A Few of My Favorite Things...

This is what our old (but "it's new to you!") kitchen floor looked like about a week and a half ago. I'm happy to report that this is no longer what it looks like. All that brittle plywood and rank synthetic board is now propped in a neat little stack in the basement, waiting to be cut apart and carted away and we can now see the lovely, beautiful, natural materials underneath! I have found myself contemplating over the past few weeks why anyone would ever cover hardwood with these personality-free squares... but I suppose we are only at the tip of the nature-appreciation iceberg, and I can imagine what a godsend springy, easily wipeable floors must have been to mothers of five back in the 50s and 60s. And while I may not be fully appreciating the old linoleum we've just pulled up, I can safely say that it's burned into my brain from staring at it night and day! Well played, Linoleum!

Posted by plehar at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A coworker of mine recently compared the New England spring to falling in love with the wrong guy. You get a sort of insane thrill when you see the crocuses appearing for the first time in the season, and you're so happy you're almost dancing in anticipation. Then a 'Noreaster comes and the whole thing blows over and freezes... that is, until you see those delighful buds resurface one day as you're trudging down the sidewalk and fall into the same tizzy all over again! For some reason it comparison really got me - there's such a sense of false hope for Spring around here with the winters sometimes leaking all the way into May! And yet I personally con myself into believing it will be different this year. There is something pretty about it all though. Especially through the brand-spanking-new windows of the MGH station.

Posted by plehar at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's been a whirlwind couple of months, and this January, we bought a house! Never could I have imagined my nights and weekends (and dreams) would be filled with this image, but I've actually become quite comfortable hanging out in a layer of dirt, rust, and power tools. I have become inseparable from the drill that magically pulls out those stubborn screws and can't imagine how anyone ever managed a project like this with a screwdriver alone! This handful represents one of the last batches of nails I'll pull out of that crusty old linoleum and I'm just hoping the hardwood under it all is worth it! There's something very satisfying about the routine work involved in building (or, rather, demolition) projects like this. Being completely new to this flavor of manual labor, I can tell you the reward seems to even be worth the pain. And while a seasoned professional might have had the whole thing up in a fraction of the time - at least I can say, over an asprin and a heat pack, "I did that."

Posted by plehar at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)