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?
Easter walk
After a delicious Easter brunch at my brother Steve’s house, some of us decided to head outside for a walk. Below, Mike, Adam and Wil Bloy demonstrate that yes, waiting is hard.
Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone
I’ve often said that music is one of those things that helps me get through life, and makes it worth living. About a month ago, Neko Case released the excellent Middle Cyclone, a record that I’ve been listening to a lot, and has played a part in getting me through the stresses of moving and buying a house.
Back in January, Neko and her record label released a free MP3 of “People Got A Lot Of Nerve”, a song which has a deceptively bright sound, but with lyrics that are a bit on the dark side. I was intrigued and couldn’t wait for the album to come out.
I has internet
Monday I was FINALLY hooked up with phone service at my house, and yesterday my DSL modem arrived!
That was 19 days I went without having internet access at home. I don’t think I’ve gone more than a week without some kind of online access since my days of connecting to computer bulletin board systems on my Atari 800XL computer. And talk about broadband, that was with a state-of-the-art, 300 baud modem. Yes, I am old.
Being without home internet access for so long made me realize how much it’s a part of my everyday activities: reading the online news in the morning with a cup of coffee, using it to find phone numbers, getting a quick map, listening to new music streams, and just keeping up with friends and family. I almost felt like I had lost one of my senses.
New home update
I’ve been living in my new home for five days now. There is a lot of work to be done, but I’m slowly getting settled in.
In the past four days I’ve made seven trips to a home improvement / hardware store, with still more things on my shopping list to pick up. I’m expecting the clerks to start greeting me by name soon. I already have people working on my kitchen remodel, which is something I want to get done fairly soon. The house is definitely a fixer-upper, but it’s going to be real nice once the fixing up is done.
Probably the most frustrating part of this move is the fact that I still don’t have internet access at the house yet. Since the phone company is having some problems (and I’ll be getting DSL through the the phone line), I’ve been suffering from serious internet withdrawal. Hopefully I’ll be plugged back into the matrix soon.
Finding beauty on a dreary day
While I was eating lunch at the café today, trying not to let the dreary weather bring my mood down, I noticed water drops forming on the plants from all the mist in the air.
