excusions (excuses, excursions, exclusions)

Well here goes.  September is nearly over and with exception to some small cleaning, shuffling, and the half demolition of a wall, we have done virtually nothing on the house since my last post.  Why?  Apparently my social life decided to explode, and Red Dead Redemption (Affectionately referred to as Grand Theft Horse) came out for the PS3, instantly rendering both Brian and I almost entirely useless.

If you have ever wondered what your room might look like with no plaster, it somewhat resembles an asylum. It does not stop here, though, no no. No matter how many passes you make with the shop vac, the entire rest of your home will be coated in a fine veneer of white powder for weeks after, making it amazingly obvious when your cats get up to some naughtiness because their pawprints will be the only clean spots on a given surface (like the lid of the turtle tank, or kitchen counters).

I would love to have my craft room by halloween.  All we need to do is tear down the lath, perhaps have an electrician out to run some new wiring since we already have the walls open, and have Daddo out for a drywall hanging party.  Doable? Perhaps.  Likely? Doubtful. But I can hope, and stranger things have happened.

gardening dependence

Some friends came over to help me with gardening stuff today. As i am 80% inept at things involving plants but not involving a stove, it was more like I sat there making question mark faces and pointing out things with fancy leaves and pretty petals and got a bit of dirt under my nails while the more knowledgeable types did all the actual work.


Cameron showed up just in time to do the heavy lifting.


I may not be terrible at gardening; my giant pot of basil and parsley has survived for several weeks since re-potting, and that was even before we had a hose to water.


My herbs are no longer in individual pots sitting in a giant tupperware storage box, either! I opted for strawberry jars because they are adorable, compact, easy to shift inside for the winter, and allow me to put multiple things in one pot but still keep track of what is what (see the 5 varieties of thyme in the one? amazing!).



We also tackled hanging baskets for my front porch; this was a bit more of an adventure due to the shoddy construction of the hanging chains that snapped almost instantly when we picked the first one up, comically spilling plant matter and dirt all over the steps of my deck. It was really too funny to even get pissy about--the plants seemed only moderately battered so we shoved them back in, fixed the chain, and crossed our fingers as we hung them up.


all of this was apparently too much excitement for Cameron. After generous helpings of leftover pomegranate iced tea, homemade potato salad, and awesome 6 layer dip (we couldn't think of anything to use for the seventh and final)from yesterday's BBQ he just rocked the fuck out on my couch. I took the hour of peace and quiet to wash the rest of the party dishes and meticulously clean my stove's glass cooktop. Now if you will excuse me, there are leftovers, beer, and Gerard Butler movies whose siren song is entirely too strong to resist.