Fun for all the Family...

Hi everyone, I've been drawing dead stuff...check it out:



This is Cecil.And me.


And we're in the student anatomy lab at Cornell Vet school. Cecil is one of my most recent acquaintances here in Ithaca. As you can see from the picture, he's a friendly soul who likes a joke as much as the next person, even if it's at his own expense. He's a little on the quiet side. But then he is a 10 year old dead, eviscerated iguana specimen so I suppose he's entitled to be a little less than talkative. I met Cecil through John, a professor at the Vet school who very kindly introduced us as part of my bid to complete my illustration portfolio in time to apply for the scientific illustration course at the University of Santa Cruz. Cecil, proved to be a great sitter. Very....still....and dead....and kind of messy....in short the ideal subject for an illustration. He was also rather smelly, but luckily I had a strong stomach that day, so I didn't feel to green afterwards. It's proving to be fascinating experience and I've been able to have a look at where Cornell prepares it's specimens, how they are preserved and so on. Weirdly, they have a bug colony that strips the soft tissue from skeletal remains they want to keep as part of the preservation process. Cool eh? Anyway I'm in the process of producing an illustration of Cecil so we'll see how it goes, but so far the whole experience has been really interesting for me.

Oh and just so you're not too grossed out here's a prettier picture.

In other news, we're in teh middle of panicking about moving back to the UK and then to Vancouver. There's lots to do, so let's hope everything works out.
Bye for now!
x

Back in time for 2008!

Hi All,
At last!
It's been over a year since my last post. But as things are changing quite dramatically for us once again I thought I'd better get myself back into blogging and ready to document our forthcoming move to Vancouver which is due in early January!
Check back as I plan to post a new entry soon with a few new pics of the house and a few other snippets of news and gossip. But I'm off for mexican food now, (first things first) so bye for now and post again soon!
L

Some pretty pictures

Hi everyone,

This post will be more photos than text, but I thought it might liven up the blog and save people having to go to flickr to retrieve pictures.

Firstly, here is Mr Woodchuck:
Look at that expression. Both satiated and guilty.
I tried to take a picture of Mr Mouse aswell, but he escaped before I could get his close-up.

Secondly I am very pleased with myself, having made huge efforts with tung oil and elbow grease to prepare our largest piece of maple butcher block. Here it is unfinished:
As you can see in this picture, Einar has made a great job of cutting out the sink hole and we've tested it out so we know it fits. Dad had visions of cutting the hole, putting the sink in and watching it fall straight through. So I'm very pleased to say that didn't happen! To finish it I sanded it down until smooth, then added tung oil sealer in 2 layers. After that I progressively added 3 layers of polymerized tung oil. After each layer I sanded the counter until smooth with steel wool, before wiping it down and putting on the next layer. Each layer takes 8-24hrs to dry. So this was a long job! I also had to seal and put a few oil layers on the underside and the edges, even if they weren't going to show eventually. The last layer is drying as I'm writing this and this is what it looks like.


Hopefully, because I wiped, but didn't sand the last layer I should be able to keep the gloss you can see.
If the surface stays tacky I'll have to add another layer and sand it. Of course, this sealer/oil application is an ongoing process, but I think that's quite a nice thing.

It'll need recoating a couple of times once it's in I suspect, (to make sure it's really protected against food and moisture) and then a couple of maintenance coats each year. But that's not a big hassle. It's certainly easier than repairing ceramic tile or laminate. Anyway, wish us luck!

In other (and suprisingly non-diy) news. Einar got a present in the post a few days ago.


It turned out to be a picture of St James's Park that I'd bought Einar, but that I couldn't find in time to ship when we moved. Mum and Dad found it when they were clearing the flat out. The frame had broken because it had fallen down behind a bookcase. So they re-framed it and sent it over. As you can see, this made Einar's day..


Of course this photo was put up on the wall immediately and Einar took a moment to give thanks.


It's actually quite a good job we've had lots of diy stuff to occupy us, because the weather recently has been pretty terrible. We caught the tail end of hurricane Ernesto, which is far less dramatic than it sounds. Basically it meant that it rained a lot. But there were no strong winds. So everything's been getting very soggy and waterlogged. Mind you we had it better than some places further south where they got 8 inches of rain in 24hours. Of course we are also lining up a whole series of tasks for Knut to complete when he comes to stay so that's been fun and has kept us out of the rain. He should be kept very well occupied after all our efforts :) I also hope that Knut will respect the fact that, while obviously not averse to having fun, Professor Vollset remains continously alert to the responsible, serious nature of his role as husband and wage-earner (see photo):



(N.B: Knut, if you want we can get you a headband too.)

