Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, &...Happy New Bathroom Floor!

Another busy year for us over here!

Lots happening at work for both of us, and Lorraine has been very busy patrolling the perimeter, watching for Squirrel Intrusions.

As always, we were sure to take some time out for the holidays.

This year, AJ found this great little advent calendar for us. It has tiny drawers that you can put little treasures and treats in:

AJ was in charge of the odd days, and I was in charge of the even days. It was very fun.

Other than that, we concentrated on putting up our most favorite decorations:

Christmas Day was lovely. We spent a leisurely morning drinking coffee and opening presents. It was chilly, so Lorraine put on her Christmas jammies to stay toasty warm:

She took a break from her napping to model the new raincoat Mother O'Brien sent:

For lunch/dinner, AJ set up a little chaat bar -- we got a pile of samosas from a local restaurant, and laid out all kinds of things to throw on top:

It was delicious! We spent the afternoon watching movies, and Susie dropped by for a samosa and the end of North by Northwest.

The next day, Susie came by again for another End of Year Cooking Project! Last year, we did a giant cookie baking party on the 29th. This year we made tamales!

The variety of fillings included mushrooms, sweet potato, corn, chicken, black olives, cheese, and roasted red peppers:

AJ made up two big batches of masa (corn dough), and we jumped right in. 

Spread the dough on a wrapper (usually a corn husk; here we are using parchment paper), and fill it:

Then roll it up:

Now Susie's turn:

Ready to steam:

We used parchment paper for a long and not very interesting reason. Corn husks impart more flavor and smell wonderful as they steam -- these turned out pretty tasty, but I think husks are really the way to go.

Delicious!

In other news, I have been wanting to give the bathroom an update. We need new bathroom cabinets because the ones we have are old, cheapo particle board things that are starting to fall apart. The weird mauve floor tiles are kind of off-putting, and why are there big yellow tiles on the walls? The grout in the shower is old and falling out in places. And we have never actually painted this room in all the time we have lived here (12 years!), and it's looking scuffed and tired.

At first, I started thinking about doing a big project next summer. This bathroom was redone about 20 years ago, so there shouldn't be any weird old-house surprises (like what we found when we opened up the kitchen in 2016), meaning we could basically do everything ourselves. I was thinking about going with a classic kind of feel -- pull the tiles off the wall and replace with wainscoting, pull up the mauve tiles and replace with cork (look and feel of wood, but more sustainable; and warmer on the feet than woodgrain tile), new sink and fixtures, new lighting, new cabinets, etc. etc. 

Doable, and it would be fun. We had a great time doing the kitchen together. Then...boy, that's a lot of work. And wrangling a contractor is a lot of work, and so much more expensive. Hm. And really, all those tiles are in good shape -- nothing is chipped or broken. Is there something I can do to give them a refresh without having to rip everything out?

After a little research about refacing tiles, painting tiles, etc. I found a few companies that make decals that sit on top of existing tile. Not the "peel-and-stick" tiles that have a few millimeters of thickness and permanent adhesive (which would require me to cut into the door jambs/trim, do new floor transitions, and remove the sink and toilet during installation), but vinyl decals that are a little thicker than a bumper sticker, with temporary, repositionable adhesive. They come in great patterns, and are pretty straightforward to use. And supposedly they will stand up to a decent amount of everyday wear and tear. 

Between scrubbing the floor really well beforehand, and the work to stick 30 of these bad boys down, I think I spent about four hours on this project. I found them a little fiddly to trim around the curved foot of the sink and toilet, but it really wasn't too bad.

Very happy with the result, and an added bonus is that the floor feels less cold -- the vinyl isn't thick enough to be adding insulation per se, so it's just something about the surface of the vinyl versus the surface of the tile. Whatever it is, it's very welcome, now that the temperature is starting to drop in SF.

And, with a little research, and I figured out that I can just repair the broken grout in the shower. Of course! No need to replace the whole thing. I did that last weekend.

A coat of paint is in store when the weather warms up, and we'll start looking for cabinets in the new year. And with that, we'll call the bathroom done for now. 

In the meantime, we hope that you are enjoying the final hours of 2023, and are looking forward to great things in 2024. Lorraine wishes you fuzzy blankets and belly rubs for a lucky new year!

Todos Santos

Today we are celebrating Todos Santos, or All Saints Day.

On Todos Santos, we pause to remember our dear, departed loved ones by setting out pictures and mementos, and sharing our memories. 

This year has been a lot busier than the previous couple of years, so we stepped our plans down a bit. Next year, we hope to get back to doing more, like making fun, delicious treats like rosemary shortbread "Remembrance Cookies." 

But it wouldn't be Todos Santos without our altar! We made sure to set all our mementos out, and are spending time with the memories of our dearly departed.

Happy Halloween!

 

Happy Halloween from ski instructor to the rich and famous, Lorena Hånsenbjørgen, Ski School Director at the exclusive Marsgroßglockner Resort in the Austrian Alps.

Ordinarily, she would be happy to give you a quick lesson on the bunny slope, but today she can't stop -- she is on her way to her appointment with Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella of Monaco.

New House From Mars Email Feed!!

It has come to my attention that the email subscription feed that had been sending you updates on new posts lo these many years has stopped working!

As is the way with these things, this blogging platform has decided to turn off the feature rather than continue to maintain it. 

