Studio Progress

We started working on the studio conversion to our garage. We got the car bays framed in and added a french door for the entrance. We put in 3 skylights and beefed up the rafters so it is up to code. The difficulty is that there were roofing nails that needed to be clipped before we could get the 2x10's in. Between the nail gun and working in the rafters, i added a few small holes in my hands and head. Electrical is next, then insulation and sheetrock. The scrap wood from the rafters we've been using for the wood stove in the house. I've been enjoying the work and learning how to do stuff.


This is the front with the car bays gone. Siding will eventually go up to match the house.

Me in the rafters, you can see the skylights on the left.

This is Brandon on the roof of the back putting in one of the skylights.

Daniel S Comins - Matt & Nate's Great-Grandfather

The man in the middle of the photo with the number III written in over his head is Daniel Stewart Comins, my grandfather and Matthew and Nathan's paternal great-grandfather. He owned a lumber mill in Osceola, a beautiful area in Upstate New York. When my father Raymond was 18 (1932), Daniel died of a heart attack. My grandparents married in 1890, when he was 25 and my grandmother, Grace Kinne, was 20. They were married for 42 years.

Dad's sketch

I love this sketch Dad drew in my notebook a couple of weeks ago. One reason I love LA so much: this rather colorful elderly lady was free to be herself, with a purple sequined beret, walker, and giant cocktail ring with an artificial gem the size of a golf ball. Dad sketched this at the deli we were having lunch at. My new scanner and I are still struggling to coexist so please excuse the lack of a close-up! Geneva

California Updates

Hello, everyone! We have been busy the past month with holidays, upper respiratory infections

(I'm positive the CDC is involved in a conspiracy with their vaccines), and a trip last week to LA. It was sunny and warm there, and now the entire state has been plunged into a weather nightmare. Right now its snowing madly up north all my classes have been cancelled and it was whiteout conditions driving today. Hope you are all safe and warm whatever weather conditions you're facing. Geneva. Pictures are 1)LA; San Vincente/ La Cienega Blvd. and 2)home, tonight. Geneva.

Bedtime Story

I let the girls listen to this story at bedtime, but for some reason when I came back they were wide awake and looked a bit anxious. Children are so complicated nowadays!

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

Hope you enjoyed your birthday party so far, Olivia!

An Appeal to Reason

Dear Family,

Many of you are aware that Lyena and I are in the habit of betting diapers whenever we disagree on some fact or figure. Truth be told, we've had quite a few disagreements and made quite a lot of bets over the years. And it's certainly been a long time since we've had any dirty baby butts in need of a diaper change (there are nearly 8 years of separation between April and Alex).

By my count, I have amassed a surplus of exactly 10,000 diapers. In other words, when a diaper needs changing, Lyena changes it and my surplus then falls to 9,999. I know this may seem like a large number to some, but I've actually been quite generous. Before I removed the effects of compound interest my surplus was much larger: 30,000 - 20,000 = 10,000.

Unfortunately, we have a bit of a misunderstanding with Lyena. She doesn't quite agree with my record keeping. Somehow she got everything bassackwards and thinks she's the one with the fat diaper account.

So to clear this up as quickly and smoothly as possible, I'm appealing to all of you to straighten this out for us. Please support my petition and gently let Lyena know that it's time she roll up her sleeves, hold her breath and man her station in the dirty diaper assembly line!

Thank you for your support,
ML

nuthin' like a little django

Downloaded some Django Reinhardt tunes. This one has some nice clarinet.

N