Well, I think that's all my news for now. Hopefully we shall soon be able to post some pictures of cabinets and countertop all together and in place. Bye for now!

Waiting for butcherblock

Howdy!

Time for another blog entry methinks. Hope everything is fine and dandy with everybody.
Einar and I are still busy with kitchen stuff. Our counter-tops are being delivered today, so yours truly is sitting in waiting for fedex and watching E-News, specifically "E Life True Story: The Story of Paula Abdul" . If I'm really lucky I may get to watch a channel called TLC later. Perhaps "lethal swarm: killer bees"- their usual evening-type offering. Other notable titles in this series include "the man whose arms exploded" and "when surgical tools get left behind"...ooooo the wonders of U.S TV, I can hardly wait. Still it's one step up from the piece on "anal bleaching" I saw on E-News a while back. I'm serious, imagine having to put that on your cv ..."job title: bumhole bleacher" ...priceless. Americans are crazy.

Anyway, things are fine in Ithaca. Well they're a little dusty and there's a mouse in a bowl in the dining room, but otherwise they're fine... The "thing in the rubbish" appears to have vacated which is quite a relief. Turns out that raccoons are a bit vicious. Our local news had a raccoon related story today. A pack of them have been rampaging through local neighbourhoods killing cats and attacking a dog and a child....I have a nasty feeling that the one in our rubbish may have been holed-up on purpose, using our rubbish pile as some kind of guerilla warfare-type base. He was probably sat in there for days coordinating these neighbourhood operations, wearing battle fatigues and a red bandana, polishing his AK-47.

Unfortunately however, it appears that we have swapped one form of undesirable wildlife for another, (see mouse reference above). I was sitting watching telly (or for anyone who may consider me as a future employee of any sort-writing my PhD thesis and being generally intellectual) when I spotted this disease-ridden furry thing scampering about behind the coffee table. With lightning fast reactions, developed while fighting my husband for the last beer, I used my initiative (future employers again, take note) to trap Mr mouse underneath a plastic bowl. So I've had to sit all day, waiting for fedex, while listening to a mouse perambulate round the inside of an upside-down piece of tupperware. This, I believe, is what they call "living the High Life". I'm saving the mouse for Einar to say hello to when he gets home. We may not have a child or a dog, but a mouse is nearly as good, I think. And if we can't get to the supermarket maybe we can have "mouse in a bun" for tea.

In other animal news, the woodchuck has been steadily demolishing all the fresh green shoots in the flower bed. I spied him yesterday on his hind legs pulling down the freshest, prettiest looking greenery at the top of stems that were just out of his reach. He examined each with a kind of expert epicurean curiosity, before shovelling the best bits into his furry chops and letting the stripped remnant of a plant spring back up. Our flower bed has now been severely mauled and is probably covered in woodchuck spit. Ah well. in addition to the woodchucks, deer, skunks, raccoons and mice, black bears are apparently on the increase in the southern finger-lakes region. Now spotting a woodchuck destroying your flowers is one thing, but if I'd looked out of my window and seen a black bear digging up my plants...well it just doesn't do do dwell on these things does it? I keep telling myself that if a black bear appears, Einar will know what to do, so I could just send him out to deal with it. I mean come on, I trapped a mouse, the man owes me. And besides he's good at bears, he's Norwegian.

Any other animal news for you?....nope, don't think so. What have I been doing with myself lately? Well apart from thesis, not much, sad to say. I've been making a few new friends who are humanities rather than sciencey postgrads, so that's been really nice. (Hi Hilary thanks for taking pity on me and making friends you're a star!) Oh and since my last post Einar and I have spent a lovely week in Norway with the in-laws. The weather was wonderful and my parents came over from the UK to Norway at the same time so it was quite a special get together. It was quite a trek back and forth from the U.S mind you so we'll have to try to spend more time in Norway next time we go. It was mum and dad's first ever trip to Norway and they seem so amazed at its beauty that they can't believe Einar could tear himself away to go to university. I think that counts as being impressed! Oh and I caught and killed my first fish (trout) while I was there. It took both Einar and Knut, his younger brother to teach me, but eventually I caught on and became a bloodthirsty fish-killer. I was quite proud of myself, you'd have loved it Uncle Pete, it was great fun, especially the bit where you get to bash the fish's head in with a rock (spoken like a true ex-veggie)!

So yes, I like to think that my fish-hunting attempts have got me some creep-points with my brothers in-law. Sadly I managed to let myself down when we were being accompanied back to the airport by Knut a few days later. Knut started sneezing or coughing or something and apologised. At which point I told him not to worry and that I could "squeeze out a fart" if that would make him feel more comfortable....

