all that's past is prologue...

Going with the theory that it's our project if we pay for it, we brought out amazing plumber in this weekend for some Summit projects: Replacing the toilet in the main bath: And the faucet with one I got off the free board: Fingers crossed he got the problematic shower drain in the upstairs bath fixed, and he replaced the fancy rain head that had not held up well with a nice new solid one: And he was able to replace one of our thermostats (there are 3 zoned ones) with a wifi one. Still trying to solve the other two, which work off an older, 2-wire system: Meanwhile, we were up at the cabin doing some relaxing but did tackle one thing... Right side of the dock before: Left side of the dock after:

You're not really an adult until you realize that the only person you can change in a relationship is yourself. No matter how much you have "gotten people to fall in love with you," no matter who you have gotten to hire you, no matter how much influence you think you have over other people, in the end that's a false narrative and the only person you have control over is yourself. Maybe some people learn this early but I have to say I did not understand it until I got divorced from my first marriage. And as great as it may be to think that someone is out there to love you enough to make things better all the time, it's infinitely better to rely upon yourself. It's a mantra I remember every day, and I think it makes me a better person (and a better wife, friend, etc.) (Honestly it's a version of that "Comes the Dawn" poem one reads in high school and thinks "Well that's depressing." Until you become old enough to realize it's act

I got two incredible birthday gifts this year, which were especially valuable because it's been kind of a sucky summer and my birthday was a day of non-stop work crazy. The first was from Patrick, who spent the day re-doing our kitchen countertops (see post here ). He knows me well enough to know that a gift like that, that improves our quality of life and is done with his own love and work, is the most valuable possible gift. The second was from my friend Kate, who posted that she hoped my birthday and staycation was great — I thanked her and said I was back at work - ugh. Son after I got a message "look on your porch" and there was a baguette, fresh mozzarella, delicious balsamic vinegar, tomatoes and basil from her garden, and a bottle of Barolo. Reader, I cried. Like I said, it's been a tough summer. Patrick had a show that night. Beatrix and I made bruschetta for dinner and its the first time all summer I have seen her eat comfortably and happily. I didn't ha

This as not exactly *my* project. In fact, it was an amazing reno done completely by @patrickrhone as my birthday present! You see, back in the early 90s when I bought the house, the kitchen renovation was one of the first projects my ex and I took on. We ripped out 7 layers of flooring (including carpet), cleaned up ridiculous mounts of cockroach excrement, took out all appliances and a falling-apart sink, installed a tin ceiling, put in new cabinets gleaned from my mom's place and my dad's basement, put in the 1950s stove our friend Joe had found at the side of the road, and painted. And then we installed DIY concrete countertops. Concrete was a new material for counters then and our method was trial-and-error. We tried once to put them and move them in (they broke), then poured them in place and failed, then finally learned enough to put them in place and they survived (albeit with a few glitches, we called it "patina.") It took us forever to find a food-safe seale

 It's a beautiful summer night, so we ended to one of Brutus' favorite taprooms — Sociable Cider.  Delicious cider (P had a slushy), open mike, hanging out with our friend Sarah — what's not to love? Stopped at Insight on the way home to pick up a HopSpin2 growler and for Brutus to get some love from the Monday night crew there, who he loves. Win for all!

It's getting to the end of the summer, so we are trying to get some final projects done at Summit before we move back out. Many thanks to Patrick for powering through things! We sealed the tile in the main upstairs bathroom, and got a new window treatment hung that adds more light and funkiness! I got a big picture in a free pile and we hung it in the upstairs hall: I got the side deck cleaned up: And we held a big Free Sale to get things to new homes and to raise money for Mimi's (extreme) vet bills:

