Happy Halloween from Sister Mary Elephant

I must leave for the leper colony shortly...

More Things on the Walls

Busy puttering around the house this week, moving things around & putting more things up on the walls:

More work from when I was in school -- now up in the dining room

Also in the dining room, a drawing from school on the left, & one of Adrienne's photos on the right

Moved the shelves forward in my office, & put more work from school up

Also put up our newly arrived projection screen. We don't have a regular television -- there's no need, because we watch everything online. With a little help from our friend Jon, we now have a nice projector-&-screen set up to watch everything on:

That's it, above the doorway -- it's 6 feet long. Perfect fit!

And when it's down, it practically reaches the floor.

Meanwhile, coming soon:

The garage door needs a coat of paint (thank you, Auntie Jennifer & Uncle Patrick, for your opinions!)

And the Christmas beer has been brewed!

If the weather holds, it's going to be a busy weekend on Mars. Stay tuned for in-depth updates on the always-fascinating subject of winterizing!

Finally Hanging Something In The Hall, Plus Critter News

Finally getting around to hanging some more things on the walls! Just put up a series of Adrienne's photos of her niece jumping off the back of a wagon, & a few drawings I did in school:

On the left, as you enter the front door

On the right

On the left, as you walk down the hall

On the right

What a difference it makes! It inspires me to put up more this week. Stay tuned.

In other news, we had some rain this week, & it looks like something (or somethings) left some muddy footprints on the panda!

That's a raccoon on top, but the bottom looks more like a cat -- teaming up for more effective neighborhood mayhem, perhaps?

Combatting The Scourge of Pink Trim

This weekend, after realizing that we've been here for nearly a year & still are surrounded by pink trim in every room but one, I dedicated myself to eradicating it. After 18 hours and a gallon & a half of paint, I am about 2/3 of the way there (wow, there are a lot of doors in this house).

Bathroom & part of my office -- done!

Also took a few minutes to fix the squeaking towel racks & the irritatingly un-level toilet paper holder.

Hall -- done!

Apologies for not squaring & color-adjusting these photos. I am too pooped to fuss with them, so please bear with me.

Living room -- nearly done!

Dining room -- half done!

Getting behind that black heater in the corner on the right is going to be a nightmare. After that, and about six more doors, the rest of the house should be smooth sailing. I'm going to try to squeeze in some shorter sessions after work this week & see how far I can get before another trip to the East Coast this weekend.

Someday we'll actually also put color on the walls. In the meantime, the wall color that seemed so old and grimy next to the pink, looks fresh & lemony next to the white, so we'll make do just fine for a while longer.

While I was painting today, Adrienne spent several hours working out in the back yard. By the time I finished up, it was already dark, so this is the best picture I could take:

It does look terrific back there. Sorry for the poor reportage, Adrienne!

Meanwhile, today was the end of Fleet Week, when the Navy comes to town, & the Blue Angels scream overhead all across the city for 4 hours every afternoon. It's known for scaring the living daylights out of pets (& often, also their people), so we weren't sure what to expect with Zoey. Happily, after living on an Air Force base for 9 months with her foster mom, jets don't seem to be a problem for her. She didn't even raise her head from her nap on any of the days they were up there.

And today she was all too happy to help me, putting a nice stripe on her leg by brushing up against a freshly painted door jamb.