NaBloPoMo

I know. I know. I haven’t posted a thing here in a month. I think it’s been exactly a month.

It’s not that things aren’t happening (wood is stacked, kindling is chopped, furniture is moved, new furniture is ordered, kittens are growing, the seals at Wellfleet keep swimming…). It’s more that I’ve been so busy this month that something had to give, and that something was this blog.

It’s been on my mind, though. I’ve wanted to write, and take pictures and post them, and keep it all up. Today, as I was reading someone else’s blog, I saw a reference to NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month. The challenge is to write at least one post every day for the month of November.

It’s a silly challenge, but it’s a challenge, and would be a kick-start for me, so I’m going to try. What’s going to make this especially a challenge is that I’m headed to the UK tomorrow and will be there for November 1 and 2, so I’ll have to remember to post from there and, even harder, when I return and am jetlagged.

Wish me luck!

NaBloPoMo

Working titles

As you might already know, we have two new cats. We have one pretty firm name for the Singapura, one possible name for the two of them (collectively), a possible name for the Abyssinian, and literally at least a hundred other possible names for him. As a good friend of ours might say, “Maybe we’re over-thinking this?”

Anyway, this here is Oyster:

Oyter

Hyla chose the name; it’s her cat; we all like the name. I think it’ll stick.

This one is, for now, Acorn:

Acorn

Acorn2

Together, they are “meatballs”:

Meatballs2

Meatballs1

And their pictures are fuzzy because they still refuse to sit still long enough for a photo. “Oh! You’re holding a camera! THAT looks interesting…. let me run at you to see what it is.”

Happy New Year

The Jewish Year 5767 began last Friday night. Any way you look at it, it’s been quite a year. I’m quite happy to see it go, really, and ready to start again.

This weekend, we did some more interior painting and a lot of furniture rearranging and are, for the first time, feeling things coming together somewhat. The new (ell) living room is mostly without furniture now, but we have ideas about what we need to get or build.

The old living room (I suppose we could call it the “den”?) is a real room now, painted and furnished and much comfier for TV watching and napping by the fire:

PaintedDen

PaintedRearrangedDen

We moved the small, writing desk from the office to the big window in the dining room (and moved the pine table previously in that spot to the entry hallway):

DiningRoomRearranged

I’m thinking maybe we’ll put a lap top there for more convenient web browsing (right now, the only place we do this is in the office).

Outside, the lawn is mowed:

LawnMown

And you can see that we’ve stacked at least half of the final two cords of wood beside the house. The wood on this side is for the Morso (the little stove in the ell).

Oh, the “to-do” list is still there, but it’s gradually getting smaller. Some day, we might even be done. It’s good to start the new year with a purpose.

Squirrel’s Tail

This weekend, we finally painted our bedroom. The color is called Squirrel’s Tail (ok, we partly chose it because we liked the name), and the color is a sort of brown/tan that we thought might look a little “beachy” and go well with the oceanic floors.

Bedroom Painted in Squirrel's Tail

It’s quite cozy.

When we finished painting, we also rearranged the furniture. A new perspective for a new season.

Painting update

I didn’t get a chance to post an update before we left for Canada, but we have made progress on the exterior painting. A friend of a friend gave us a great estimate for finishing the really scary parts of the house paint (base and trim), so we hired him!

Here’s one painter, sitting on the porch roof:

PainterUpOnTheRoof

No thanks.

And here are the stunning results:

PaintingByJavier

Now, I still need to do a second coat on all the parts I can reach, and a first and second coat on the trim I can reach, but this doesn’t scare me at all. In fact, I’m looking forward to it, even though, realistically, this might not happen until next spring.

Elsewhere on the property, Michael, Hyla and I (ok, mostly Michael), stacked the first two cords of wood:

TwoCordsStacked

And now, even though I don’t have a photo yet to prove it, a third cord is stacked, too. Two more to be delivered.

This year’s wood situation is a fun change for us. Previous years, we’ve had the wood delivered to the old trail (now part of our driveway) and Michael would stack it all there to season. Later in the year, he would haul it all, garden cart load by garden cart load to the front year, and then re-stack it all inside the ell. This year, we’re able to stack it all right near the house so it doesn’t require multiple haulings and stackings (probably not a word…). We don’t have a shelter for the wood this year, but plan to put a good week or two’s worth on the porch as we use it. Maybe we’ll build a wood shed next year?

Bonjour!

A couple souvenirs from our recent trip to Quebec City:

Singapura

Abyssinian

The grey one (known by breeders as a “sepia”) is a Singapura. The big eyes are a breed standard. The brown one (termed a “ruddy”) is an Abyssinian.

The Singapura was born in February and the Aby was born in April. Neither have names yet – well, actually, we’ve tried out many many names, but nothing’s quite stuck.

They started out being very very timid, but are coming out of their shells now. The Singapura (whom we sometimes call “The Barber” because he likes to groom himself, his brother, and us…) is a bit more forthright. He’s already made friends with Phoebe, and he follows me around the house when I’m getting things ready in the morning. The Aby is shier, but is a darling and will cuddle and purr for long periods of time if you get him under a blanket with you.

You can see a few more pictures of them here.

What with the house getting nearly done, we needed some new excitement around here.