Slow Morning, Long Day
On Saturday, Liz and I decided to head out for an early breakfast at Porkchop – one of the many restaurants that’s recently opened up in Hyde Park.
There were a few bumps with the meal, but the restaurant hasn’t officially opened yet (April 18th is the day). There were only a handful of locals besides us in the morning, so I have a hunch perhaps folks may not yet know they’re open yet.
It’s really great to see so many new places popping up near our house. And especially nice to see some options where we can stop in for a post-work drink.
Liz and I sat a good long while after our meal, sipping coffee and talking about the house. Though we had a full day of work planned, it felt nice to go about our morning rather slowly.
After breakfast, we walked over to Bonjour Cafe – a french cafe/bakery that’s in the nearby mall area near our place. Since La Boulangerie closed in Logan Square, we’ve missed having a French bakery so close to our house. Imagine our surprise to find another in our new neighborhood!
In addition to coffees, Liz and I got one macaron each. We sat down for a while in the courtyard and just kind of relaxed a bit before returning home.
For the remainder of the day, Liz and I worked on the house. I sealed myself in the kitchen, and kept on with the demo – focusing on the remaining ceiling and walls near the kitchen door.
Liz worked on the walls in our main hallway, removing wallpaper and cleaning them.
Lots of debris, from lots of demo.
I had an old pair of gloves with me, on accident. Having sealed myself in the kitchen, I opted to just use these guys, instead of finding my newer pair.
From time to time, I’d see the holes in the fingers and became a little proud at their wear. I was reminded of an old fairy-tale: East of the Sun, West of the Moon. In the story, the main character goes in search of a prince in a far away land, somewhere “east of the sun, west of the moon.” In order to get there, one of the things she must do is to wear out seven pairs of iron shoes.
For whatever reason, that phrase stuck in my head as a kid. And in seeing these gloves, it made me wonder how many of these I’d have to go through until the house was done. One down, I guess.
After a few hours, we took a break and walked over to a nearby Potbelly’s for a shake. Then – we returned to work, and spent a few more hours cleaning up the rooms (mostly just clearing surfaces and mopping the floors).
With all the work we’ve done, it’s really hard (and darn near impossible) to keep the floors clean. We just kind of keep our shoes on all the time, and make sure we clean with some frequency.
We ended the night around 8:30 or so. Despite a late start, we put in one hell of a day – and covered a decent amount of ground. Slowly but surely…
Related:
La Boulangerie Bakery, Logan Square
Random Images From Hyde Park
Liz Makes Macarons (Which Are NOT the Same as Macaroons)
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