Tomorrow the contractors will start demolition on my kitchen. I thought I should post some “before” pictures to document the transition.
All posts by Jonathan
Peonies as metaphor
Great day for a bike ride
I’ve been living in my house for over two months, and my list of things to do here is still pretty long. But it was a picture perfect day in Madison, and I would have been a fool to spend such a beautiful day working in the house. So I put a snack in my bike’s saddle bag, filled up the water bottle, and headed out for a long ride.
When I was house shopping, one of the reasons I chose the neighborhood I did was the close access to the many bike trails in the area. Where I used to live, there were just too many very busy streets between decent bike trails and my condo. I would often throw my bicycle in the back of the truck and drive a ways to get to some decent bike riding. No longer. My house is just blocks away from a great trail (which can also take me to other trails).
Today I biked my longest ride of the season so far. Around Lake Monona, a side trip along the Capital City State Trail for a while, and then through the side streets of Monona, back toward home. I took no camera, no ipod — I wanted to concentrate on biking and experience the world around me on such a nice day. Even though there were a lot of other bikers on the trails, it was great to be out there, just biking.
Take me out to the ballgame
Birding at Horicon Marsh
Last weekend my father and I visited Horicon Marsh and National Wildlife Refuge where we went on an early evening, two-hour boat tour.
A few times we were fortunate to get some great views of birds close up, like this sandhill crane.
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Purple columbine
Another surprise perennial from the front of my house. Does anyone know what it is?
Update: It’s a columbine. Thanks Chris!
The flower is small ? about an inch and a half in diameter.
Years and years of tobacco smoke residue
I could smell the old, stale, cigarette smoke when I first walked in. I was getting my first look at the house I decided to purchase. The yellowed curtain rods told me that smokers lived there for a long time. It turned out that the fifty-year-old home was owned by only one family, and from what my neighbors tell me, they were heavy smokers. But the price was right, and I figured I’d be able to deal with the stale smell and make it livable again.
Thankfully, all of the walls and ceilings were painted before the house went on the market. After I moved in, I got to work on cleaning the woodwork. I started with the hardwood floors. Once over with Murphy’s Oil Soap, then rinse. I could not believe that it took five, sometimes six rinses until the water would not be brown when I dumped it out.
Dreamkeepers
A beautiful day yesterday took me out to ride on Madison’s Capital City Bike Trail. Along the trail, on Patterson Street, is a three-story-tall sculpture by Doctor Evermor called “Dreamkeepers.”
Bleeding hearts
The perennials that have been springing up in front of my house have been a nice surprise. So far the only thing that has grown enough for me to identify are the bleeding hearts.
Tracks to far off places
What is it about trains that we find so fascinating? Even when I see empty tracks I’m compelled to wonder (and take a photo). Where to they lead? What’s around the bend?
