Our front retaining wall and stairs sometimes gets tagged by nefarious souls, and the other day I tried removing the paint. The pressure washer was ineffective and actually made things worse because it cleaned all the dirt and moss and whatnot off the wall and made the graffiti stand out more.
So then I got some textured spray paint that apparently makes surfaces look like “stone” at Home Depot (btw one apparently must be over 18 to buy spraypaint). It actually worked very well in covering up the paint. The sections I painted over are lighter/whiter than the rest of the wall, but I imagine that weathering will eventually even out the colors.

I win!

‘Lorp has also turned out to be a roo. He was looking very hen-like until we got rid of Red a few weeks ago, whereupon he immediately grew out his comb and wattles, grew roo tail feathers, and went through a crazy growth spurt. And one cannot forget the crowing. He is even louder than Red.

We gave him to the orchard guy at the farmer’s market who also took Red. Red apparently is living the good life. The orchard guy was going to fatten him up a few more weeks, so Red just wandered around their store. One day someone came by and said “I’ve been looking for one of those!” Presumably he meant a Rhode Island Red rooster. So now Red has a harem of 25 hens to watch over.

I don’t know if ‘Lorp will be so lucky. He looks far more succulent than Red did. One can hope.

Our other three hens are finally laying eggs. At least two anyway; I don’t think Rock has started yet. I had been looking in the henhouse regularly, but didn’t really see any eggs. A week ago when I took the top off to thoroughly clean the coop out, I found six eggs! One was cracked, but we made a delicious frittata out of the rest. I am unsure who laid them, though I suspect Buff did so. Since then, we have gotten at least one egg a day, and yesterday we got two! They are only medium sized and smaller, but hopefully they will get bigger. I have actually seen Star laying down to lay, but Buff must be laying as well. I have noted a specific cluck they make while/after laying an egg.

Today I think Buff may have laid an egg somewhere in the yard. I had been keeping them in the run until eggs appeared, but they were resistant, so I finally let them out in the afternoon. Star eventually produced an egg, but I only heard Buff making egg-laying noises and walking about. I will have to look more carefully under the bushes tomorrow.

So, each egg cost us approximately $50 each. The good news is that they will only get cheaper.

After over three weeks, I am finally feeling almost normal (which truly happened three weeks to the day of me first getting sick). My gut is still messed up… I feel every movement in my GI tract… but otherwise I feel OK.

A few friends from Cornell were in town last week. DS and family were in town for a wedding (hadn’t seen them since their wedding 7? years ago), and JI and family had moved here from Knoxville a few weeks ago. Since DS was on a rare trip to the west coast, JL flew up from Oakland.

2011.08.02 TUESDAY
I spent time cleaning the house in case someone decided to drop in. DS was coming in around noon, but he and family were staying at JI’s place in North Capitol Hill. We had made plans previously to meet up for a Mariner’s game (DS is working on seeing a game in every stadium), so after some logistical calls, I hopped on the light rail and headed up to Safeco Field. While I was feeling better from my illness by this point, my energy levels were still very low, so I almost didn’t make it to the stadium as I was feeling very light-headed and almost passed out.

I met up with DS and EP (JI’s husband) outside the stadium. Everyone else stayed at home with various kiddies. Our plan was to get some inexpensive seats and then walk around. The game had already started when we finally got in, and while we were getting drinks, we missed a crazy triple by the Mariners where the Oakland A’s failed to cover second and third base on what should have been a single. Although DS said he saw it on one of the many monitors around.
Our seats were in the left field bleachers right by the big foul ball pole stadiums always have. We just gabbed a lot while watching the game. Which is probably what most people do. It was interesting as I had never been to a MLB game before. I had been to some Tidewater Tides (now Norfolk Tides) games as a kid, though.

Eventually we got up (maybe in the 5th inning?) and walked around. The stadium was pretty cool in the sense that one could see the field from practically anywhere in the stadium, including the main walkways with all the food vendors and whatnot. Quite unlike all the old-style concrete things that I remember (and still exist in upstate New York). The view of the field was actually much better than our seats; we did have to stand though.
The home team ended up winning 4-2. Woot.

On the way back, I caught a train on the opposite side of station it should have been on. I guess there was some logistical reason for it.

2011.08.03 WEDNESDAY
MK had to make an emergency flight out to see SK, but I was able to drop her off at the airport and then only wait few minutes to pick up JL from his flight from Oakland. JL had visited three years ago (just before the progeny arrived) but did not get much sightseeing done due to work and other things.
We went back to my house and dropped his stuff off. We left the car since Amanda would need it later to meet up with us for dinner. I called DS to find out what was going on, and he was already downtown with family, so we took the train in and met up with them at Pike Place Market. We were about to head out to Pioneer Square when TS realized her purse was missing. After retracing her steps, fortunately someone had turned it in to security and nothing at all was missing.
We walked to Pioneer Square, just because it is kinda touristy, but not really child friendly. We then walked down to the waterfront and got a snack at Ivar’s. Lily enjoyed feeding the seagulls french fries which is traditional at Ivar’s.

We also stopped by the arcade where DS and progeny took a ride on the carousel.

After walking back up through the market I went to Walgreen’s with TS for some supplies while DS and JL bought some wine for dinner. After they met up with us, we got a cab to JI’s house.

I had not seen JI since DS and TS’s wedding, too. And she only had one child who had just been born! Now she has three! JL was amazed JI still had a cat she had back in Ithaca; the cat was almost 20 years old! He was certainly very delicate and bony but still very friendly.

We basically talked and helped JI cook dinner, although she did most of it. I made the traditional Von Cramm dessert of “Banana Yuk” with JI’s older daughter (who is seven).

Amanda and the Kai arrived, and we had a great dinner.

Eventually, we took off for home with JL. JL and I were pretty exhausted, but with the setting of the sun we both regained energy and yakked until really late after Amanda and the Kai went to bed.

edit (2012 JAN 20): this draft was never finished

So I’ve been ill for quite a while. A couple of weeks ago I apparently caught Campylobacter from the Subway in Columbia City, and life has sucked since then. Basically, I did not eat anything for a week, lost over 20 pounds, had fever, chills, bodyaches, etc.. And of course I had zero energy.

I am feeling better now, although I still feel < 50% normal energy levels, and my gut is still messed up and pains me. No fever, although I did have a relapse yesterday.

A side benefit, though, is that I had just gone to my PCP an got a script for drugs to help drop my blood pressure. Now, what with my dehydration and weight loss, my BP appears to be back to normal.

The Kai got it, too, which is why I can finger the Subway as the culprit. I think it affected him less than I, but perhaps he is just younger and more resilient. Fortunately, his grandmother was able to watch him as I was seriously messed up for a while.

Amanda has thus far been spared. Apparently, we will shed the bacteria for at least five weeks, so I hope her immune system is up to task. “Whenever I see the Kai I imagine him coated with a thin layer of Campylobacter!!!!” She managed to escape the state by going to Kansas City for a conference… trading our pestilence and 70 degree weather for no pestilence and 99 degree heat.

• hacked up the bushed in front of the house
• went on vacation to peninsula
• eighth wedding anniversary
• dinner at purple cafe
• visited KK after he almost sliced his fingers off with a hedge trimmer
• went up the Space Needle
• amanda got my glasses fixed, but the sides don’t match anymore
• red is definitely a roo
• treated deck
• fixed outside outlets
• got two hens at Portage Bay Grange; “Rock” barred rock hen and “Star” gold star hen (red sex link hybrid)
• red is still here, but we’ll get rid of him next weekend
• AC and progeny came over for dinner