I have created a new feed, in a new service. Starting with this post, you should start receiving updates again! 

(If you get a moment, please let me know if you got an update on this post, so I can figure out if it's working.)

I'm not sure when the old feed stopped working, so you may have missed some posts! Check out the archive on the right-hand side of the screen to see what you've missed! 

In the meantime, Lorraine would like you to know that as long as the feature called "sun" is not turned off, she's happy.

Pretty New Fence (For Real This Time)

 Today, the fence was finally replaced!

It was a very long time coming! This should have been done a month ago, but all the rain (and rain and rain and rain) caused so many delays. The work on the deck still isn’t done, but we asked them to please replace the fence at the earliest opportunity, so that we can at least get our space back and replant the garden bed. 

(Yes, it was completely trampled, as expected.)

Looking forward to moving all the plants and chairs back to where they should go, and replanting the bed this weekend! AJ has some new plants she sprouted and is ready to put in the ground: hyssop, chamomile, hollyhock, and chives. Can’t wait!

Speaking of new sprouts, Farmer Susie lent me a special vegetable planter that uses advanced, space age technology (special potting mix, a variety of fertilizers) to grow high density vegetables with little water. I got some collards, beets, and kale seeds in there this past week:

Lorraine is crazy for vegetables, as are the cabbage moths we have around here, so I am going to need to put a little protective cover over it. I was hoping I had some time before needing to do that, but she’s already nosed a beet sprout to death, so I guess that’s a project for this weekend, as well.

Looking forward to a sunny weekend, and dare we hope…a sunny week ahead!

Pretty New Fence

 Yesterday, we did a major beautification project in the back yard. Look at our pretty new fence!

Admire it from another angle!

And another!

Where once there were plants and flowers, now there is only beat up plywood and 2x4s. It is indeed a marvel!

Ok, what this really is, is the city is making the back neighbor do some safety work on his deck, which he built right up to the property line 15 or 20 years ago (well before we moved in). Among other things, he needs to build a firewall under the deck. With the fence there, there isn't enough room to do the work, so his contractor removed a section and built this screen around the work area.

The work area includes the aforementioned garden bed, which surely they will be careful not to trample. Surely.

The work is supposed to take only 2 or 3 weeks, and the neighbor offered to pay for a full fence replacement at the end. It's time to replace this fence anyway, so we appreciate his offer. One less thing on the to-do list!

In the meantime, we will be sure to enjoy this lovely addition to our peaceful garden (and all the noise that will come with it)!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

What a year! 

2022 was busy! We all worked hard: AJ and a colleague launched a special project to help give kids in her school a fresh start, Lolo learned many tricks and skills (including picking something up and bringing it to your hand from a distance), and I attended 10,000,000 meetings and drank 50,000,000 cups of coffee.

We are very happy to be celebrating Christmas and winding down the year!

Lolo donned her Christmas pajamas and hat to stay warm in the cold and rain:

We put up our Charlie Brown tree, and assorted festive decorations:

The stockings were hung by the bookcase with care:

Along with Pickles' and her mice friends' stockings:

We put Momma Arave's Christmas Bough in its place of honor:

And AJ made this nice little display of lights and paper crafts on the living room bookcase:

On Christmas Day, we opened presents and played with our new toys, and Susie came over for a delicious dinner of black chickpea curry with braised spinach.

The next day, on Boxing Day, Amanda came over for a movie brunch. We watched (and enjoyed very much) Glass Onion over AJ's famous bloody marys and Ina Garten's whitefish salad and salmon bagels. 

On the 29th, Susie came over for a Christmas/New Year's cookie baking extravaganza. We made three different cookies: 

• Gochujang Caramel Cookies - a sweet, spicy, soft, chewy cookie
• Brown Butter-Cardamom Spitzbuben - a rich Bavarian sandwich cookie dusted with powdered sugar
• Rosemary-Almond Shortbread

Ok, the last one is a little bit of a cheat -- we baked up some dough I froze when I made a batch of these for Halloween.

Pick your apron!

Ready the cookie cutters, the powdered sugar duster, and the jam!

Knead the spitzbuben dough!

While the spitzbuben dough rests in the fridge, bake up the shortbread! You need sustenance!

Refreshed, and looking stylish in the Lucha Libre apron!

Deploy maximum power Puppy Dog Eyes in attempt to get butter!

Mix the gochujang (Korean fermented red chili paste) with butter!

Mix up the caramel cookie dough! Beg for butter!

Blop in the gochujang-butter!

Swirl!

Swirl!

Put giant balls of dough on the cookie sheet!

Take giant six-inch swirly cookies out of the oven!

Give up on getting any butter!

While gochujang cookies cool, roll the spitzbuben dough and get cutting!

Throw them in the oven! When they're cool, put jam on the bottom-half cookies and dust powdered sugar on the top-half cookies!

Assemble cookies!

Admire the fruits of your labor! And try not to eat them all at once!

For New Year's, we'll have a toast with Neighbors Jonny and Dustin before they go to a fancy event, and then we'll hunker down under piles and piles of blankets as a big rain storm rages outside. 

And on New Year's Day, AJ will make her famous black eyed peas for luck, with collard greens and biscuits. And I, at least, will continue to hunker down under piles and piles of blankets as the rain continues.

We hope your New Year's will also be warm, and that your 2023 gets off to a bright start! 

Happy New Year to you from all of us on Mars!!