. of course, check with me in novemember...i'm sure i'll be singing a different tune. for now, though, i'm going to happily live outdoors. maybe i'll convince allison to get a peacock!

Bike storage

i picked up a little floor standing bike rack, for the porch, from Ace Hardware. this thing is a sweet little number. for $30 allison and i can safely lock our bikes on the porch, and easily access them. now, if i could just get my ass out of bed on time, riding to work in the morning would be a breeze!

Further evolution of the bathroom

after sitting in our basement for a few weeks, we brought our new pedestal sink upstairs to install. allison's dad was kind enough to lend us his expertise, and spearhead the project. as is always the case with these projects, it turned out to be much more of a headache than anyone initially estimated. naturally, the panel on the wall, holding up the old sink, was nailed, glued, and screwed into the wall. so, we are going to have to replace the wainscot. which isn't that big of a deal, because the people before us did a crap job anyway. here's a note to homeowners trying to sell: you're better off NOT doing renovation, than doing a half ass hack job. the previous owners probably put in close to 5k "renovating" the house (between the kitchen and the bathroom); almost ALL of which we are slowly undoing. people, spend the money and do it right, or don't do it at all.

of course, the sink was just an aesthetic upgrade. while that was being installed, our friend Dave (with the help of Trevor), fixed two leaks in our hot water pipes. that was a pretty cool project to witness. he actually cut the pipe and installed some new sections. oh, and he also cut the pipes to the random basement shower, so we can haul that piece of junk away. al and i did help a little, but i spent most of the day running out to get tools etc, and smoking a brisket (payment for the hard work put in by others).

We've got studs!

well, fence posts, to be more accurate...but studs sound a lot funnier in a blog title. yes, folks, the era of privacy is soon upon us. it's not that we are anti-social, or dislike engaging in conversation with the neighbors; we just would like our backyard to be like a sanctuary. hence, allison's dubbing it a sanctuary fence, rather than a privacy fence. it just sounds more peaceful, doesn't it?

once the fence goes up, we're going to lay down a nice patio, and build a pergola. with all that, the fire pit, and the garden, it will be quite the sanctuary indeed! we'll grill out every night! so, if you're in the neighborhood, stop by. just make sure to knock on the sanctuary fence first. oh, and don't be offended if no one answers...

the long journey

after much scrubbing and elbow grease, we finally have one finished door (1 of 6). to see more pictures, check out the Lights and Hardware page on the web site. it looks really good, but i still can't help longing for the natural wood. we thought about just stripping the paint down to the wood, but then we'd have to do the trim in all the rooms. and, frankly, the thought of that makes me want to cry. maybe some day.....

To HD or not to HD

we have a nice flat panel LCD TV, and, in the old house, we had digital cable with the HD add-on. we barely watch anything other than CNN, the Today Show, and the occasional PBS documentary. so, the full cable seemed a but of waste of money. when we moved, i paired us down to basic cable (since MPLS Comcast includes CNN in it's basic package). but i held on to the HD add-on, because HD looks SO MUCH BETTER. but, all this gets me is the network stations in HD - not CNNHD. so, should i cancel the HD service? is it worth $7/month to see Matt Lauer's face crystal clear in the morning? i know it's not worth it for Meredith...HD is not kind to that woman.

bla bla bla...the tough decisions of a homeowner!

Like a good neighbor...

working with computers is like being a doctor, or a lawyer: as soon as people find out your profession, all social morays and rules get thrown out. "oh, you are a doctor? say, i have this wart on my genitals. can you take a look?"

such was the case last night. when i got home, allison told me that she was talking to our neighbor, across the street, and mentioned that i do computer support. apparently, her computer has been crashing, and she was wondering if i could take a look. so, despite my initial fear of strangers, i went over to take a look. not a big problem, and i can definitely be of help.

this is not a complaining blog. i actually like having a useful skill, and i really like helping people. although it does set a dangerous precedent, i have immediately ingratiated myself with the neighbor; and, by proxy, the whole neighborhood. this is going to be especially important, as it seems our desire to build a privacy fence inadvertently offended our next door neighbor (who is friendly with the needy computer folks across the street).

it won't last, but i am really enjoying "neighborhood politics."

The bathroom cometh

Allison got the bathroom painted, and it looks great! also, it took me a few hours, but i got the new light hanging in the bathroom. it's a bit big for the space, but it was on sale, and matches our dining room light, so we went for it. plus, we hung up the new towel racks and toilet paper holder, plus the switch plate for the light switches. yes, the plates are from Restoration Hardware. what can i say? they have nice stuff! see more pictures here. note to readers: a gift certificate to Restoration Hardware would make a wonderful housewarming present...

speaking of Restoration Hardware, we also bought some new drawer pulls for the kitchen. we only got two, in order to make sure that we liked it before sinking a ton of cash. the result looks awesome! so, yeah, that gift certificate would be perfect :-)

How does your garden grow?

as stated on the outside page of the website, the woman who owned the house before us let the garden get severely overgrown. i wish i had taken more pictures of the mess she left back there. but i am determined to have a successful vegetable garden. so, needless to say, it required quite a bit of cleanup. first, i had to cut down and clear away all of the dead crap. then, i had to deal with the immense amount of weeds that sprouted up. i was going to rent a tiller, but i decided do it with a shovel instead. it was hard, and took forever, but i got it all tilled and ready to plant.

i'm going to buy plants, instead of seeds, to make the garden. there are gads of bunnies in the neighborhood, and i don't think that seedlings would fare very well. maybe next year, after we get the privacy fence put up. please feel free to comment with any suggestions and/or advice. i don't really know what i'm doing.

Toxic

Allison primed the bathroom last night using an oil based primer (as was recommended by our contractor). man, that stuff is TOXIC! with that and the carpet upstairs, i think we could charge teenage huffers admission. good thing we got low VOC paint!

now that the walls have a bright coat of white primer, and our temporary light fixture is beaming out 100 watts, the bathroom is the brightest room in the house. of course, we don't have curtains yet in any of the other rooms, so we are hanging up sheets for privacy. it's pretty classy.

We have walls!

Our bathroom walls are smooth, like butter. We still have to paint them, and put in the new fixtures (light, towel rack, and toilet paper roll), but it is close to done! oh, and we are putting in a new sink and changing the shower. so, i guess we are not even close to done. whatever. we have smooth walls!