I moved into a rental unit at Laurel and Dale when I moved back into the country in 1991, and bought our current home at Ashland and Dale via HUD foreclosure 2 years later. I collaborated with a group who wanted to develop a small food co-op in the community (see The Co-Op Wars for a great film on how things like this used to happen), and I soon became active on the district planning council, serving as vice-chair and the Neighborhood Development Committee (NDC) chair. It was this involvement that eventually sent me on a path of working in historic preservation, as I saw what an effective tool it could be for community development. Selby Avenue was a very different place then. There were a few stores and restaurants, many of whom had been there for years — WA Frost, Paper Patisserie. Moscow on the Hill was a French restaurant, as was La Grolla; Handsome Hog was a drugstore. Many buildings were still boarded, and the preponderance of stores were small, bodega-esque-without-the-charm co

We're early adopters, but not always *this* early. Immersive Van Gogh opened today in Minneapolis; it had been rescheduled a couple of times, so we ended up with de facto opening day tickets (NOT VIP tickets which give you a floor pad and a poster, which did not seem worth it to me). It's located in NE Minneapolis, next to where Nimbus used to be. The parking is only valet (long wait, and expensive at $12), so we parked around the corner and, though we were early for our time slot we were able to go right in. The first thing I realized when is that art history is a language, and one I am very fortunate to be well-versed in (thank you Hazel, and so many teachers after her). There is an app for the show you can download and get some info on, but I would highly recommend, before you go, spending some time re-familarizing yourself with his work by picking up a book on him or surfing around online. So many of the paintings that feature in the show are ones I have seen and know well

We were supposed to be in Door County this week. Which in itself had been already rescheduled once and was a distraction from going anywhere...more exotic. But when it came time to, with covid levels and not knowing about if we had to quarantine when going out of state, and work, and school prep stuff for Beatrix, and expense (with a cat whose health has cost thousands of dollars), we just could not do it. So we stuck with me working mornings and then Staycation. Monday we went to the beach at Lake Harriet (that did not last long, it was hot!), and a vintage store for Beatrix, and went on a lovely walk at Kaposia with our friends Siobhan and Megan and Brogan. Tuesday we did another beach encounter and went to Excelsior and shopped and ate lunch on the water (just like being on the coast!) and had awesome photos taken by the amazing Amanda Nesgood  with our soon-to-be-donated Trucky Truck. Yesterday we went to St. Peter to visit Zani. That night, we went to dinner at the Lex; Beatrix ha

Maybe we were  little late to the game, but last summer, we discovered the joy of sunflower fields. Johnny Fish has been doing "Fish Sunflower Fields" for a few years now, but last year it was exactly what we needed. We stopped by the Big Lake field with the dogs in the way to the cabin and had a blast. They were full of beautiful sunflowers, and fun props, and it was exactly what we needed to feel some kind of magic in our lives again. This year, we went last Sunday afternoon, after the circus matinee. We hit both the Big Lake and Monticello fields, and thought about going to Buffalo too, but were too worn out. We were excited to find that a return visit was almost as fun as discovering the fields for the first time. The fields were very different, with different props, and the Monticello ones were really short (which I bet was super-fun with small kids).  Big Lake was even near a taproom (but we did not have Brutus with us). We had a lot of fun and it made the perfect mini

  Over 13 years ago, I heard Patrick open the front door and say "Hey, there's a kitty in here." I came down to see a tortoiseshell cat rolling happily on the front rug. He had opened the door, she walked in, and she stayed. For a little before, I had seen Mimi wandering around our yard and sleeping in the sun on top of our front milk box. When we brought her in to see our vet, Ali, it was clear that this young cat had recently given birth and likely lost her kittens, and needed and emergency spay and some other immediate vet work. So much for a free cat. But Mimi captured us immediately with her intense loyalty and love. Not so much so Polo and Tiger, who she quickly assured that she was now the alpha cat in the house. And she's remained the top cat, even now when she spends her day in our room all day, going between my chair and my pillow on the bed. The week before last Mimi developed a crusty eye, and weird swelling on her face. We brought her in to the vet, who t