Embracing the chaos

Having turned my house upside down at the beginning of January to have the hardwood floors put in, I decided to go for broke and have built-in shelves fitted on one wall of the work room.  As sometimes happens with home improvement projects, this one took a little longer than expected.  The final coat of paint was put on last Tuesday.  Here is the result on Saturday morning:

And here is how it looked this afternoon as my assorted stuff started to come home to roost:

You can see that I had the bottom shelves built quite deep to accommodate my various tubs and bins and boxes.

And then the rest of the house became a victim of exuberant entropy, as all the stuff I'd stored away for the duration began to be staged for newer, better locations, as yet to be revealed to me.

I must say that it probably feels worse than it is.  The guest bedroom has been entirely set to rights, and all the stuff I'd stowed on the porch and covered with tarps is now back in the garage.  I'm hoping that by the end of next weekend I'll reach a state of no visible boxes.

Do you suppose it's coincidence?

Crocuses in my garden last Sunday and...

...King Cake in my kitchen this morning.

Clearly the color scheme for the week is purple, green, and gold!

It's Marmalade Season

The best marmalade is made with Seville, or sour oranges.  Like many of the citrus clan, these come into season during the winter.  Because they can be a little hard to find locally, I order mine from Ripe to You.

I've just put seven pounds of Seville oranges on to simmer until soft.  I'll prep the peel and innards tonight, but I probably won't make up the marmalade until next weekend. The house always smells wonderful on marmalade-making day. If you're very nice to me, you might get a jar on your birthday or for Christmas.

J. W. Applegate, Where are You?

I'm curious about early photographers in Oregon because... well, I don't really know why.  It just seems that they're a different breed of cat than their east coast cohorts. I recently picked up this photograph from somebody who was parting out an old photo album that contained some photographs by Oregon photographers.  J.W. Applegate could have been located in any state, but I thought I'd google him to see what surfaced.

The King County (Washington) Historical Society owns several of Applegate's photographs of stores and schools taken in the 1880s and 1890s.

In 1904, Mr. Applegate was staying at the Grimes Hotel in Seaside, Oregon.  On August 19th, 1904, the Morning Oregonian reported on a fire at the hotel:

Grimes House At Seaside Is Totally Destroyed

One Roomer Is Badly Hurt

J.W.Applegate, A Portland Photographer, Jumps From A Window And Is Afterward Found Unconscious On River Bank

Seaside,Or.,Aug.4-(Special)

The old Grimes hotel was totally destroyed by fire this morning. The alarm was turned in at 3 o'clock A.M. and the Seaside fire department ran a line of hose from the town hydrants and succeeded in saving all adjoining buildings. There were about forty roomers in the hotel,all of whom escaped with most of their personal effects. J.W.Applegate,a photographer,jumped from a window directly over where the fire started and crawled on his hands and knees toward the river,where he was found insensible. The fire was probably incendiary,it having started in a portion of the hotel which was unoccupied. No insurance was carried. Grimes hotel was built by G.K.Grimes,who came to Clatsop County in 1869. The building was commenced in 1879 and the west wing completed in 1880. The main building was built in 1882 and the east wing in 1885. The lumber was hauled from Astoria by teams. The buildings cost 10,000,containing 72 rooms,and was hard finished throughout. After the death of G.K.Grimes,the building went to his son, C.Grimes, who conducted it until about a year ago,when he sold it to his wife, Sarah Grimes.It was the second hotel built at Seaside,the first being the Seaside Hotel,built by Ben Holladay in 1876.

Whether or not Mr. Applegate survived his injuries, I can't say.

I have hardwood floors!

All of the dreadful carpeting on the first floor is gone, replaced with beautiful oak hardwood in both the living/dining area and the workroom. The boards are 3" wide and I opted not to have them stained. I'm very pleased with the color.

A lesser regarded change when going from carpets to hardwoods that was nevertheless important to me was the change in acoustics. No longer do I feel as though I'm living inside a half full box of Kleenex. Sounds on the first floor now have a crisp brightness to them. I put up one of the clocks last night and the sound of its "Tick, tock" is so much more satisfying now.

Everything you've heard about the horrible smell of the finish is true. Imagine mixing equal parts 150 proof vodka, acetone, and minced raw garlic. Breathe deeply. I stayed in a hotel for two nights for the worst of it, but it still made my eyes water and my nose run when I first came in the house last night. The good news is that thirty minutes with the windows wide open made a world of difference.

Amazing what you can do with crochet

Perhaps this will forever banish from your memory banks those hoop-skirt-lady-toilet-roll-covers-in-acrylic-yarn monstrosities that are too often crochet's lot in life.  You can see the entire collection at Cardigan.

I also like the butterflies.

But I think I like the bees best of all.

I'll wrestle him for his dressing gown

There are no markings on this photo, so I can tell you precisely nothing about this gentleman.  Who is he?  Where is he?  Why is he posed by a burned tree?  What book is he reading?  Why is he wearing shaggy sheepskin leggings or chaps?