(no subject)

I've an update or two owing: various things happening and the first books read of 2013. But that will have to come later. In the meantime, I have for your entertainment pictures of cats and pictures from the holidays.

alas!

It's a pity that the friends I have who would probably be awesome people to run a B&B with are more likely right now to be travelling than to be settling down, given that I just noticed two excellent properties in Preservation magazine.

One is a 1794 Georgian in the Berkshires, asking under $440,000

And the other is a huge Victorian in the Adirondacks, asking under $450,000

One expects historic properties, especially advertised in the leading historic preservation magazine, to be in the millions of dollars. But some are eminently affordable. Another beautiful upstate NY house is going for under $400K. A historic mill in Virginia can be had for less than $500K, as can another in the Shenandoah Valley. A 1715 plantation house in Virginia is going for $435K, and Pennsylvania features an extensively modernised Pennsylvania stone farmhouse from 1800 for $495K, a Victorian complete with carriage house for $235K, and an 1850s farmhouse near State College that would need a lot of work but is priced at only $60,000.

getting a few things done

Well, this is going by and large like one of my do-nothing weekends, which is a trend I'm trying to fight.

I *did* manage to wash a sinkful of dishes and a counterful of glasses. I got the glass replaced on a picture that I knocked off the wall, and I put another (the last of my current collection of Avril Paton prints--of course, now I just want to buy some more) in the hands of the framer. I picked up some trousers from the dry cleaner that had been there for a long time. And I've started two of what should be four loads of laundry to do this evening. I also caught up on uploading pictures from my phone and camera and entering receipts in my budget spreadsheet (alas, I'm goign to go over again this month, at least a little, unless I can avoid spending more than $30 in the next week and a half. :-)

So, that's actually doing a little bit more than nothing. :-)