it snowed… leaves.
November 17th, 2011
With all the rain and wind yesterday, the majority of the yellow ginkgho leaves flew off the trees and completely covered our sidewalks… to the point that it almost looked like a blanket of snow. It was actually quite beautiful looking… though slippery. They were so thick that they covered the lines between the curb and sidewalk, causing Bowser to misstep a time or two and fall off. It was pretty funny, not that he actually noticed. Anyways, now quite a few of them have tracked into the house. I like to think of it as “bringing nature indoors,” not a dirty house. I think I’ll wait until December to clean them up. Yeah, by that time, all the leaves will be gone and there will be no risk of cleaning up, only to have one more come inside.
normalcy
September 13th, 2011
pedestrian walkway bridge at the Rockville Metro.
Normalcy… Does anyone else seem like this has been missing in the past few weeks? I feel like the end of summer was a whirlwind of crazy – a major earthquake, followed by Hurricane Irene, then classes started, August was over justlikethat, another week of non-stop rain and flooding, the 10th anniversary of 9/11… It just seems to me like there haven’t been any normal weeks gone by of late. I guess that’s life. The slow, lazy days of summer are coming to an end, and there is cooler weather in the forecast for the end of this week. woohoo! Oh happy fall days, hurry up!
the wind and the rain
August 28th, 2011
Hurricane Irene came and went last night. The heaviest of the rain seemed to be falling around and after 9pm. We hunkered down inside, lit all the candles, ate pizza and cookies for dinner, and then watched some movies and fell asleep in the guest bedroom, where the rain always sounds the loudest. We’re happy to report no flooding or leaking at our house, and we also miraculously never lost power! I know lots of other friends weren’t so lucky… so we wish for things to return to normal as quickly as possible for everyone. There are lots of trees and limbs down all over the neighborhood, so I know major cleanups will be ongoing.
maybe, or maybe not, a casualty of the storm
weather whatever
August 26th, 2011
well, Irene is on her way here. whatever though, Bowser ain’t scared. he already made it through a 5.8 earthquake this week. there’s lots of kibble stocked up in the house, bottled tap water, a brand new bone, and a bottle of near northeast hooch (see yesterday’s post). bring it on!
what’ll you have for us next week, mother nature?
power out
June 3rd, 2011
When I got home from work yesterday, our power was out. There was a bit of a heat wave earlier this week, and apparently everyone turned on their AC units/fans at the same time, so there have been some major Pepco problems around Northeast DC. Luckily, we were spared through the first round of outages when temps were near 100 degrees. So I can’t complain about being powerless yesterday when it was much milder weather. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it was nice to be without. Almost EVERYONE on our block decided to sit on the stoops and enjoy the fading outdoor light. Eventually, the kids on our street all got out flashlights and ran up and down the sidewalks screaming like banshees. It was pretty cool to see the street by just the light of the moon and the ambient glow of the rest of the city (read: light pollution). Plus, it was a good reason to 1) not do any sort of work on the computer! 2) start eating all the freezer pops before they melted!
Anyways, the power came back on around 5am, but then was back off by the time I was leaving for work. I wonder if it will be fixed when I get home today??
well hello, summer
May 30th, 2011
It was super hot and sunny this Memorial Day weekend and that means summer is finally here!! Break out your white pants everyone. Woo hoo! We had one of those great summer storms on Friday evening, the kind that sneak up really fast with huge, fat raindrops and gusts of wind. Matt was playing basketball in the street with the neighborhood kids and I was reading in the window seat, when all of a sudden the sky turned dark grey and it looked like the end of the world outside. It poured for about 20 minutes, and then passed on by, leaving somewhat cooler air behind. There was a pretty good lighting and thunder show as well.
On Saturday, we did some work in the backyard — cleaning up weeds and some of the empty pots and things that were left here by the previous owner, and Matt finished painting the alley-side of our back fence with random green stripes. We also pulled out the two old windows with white-painted frames that have been leaning against the fence in the backyard since we moved in here. We were thinking about putting them up inside, or maybe mounting them on the fence with some artwork behind the glass. I like the idea of black silhouettes of something behind the panes of glass, but I need to keep looking around for some inspiration. Finally, I also managed to invoke a million mosquitos out there while I was weeding, so, yeah, summer is really here.
