And a bright yellow orb burned in the eastern sky!

And the denizens of the Upper Valley trembled in fear!

Fortunately, white fluffy balls of cotton came and blotted out the brilliant sphere!

At long last

A photo of the coatrack!

This is my second rack - the first one was very... umm... unlevel. I learned I can't trust my sense of the horizon any more!

And then came The Rideouts!

I had a great, but too short visit with Abby and Steve. And I need to give a nod to Mary and Andy, who were great fun, but they had left before I even though about photos!

And as a bonus, I got my new mailbox put up! A big “Thank You”, Steve!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Regenerate, Restore!

4:20 on 4-20

Something comes to mind!

And it is now legal in Oregon!

YEE HAW!!!

The piano bench starts its new life!

It was a drab, dark brown piece of furniture. Unimpressive in its averageness, much like me and all I own. But it was a very solid piece of furniture, so I decided to sand it down and paint it some color to match my décor. The old finish came off surprisingly easily, and some beautiful wood was revealed.

The piano bench with its beautiful Brazilian Walnut veneer.

Needless to say, I opted just to put a clear coat on the wood, and call it beautiful! I am quite pleased! It sits under the coat rack in the entry, prepared for any use! (Except, you mustn't sit on it or place anything on top of it. That would be a crime against nature!)

The all important litter box update!

All systems are good.

I love the new litter. Max loves the new litter. It is a hit with all involved parties!

Time for some dancing in the streets!

The Wells Clan came a-visiting!

The visit was too short, but it was GREAT!!!

I got to meet my new grand-niece, Calla!

Thank you, Shannon, John, Roc, and Calla!

(And Katie, too!)

You made my weekend!

Another Red Letter Date!

Max likes his new litter. I am ecstatic! We have entered into a whole new world of kitty littering! And it is a good new world! Well, so far… Max could change his mind. I hate to admit it, but I kind of followed Max around yesterday evening. I learned one thing: if you follow a cat around long enough, he replaces any desire to use the litter box with rage, indignation and violence! But by morning, he had used the box and my wounds were already healing! Check back for more scintillating details later!

And my new bed came today! It took all I could muster to drag it into the house; 87# of box that didn’t slide well. I was exhausted by the time I got it to the living room, but after a short break I took all the pieces out of the box. I think I’m going to like it, but I am waiting for tomorrow to take the old Hollywood frame out and put the new bed in. I can only take so much excitement in one day.

And the last two blinds for the loft came. They look great. I’ll take pictures as soon as I get them hung. Once again, there is only so much stimulation I can take in such a short period of time.

Is it okay to go to bed a 2:51PM? After such a busy, sating day it seems like that should be legal. I am kidding; I plan to stay up at least another half hour or so!

Oh joy of all joys!

I am so excited. This is definitely a day I’ll mark on my calendar!

The new kitty litter has arrived.

The litter was supposed to be here on Friday, but its arrival was delayed by a windstorm in Portland. Apparently the lives of the delivery staff were more important than Max’ new littler. They need to get their priorities straightened out!

So far it has my thumbs up! Lightweight (a one month supply weighs less than 5#), biodegradable (just throw it in the compost bin), solid waste is flushable (although the state of California recommends that you refrain from such action), it’s made of coconut husks so it is from a renewable source, no clay to track around the house and it is delivered to your door.

I was going to send you graphic pictures of Max making use of his new litter, but he hasn’t awoken from his midday nap. 

Everytime I start my car…

…This comes up on the dashboard.

Now, I have a number of arguments against this notice.

#1. Just because I am sitting behind the steering wheel, does NOT in any way imply that I am responsible, or for that matter capable of operating the vehicle safely.  When you want to throw around responsibility, how about the people who built the car, the sleazebag who sold it to me, or even the person riding shotgun? I am well down the list of responsible people.

#2. Frankly, I’m not sure what this system is (other than a radio), so I obviously can’t use it when traffic conditions are bad. Hell, I can’t use it with the car in park in the driveway. So there!

#3. Okay, so I’m fighting fierce traffic and suddenly they want me to pull out the owner’s manual and read it! They are friggin’ crazy! 

I may be paranoid, but I think Junior and/or the manufacturing company is out to get me!

Introducing

My new kitchen table/counter!

I worried about it not matching the rest of the kitchen, as it is dark brown and the kitchen is black. But the top, which is made of Portland cement has black in it. I like how it breaks up the sameness of the kitchen!

And it fits perfect! It makes the kitchen feel much bigger!

If you don't think this is funny....

... then you didn't go to college with me!

Thank you, Bill Watterson!!!

Happy Birthday to the Parker boys!

I will discretely not disclose your ages!

Yo, dude.... still in my heart!

Just a great old picture!

Ain't rummaging through old pictures fun!