Week 42, and Merry Christmas!

Adrienne & I were busy with lots of small doings this week.

First, there was Christmas. We had our usual table-top decoration, made from a discarded bough of a Christmas tree, ornaments given by family and friends, and paper decorations we made ourselves:

Under the tree (and the table), were numerous presents:

The big box in pink on the left contained a circular saw, which I have had my eye on for a few months to speed up the completion of a few of my projects around the house. Top of that list is replacing the fence/wall under Adrienne's office that separates our property from the property of our neighbors to the north. Here it is, off to a decent start:

This fence/wall is key because cats, raccoons, rats, and other assorted animals like to hang around in the 2-foot-wide space between the houses. Do you know who likes to chase animals? Pickles, that's who.

The fence/wall is made with reused scrap materials from other parts of the construction project. Eventually, it and the siding to the right of it in this photo will be covered by a panda-and-bamboo mural.

Meanwhile, Adrienne was busy this week putting up a magnetic knife rack in the kitchen:

Much better than rummaging for them in a drawer! Big improvement!

Additionally, I spent much time this week with more mouse-proofing in the kitchen (yes, again), also using materials left over from construction, and with rearranging the garage so that we can finally get all of our stuff out of storage (i.e. this giant pile under the green tarp):

What's that above the green tarp? It's Amanda's excellent birthday present, described in Week 27! I put that up this weekend, as well. Looks great up there!

Lastly, one thing that Adrienne & I share is a love for getting rid of things at the New Year. We spent Saturday combing through our bookshelves for books we want to donate to the Friends of the Library or use for art projects, and ended up clearing 8 1/2 feet of shelf space!

Next week: I should be able to finish the fence/wall project, and should also be able to make more progress in reclaiming the garage. I am hoping to schedule a week with Mr. Bunkport in mid-January to get things wrapped up and (hopefully) get the house painted, as well. Keep your fingers crossed for us that the weather holds!