27 June 2008

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog


Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

Yay, I love Joss Whedon! Neil Patrick Harris is looking fine too these days. I am looking forward to seeing these Online musical minisodes. I think it should be quite enjoyable. If Joss Whedon is involved its got to be good!

20 June 2008

Special Vanity and Other News

I received my new Specialty and Vanity tag the other day. :) I miss my Georgia wildflower tag so I decided to find one I like here in North Carolina. The mountains are my favourite part of the state and I love the Blue Ridge Parkway so I went with this one.

Part of the proceeds goes to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, which aides in the upkeep of the parkway and the parks. Speaking of, I never understood why in the USA one drives on a parkway and parks on a driveway.

Anyhow, I also splurged and had the tag personalised and as when I created my blog I did not know what to call it so I gave it the number of my apartment at that time. So I have given my tag the name of my blog. Yes, my creativity is astounding.

In other news I am now domiciled in the loft. It’s a big change from the cottage. The children aren’t happy about it. I think they are a little freaked out right now. Nora-Grace is walking around hissing and growling. Tabitha is whining and pacing the floor. I can’t say I blame them as the current two rooms don’t have all that great of a view and they also don’t have as much space to run around in.

I still have more belongings to move from the cottage, which I will do tonight when I get home from work. It’s amazing how much stuff I had with me in the cottage. I purposely only brought in the minimal or at least this is what I thought, but it seemed to have multiplied.

During this last move I realised I really don’t need all that I have and can get by with very little. I have even more stuff all packed away on the first floor of the building. Some of it is what I put back into storage after I moved out of my apartment and some of the stuff I had in storage for five years back in Savannah. I seemed to have got along fine without it and sometimes I never thought about any of it. Often I would have panic attacks when visiting it because I would open the door to the 10 x 20 storage unit and be confronted with STUFF.

I think I am going to use this time in the warehouse to sort through things and get rid of it. It’s easier for me to write this then actually do, but it’s going to be an ongoing effort and project.

16 June 2008

Loft (endless)

I had too much to accomplish this past weekend. Needless to say I did not finish everything. In fact there still is too much to do before I move in. I could not hire the movers I wanted because I had an unexpected bill come up so the funds ran out.

Destin and I moved my two large armoires as well as the large kitchen cabinet. I lugged the small sofa… or rather large scratch post up the stairs myself Sunday night, which is why my back is off kilter now.

Anyhow, we managed to put the two armoires together fairly quickly, but were pretty much wiped out afterwards. We will be moving my stuff from the cottage on Wednesday evening when I get home from work and I guess that will be my first night there.

The studio room is just about 300 square feet so it makes for a good-sized living room, but I can’t wait to finish the rest of the place. Patience is a virtue in this case… because I have no choice!

Tomorrow night I’ll work on the place some more. That’s really the last night I have. I’ll have to do the rest once the cats and I are settled. They’re not going to like this because they have become quite accustomed to the cottage and its screen porch, as have I.


More of the same, knocking out the old glazing.

Oh, I came to the conclusion that window glazing is not my friend. Actually, I hate it. I ended up using silicone on the other window panes I replaced. It worked so much better and faster.


It was way too hot without A/C, but this is what I was preparing the window for. Sweat was just pouring off my face. (Bleh!) This is such an unflattering picture.


Cutting out an iron pane so to make room for the A/C.

Piecing the large armoire. It's like a puzzle.


Destin, The Fabulous.

I'm in shorts. It's rare occurrence.

Completed.

It's kind of weird having two large, heavy armoires in a bedroom, but I don't have any closets so I am grateful I have these. The bedroom is roughly 280 square feet so I think it won't be too crowded. However, I still have to move the bed in.

The kitchen cabinet, which weighs too much.

The large door on the cabinet folds down to reveal an enameled table top, which lifts up for linens. Also inside, behind a glass door that lifts up and retracts back, there are compartments for ice trays, eggs and salted meat. (Bleh!) Essentially this is the British version of a Hoosier cabinet. I am grateful for this storage space as well... even though it weighs a couple hundred pounds.

