the death of an appliance parts salesman, or, how to fix a furnace
Last week, our furnace stopped working. Or, or be more precise, it stopped actually producing any heat. It came on just fine. The blower worked. The pilot light went on. It just didn’t actually fire...
View Articlei hate water. hate, hate, hate water.
Part of the reason I haven’t been posting here much is that we had a bit of a laundry room breakdown a few weeks back. I discovered that our washing machine had sprung a leak. Actually, it appeared to...
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on greed and apricots
It’s been a really good fruit tree year. We had a warm spring and for once it stayed warm rather than the usual pattern of being 80 degrees in February and then snowing the hell all over us in March....
View Articlea panoply of updates
Yeah, I’m being scarce again. I’m midway through a long tech writing contract and in that “OMG I can’t stand to do any more writing” frame of mind when I get home every night. My head has grooved deep...
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The Mutton War
(warning, long) The war has gone on for so long that we almost cannot remember a time in which we were at peace. We start awake at night at the slightest noise, ready to charge outside shouting with...
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How to Convert an Old Shed to a Chicken Coop in 45,732 Easy Steps (Part One)
About a year ago we went down the hill one afternoon to visit with our neighbor Greg. While we were there, Greg pointed out the improvements he had made to his house, taught us how to douse for water...
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How to Convert an Old Shed to a Chicken Coop in 45,732 Easy Steps (Part Two)
(read Part One here) After Greg delivered the old shed onto my driveway it sat there for close to nine months. I was too busy to clear the road to the chicken yard, and Greg apparently didn’t need his...
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How to Convert an Old Shed to a Chicken Coop in 45,732 Easy Steps (Part Three)
(Part One, Part Two) A number of years back the roller on a drawer broke in our old refrigerator. This wasn’t that big a deal; the fridge still worked, but it was kind of a pain that the drawer didn’t...
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How to Convert an Old Shed to a Chicken Coop in 45,732 Easy Steps (Part Four)
(Part One, Part Two, Part Three) So you’re probably thinking, “Hey Laura, it’s been a really super long time since you wrote about that shed/chicken coop of yours. Surely you’ve made some progress that...
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The Curious Incident of the Chickens In the Night-Time
I used to count the feet. At sundown all the chickens march into the chicken coop and hop onto the roost to put themselves to bed. I go out a little bit later with a flashlight to close the door of the...
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Guess what I did this weekend?
Guess what I did this weekend?, a photo by lauralemay on Flickr. Guess what I’m doing next weekend?
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What I’m Doing This Weekend
canning tomatoes, a photo by lauralemay on Flickr. Putting tomatoes into jars. Lots of tomatoes. Lots of jars.
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Fruit of Mystery
I have a big yard. So big, in fact, that after 15 years living here I am still finding fruit trees lurking in the underbrush. Up in the area we call “the meadow” there are a handful of really old pear...
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