all this, and cast iron too!

sunday evening at last! this last week has been really busy. my brother martin, who was supposed to be working out of town until june 22, came home last monday. i was a bit nervous since i hadn't really had a chance to finish up my initial projects (ie ripping out carpet, repainting, re-deploying greasy dust-catching ephemera, etc); however, he was surprisingly calm and - dare i say - even pleasantly impressed? he even showed me how to repair the windows, something which i'm not sure i should thank him for ...

on wednesday, his friends matt and marlise showed up for a few days as well so it was a full house; however despite the enjoyment that was had by all, a lot of work was also accomplished, thanks in no small part to matt & marlise's help.

this week:

* one window 99% complete
* one window 50% complete
* one 'wall' removed (more like a temporary 'fence' with windows and constructed from a wall pulled out of another building)
* one small plot of land freed from the tyrrany of grass & weeds
* one lilac tree pruned, and various other gardening/weeding done

NOTE: further progress would have been made on the windows if it weren't for the state of the putty with which i am forced to work. my brother bought about 8 years ago so it has almost entirely separated and thus requires intense and arduous kneading to bring it back to a usable state.

i foolishly did not take any before photos so my next order of business is to take a few photos around the property. i must also make a concerted effort to remember to take a few 'before' photos when tackling any new project.

saturday is garage sale day so yesterday was no exception. the competition is fast and furious in powell river, let me tell you! fortunately, the church is basically at one end of town so it's fairly easy to plan your route to be able to hit all the sales in geographical order and, since the town is so small, you can hit every sale in no time. marty and i started out at 8am and were done by 10am. of course, after about 9:30am, the pickin's are mighty slim so you tend to spend less and less time at each sale as you go along. among other things, i managed to pick up a 10" cast iron skillet for $1. it has now been cleaned out, re-seasoned and is ready to fry up some grilled cheese sandwiches. yum!