13 June 2008

Busy Weekend Ahead

This week my friend Gloria was in town visiting her family. We went out to eat one night and had a great time. We also met for lunch on Wednesday. She left for New York City for a wedding and then she heads back to LA. I shall miss her. We always have the best time.

Every night after work except Tuesday night I have gone to the loft and worked on it some. The bed room walls, ceiling and trim have been painted. Last night I painted the first coat on the floors in the bed room and studio room. Tonight I have to apply the second coat to the floors as well as paint two doors. Oh, and its laundry night. Yes, my Friday nights are full of excitement!

On Saturday I will be installing the A/C in the studio and replacing 16 panes of glass. On Sunday I will be putting together a kitchenette of sorts... and I am not quite sure how and what I will do. I have taken Monday off because I will be moving into the loft.

I recently found out I have to be out of the house I am staying at because the owners are coming to work on the house on the 19 June. They didn’t say I had to leave, but I would feel awkward having them and workers coming in and out while I am at work all day. As well, they have a dog and Nora-Grace and Tabitha would not approve.

This is why I have been rushing to get the loft partially finished. I will set the studio up temporarily as a living room and kitchen. The bedroom will be just fine. I will work on the rest of the space while living there. Ultimately I believe this will push me to move faster on having it completed especially since the cats and I are about to be confined to 500 square feet. We are all going to miss the wonderful screened porch and I know Tabitha is going to be quite vocal about it.


Walls have been painted.




Bedroom: First coat of floor paint.


Studio: First coat of floor paint.

08 June 2008

Hot!

This weekend it was my intention to stay focused and work on the loft, but it was too damned hot. On Saturday I managed to use the paint sprayer and painted the studio/junk room. It was 100F degrees outside and inside on the third floor it was way over that. I thought I would pass out.

Today the temperature was 104F, which made the third floor damn near 110F! My poor little bedroom air conditioner barely could keep up. I was planning to work on the windows too, but as stated it was too hot.

This week I will need to work on the space a little everyday after work because I am a little behind schedule. I finished one coat of the wall paint in the bedroom, but ran out of paint. The paint was a mixture Melissa and I made before I left Savannah.

It was created after a wonderful bottle of merlot... or was it Pinot Noir? Anyhow, I went to True Value to see if they could match it, but it came out a wee bit lighter. So now I am not sure I have enough of the new paint. Ugh!

In other news my friend Gloria has come home to visit her family in Greenville and we will be having dinner one day this week. She also said she may stop by campus one day for lunch.

Gloria lives in Los Angeles now. I don’t get to see her often so it will be nice to catch up.

Priming the bedroom ceiling.

Studio/Junk room painted.

04 June 2008

French & Saunders

I love Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. I have been watching them for years and they always manage to make me laugh. I never grow tired of them.

This is a year old, but I still enjoy it. It's a parody of Alanis Morrissette's song, "Thank You".

01 June 2008

Loft (continued)

This weekend I managed to finish priming the studio room. I also primed most of the bedroom. The big project was knocking out the opaque glass and cutting the iron bars out to make room for an air conditioner.

Grout Removal

The grout on these windows is over one hundred years old and it’s very solid. It’s a testament to the way they constructed and the materials they used back then. I had to use a flat head screwdriver as well as a chisel to break up the grout. Then I had to use a rubber mallet to smack out the glass. Of course the glass broke.

Thankfully it is a safety glass so it did not shatter everywhere.
I will have to repeat the process for every window because I want to replace the panes with clear glass. That’s only 81 times!


Cutting Iron


Constructing A/C Frame

Mission Accomplished

The electrician comes tomorrow to install some power for the heavy duty A/C, which is for the large room as well as a couple other sockets.

Next weekend I would like to begin painting the ceilings, walls and the floors.