outback excitement

 Last night I watched two episodes of The Tourist, a thriller from Australia. My favorite character is the woman police officer. In other news, I had the overused fireplace cleaned and serviced (yay) and received a doable estimate for Emma's Room. Also, sunshine!

Juneteenth with sunshine

I'm so pleased that this Holiday is finally catching on and helping to educate all of us regarding race relations and our not so great history here in America. Finally a no-fog day in SF and for the first time in ages I was able to sit on the newly fixed-up back deck and enjoy the sun and the glorious view. 

 

how late it is, how late...

 No, I didn't clean house this morning, but I had to organize for the two Wonder Women who do come in every two weeks to do the dirty work. This is a big and worthwhile splurge, but I need to prepare things before they appear to work their magic. Does my little house really get dirty? Well, no, but Annabelle and I like to splurge and treat ourselves royally. We both hate housework. 

two new hires

 Yesterday I met with two young (key word) women who will be coming to clean my house every other week. What a relief. They work in the neighborhood and I know that they are punctual and efficient and have good references. Alas, I have never liked cleaning and when the vacuum was out for a week or so around the holidays a friend suggested I decorate it with xmas lights. 

my, this feels good

 Yesterday three house cleaners came to do all those things that I ignore: stove, microwave, window blinds and under furniture mopping and vacuuming. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? For sure!

this old house

Husbando created this wonderful wooden spa-like bathroom back in 1976. In his audio memoirs he said he didn't know what he was doing, but he did a great job and was always proud of his work and I still love the unusual look. But, alas, the wood had warped and my fix-it guy, Mr. Singh, was worried and so he spent all day Sunday here making sure I would be safe for another ten years. So here are the before (top) and after photos and yes, I am pleased and hope that Bill is too. 
 

so far, so good

I've been cleaning all week but wanted/needed some help with the
carpets and wooden floors. Diego, who used to clean for us, is in
Brazil, so friends recommended Thumbtack.  Two young women
arrived at 8am and are working very hard upstairs while I hide
in my office and Annabelle is locked away in Bill's office. My
girl cat is so adaptable when treats are involved.

lazy Sunday

After a people-filled week I needed a day to myself yesterday. I
started gently with my To Do List for the big party here on the
10th, but mostly I spent time with the Sunday Chronicle. a
good 3 mile walk and some quality Annabelle time. Oh yes,
some reading too. Refreshed today despite fire worries
and very dirty air.

art and the single woman

This was a BFD for me. I bought a new oil painting just because I love
it and because this old house needs to be updated. The artist is our
neighbor Robert Schwarzenbach and I had seen his work a couple of
years ago at Open Studio in Hunters Point. When I went again last
weekend he told me he doesn't really embrace pink, but this reflects the
whole current women's resistance narrative. Would Bill like this? I'm
not so sure, but he would applaud me buying this just for me. And
the artist hung it perfectly, so that counts too.

back room back to normal (almost)

OK, things are getting organized around here again. The painters were
so fast and tidy, putting the complicated TV and Roku® back together
in about 5 seconds, while speaking Spanish and laughing a mile a
minute. We had the bookshelves and table painted white to match the
trim and the wall color is that beige-plum featured in the rest of Casa
Verde. It's beyond our expectations. Truly. Happiness reigns.

The kitchen needs some final touches and I will report on that in due
course, along with some photos to keep you all entertained.

Hats of to Husbando who thoroughly cleans EVERY item and puts
it back in place while I lounge around the museums discussing the 10¢
a bag policy and all that entails.

temp kitchen in garage

This morning at 8:30 the painters will arrive to spend a few days with us
and of course there is some upheaval, but Husbando and I are staying calm
and when he saw the above he said, "oh, like a picnic!" I'm missing the dogs
and cats this morning because there is a baby shower for Lucybelle over
in Oakland at noon, so fur will fly around here anyway. Onward!

re-roofing ~ done!

These aren't our roofers, nor is this our roof. Ours is flat and easy and still
expensive. But it's done ~ no more towels and buckets around the house and
that kind of denial talk like, "hmmmm, maybe I spilled some water here?"
Six guys arrived with trucks and tools at 7am yesterday and by 5 o'clock
they were finished. It was noisy as they stomped and scraped, so we both
spent most of the day outside la casa. Today it's raining, so for once our
timing was pretty damn good.

An interesting side note ~ when we called for estimates, the roof guys could
check ours on Google. Weird, no?

speaking of chairs

It's one of those days. First the most welcome morning email
from the Blogmaid asking what kind of chair I bought at
Macy's last week and did I bring it home on the bus? (no)
Then I read the charming blog from The Fevered Brain in
Mexico who is also concentrating on chairs, only her story
is a little more colorful than mine. Check out her blog The
All of It at the top of the blog list over there to your right.
Our recliner chair replaces Husbando's worn one and of
course it was on sale. Delivery Feb. 4th.

a very, very, very fine house

Here we are back in July (2008) ~ house is still a light blue and the
gates are "natural" and ugly, of course.
I snapped this yesterday. Chez Slug is now a light sage green with creme
color and hunter green trim. The gates are painted the dark green too
and sort of recede into the porch instead of being such a glaring state-
ment of past or potential trouble.
Here is some detail for you. Ron added the top piece of wood trim
to make the windows more interesting. And no, the back of the
house isn't finished yet...

back home in the blue tent

Here's the Blogmaid's 4.5 year old RR with Josie, the grey and white
trimmed furball. Things are getting back to normal in Pumpkinville
and that's the way it should be.

In the meantime, congrats to Loren on the sale of her book to
Scribner's. If everything works the way it should, even I might have
a piece in this anthology. I've been using my Morbid Curiosity
coffee mug every morning to help the sales process, and of course
that was essential. (Actually I only use that cup on work days
because on weekends I have coffee in the Nothing Runs Like a
Deere tractor mug that my friend Ginger in Kansas gave me.)
But of course I digress. The book will come out in the Fall of
2009, and I already told (errrrrr, asked) Bossman about the new
release party and book signing at the big box and I expect every
one of you loyal readers to attend. He said "you betcha!" or
words to that effect.

My non-news. I close tonight AND tomorrow night this week
and we are having lots of fix-it work done on our house. I don't
handle mess and disorder very well, but it's about time I accept
this and go-with-the-flow. Does anyone really care if the dirty
power saw, rags, wooden boards, paint cans, cords, ladders
and assorted tool boxes make me irritable? I think not...