Abby's Alley

Philip and I are project people. And since we have a house with endless tasks, sometimes the projects come and go faster than we can report. Here's an appetizer of all the activities.

1) Phil's been putting together a succulent picture. He made the frame out of scrape wood, scrounged around for some chicken wire—he got some from Ed Morsey and found the rest covering a vent on our house—filled it with soil, and inserted the smallest succulents we have. He shoots the thing with a spray bottle everyday to water it. The final product will hang on the wall and supposedly won't fall apart because of the roots. We'll see about that one. In the meantime we've got to let the thing sit for 6-8 weeks before it's ready for vertical hanging.

2) Our little laundry shack needs attention, so I took on replacing a rotting roofing board. I learned: that roofing has fiberglass in it so wear gloves, that each sheet of roofing is nailed in below and above the next overlapping shin…

With a collection of poison pimples on my chin and one smack in the middle of my forehead, today wasn’t a day to feel beautiful. Nevertheless a contractor in his mid-thirties kept staring at me while he pumped gas into big white truck. Eventually he came over to me and said: “Hello, my name is Joe Smoe. I’m a contractor with such and such, and I noticed you over here, and I wanted to tell you that you’re really beautiful.” “Well thank you, but you know I had no say in the matter.” “I don’t see very many people around as beautiful as you.” “Thank you, but you know real beauty is on the inside.” “Ya, but how can you know unless you get to know a person. Maybe I can take you to lunch sometime.” “Um, I’m married.” “Oh.” “Yep. I’ve been happily married for awhile now.” “That’s great.” “Do you know what the secret to a great marriage is?” “Communication. You got to communicate.” “Are you married?” “Divorced.” “Why didn’t it work out?” “We didn’t have good communication. I ma…