electricity

next year our christmas lights will need to rival this:


two weeks ago a circuit in the house suddenly stopped working. luckily, the lights, outlets and switches were on the front of the house and were not really critical for the day to day. after pulling apart half the light fixtures and outlets on the circuit, i finally found a poorly connected neutral at the top of this rat's nest in the breaker panel. i had tested the breaker and the hot wire but never looked at the neutral. i probably spent about 6 hours total troubleshooting this thing with some help from the internet and some electrical knowledge from the job. 6 hours to find a loose wire that was right in front of me from the start. mwa ha ha. homeowner.

coastal

zeus enjoys the taste of the salty sea


after five years in seattle i finally made it to the west coast. the lack of bouldering being the main cause for my extended absence, but of course there is more to life than little rocks. a mere 3 hour drive gave way to big sandy beaches, rich forests and a cozy cabin perched just above the tide. people complain about the long gray winters here, but the mild winters often lend themselves to many a sunny day in reasonable temps conducive to a plethora of outdoor activities, like clamming. low tide came a bit after dark, and the gun-toting, lantern-laden clammers hit the beach in full force. i think it took about 1.5 hours to hit our limit. the dogs may have enjoyed it more than the peoples.




don't build that cottage too close to the fast-eroding beaches


only part of the 75 clam bounty


irresistible, although see jess' post below for one of the final products, new england clam chowder is next.

Why dig clams?

So you can make clam sauce to put on your pasta, of course! Yum!

Razor clam fest 2011!

It was a little misty, and pretty dark, but everyone got their limit of 15. 'Til next year, clams!

Looking for shows with the help of specially trained clam show dogs

Alison, going deep

Galen's patented one-armed razor clam pull technique

Double-teaming 'em

No, you have to cook it first!

My preciousssssss

Victory!

england

England makes me think of good ales, An American Werewolf in London (one of my favorite horror movies), motor cars, and rain, to name a few things. After an afternoon in London, I have spent the last eight days 3 hours north in Sheffield. Work has brought me here, and might keep me here longer than expected. For Thanksgiving I had a steak pie in a local brewpub and listened to a man tell me about what a good fighter his collie/cross dog was. His northern accent combined with a speech impediment allowed me to understand about 20% of what he was saying. Each day I meet up with a team of proper Scots, lead by a man named Molloch, to face the elements and build some towers. I even got out climbing for a couple afternoons.

Driving a minivan is a treat, but I sometimes miss having a manual transmission. Driving a manual from the passenger seat and keeping the car on the left side of the road have been no small challenges. I was ‘pulled over’ by the police once for driving the wrong way down a one way road in London, as directed by a London navigator in the car with me, but I haven’t caused any head on collisions just yet. The country roads are so curvy and narrow I can see why they love their sports cars so much here, it’s just more fun to drive around.

Anyway, happy thanksgiving folks and here are some photos:






Woot! the original Coventry?

Rug

Chinese tiles in the living room

Now need something for over the fireplace I guess...

Painted the guest room

Colors: outgoing orange, bamboo, china doll.

Here's how it looked before:

Pumpkin carving

Yum

Separated at birth?

Boo!

compost kamikaze

i would estimate that 30% of our solid waste each week consists of dog poo. and while i like to think that we are a relatively low waste home, seeing poo wrapped in plastic and headed for the landfill has always been unsettling. i am certain this feeling is shared by our canine culprits. after doing some research and hearing some second hand success stories, we finally installed a dog poo composter today.


20 gallon garbage can, bottom chopped off, ventilation holes drilled.


great expectations from these two


choosing the right spot to dig was the big decision of the day. my main concern was limiting the amount of roots i would need to cut, and the thought of blasting through a drain tile never crossed my mind. as i started to hit gravel i was trying to figure out why there would be a drain field 30" below the shed. then i saw some nice thick pieces of clay and had an a-ha! moment. turns out the large retaining wall in back must have a proper drain system, and i just happenend to dig in the one spot (maybe there are 2 or 3 drains, who can know?) where the 4" drain tile runs to a lower drain field, relieving the wall of hydrostatic pressure.


several hours and a trip to the hardware store later, the patch is complete. this might be good practice for when the septic drain collapses....


i threw some gravel in the bottom of the barrel, some grass clippings, a little soil, and a bunch of turds (turds not pictured). we've heard mixed reviews on whether or not septic bacteria or other catalysts will be needed. for now, i'm just going to let it be and hope some worms try to get established.


see the large black lid in front of the bucket? i probably need to put a warning on the lid, while the thought of some kid jumping on this and falling into the soupy surprise below is mildly hilarious, the law suit would not be. hopefully this will be an odorless and fly-less solution and dakota and zeus will look and feel a little less guilty when bombing the yard.


we also assembled a worm bin. not sure if they are going to love the citrus or if i am over feeding them on their first day, but i only want the strong to survive anyway.

the only other exciting thing going on is a leak in our corroded hot water tank. hybrid tank coming soon...

Downstairs bathroom is finished

Before (ugh, right?):
And now, with wallpaper removed, new paint job (color: ivy league), new floor strip, leak under shower door fixed, and new cabinet handles, faucet, mirror, and light fixture...... TA DA!!!

...and we roll on...

The bedroom's coming along

It was pretty dreary, but now the walls have been painted and baseboards installed. The color is "beguiling mauve." So enchanting. It's darker and more purple-y in real life. Next project: drapes! (Not that the pinned-up sheet isn't classy.)

The living room!

The whole dining room is complete!

We got us a table and chairs. Ready to eat indoors!

Operation dining room wall: complete

The dining room wall is done.

Before:


After adding red paint, floor moulding, fish tank, stand, decorations, and Josh's art:

Dining room paint job

muddin'

i was rather hesitant to try and put a wall up over the fireplace, having no experience with drywall, but after removing the 3/8" wood paneling it seemed straight forward enough. although having spent many years with a putty knife in hand i thought the taping and mudding would be easier... the corners definitely take some practice and the ceiling seam is yet to be done but in the end i think it's going to come out alright.

pretty sweet paneling but hey...


drywall cut, afraid to actually nail it in


butcher job, but nothing some sandpaper can't fix


little progress in the rec room as well...

floor face lift

from this


to this, bing!