Floofy!

Spotted while running errands in NW Portland today:





How cute is that?

Bungalow Fever Strikes Again...

Here's more photos of what they're building a block over:





I wasn't thrilled with the roof slope over the balcony at first, but it's starting to grow on me. The mint green trim (hard to see in the photos) isn't to my taste, though. Hell, it's not just awful, it's GODAWFUL.

The Home Stretch

Why is it that the closer you come to the end of a remodelling project, the longer it seems to take?

In any event, current progress report:

The kneewall is up:



and the door's been hung:

Vindication!

Michael Graves is often criticized for valuing form over function. From the structural issues that plague the Portland Building to teakettles that scald their users, the man has a reputation for designing objects that most closely resemble the average career stripper: beautiful to look at, but inherently broken.

However, I've found one thing he's able to create that not only looks nice, but actually works:



the Michael Graves flyswatter!

It's that time of the year and the flies seem to be breeding like, uh, rabbits. I came home today to a scene from the Amityville Horror. I keep trying to relieve my utter disgust by viewing these winged garbage eaters as a source of exercise for Silent Bob, but honestly? Even she isn't that interested anymore.

So out came the Graves flyswatter, a gift from a design-oriented former boss, bless her heart. Believe it or not, I nailed three of the hellgnats in less than a minute!

Perhaps it's just my mad phat flyswatting skills, but I'm willing to give this victory to Michael Graves.

More Mystery Plants

This is a bushy thing that dies completely back in the winter and blooms in the summer:





So far not too invasive, which makes me think it's not a weed.

This vine gets really aggressive during the summer, but just kinda hangs around during the winter. The flowers are really pretty:





but I'm getting sick of Audrey Two trying to eat the grill:



Vine: "Feed me, Seymour!"

Me: "That's my goddamn ahi. You better step off, or I'll Crossbow your ass."

So close to being a real bathroom, I want to pee in it

The new bathroom is really starting to take shape. We passed inspection last week (yay!), so the contractors were able to close everything up and get started on finish work.

Here's a view of the blue board, with the toilet hookups on the right and sink hookups on the left:



The future home of my Huge, Throbbing Shower Enclosure:



I guess we're waiting on the backer board for behind the tile.

Skylight (with screen!) on right and exhaust fan on left:



And a closer view of the new wood windows:



What's really exciting for me is how it looks from the outside:



I like how my contractor coordinated the size and configuration of the new windows with the existing downstairs window.

There's currently a huge stack of drywall on the front porch, but between the contractor's vacation next week and the drywallers running behind schedule, it doesn't look like Michael's going to get a new bathroom for his birthday (8/17). Which is disappointing, but not really surprising. The progress the last few weeks has been impressive, though.