Yes, yes I know, in retrospect it all seems so simple, just SHUT UP Laura, but as we all know from previous entries, I have never been able to fathom these kind of social niceties. Knut looked genuinely distressed and said, "No" (Not that I expected him to say yes to my offer you understand. But his response indicated a genuine concern that I might actually attempt a bottom burp in order to even the score, and more to the point, that I was under the delusion that this was somehow socially appropriate) Anyway it woudl appear that once again my mouth got going before my brain engaged. But hey ho, I can't sink any lower, right...right? I think Einar may have put his head in his hands and wept gently at this point, but I can't be sure.

Having thoroughly embarrassed myself, we departed and since then have been recovering from all the excitement by doing diy stuff.

Gotta go, butcherblock has arrived! More anon!xx

Something in the woodshed....

We have "wildlife".

This morning, my beloved came in from the garden to inform me that something was "hissing at him" from the pile of rubbish (stuff from the old kitchen, cabinets, drywall, wood etc) that is stacked up against the wall of the house.

A while ago we found a (harmless) corn-snake in the driveway. In addition we found out that there is a species of rattlesnake that lives in ny state (nowhere near us though and it's rare). Einar's brain had clearly abosrbed this information in a somewhat selective fashion- "corn-snakes=snakes=I am going to be eaten alive by a massive timber rattlesnake that has caught the bus up from the Southern Adirondacks specifcally to hunt for tender fleshed Norwegians."

In view of Einar's snake jitters, and feeling that it would be a little cruel to leave him to face this dangerous hissing pile of rubbish alone, I decided to march out bravely (and for tactical reasons behind my husband) to take a look.

I wouldn't say it hissed exactly. But it was making grunting piggy noises and shuffling sounds. It sounded a bit put out actually. Mind you it sounded even more put out when I gave the pile of rubbish an experimental kick. Was it even possible to get a pig infestation....?

Anyway, before we could figure out what to do with the piggy-sounding wildlife under our rubbish pile, the boiler repairmen turned up again. I should explain that (see yesterday's blog entry) we have been having a problem with our boiler. After finishing my blog yesterday the boiler man was still here, saying things like "oh my", and "this is NOT good" and "now what's THAT doing there" from the depths of the boiler cupboard. Eventually he emerged to tell me that there was water in the boiler where it shouldn't be and he wasn't sure how fixable the problem was. He'd done "stuff" he said, but had to order more parts as it was an old boiler type. These wouldn't be in until tomorrow. Even if he did put new parts in though he was concerned that more water would pour out from the boiler casing somewhere, in which case the only option would be to replace the whole thing....at a cost of $3-4000......Oh, and the bill for today's work would be $469 so could I write a cheque!!

At this point I think I began to gibber helplessly at him. $4000-Jesus Christ! This was it, were either going to have to leave. Either that or Einar was going to have to prostitute himself while I attempted to sell crack to the tofu-eating, vegan, Ithaca locals....Oh dear....

I began to have visions of scavenging in the rubbish bins of our neighbours in order to feed ourselves, while the boiler repairmen whistled cheerily from the cupboard under the stairs.

Seeing me wilt visibly at the thought of replacing the whole thing, he said he'd leave me to chat with my husband when he came home but could we call tomorrow when we'd decided. He could then order the parts if we had decided to risk fixing the old boiler. After all this I called Einar with the news and we spent the rest of the day worrying ourselves silly trying to decide whether to risk patching up the old boiler which might not work, or biting the bullet and using all our "fuck-up funds" to replace it. We were definitely not a pair of happy campers yesterday night.

But, this morning the gods appear to be smiling-believe it or not! We called the plumbers and spoke to another man (Dave) who said he was coming out with the guy from yesterday to take a look. Dave has done the plumbing on our house for years and so they'd asked him to come and check it out. Thankfully, when Dave and mate turned up, Dave rummaged around in the cupboard, went to get a part, then did some more rummaging and then..thank the lord...declared the problem solved! We practically wept with gratitude-this man was some kind of god, he clearly knew everything! So we also asked him whether he knew what kind of things made piggy noises and lived in rubbish. He thought for a bit, contemplated the rubbish, and suggested it might be a raccoon (one of those animals that have stripey tails and black fur round their eyes so that they look like minature highwaymen.) Having solved our boiler problem and helped solved the mystery of the "thing in the rubbish" Dave and mate then departed, leaving us very much relieved!

So that was that. We now have hot water-which is great because I was starting to whiff. We also have a new dishwasher which was delivered after the plumbers left. Of course we still have the thing in the rubbish pile, but then you can't have it all. Maybe we can keep it.......

more animal updates soon!
x

Up at 8am!

