Portland's Version of a Blizzard

I stepped out onto the front porch before the light was gone and shot a quick video of our street. I haven't seen a storm like this since I left Minnesota as a kid. I know that's not saying much since I spent most of those years in places like Texas and Arizona, but still, it's quite miserable out there tonight. We've had snow on the ground continuously for a week now. That hasn't happened in Portland since I've lived here. The schools were closed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but open on Tuesday and Thursday. That made for an "interesting" work week. The worst part is that I've been trying to finish my Christmas shopping (and shipping) all week but the weather is making that very difficult.

The hummingbird feeder has been busy this week. I don't see how those little guys can survive in the cold weather. I've been bringing the feeder in to let it thaw twice a day and they seem to appreciate it!

Riley says "NO THANK YOU!!" I don't blame him. I wouldn't want to run around out there in my bare feet either.

Website Remodel is Done

I've been working on redesigning this website during my FTO this week (Forced Time Off). I decided that the old look and feel was getting, well, old. I changed the blog template and took advantage of some new features. I hope you enjoy!

Snow Daze

'Tis the Season, and everybody has been posting pictures of their fabulous holiday decorations. We've even seen pics of Portland's snow this week. Well here's the less glamorous, more realistic vision of the second Snow Day this week (so far), as seen by anyone who is brave enough to enter the 1916 Portland Bungalow.

In this picture you see my camera shy 7-year old, all the crap that comes from being cooped-up for 2 days, and proof that I still haven't finished the dining room wainscotting. If we get any more snow days this week somebody better send me a dump truck. And a straight-jacket.

Pepto Dismal

I started demolishing the "Joe vs. the Volcano" room over the Thanksgiving weekend. The whole room was covered in a 1/8" layer of drywall that thinly veiled what can only be described as a Pepto Bismol Chamber of Horrors!!!

All four walls were painted this awful (but not quite hellish) hue of pink. The ceiling was obviously insulated, but not drywalled in its previous incarnation.

The flourescent pink, orange, and yellow paint (and the ceiling mounted mirror!!!) must have been pretty f'ing trippy while getting bombed and listening to Iron Butterfly sometime in the 70's.

Here's a shot showing the wall that I'm removing to make two rooms into one big room. This new big room will the the family room/movie theater/homework room.

I'm Published (sort of)

If you have a copy of the December 2008 issue of Old House Journal, and a keen eye, you might notice a couple pictures from this site made it into print. The first one is in the article about "The Inherited Garden", albeit with a photoshopped sky. The other one is in the article about weatherstripping (the window on the right page).