I’m not sure if anyone encountered this, but I found out yesterday that posting comments to the blog when you aren’t logged in came up with an error. It appears related to the spam blocking feature (maybe one.com has installed a new firewall and it blocks a needed port?), so I disabled part of it. I guess if we get filled up with spam I’ll have to turn it on again and everyone will have to create a user account.
All 7 or 8 of you.
Sometimes, the baby makes some strange faces. Sometimes she is possessed. I can’t explain it, and I’m not sure I would want to know the explanation even if I could.
I was searching through the pictures, and came across a cute picture of Catie and the guys pouring our concrete, and I think the concrete came out really well, at least in my non-professional opinion. Except some weird people wrote their names in it.
I also found a cute picture of Anya and I…except in the original, my eyes were red. Not just your usual redeye, but bright, glowing, demon-red. Anya’s were fine. Ironic.
Anyways, the whole reason I was going through pictures was to find some of the pizza we’ve been making lately. We finally cleaned out and seasoned the cast iron pots Cabol found in the garbage back when we were still in Michigan, and tried using them to bake the pizzas in. They come out perfect, nice and crunchy, and never ever stick to the pan. I think I’m in love with cast iron.
Cabol thought these would make a good movie:
This has been a busy week here at Casa Loafkeeper. Today the sheep were sheared. Sadie decided to spend the first hour running around the property (and the neighbor’s) eluding us. She also got the end of her tail nicked during the shearing, but the shearer tied it off so it wouldn’t bleed. We didn’t have anything to cauterize the wound, though, so he came back later with a torch and a piece of metal and did the deed.
In somewhat sadder news, the three ram lambs are no longer with us. Cabol’s dad and I went with them and watched the process, but didn’t really participate. I have to call the butcher on Monday to tell him how we want them cut, and the pelts are in the shed being salted, to eventually be sent to the tanner.
Today Cabol’s dad and I finished framing out the basement. Too bad they are leaving tomorrow, since we didn’t get around to putting drywall up yet. 
[Edit by Cabol: See the place in the photo below where the door goes? It’s a pocket door! That’s why the framing looks different than normal and why there is metal up top. That’s the track the door will slide on. Also, see the spot towards the left where there is blue tape on the floor? That’s my imaginary closet. Do you think it’s too small to be worth it? Andy wants to get an armoire instead. I know this would be small, but we could put two layers of hangy parts in since we mostly hang short stuff like shirts.]
Sunday night I saw a posting on craigslist for some laminate flooring. Now, I’m more of a real wood kind of guy, but at $200 for 350+ square feet of it (new in the box), it was hard to resist. It’s enough to do our entire basement, and unlike real wood you can install it below grade because it is moisture resistant. So last night Cabol’s dad and I met a man in a darkened parking lot, and we are now the proud owners of 17.5 really heavy boxes.
We just hope the mice in the workshop don’t eat it before it gets installed.
The door went up to the laundry room today. We had to raise the opening a few inches to accommodate a standard size door, and discovered there was power going over the door frame as well, but it all worked out fine. Buying one of those pre-hung doors sure helps, too. It actually feels like a real doorway now, instead of a glorified closet with big bi-fold doors.
Pictures below.
(Edit by Cabol: The first photo is from last August when Andy was trying to catch the snake in the basement. We forgot to take a before shot, and this was the best we could find. Alas, it does not quite show the full horridness of what was before.)
We finished putting up the drywall on the outside basement wall today. What is left is:
1) Replace bi-fold laundry doors with real door, and reclaim 12 inches of wall space
2) Install new wall to complete the basement bedroom
3) Install pocket door in new wall
4) Tape, mud and sand new walls (hi Lazuli!)
5) Prime and paint new walls
6) Repaint floor a darker color Install laminate floors we got really, really cheap
Pictures below. Continue reading
Today Buddy decided he needed a break from his diet of moles, so he brought us one of these:
I thought maybe it was a baby, but it seems there is a species called the ‘least weasel’, which is just a really tiny weasel. The good news is one less rodent! The bad news is it’s a rodent that eats other rodents.
So far Buddy has caught us three moles!
Ok, we’ve actually been back since Sunday. It was a lot of driving. Anya got to see her extended family (many of whom hadn’t seen her since wayyyyyyyy back in July at the wedding), and has a new trendy brown stroller to ride down to the barn in. Her Aunt Rebecca tried to kidnap her.
We bought lots of stuff to finish the basement with at Home Depot. Too bad no one has had the motivation to actually start working yet!