Christmas Reflections

Last night we went to Defuniak Springs to take in the Christmas Lights around Lake Defuniak. So many lights! Here is a sampling, I have more posted on our Flickr.

Dismantling the Shed

With fall settling over Florida and the return to awesome 60s-70s weather, the backyard surfing shed's days were numbered. The snakes, possums and raccoon would have to find someone else's backyard to loiter in. 

Since our last dumpster the summer before, we had a growing pile of junk that was earmarked for the next dumpster as well.

We found a wide range of bugs, rotten boards and musty carpet and drywall . The other wildlife had enough advance notice to evacuate. We did salvage a bunch a good wood that we are keeping for future projects.

Gone! Our future plans here is having some sort of small patio coming off the patio doors (that leads into the master bedroom). Those patio doors are non-functioning right now, as they are sealed up until we replace the doors, since they leaked when it rained.

And the dramatic collapse in video form:

Purple Power

When it came time to stain our deck, we studied the paint samples at a few stores looking for the right color for us. We found a stain called "Merlot" that had that classic redwood stain color, but a touch of wine color to it. The sample looked nice. It would compliment a variety of siding colors when it comes time to re-side the house in a year or so.

Brought 3 cans of it home and cracked it open. Holy purple! Well, we both reasoned, it will dry darker and be a lot more muted after a day or 2...

Nope. Still full of purple pride a few days later.

Back to the store and came back with safe reliable "Walnut". Much better. :-)

Snoozing

Hello again! Where did November and most of December go already? Was thinking it was time for a post this morning and was surprised to see it was since October, sure didn't feel like it! I have some catching up to do, stay tuned!

Cat Circles

We noticed recently that Cat Circle Traps were all over Twitter and the internet, so we decided to set a trap in our house to test.

Internet Cat

According to the legend, cats are irresistibly drawn to circles and will want to sit in one. So we taped a circle to our kitchen floor and left it there for 36 hours to see if we would observe Diogenes or Freyja inside the circle.

36 hours later, we did not see either of them sitting inside the circle while we were watching. Maybe our circle was too pentagon-y to be irresistible to cats?

Kites

On Saturday, we drove to Destin to take in the Kite Festival on peninsula at Destin Harbor. The festival was hosted by the Kitty Hawk Kites store. The weather couldn't be better, 80 and a breeze. To visit the kites, we took a water shuttle from the harborwalk to the peninsula. Besides the giant decorative kites, there was stunt kite and kite surfing demos. A lovely day indeed.

Cat Tiling

We picked up the master bath project again and have been making strides the past few days. Zachary continued on with tiling the walls, following his theme he made on the floor a few months ago. Next to woodworking, tile work is fast becoming one of Zachary's favorite renovation activities. It is turning out great.

We are finding Freyja loves to be in the middle of a project as much as Queequeg did, being a helper cat.

Z calculating tiles, Freyja calculating plumbing

We are finding tile spacers all over the house, as Freyja loves stealing one when we aren't looking. Far better toy than any of her other dozen toys.

Base for the vanity cabinet.

Cat Platform

Mugshot

 The beginnings of the vanity and cabinet frame. We are planning on a single sink and then a tall cabinet to the left additional storage near the shower.

We haven't decided yet if we are going to continue with the tile back splash up the wall behind the vanity or stop as is. A large mirror and lights will fill most of the wall space.

Foreman Freyja

Sunspot Moments

The Sun Seeker

Freyja likes to follow the sunspot rotation schedule daily around the house. About 10:45 AM, there is a nice bright sunspot square on the couch.

Caught in a silly pose while grooming

Camp Helen Walk

We spent Labor Day morning at Camp Helen State Park. By the time we finished the nature trail and the walk to and from the beach, we were sweat drenched and parched. And I was worried about not getting much of a workout there, so we didn't bring any water with us. Psh, Dummy. Walking through sun-cooked loose sugar sand gets me every time. It was nice walk regardless. It is still very much summer in PCB.

Remnants of an old pier destroyed years ago by a hurricane

See the tiny white blooms on the long vines?