Work Weeks 17 & 18: Turtles Don’t Hibernate, They Brumate

These past few weeks have been pretty darn slow, mostly filled with– you guessed it–waiting! It got me thinking about turtles, and what happens to them in the winter. I found out they dive to the bottom of ponds and spend the winter underwater, where the temperature is stable and often warmer than the air. They slow down their metabolism tremendously and take in oxygen through their blood vessels rather than by breathing. Most of the blood vessels are in their butt. This process is called brumation. Feels relatable, although with humans it seems far more common to talk out of our asses rather than breathe through them. 

We don’t have any turtles in Pigeon Manor, at least that I’ve seen. But here’s a really cute picture of a baby turtle I found at our farm one time. (Did you know we have an organic farm and orchard too? We do! Also yes, I put him right back where I found him facing the direction he was going! That’s an important thing to do with turtles!) 

What we do have are pigeons. Still so many pigeons. Until the west wall is repaired, they’re just going to keep coming in. Hopefully they remain on the third floor, and don’t come down to the areas we’re working on. They are currently pleased as punch with themselves because they have 2 eggs and counting. Honestly, I like them. Their nest is directly above the rooms I’ve been painting my kitchen sink in, and it’s really nice to hear the cute funny noises they make. It reminds me of our chickens we had at our old place. Also, these babies will most likely have flown away by the time the wall gets sealed, so I’m not worried. Anyway, you may have noticed I just mentioned painting my kitchen sink? Yep! I did that! 

I styled it after a 1917 linoleum pattern I found in my mom’s book on linoleum (yes, it’s genetic.) It’s festive, and it hides the dents and dings and bit of mangling that happened to the bottom of one side. (the cabinet is made of thin metal). It took lots of thinking and pencil erasing, but I think it turned out amazing! 

Speaking of pencil erasing, I went to my favorite hardware store, Marzen’s, up the street to see if they had a big pink eraser so I stopped destroying all our pencils. Eric couldn’t find one, and I said “Aha! I finally found the one thing you don’t sell!” Then Joe said, “Wait, I have one!” And he went back into his office and gave me the one off his desk. Now that’s service! 

So back to the house: The insulation is going in, the plumbing and electric are getting finalized, and the greenboard (that’s actually purple?) is going in the bathrooms. 

Yesterday, my dear friend Kriss & I took our annual/biannual journey down to IKEA, where I bought two wardrobes that will make up the closet for me and Kevin.

As you can see, we ripped out the closet, because it was dumb. It was on the right, and it was one small door with really long shallow sides impossible to reach into. (the framing on the left is for our en suite powder room and laundry room.) With the new wardrobes, we’re just a few cartoon images away from a complete system to hold ALL our clothes for under $500, which, after doing lots of research on closet organization systems, is a reallllly good deal. (Don’t believe me? Look at the closet section at Lowes! It’s insane, I tell you!)

I also got a new dish drainer, for that vast beautiful expanse of drainboard on my new kitchen sink. And two really groovy pendant lights for the kitchen. Last week, I bought ceiling fans for Ethan’s room, the guest room, and the music room on the Home Depot’s website. For everything else in the place, the goal is to use what we already have. We’re not big on new overall, just when it really makes sense.

It’s exciting to finally be creeping closer to the finish line! The goal is to be in our apartment by Easter. Can we do it!? Find out in the next episode! Or the next one. Or the next one. Or the next one. Or maybe the next one?!