Well, it's before 9am and I'm up! I know any Norwegians reading this will react somewhat skeptically to this assertion, but believe it or not, it's true. In fact....in even more shocking news, I have been up since 7am! The coffee's brewed, my cheerios are crispy (well actually they're a bit on the chewy side...they are a month old) and it's a lovely sunny morning.

Einar is getting ready to go for his morning run and I'm avoiding going for mine by writing this.

Now I thought that I should explain a bit about the blog entries that I'm hoping will follow this one. As you all know I have been shamefully lazy and haven't been keeping up with the blogging thing. This has meant that gradually a LOT of stuff has happened that I haven't written about. The knock-on effect of this has been that I have found myself trying not to do anthing that would give me extra blogging work when I finally got round to writing anything. It began with not taking many photos because "If I take photos I'll have to put them on flickr and write about them in the blog." Gradually I found myself avoiding any activities that I felt might be blog worthy....I had enough to write about what with all our guests turning up and forcing us to enjoy ourselves! So anyway, eventually I stopped doing anything that could be construed as interesting and now I have no life...but at least I don't have to write about it!

In a bid to remedy this situation and to make the whole blogging mountain seem more molehill-like, I have decided to blog about bits and bobs that have happened in the past few months but not attempt to recount what we did with all our visitors in minute detail or in organised fashion. The result will probably be a mish mash of snippets that don't necessarily inform the reader about what we've been up to in any coherent kind of way. There are things that have stuck in my head as blog worthy, but sadly a whole lot that is also worthy and probably more important/interesting has been jettisoned by my brain in favour of useless odds and ends. But....well....tough.

Well, what to tell you all first.... let me see.

Well, the electrician is here at the moment doing lots of exciting stuff like putting up recessed ceiling lights for us, attaching our new oven (delivered yesterday), putting sockets in for the dishwasher, the fridge the range hood etc. He must be working hard it's VERY NOISY!! :)

What else...oh yes, we have no hot water as our furnace has just broken! We discovered this the day before yesterday. So we waited for the electrician to come out to do all the other stuff (we though it was an electrical fault at the time) and asked him to take a look. Anyway, it turns out it isn't an electrical fault. In The electrican's words "something's fried" somewhere..... so I've had to call an emergency plumber out. Apparently one is on his/her way over when they're free. So I am currently very greasy as I'm avoiding having a cold shower. Einar got back from his run, was forced to shower in icy water with chattering teeth and is now at work.

So yes, it's all happening at 120 Eastwood today ;)

As for past events, well it was all rather special knowing that lots of people were coming out to see us. We felt really chuffed that anybody would bother! So yes, our guests were fab. They put up with humidity, a wreck of a kitchen, mosquitos, and frequent supermarket trips with great equanimity and good humour. We were very grateful! Mum and dad spent quite a bit of time when they first arrived going from one room to another and getting a bit lost. Mum would turn up in the kitchen with a startled expression, having expected to find herself in the bathroom. Gradually though they settled in and made themselves very useful by mowing lawns, tidying garden borders, washing up and generally making themselves indispensable. I'll be putting some pictures up of their time with us shortly. Oh! Just remembered, even before we had mum and dad to stay, our friends Jill and Jim (or "JillJim" as I like to call them....like "Bennifer" or "TomCat," only higher profile and better looking...) came to stay. In fact after my visa crisis, I flew back to the states and they picked me up from JFK. Then they very kindly ferried me all the way back up to Ithaca. They hired a car, a yellow one. Not a muted, understated yellow you understand. YELLOW yellow. It was great.

I think Jim was discussing hiring an understated silver car with the rental person, until Jill popped up and gazed with longing at the bananamobile. So the yellow car it was. We never lost it in a car park and the bugs loved it. What more could you want from a rental vehicle!

Had great fun with Jill and Jim although the weather was shocking for a lot of the time. Pictures from their trip are posted on flickr.

Right, well, as the electrician has gone off to have his lunch I think it's time I had mine. Who knows, sometime today I might get to have a hot shower!! Back soon everyone!
x

At last!

Hi all,
apologies for being so crap at posting stuff. As most of you know we've had a lot of visitors (8 in all) in the past couple of months so I've not really been keeping up to date with "stuff". Anyway, I'm back! This is just a quick post to let you know that I have been wearing my poor fingers to the bone for you all and have posted a new set of pictures on flickr. For anyone who doesn't know, we have moved into our new house and have set about doing some of the much needed renovations to the kitchen and the downstairs bedrooms. So if you want to follow the story of our kitchen toddle over to my flickr photos and check out the "diy progress' set.