Home sweet home!
The after-dinner-mint green asbestos siding
will eventually come off to reveal lovely wood siding,
which it has been graciously preserving all these years..
Oh, soon our shady stoop will tangle with twining vines snaking over all!

Over the garden gate, sweet little fence.

A big bad cottonwood beetle. Note his false scary eyes and ponytails.
He was imprisoned in a honey jar because he eats trees until they die.

The bare bones beginning of our bath pavillion..
Every house I’ve lived in since I was 16 had a clawfoot bathtub-
and this one is now no exception. It’s something of a necessity.
..Oh, and there’s this bit of magic from Ambassador Gorvetzian..
Spell to Bring Lost Creatures Home
Home, home,
Wild birds home!
Lark to the grass,
Wren to the hedge,
Rooks to the tree-tops,
Swallow to the eaves,
Eagle to its crag
and raven to its stone,
All birds home!
Home, home,
Strayed ones home,
Rabbit to burrow
Fox to earth,
Mouse to the wainscot,
Rat to the barn,
Cattle to the byre,
Dog to the hearth,
All beasts home!
Home, home
Wanderers home,
Cormorant to rock
Gulls from the storm
Boat to the harbour
Safe sail home!
Children home,
At evening home,
Boys and girls
From the roads come home,
Out of the rain
Sons come home,
From the gathering dusk,
Young ones home!

Home, home
All souls home,
Dead to the graveyard,
Living to the lamplight,
Old to the fireside,
Girls from the twilight,
Babe to the breast
And heart to its haven,
Lost ones home!
– From Kathleen Raine’s “The Year One”, 1952.

So we’ve ensconced ourselves in our firefly-frought palace,
safely and soundly but not without trial and travail and
some frightening misadventures..
Our beloved canine companion nearly died
the night before I had to be out of the Avenue B cottage.
It seems he got into some rat poison,
we think from a dead critter he dug up..
He went from slightly listless and mopey
to irregular breathing and shitting great gouts of blood
in the space of an hour.
Luckily, we were able to get him into the emergency
animal clinic where they gave him the antidote for
Warfarin posioning- Vitamin K!
If you ever suspect your animal might have
eaten rat poison, that’s the answer- if you can
get it quick enough.
Looking at him now, you would never know
how close he came to being no more..

The most amazing dog in the world. No, really. It’s the truth.

Our beautiful weeping pear tree.

And a little fig tree we just planted, along with lots of briar roses,
wormwood, plumbago and a mango tree!
We have a third of an acre with giant sycamores, pecan trees,
a lacebark elm and a cedar. Heavenly shade to hammock under.
Soon there will be a greenhouse and a fountain and a carnivore bog
and a pygmy goat and a pygmy donkey and another doggie and a
blacksmith’s shop and a vegetable and herb garden and a willow
and and and and and!

Wow, so somebody got a special deal on remnant tile-
and kind of went to crazytown with it. It’s kind of John Waters-y,
but in the best kind of way.. The showers, however,
are a bit spooky-manky and made for midgets.
They may have to go. We’ll see.

Another kooky loo. With effalent.

So our house is something of a project.
One that will be ongoing for many years to come, I’m sure.
It’s an old house, with good bones- but a few issues.
It’s real-estate terms it’s known as a “handyman’s delight”
though we’re not sure if “delight” is the most appropriate word..
Luckily, we are handy- and when we’re done it will be
nothing short of incredible.
It has eight rooms, not counting the two bathrooms, kitchen
and bathtub pavillion- lots of closets and crannies and windows.
So come visit! There’s lots of room!
(Although we’re kind of living like fancy squatters right now,
with no stove, and boxes and janky-janky everything-
Colin told me to pretend I was living in New Orleans again.
It worked, actually.)

Oh yeah, and most of the rooms are painted a dazzling shade of
“Smurf Blue”. Somebody also got a deal on paint, apparently.
It is my bane. Though as far as graffiti goes,
the poetry is a nice touch!

We went to the store and picked up a stripper.

It was very noxious and gave us burning sores. But very effective.

Ta-da! Shiny wood floors and a temporary bedroom painted
a lovely shade I call “Seaweed Dream Green” and Colin has
dubbed “Spirulina Surprise”! Yep, we’re gettin’ pretty darn
Bob Vila up in heah!