Christmas Party

Below are pictures from the "10th Annual 3817 Classy Christmas Kegger." Most of these photos are from before our guests showed up, and they might lead you to conclude that the party was just the four of us and Neill's parents.  That was not the case, although I'm sure we would have had just as much fun.  Hopefully some pictures will emerge on Facebook. 

Our subs came from Mastellones and they were delicious.  I ordered 6 "super subs" - one Veggie (which is an excellent veggie sub), one Caprese, two Old Worlds and two Classic Italians.  We also had steamed shrimp, crab dip, and a variety of chips and dip.  

Angus and Jim teamed up to make a great fruit punch.  It was a hit, and we ran out early in the night.  They dressed it up with strawberries and oranges, skillfully sliced by Jim.  

Mastellones had chestnuts, so I bought a couple pounds of them for roasting.  They are in the bowl on the ottoman pictured below.  It took a couple tries to work out how to roast them properly, but once we figured it out, everyone at the party wanted a fire roasted chestnut.  They taste like a subtly sweet, very starchy potato.  The more I had, the more I enjoyed them.  We roasted them all, one at a time.  It's a great fireside activity.  

 As the party reached the early morning hours, most of our guests had gone home.  We had 6 beds available for guests, and nearly all of them were used.  I think the party was very successful.  It was a team effort from the four of us, with help from friends and family.  

The morning crew put forth an inspiring effort and finished the keg.  

I think Clara had a good time, but she seemed ready for the partying to be over.  

Photo Updates

Clara's friend Mia came over, and while Clara was very tolerant,  Mia pushed her limits.  Mia belongs to a friend of Angus's.  

Here is the new carpet in the hallway to the third floor.  I bought it off the roll at Home Depot, and stapled it to the floor.  I wish I had added some padding under the carpet, but it feels and looks okay.  The walls are  painted the same color as the dining room, in a nod to the old wallpaper that covered that hallway. 

I used some of your frames to hang some of our pictures.

I've rearranged some of the furniture in the third floor room.  This picture doesn't do it justice.  I'll try to take another one once I find the charger for my nice camera.  It is the best looking room in the house, I think. 

Clara has taken to keeping all of the toys she finds in a pile around the sidewalk.  

Here is my kayaking copilot that I found in Middle River.  He seems like a Randall to me now.  

I sat Randall on the picnic table to dry out. Clara doesn't understand why he can't be her new toy. 

I saw this today at Caribou.     

 I added a new table to the dining room from the consignment store.  It has a marble top, so its good for drinks.  Although it is a small table, it is pretty heavy.  The marble top weights about 60 pounds.  

I've started tidying up the house in preparation for Christmas. 

Temp post

Basement and Yard

This past week, I focused on cleaning up the basement.  I painted the walls with DryLok - the same paint that Craig used for the pillars outside.  The paint is supposed to keep water from trickling through the masonry, but since big chips of mortar were falling off as I painted, I think it is mostly cosmetic, which was the intention all along.

I also cleaned the floors and painted over them with an grey epoxy floor paint.  The paint was very easy to work with and dried quickly.  Since I didn't sand down the existing floors, I suspect some of the original paint will chip up over time, exposing the concrete.  I plan on getting some cheap carpets to minimize the damage.

These pictures are as of this evening.  I'll be taking some of your things out of your room tomorrow and putting them in storage containers down here. Angus moves in on Saturday, and he evidently will be bringing a bunch of things as well. 

Marvin, my mom's landscape stopped by last weekend at my moms request to do some yard work.  I'm very impressed with the results.  I will post pictures shortly.  

Our First Weekend

I rented an aerator from Home Depot this Saturday. Mike let me use his SUV and came along to help with loading and unloading.  The aerator weighed about 100 pounds on its own, and had two 50 pound "weight bars" that slid in the front of the machine to keep it weighted down.  These pictures are not mine, but this is roughly the same model:

The spikes drop into the soil, rotate, and pull the machine along.  The spikes dig into the ground about 2 inches, and pull out plugs of dirt.  The plugs look like goose poop:

(This is our yard)

Craig entertained Sadie by standing with his legs set apart, and dropping the plugs behind his back so that it looked like he was pooping.  Sadie thought that was hilarious. 

I also spread a couple large bags of grass seed around the back yard.  I'm not sure if I'm doing it right, but I'm going to keep it watered with our rainwater, and hopefully in a month or so we'll see some lawn improvement.  

In other project news,  I finally did something about our stove, so that we won't light our counter-top on fire anymore:

Professional Grade

An added benefit is that you can rest cookie sheets on the stove and have them hang over the counter top.   That will be useful the next time I make cookies.  

Cookies?

Clara and I went to Cylburn today for our daily walk.  Clara asked me to take this picture of her with the lions: