Some Progress with the Nesting

I'm pretty impressed with how well this volunteer hollyhock is doing at the entrance of the restaurant parking lot. As you may recall, none of us actually planted it; it simply began growing there, its seed brought by some random bird or something. I'm quite fond of the single flower and the buttery yellow color.

Ah, what a full day Wednesday was. I started early with a visit to the bank, on the way to my latest eye appointment. The appointment went well - my eye is showing what was described as 100% improvement since my visit there last week. But I also saw a different doctor, and I found that he was a lot more forthcoming about describing my condition to me and how I need to be treating it to ensure that it heals properly.

The previous doc hadn't been nearly so specific, and its just another reminder to me (which I'll try to pass on to you) that these days, we can't count on our health care so-called professionals to tell us what we need to know. We have to be pro-active at our appointments and ask the right questions. Almost makes me think they should be giving ME the $20 co-pay.

With this good news under my belt, and a delightfully sunny day going on around me, I took the opportunity that being further up-Cape provided and did a little shopping, making stops at K-Mart, Christmas Tree Shop and the Mill Stores before returning back to the Nest...where I was met by the withering gaze of our household's executive officer.



I wouldn't say he was in a bad mood, but sleeping pretty hard, apparently, since he didn't meet me at the door. I'm afraid we haven't had quite the snuggle time he might enjoy, as I've been a bit of a perpetual motion machine lately...only ever sitting down for a few moments (except for email and blogging, when I sit a little longer...), before popping up with some new project in mind. I try to stop every now and then to give him a proper scritch behind the ears or under the chin, as he loves...but I'm sure he will be pleased at the additional attention he should enjoy from having a houseguest to boss around this coming weekend.



I'd like to say I was incredibly well organized and that I'm completing tasks before moving on to the next ones...but I'd be totally lying to you. What I'm doing is a little of this, a little of that. The short term effect is that I act and appear a bit scatter-brained. Wifty, you might even say. But as time passes, I'm finding that I'm actually getting a lot accomplished.

For instance, the bathroom is now about two-thirds yellow.


It's only a single coat, and brushed on, because of the uneven surface of the beaded board. In time, I might get around to putting a second coat of yellow on things...but in the meantime, the first coat is looking pretty good and in the few places where a little pink shows through the yellow, it creates a sort of orangey-look I don't totally hate. Still, it's a work in progress, like much of the Nest.

After a short visit to work (it was technically a day off, but I still had a few things there that needed my attention), I was back home, where I got a little more testosterone going as I got out my phillips head screwdriver again and put together the new shelf unit I bought for my music CDs.

At first, I thought I'd done a crooked job of it when I put it in the corner, but really, it's the floor and the walls of the Nest which are uneven. L and P and I had a good laugh about this later on, and they advised me there's a great supply of shingles to use as shims out in the barn, which can be helpful for making everything in this old house seem less uneven.



In the photo above, you can see the progress being slowly made. The modular shelving units (okay, fine...milkcrates), the installed brackets for hanging plants, curtain rods, floral wire for the pothos vines to climb along.

As darkness fell last night, I took a little break to bring some of those milkcrates over to the restaurant for a run through the dishwasher there, and spotted two or three different coyotes in our greater neighborhood. No real surprise there, considering the recent late night outburst, but still...it was remarkable to see several of them in a single evening.

In other news of the Natural World, there's been a lot of excitement and a little bit of concern in our region recently, as sitings were reported of a manatee in a variety of locations. At first, they were just stories, unconfirmed, but now there's details. You can get the full story and video here.

While I was out cleaning up those shelving units, I also picked up a new string of lights to weave into the long pothos vines I was training along/above the wall where the sun and crow are painted.



It's mostly a string of white lights, but I did change out a few bulbs to bring in a little bit of green and amber...and a little blue and red behind the plant basket (for a little purple shadowing). I like the way the bits of color bring out some of the detail of the wall.

By the way, the print I've hung there is A.F. Tait's wonderful Adirondack painting, A Good Time Coming. It's long been one of my favorites, as I am a big fan of the lean-to as a bit of rustic architecture...and my love affair with the Adirondack region is no secret, either. Also, I always like the name as a good omen for entertaining.

So you can see that things are coming along pretty nicely. Like I said the other day, I'm on my own schedule...and I don't really expect things here to be fully settled down for at least another month or two. But I have been encouraged to accomplish a few things in advance of weekend visitors. Still, it remains a work in progress...there's still at least one room that looks like this:



Also - in the interests of full disclosure - Marc, I want to be sure you know in advance that this is the kitchen you will be working in Sunday evening.



It's not one of those big Martha Stewart country kitchen affairs...ha ha...so please keep your expectations low! But the stove works and I'm sure we can find you a little counter space for prep. And I've got dessert all worked out, so no worries on that front!

But lets not focus too much attention on my tiny little kitchen. Instead, let me share with you the sunset over Cape Cod Bay from Tuesday evening, just down the road from the Nest. I think you'll find it much easier on the eyes.

Tuesday's Gardens

I wanted to show you a little of the detail from my work on the living room walls. I was really pleased with the tiny purple flowers down near the baseboard.

A very important accomplishment today: I finally got myself over to Orleans Town Hall and made sure that I was registered to vote here in town...and learned where the polling place is, too.

Don't we have a nice looking town hall? I learned this year that Orleans is one of 3,310 communities designed as a Tree City USA. Here are the criteria for the designation.

After I'd tended my business inside, I poked around with my camera, enjoying the grounds a little. There was some beautiful blue and purple cranesbill (aka, perennial geranium) blooming just outside the front doors.

It's possible it's looked better than it did today at this end of the long growing season, but that didn' t stop this bee from visiting as I snapped my photo.

There was something about this big patch of clover in the lawn that really tickled me...or would've, if I'd actually stopped to roll around in it...but hey, I just moved to town, a little decorum can't be a bad thing.





I stopped at Friends Market today. I was getting something for lunch, but also looking to bring a little fall flower color to what was mostly a gray and dismal autumn day.


I sure love these red and rusty chrysanthemums.



I also noticed they've got some pansies on special. I thought about picking some up, but I want to make sure they are at the beginning of their lifecyle and will continue to bloom through the winter (or at least resume when the winter passes). It sure is nice to have some of those cheery little faces around.

The sun did make a veiled appearance at the end of the day. Here's a shot of the sky from the deck earlier this evening.


Tonight, I discovered that the door to the deck, which appeared to have been long-ago painted white, really only had some sort of residue on it from being exposed to the elements.

Once I started rubbing it with some polishing oil, the white film vanished and the door's frame turned a nice chestnut color...a great contrast with the peachy-orange dining room walls.

Tonight I also decided that the pair of snapdragons needed a little context for their frivolity, so I painted these flower silhouettes onto the walls.

I swear, these are the last elements I'm adding to the walls. The next step will be taping off the radiators and woodwork, so I can do the final sponge coat of the top color of the room.

Monday Monday

A cloudy morning started us off today and it sort of matched the mood of my heart. It's funny how it changes a little like the tide lately.

I have chosen with no regret, and seem to be finding happiness wherever I look. And yet still there are things I wish had been different, that sometimes make me a little sad.

I miss the Garden, wonder what is happening along the fence, if the rest of the mums have begun to bloom yet, and if the cosmos ever really started blooming, and if any of them turned out to be seashell shaped.

I have a few roots I would like to extract still, particularly some irises only recently planted there. One or two of them promising to be purple. And maybe a little red dianthus. So I will be heading to Harwich one carefully chosen day soon and I'll be sure to bring the camera along, to show you what I find.


I had to pull over at Rock Harbor when I got a look at the sky over the bay as I headed for work this morning. I'm sorry I didn't notice until I was back behind the wheel and driving what the sky behind me looked like...it was pretty amazing looking. Sorry to tease with just the mention.

Hey, this really bugs me. The property you see here used to be a nice wild patch of woods, all trees and wildflowers. And then last year they cleared most of the lot and built this McMansion. It happens WAY too often on Cape Cod lately.

That was enough of an abomination, a crime against nature, to me...and then this week, they took down another tree or two and hoisted this great banner, which is spotlight-illuminated by night and day. It's a pretty residential area and anyway, I bet its not zoned for nightlit billboards...so add disregard for the law to raping the land, needless power consumption and reshaping the world in one's self-important image. Yep, sounds like an apt advertisement for the candidates.

Oh, I'm getting all itchy thinking about it. Here, let's chill with a bachelor button instead.


As you can see, I got more painting done in the living room this evening. It took a little while to sketch in the crow. I wanted to make sure it looked just right before doing anything with the permanance of black paint.

I'm pretty happy with how its looking right now.

Remember way back on September 13th, when I was painting the bedroom with Cape Cod Gray and tapped the end of the roller on my palm?

I did sort of like the pattern that made...especially as my mind began to transform it into some kind of stylized cave painting version of the sun. And when Patrick suggested in comment that it represented a Brand New Day, I knew it had to be front and center in my plans for the living room.

In fact, it kind of brought together the idea of the garden as cave painting.


It was very important, though, to make the sun a big icon in the scheme of things, and it had to be perfectly round...so I needed something big and round to trace.

In a stroke of luck, I found this pristine metal garbage can lid in the barn outside. What a find! Not only is it perfectly round and just as big as I'd hoped...but also one of those lids that feels fun in your hand, you know, like you've just picked up a great shield and are ready for battle...well, would be, if you also had a sword, and even the slightest clue what to do with it.

I lit my butterfly candle this evening with thoughts toward an orange tiger-striped buddy of mine - Mom and Dad's Dewey cat - who seems to have wandered away from the house in Connecticut they've all just moved into this past week.

I wish him courage and bravery and resourcefulness, and whatever else he needs to make a safe return happen. And meantime, hugs and the power of positive thinking are sent to Mom and Dad.

It's like a mania: tonight I stenciled some more leaves on this particular tree part of the living room wall. I almost think there are enough now...but we'll see what tomorrow brings.

"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there."

"It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away. The difference between a man who cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said."

Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 1950.

Some Thoughts, Mostly About Paint

So far, Sleep is a fleeting visitor here at the Nest. At first, it was the unsettled nature of the Moving In...and the whole sleeping on the floor thing. But lately, even with the arrival of something soft to sleep upon, there is the combination of the bright morning light...and assorted random questions and thoughts that roost heavily on my mind, like the blackbirds in the treetops outside.

They have been gathering there a lot lately, the air full of their quiet chatter of clicks and pops and such. I've not yet gotten out the binoculars (though I did recently check to be sure they made the move with me - they have), but I believe these are mostly red-winged blackbirds, quieter at this end of the season, and possibly these gatherings are practice for the day soon when they will gather here, and abruptly head off in a southerly direction for the coming winter.

I happened to be outside last evening when they took to the air from these tree tops, in two waves...and the evening light was such that I was pretty sure that they were segregated by gender as they took flight. Interesting. Of course, that said, the two waves of birds seemed to merge into one greater cloud of birdiness as they flew toward the setting sun and the bay.

I wish I could get a photo or two of the Feline Zoomings, when they occur, so you would know that we don't refer to some kind of other activity when we speak of tearing about the apartment like cheetahs or pumas.

But anyway, here's the Furry Man enjoying some cat TV--there's a very popular bird feeder in the side yard below the window he's perched in here.



And here's a look at the morning's light yesterday, as filtered through breeze-swaying treetops and shining on the newly-painted walls of the dining room. You can see how the bright early light here almost totally washes out the color of the walls.

And I also took the photo because the unfocussed nature of it reminded me of what my vision's continued to be like out of my recently-poked right eye. I'd been continuing to visit my eye doc, who was counseling patience...but yesterday, he agreed that things had actually gotten a little worse over the weekend, and so now I've got these steroid eye drops to put in a few times a day...which seem to be helping. I just hope my one eye doesn't get all big and muscle-y and angry.


Here's Agent LaChat again, now lounging on the unmade bed(he prefers it that way), his whithering stare reminding me he is no fan of flash photography.

And meanwhile, out on the deck, the potted lantana is a continuing pleasure. I just love these red and orange and yellow flowers...and I wonder about how nice a framed photo of them might look hanging on the newly-painting kitchen walls here at the Nest.




The kitchen painting was on the schedule for last night again, with just one wall remaining. I'm glad it wasn't done, as well, as it gave me a chance to take a few more pictures of the process, because Java has questions. She's the Queen of Questions, actually; it's just one of the things I like about her.

Doc Kline told me once long ago that the only stupid questions were the ones you kept to yourself, that there's no better way to learn...so getting emails from Java with her queries actually helps me better examine my life. I sometimes hope I am asking her the right questions in reply, to offer the same benefit to her, in kind.

Yes, that's my green hand there. The sponging work is sort of messy on the hands, if a little tidier generally (once the masking of woodwork is done, I don't always need drop clothes or other protections like that.), so I like to wear a glove while I'm doing it. That also makes it easier to take a break and wander off to check emails and stuff...

Now I think Java (and perhaps others of you) were a little baffled by my previous entry, in which I spoke about the texture of sponging a solid color, and how working the paint brings out the over and under tones of the color you're working with...so I'll try to clarify here.

Here's the sort of pattern you get working with a nice big sea sponge. In this case, I'm working with a dry sponge, as it gives me a stronger texture. You can get a softer, more blended look (which works well if you are sponging over OTHER colors) if you wet the sponge first...but that can also be a little messier, since the paint gets a little goopier with the introduction of additional wetness.

The interesting thing about sponge painting is that, like working with a brush or roller, it starts out as being an additive process. For example, here we start with the Pepto pink walls and each time the sponge touches, I leave the pattern of the sponge in the dark red brick of Mexicana.


But the whole point is that eventually, I want the entire wall to be covered with that color, so that the pink is un-see-able. As I continue to touch new places on the wall, the paint is spread about...but as the pink space becomes covered and I go back to fill in the gaps...the painting process also becomes a bit subtractive, thanks to the sponge. Every time it dispenses a little paint, it also absorbs a little back...and so in some places, you get a lighter tone.

And in bit and places where you get a second coat of the color, you get darker tones. Going back and doing a second coat of sponging helps you to cover more of those lighter areas, and they become smaller, specklings in the solid color of the wall.

So while you still end up with more or less a single color on the wall, you also get a sense of the paler notes of the color (although transparent, it is a strong enough color that the real pinkiness of the under doesn't really come through...or won't once I've been back with a tiny brush or Q tip to finish the last cutting in bits...), and also some darker notes, too.

I love working with sponge treatments, because the pattern actually distracts from the imperfections of the wall you're painting, as opposed to simple brush-and-roller treatment, which lays the color out nice and smooth...a great look when you are hoping for that. The walls here at the Nest are nothing if not imperfect, which honestly, makes them a little more beautiful to me.

I think this photo to the right gives you a sense of the patterns on the sponging, though it's hard to catch with the camera. This was after the first coat of the other evening, and before I went back over it freshly last night. Now the lighter spots you see here are actually a little more muted, as they've been divided into much smaller bits of lighter tones by the second sponge coat.


I don't know if that answers questions you've had, or just brings up more. I know there was also some discussion about whether the brick red and the remaining pink pantry would play nicely together, so I've included this shot here to show you that I think, tentatively, we might be just fine.

You can see on that one pink wall there's been some spackling and I don't have the same deep pink to re-paint with...so I'll be addressing that with a paler pink and an interesting plan still in formation. Of course, you'll be the first to know what I do, when I get around to it!

And here's a shot of the kitchen from just outside the apartment, to give you a sense of the more-or-less finished product, after the last of the masking tape was pulled off this morning.

In the midst of this project, Lenny and I have also removed the nasty old stove that was here alongside the fridge, and brought in the brand new one, which is kind of exciting (due to the size of the kitchen, it's a little small for the cookie sheets I currently own, so I'll have to research smaller ones before the holiday baking season rolls around).

We're smaht enough to have a professional coming by later today to make sure the propane lines are hooked up properly and pilot lights lit right and all.

[On a somewhat related note, Patrick's recent visit has sparked a small flurry of inquiries from some of you, wondering if painting skills were a requirement for visiting the Nest...and I'm here to let you know that, No, painting is not required. You can send me your CVs, resumes, bios and so on, in an email, which will no doubt enlighten me as to what actual home-building skills you CAN bring to the Nest...and then we can talk. Of course, if your name's Carter Oosterhouse, you can come right over. ; ) ]

At Summer's End, A Friend

Look at this lovely morning glory Patience has climbing a string down in the backyard. I just love the delicate purple markings.

Yes, it's been a few days since I've blogged last, and surely you are all wondering just what the Gardener's been up to, how the Nest is coming along and was anything of note done to celebrate the final days of Summer 2008.


Actually, I had just planned on a quiet weekend of painting and time in nature, but it turned out to be a much more interesting and exciting weekend than that, as Badum and I ended up hosting our first weekend guest!

In commiserating with a fellow blogger about our recent respective malaises (is that the plural?), I had touted the creative process as a helpful means to distraction...and painting as the sort of process you could do while spending time sorting through your thoughts...and I extended a sort of Tom Sawyer-like invitation to come help paint the apartment this weekend.

But I must admit, it was still a delightful surprise when Patrick called to say he was interested in coming to help paint if I'd been quite serious (perhaps he's realizing that I am rarely all-the-way serious about many things...there's little fun in seriousness, after all) about the invite. Which is how we ended up finally meeting at the bus station in Hyannis late Friday night!

The whole blogging experience (or at least ours) has put us in touch with such a great circle of people, where at least the frameworks for real friendships have been somewhat intensively forged online, and of course, that whole cyber world creates this sense of "imaginary" friends, and you never truly know how you'll respond to someone when you meet them for real.

I'm happy to say Patrick and I seemed to step across the gap between worlds with a hug and a smile...and we quickly moved on to proving that old John Lennon saw about how what people really want to do is sit in rooms and talk...although we proved they also want to do it (the talking, People; heads out of the gutter, please...you cheapen us all with your tawdry little imaginings...) in cars, during inauspicious late-night dinners in Wendy's parking lots...and while walking through marshes...or standing in the cool waters of Cape Cod Bay...or sitting in the sun on the deck with coffee and Cheerios...and yes, even while painting...we did get around to a little bit of that, too.

But we did speak of each one of you. Some more than others, naturally, and almost entirely good things. But I wouldn't be surprised to hear that any one of you spent at least some little piece of the weekend going, "hey, what's that I feel in the Universe...something's going on...why are my ears ringing...?" Yah, that was us. We talked about the Secret Wisdom of Bachelor's Buttons, too.

Look at the color of the dining room: it's called Amsonia Peach, which I chose as my orange component of the rainbow painting scheme for the Nest. It's amazing in the way it changes so totally as the light does. One moment, it's pumpkin pie orange, another moment cinnamon brown or here, with a blush of gold and pink, just like the skin of a peach.


The light changes a lot in this room during the course of a day, so it should be fun to watch as this color transforms right along with it. And also, some of the late day light comes in bounced off the now-pink, but soon to be brick red walls of the kitchen...so it will be interesting to see just how that changes things, too.

It really was a fun weekend. It was nice to have a kindred spirit to talk with about so many things on each of our minds. While neither of us saw this as one of those transformative, "How Someone Got Their Groove Back" weekends, in the process we may have at least realized that we each should actually have grooves, anyway...being fabulous gay guys and all.

And hosting a guest on Cape Cod always carries the additional pleasure of making one slow down and appreciate the incredible beauty around us.


With the recent frenzy of life, I've done little more than drive to local beach parking lots lately, to hurry up and soak in the sunset and snap a few photos before dashing home to rearrange some furniture or paint something.

What a joy it was to slow down and walk through the marsh with someone, laughing out loud (but not LOLing, for gosh sakes...) and talking about it or just soaking it in...and then actually walking out into the bay as the tide began to lap in around us, blue herons and hundreds of other birds flying about overhead, foraging in the shallow waters for their dinner as we snapped photos.

I should say we weren't totally chatterboxes. An evening like this would be pointless if you didn't know when to be silent and let the amazing world be around you.

The late season songs of the crickets sounding a little sad, but sweetly so, from the marsh grass. complemented by the plaintive and ungraceful blat of the great blue heron as it soars across the bay waters, the honk of a fast-moving duck overhead, the lapping of the water around our ankles. The mystery of what the small unseen creatures were who occasionally dimpled the calm surface of the water from below and the way the color of the sky changes so gracefully as the sunlight vanishes and the stars appear overhead....it was all quite soothing and wonderful.

It was good to have the birds' foraging as a reminder for us, as we are neither of us apparently clock-watchers, especially not with all the nature and talking and quiet to enjoy...but it wasn't too long after that we discovered that the Gardener's Nest is indeed within delivery range for a Papa Gino's pizza.

Not watching the clock while chatting is also how we missed the earlier opportunity to get Patrick on a bus back to NY Sunday...and it was as we dashed for the car and the bus station a little while later that we remembered we'd not done a proper snapshot to prove we'd met...and so here's that.

If you get the opportunity to meet Patrick, I highly recommend it. He's fun and smart and thoughtful and all that you imagine he might be...and a little more, too. P, thanks for your company this weekend, it was really great fun. I hope we'll do it again sometime soon (there's more painting to do, after all).

Now on a technical note, I'm excited about having met Patrick for another reason: as a blogger, I can now be validated, at least to a small circle of other bloggers Patrick has met (and more distantly, through all the bloggers they have met), and am proven to be a real person more or less as represented in Blogland (perhaps a touch more neurotic...).

Pinnochio voice: So, look at me, everybody, I'm a real boy!


I stopped into work on the way home from the bus station, which is how I learned that Danny and Sara were still in town at the end of their week's vacation and they invited me to join them for the summer's last sunset...which you can see above.

Though I expressed to Dan the interest his internet fan base had in a further photo shoot in the outdoor shower, I'm afraid we never got around to that this time. ; )

We were really too busy just chilling out as the last gorgeous moments of summer slid down behind the horizon.

And it was really no surprise to me at all that the sun turned a lovely shade of violet as it vanished.