Introduction
November 24, 2004
November 30, 2004
December 5, 2004
December 17, 2004
January 11, 2005
February 7, 2005
February 27, 2005
March 7, 2005
March 30, 2005
April 8, 2005
April 11, 2005
April 18, 2005
May 2, 2005
June 12, 2005
July 15, 2005
Summer '05
October '05
Winter '05
Spring '06

blue-bottle home

Handyman Special
Renovating that old house on Market Street
December 5

Brrrr! Today started off with sleet and rain as I carted two loads of debris to the transfer station, yech. Then the sky cleared and the temperature kept dropping. At 9pm it's around 15 degrees. I used some of the daylight this afternoon and got busy tacking up 6mil plastic around the base of the porch to cut down on more drafts. Anything to slow the spinning guage on top of the oil tank.
I'm dropping the whole "get a truck" thing. The boy in me still wants one to go bouncing around in one but so far the lenders have come through beautifully.John Griesemer and Faith Catlin are our wonderful neighbors who introduced themselves back in June with a handful of asparagus and warm smiles. Their generosity and support during our transition to country life has been nothing less than sublime. (And their Toyota Tacoma pickup has been indispensible for hauling the upstairs debris. Thank you very much.) Please buy one of John's novels (Cybele gives Signal and Noise a thumbs up) and come and see Faith's production of Mirette next February 18 - March 6 at the Grange Theater in Thetford, VT.

Here are some before and after shots of what will most likely be Ramon's bedroom in the future.

The upstairs demolition is complete except for some final sweeping and vacuuming. Whew! My back hurts but my spirit is undaunted. I'm shooting for all the demolition to be done by Christmas.

Here are some more treasures found behind the wallboard. The Celery Compound is a late nineteenth century Celebrex. Its label claims something about vitality and blood and that it invigorates the kidneys, liver, and bowels.

The rye whiskey pictured below is a cure-all that's still going strong and is probably part cause and antidote to the news of the day both then and now.

As Gertrude Stein said, "It is the job of history to repeat itself."

< previous           next >

 

© 2006 James Graham

  

website created by blue-bottle