What We Have to Show for Six Months

So much has happened in lapses between posts. I take pictures constantly, but am hardly poised to post when more changes happen and already my post is out of date. Instead of scrambling to show you everything, here are a few highlights from January-Oh-Nine.

Remember our awkward little sunroom, sticking off the front of the house? Overwhelmed at the projected cost of removing it and restoring the porch to its original size, we decided (yes, Dad, you were right) to chock it full of windows and call it a sun room. Albeit: a sunroom that doesn't really so much get any direct light. We'll call it more of a "watching-crack-heads-and-other-colorful-characters-room." Here are the windows getting delivered.


Amusingly, the guy who delivered them seemed to be familiar with our neighborhood, and asked quite seriously if we "had heat". We replied chipperly, "oh yes! It's very warm." And then we realized he meant, like, packing heat. Oops. We said, it's cool: we have a pit.


Goodbye, crappy window!



Hello, four-over-ones!


Boy, ask me how much I've learned about grills. As in the little pieces of wood between panes, or "pretending" to be between panes; not as in cookouts, or as in being all up in someone's.


Notice the little furry ear peeking out there? Just gotta take a a moment to feature the aforementioned pit. Life is great with Cleveland, and at last I have a new willing (or unaware) model to photograph.



(The bedroom is allllmost done... just need: a new window, three new/old doors installed, some closet shelves, some art.)


Our friend Chris Boggs figured out the issue of hiding the above-the-closets storage in the study: old outdoor shutters turned sideways! Barrio came in and knocked out the framing in a flash, and with his brother Antonio installed two recessed lights in the "reading nook". Now all we need is to hang the shutters once they're painted, and to find the perrrrrrfect armchair to fill the space - big enough to curl up and sleep in.



Here's Barrio, who is absolutely the man. An incredible worker, a true artist, a good friend.


Another set of characters you should know: Tyler (human) and Sancha (Cleveland's bestest buddy).


Thanks to Dad, Cleveland now has a cozy home of his own in the back yard.


Which protects him from this mess - though rather threatened at first, Cleveland eventually embraced the snow and ate lots and lots of it.


Here's what happens to ugly and unnecessary walls around these parts...


Aaaaaand much better:


At this point I'm kind of getting used to the heap of trash in the middle of the floor and may keep it. I've certainly seen less comfortable furniture.

So, that's pretty much it, folks. Once we clean up the joint I'll attempt some more professional-like photos, but at this point it's still rather rough-hewn. But change is happening. Yes it is. Yes we can. See? It works for just about anything.


May 2009 live up to its incredible promise.