Archive for March, 2011
Fireplace Finished
Posted by nbdog in Around the house on 31-Mar-2011
The carpenter installed the mantle and after a very long process but our new fireplace is finally finished. Being your own general contractor even for a little job like this is really a hassle. Getting the right heating unit, picking out the stone, finding a mason and a carpenter, scheduling everybody…. Geez! We love the result though.
Planning for Spring
Posted by nbdog in Around the house on 22-Mar-2011
Trisha and I just finished a landscape design class (four 3-hour sessions). Now we’ll have to see if we can take what we learned in the classroom and make something cool in the back yard. Our focus this spring is the shady area just outside the kitchen window. This is Trisha’s first draft of the planting plan. If it ever stops raining we’ll be heading out to our favorite nurseries to see if we can find the appropriate plants.
To the Dogs
Posted by nbdog in Entertainment on 12-Mar-2011
We spent a very enjoyable afternoon at the Seattle Kennel Club dog show today. I just had to see a bunch of brittanys together. They are just such beautiful animals. These are two of the seventeen competitors. Trisha had the most fun watching the agility competition.
Opera–For the First Time
Posted by nbdog in Entertainment on 9-Mar-2011
Trisha and I decided to broaden our cultural horizons: tonight we attended a performance of Don Quichotte at the Seattle Opera. I can’t say the singing appealed to me but the staging was just terrific. We particularly enjoyed the real donkey and horse used by Don Quijote and Sancho Panza.
New Floor Begins
Posted by nbdog in Around the house on 7-Mar-2011
We decided that keeping the carpet clean in the family room was a hopeless task so oak flooring is going in today.
Rachel Coming Back
Iconic Seattle sculpture Rachel the Pig has just about recovered from her February 5th encounter with a wayward taxicab. The Seattle P-I reports that Rachel has been fully rehabilitated and will be back in her Pike Place Market home within a week or so.
New Fireplace
Posted by nbdog in Around the house on 3-Mar-2011
I’ve never liked our family room fireplace. The used brick facade looked… used, like materials scavenged from the junk yard. And the gas fireplace generated so little heat you had to get right next to it to feel any warmth at all. So after countless visits to various fireplace stores and many more trips to the stone yard we finally got the new stone and fireplace installed; the new look is super. It was quite a mess for three days but the result is great. The 38,000 btu gas unit can get the room up to 80 degrees in minutes. We are working with a carpenter to get a new mantle and that should be finished early in April.