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: