Little Red Car

Here's my subie, getting one of its twice-yearly baths. Sylvia is looking on in the bottom right-hand corner.

Sylvia Snapper's New Pants

Here's Sylvia climbing through the garden, frolicking with the pinecones and helping us garden. Isn't she getting fluffy?

Imminent Art House

Great news! We're painting the upstairs hallway! What luscious color have we chosen, you ask? Is it a classy, muted tone as befits the privacy of our second story? Is it a relaxing color that will set the tone for our slumber?
Shriek this: No!
It goes more along the food color that we've established throughout the rest of the house, but this is no food color found in nature like guacamole and corn. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is the best way I can think to describe it. The instant after you pour in the powdered sauce, as it greets the milk and melted butter and begins to blend, THAT is the color of our upstairs hallway.
Please refrain from licking the wall.

So Hot!

Tonight it's 10:06 pm and still 86 degrees on our second level. Today was a scorcher at 102, and the house is just starting to cool off. We've been taking advantage of the basement and its cool 70 degrees. Billy worked on a painting and I watched dvds with Sylvia.
Friday we spent a little time in the garden with the cats. Mittens helped Billy plant the hostas, then she rolled around on the sidewalk while Sylvia hung around.

Practically Vacation

This week has felt like a vacation now that choir is over. We had two shows within six weeks, and I was just starting to get used to not having weekends at those intervals.
This past show was cake compared to our last show at the Grotto. For both we had two rehearsals during the week (7-10pm) and shows on both Saturday and Sunday.
This weekend we had super-easy music that was mostly jazz standards and medlies of Ellington and Gershwin tunes. (Mmm, medlies.) We got to use music stands, sing without a conductor, and talk to each other onstage. Eduardo and I were front and center so we were instructed to smile and interact with the audience. For me, that meant pasting on a big grin, making eyes with various audience members, and swaying to the beat (although I get easily distracted by the music so am apt to forget to sway, snap, or dance at any given moment.). Afterwards, a board member commented that I looked like I was having a great time up there. I gave her a combination of show-biz truth and personal cynicism: "Really? That's a relief, because they told me I needed to smile more."
Despite having all this extra time this week, I haven't really done any projects. Shame on me! I did vacuum and scrub the downstairs bathroom floor and walls yesterday, but that's not exciting news.
Sylvia has stepped up her campaign to Get Outside, and despite my feet blocking her way has run out several times at inopportune moments, including yesterday when she ran out and disappeared under the car which was parked in the street.
Billy's toe is healing. The scab fell off last week and I apologize for not getting a picture of it. Yes, it would have been gross, but who doesn't like gross?
A friend's cousin grew a massive scab one summer when he was staying with her family (we were in high school) and her mom saved it, gilded it, and sent it to him in a jar, suspended in liquid. Not surprisingly, she didn't get thanked. I guess not everyone appreciates gross after all.
Today Billy has a job interview for summer term. Hopefully he'll have an income!

Hooray for Birthdays!

Hooray for art, as well. Tonight Billy and I picked up my new art print by Brenda Dunn, discovered at the Rose Martini Party (Thanks, Steve and Pam!) and purchased from Muse Art + Design on 42nd and Hawthorne. She does simple rendering of women, colors them, and makes prints onto woodblocks. They're quite adorable and amazingly affordable, and I'm looking forward to buying more. Brenda also has a new store on 42nd and Hawthorne called Garment, which features all locally-designed women's clothing and accessories. Reach her at pinupbrenda@hotmail.com, and come to our house to see them in person!

Last Show of the Season

Loyal readers, please forgive me for the short notice I'm about to give you. Although somewhat blurry, the flier on the right advertises David York Ensemble's last show of the season, which is this very weekend!
We will have a silent auction with lots of neat stuff, many solos by the more gregarious members of the choir (not including yours truly), and ensemble pieces featuring the music of Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, and George Gershwin. There will also be a champagne toast on both Saturday and Sunday.
This is going to be a fun, relaxed show which'll be more fun for those who don't dig the classical music scene.
Plus my birthday is on Sunday! What a great present it would be to see your happy, smiling, champagne-filled selves in the audience. It's at the Old Church in downtown Portland at 8 on Saturday, 5 on Sunday.
See you then!

Relax, my foot!

Apparently day of rest now means that we only work for 3-4 hours instead of all day.
This morning at breakfast, Billy suggested that instead of stressing over all the work we had to do on the house, we take it easy and relax for a day.

"I just want to finish the roof," he said.

We worked up there for about 30 minutes until the rain drove us inside. It's sunny now, and he's been up on the roof for a couple of hours and shows no sign of stopping.
Spackling and sanding the living room landing occupied me for about half an hour, and assembling my beef pot pie kept me busy before that. When are we going to relax, again?

And the roof is done! That smile celebrates the completion of a B+ roof. (Self-graded by the teacher.)

New Band Alert

Here is the previously-mentioned planting of the baby lavender and Russian sage. As you can see, Mittens and I oversaw the project while Billy did all the work. They're small now but soon they'll grow into big bushes, perfuming us whenever we brush their purple flowers.




Last night's social event (the Rose Martini Party) featured the unusual three piece band Sneakin' Out. A bass player, mandolinist, and percussionist played covers of Beatles and Pink Floyd songs, as well as their own creations. Most anticipated for me was the playing of the typewriter (right), which indeed made clackety-clack sounds and provided an interesting percussive change from the usual drum set. Marimba, bells (glochenspiel), talking drum, chimes, and ukelele, as well as spot-on playing made this band one of my new favs. The red crinoline and mohawk sported by the percussionist was also quite dandy. Check them out!

Garden Kitty

Sylvia's been so crazy to go outside lately that I finally took her out today. Skulking through the garden was her first item of business. She started near the front porch and made her way around the back of the yard, running up the pine tree a few times and finally ending up under the car, which was parked in the street. I redirected her to the lawn, and she settled on the driveway. Mittens watched Sylvia's travels and seemed to take it as a personal affront that she not only has to share the house with Sylvia, but the outdoors as well. Woe is her!

Sounds of Silence

Several wasted gallons a day were too much, we decided, so I took the downstairs bathtub faucet apart today and toted it across the street to A-Boy. After a trip back home to dig more parts out of the faucet, I got the correct parts and Billy put everything back together. (For some reason I just couldn't figure out how to put it back.) And voici! No more wasted water, and no more constant dripping.
Our only project for tonight is to be social. Off we go!