Trip to the Everson and H&M

To anyone who cares about our blog :)

Lana and I went on a trip to Syracuse's Everson Museum to see the current exhibition titled "Turner to Cezanne"! It was very excellent, and gave a visual journey through the start of Impressionism to post-impressionism. We were able to see great pieces by Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, Turner, Meissonier, Charles Bargue, Manet and many more.


We also stopped at H&M which I had never been to, it was pretty great. Really nice designs and pretty darn affordable :)

A bit of industrial design

Lana and I have had some bed issues here, the previous mattress was shot as was the box spring and cheap frame. The problem was the frame couldn't support the bed and everything sagged in the middle. After a bit of deliberation, we decided to build our own bed with a platform so a box spring wouldn't be required. We both studied the look of some modern beds and thought their designs and shapes were quite nice and the construction of them seemed easy to emulate. We made a little plan and headed to Home- Depot and got the supplies.
2 (2 x 8)
2 (2 x 12)
3 (2x 6)
brackets
plywood and wood screws

All in all it took and day to get together, we ran into a few problems but were fairly easy to fix. The main problem being that the jerk at home-depot who cut the wood for us was incompetent, our boards were not all perfect. It was important for us to not have any screws or nails of brackets visible, so everything for structure is contained in the bed. The only thing left I suppose is to stain/poly it. The little sawdust left on it makes us sneeze!

Note the delicious Ikea wastebasket (named Fniss)!

Bedside table. Bedtime stories...

Look, Ma, no metal fixings!

Around the area (my yard)

It was a muggy day, but beautiful, nonetheless. I wish the summers here were milder though... I have a feeling we're in for lots of heat this summer ...... ...

Garden part 2

Here are some details of the garden-- Onions (from seed), Lagerfeld roses (buds), Ingrid Bergman rose, and Evening Primrose.

Garden part 1

Brett and I have worked our butts off creating this new garden on the south side of the cottage. We did it over a couple of weekends with the help of a rented rototiller. We should be getting more tiki torches. That touch of corniness fits in perfectly here as far as the DIY attitude of this project was concerned....

Our delphinium will bloom soon and our foxglove later on will too. My begonia is doing well, even though I caught a bunny sampling it once. Also that purplish stuff 'Brachycome' behind the ferns is doing great. And because our soil isn't so great here (lots of clay), Nasturnium does very very well. I transplanted the ferns and well, hmm....

Some baby foxglove we've been growing from seed.... they bloom next year... Peonies, snapdragon and japanese iris... And potatoes! :D

Pittsburgh: The Frick Museum

We just got back from Pittsburgh and we saw a show at the Frick. No photography was allowed, but they gave out a free flyer. There were some brilliant drawings by Millet and we got a peek at some of their permanent collection. Brett and I enjoyed the Master of Half-length's triptych (Don't remember the name of it). We also got to ride a segway, also awesome. Not in the museum, though...

Ground Pig

Lana and I have been entertained the past couple of weeks by a very unruly woodchuck. We first noticed it spring out of hibernation and jump up onto the deck on the south-side of the cottage.

It was fun to watch at first, then the gnawing, scraping and destruction of the cottage began. During this project, it got into a brawl with crunk-the-skunk and everything out there smelled like skunk spray for a couple of days. Enough was enough, Lana's mom got a havahart trap and we began the catching process. The first day we placed the trap near the cottage, was the first day it ran up to the house and switched residences. We soon learned it had a large tunnel network up there where his exit hole was right under the studio window. Keeping this in mind we moved the trap up there and for a few days watched it timidly go in and out and sneak a bite or two of the bait. Our frustration began when it suddenly seemed very reluctant to do anything with the cage at all. One afternoon we noticed it running back to the cottage to gather supplies for this new home, its supplies consisted of a mouth full of insulation and a little tuft of it stuck to its head like a tupee. That night I moved the trap to the midway point of his travel path back to his its cottage hole. The following morning Lana and I awoke and noticed mr. crunk the skunk was trapped in the cage because he couldn't resist chips covered in bbq sauce.
A very cautious release on my part, but by covering the trap with a sheet and being very graceful I was able to carefully let the poor thing go. Another week or so had passed with still no woodchuck in the cage, getting discouraged, I had tossed a few bits of apple in the cage and let it sit without much thought. Finally yesterday in need of some varnish we left for an hour and when we pulled in the driveway we noticed and very angry brown lump sulking in the cage.

Taking pity on him we took him 15 min away to a deserted road and large farm field, the second I opened the cage door he flew out at lightning speed and seemingly began making his way back to Aurora. I doubt we will see the little beast again, but perhaps another will take shelter in the already established ground hog paradise which resides under the houses here.

FUN at FUNSIZE

This being one of the coldest January's on the books has offered a little more fun then just freezing your food without the aid of a big clunky rectangle. For instance, even the depths of Cayuga lake couldn't keep the edges of its body from freezing over. At Long Point state park just down the road, Lana and I have been sliding on the ice like a couple of ostriches in the artic...at least I have been. What really came as a surprise was the crystal clear spot in the middle of the launch area which appeared to be calm water; however, after hurling a couple of rocks onto it we quickly found out that it was thick ice. Sometimes spine tingling cracking noises spread themselves throughout the ice, always a scare, but with the majority of the ice being well over the required 2" thickness there isn't too much to worry about.

Fun facts about ice walking:
-the minimal thickness required for the average person to navigate on ice is 2"
-if you fall through the ice, it is best to grab hold of anything solid and trudge your way up back to solid ground.
-hypothermia is when your body temp. falls below 95 degrees, depending on water temp. this happens roughly 2-3 minutes after you have been submerged.
-for any more info., please contact Bear Grylls.