On Saturday evening, we enjoyed some BBQ and watched the Maryland semi-final lacrosse game at Keith and Brigid’s house. I made a strawberry shortcake in my new trifle bowl and it actually came out pretty good! Jill would have been so proud of me, making whipped cream all AND I also experimented outside the lines of the recipe, adding a layer of cream-cheese frosting in the middle. YUM. Anything with fresh strawberries screams sum-sum-summatime!
On Sunday, we ventured to Home Depot for green paint and settled on Limeaid (!!!) for the front door. I finished the third coat tonight, and it’s quite bright and loud, just the way we wanted it. We are on such a green kick lately! We also picked up some flower boxes for the front yard along with marigolds (I learned this is Matt’s favorite flower) and white vinca, and some chicken wire, which Matt lined the fence with. The front yard is now Bowser-puppy-proof. What a productive weekend already!
Today, we spent the day in HoCo with my parents just relaxing and enjoying that crucial third-day off of work. We drove into Baltimore too for a bit, to check out Second Chance, Inc, a non-profit architectural salvage warehouse. There are all sorts of reclaimed materials like kitchen cabinets, doors, mirrors, fences, chandeliers, stained-glass, furniture, artwork, patio sets…. You name it, they have it. If you need home design inspiration, this is the place to check out. JJ introduced me to it a few months ago, and I was really excited to go back with Matt. We didn’t get anything this trip (the giant, metal, multi-colored garden rooster was vetoed by Matt, as were the ridiculous gold and purple couches I found: “we already have one of those”) , but we definitely got some good ideas for future projects. It’s always fun to look, right?
Hope everyone had a Memorial Day as relaxing and enjoyable as ours and also took a moment to remember and appreciate our soldiers and veterans.
Rawlins Park
April 6th, 2011
omg ducks!
Twas a beautiful day on Monday — uncharacteristically warm at 80 degrees. Luckily I had half an hour to kill after work and before Matt gave a talk about green/LEED things (“Neighborhoods Go Green – Scaling Up Sustainability”) at the American Institute of Architects HQ. I wandered into Rawlins Park to sit for awhile and enjoy the sun and pink blossoms. There were several other photographers taking shots of the beautiful trees, as well as what appeared to be some sort of glamour shoot involving a woman in 5-inch heels.
I, however, was simply enjoying watching the flower petals bob up and down in the water, a slow mass oozing together in the wind. It was quiet and peaceful with the canopies of the trees providing just enough of a blockade to the cars zipping up 18th street on their way home. If only the weather could stay that way always….
obligtory photos from a little snowstorm
January 27th, 2011
Finally we got some real snow! It made for a beautiful, but very wet, walk with Bowser last night. I just love the muted, white color that the sky turns when it comes down. Huge wet flakes!
And then, we watched the rest of it fall from inside the cozy warmth of the house. Looking through the screen here, not too many people out and about on our street last night.
This morning, schools and the government are off. WIMPS!! Ok, maybe I’m just jealous, but the roads look fine to me, and the sidewalks were clear enough, too… At least on my walk to the metro.
brrr
January 25th, 2011
We finally got some film developed from the past few weeks… or maybe it’s months now? Anyways, between moving and the holidays, all kinds of things got off track. We’ve also yet to find a super-convenient film development option near our new house. It sure was nice being 1 block from the CVS 1-hour photo dealie when we lived on Q Street. So, we ended up going with the mail-away development option through Snapfish, only to find that they can’t develop film without making prints at the same time. This is not very great, because we just want the photos on disc (for starters anyways) and I don’t want to have to box the thousands of photos taken every year.
This photo is from the Olympus XA2, shot a few weeks back at the SW Waterfront Fish Market when we got one of those lame snow dustings we’ve been getting around here lately. I say that menacingly in hopes that the snow gods will hear me and be angered by tomorrow, when we are expected to once again be on the snow/rain line for the latest winter “event.” Come on, blizzard!! Anyways, it we quite empty and peaceful there with the layer of clean snow, unlike the usual fish market hullabaloo.
Icing!
January 18th, 2011
The sidewalks this morning are like an ice rink. Hilarity ensues on the commute!! Everyone walking around like little penguins trying to look normal without sliding or falling over.
