The Battle Against Beige Tyranny!

THE DAYS OF LIVING IN A BEIGE HOME ARE NUMBERED!


Before and after of the northeast side of the living room.  Since our home was built in 1951, we decided to restore the house to a fun 1950s style palette.  


Before and after of the southwest side of the living room


Sorry The Braithwaites Established 2000.  The Bell-Kraus' will finally claim this living room in the shade of Mint Milkshake!



While I'm at home repair, need to clean the gutters (which apparently have not been cleaned since 2005).  Can I do it from climbing out the second floor window?  Nope, need a ladder...


Now that the work is done, time for a fire!


Campfire Premium Quality Giant Roaster Marshmallows!  The mascot is accurate.  The marshmallows are the size of someone's head!  THANKS MARIANNE!



Mmmmmm....  Giant Smore!


Look who came to our cookout.  Megan and I were sitting around a nice fire talking when we heard some footsteps.  We saw one deer walk by and try to keep his distance.  Not this one.  He walked right up to us and the fire and didn't back off until we both shouted at him and banged sticks.  He only backed off about ten feet and we could not scare him off.  I literally have about 100 photos of this deer thinking I could use the flash to startle him.  Nope.  


The more I observe the deer at my house, the less impressed I am with deer hunters.  It isn't a sport if I can walk up to them, put a rope around their necks, and lead them into my garage.
  

Megan and I's anniversary is coming up in the next couple of weeks and we don't have patio furniture yet.  Saw this Gnome/Dwarf set at Topps for only $199.99!  This truly would be the gift we would never, NEVER forget!

That's it for this edition.  Thanks for wasting your time with me!

Digging My Own Grave

Must of done something wrong to be digging my own grave...  With Megan's b-day shovel...

"He knew he had it comin..."

That ain't no grave, it's the early stages of a new fire pit! 


It's getting there...


Oh boy, just in time for Memorial Day Weekend!  (For instructions, please visit: http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2013/06/how-to-build-simple-fire-pit.html)


Oh happy wife.  A new fire pit and hammock all in the same weekend.  Must of been a good birthday!

Now for some randomness.  And, what could be more random than cuddling chincillas?

Deer hanging out on a driveway on our walk.  The eyes tell me he's a robot


Bobette and Bob chalk drawings at Cobbles Elementary


What does this mean?


The new petunias seem to be holding their own.  


Poppies (which can only be said in the Wicked Witch of the West's voice.  Sorry)


Waiting to vote for Penfield's 4.4% property tax hike, there was a little art show that featured my niece Rachel's awesome rendition of Hokusai's Great Wave.  There's framing.  The color gradient in the sky is well done.  The marker line work is beautiful.  
Looking forward to the long weekend.  A MUCH, MUCH needed weekend and should be a lot of fun.  Hope yours is too!

GREAT CAKES OF FIRE!

It was niece Tachel's birthday and I'm surprised her ice cream cake didn't melt with that rocket in it!



Bella is the new cat in the office.  She's 3 years old, good with other dogs, cats, and ferrets.  She was turned in because her owner passed away.  She purrs are everything and anything.  Very well behaved and good at hiding in an office with no hiding spaces.



Sondheim's Company starring Megan Bell will be performing for the next couple of weekends by Pittsford Musicals.  It's at the Caukins Road Middle School in Pittsford, NY and if you want times, tickets, or other information, go to: http://www.pittsfordmusicals.org/ 

Ask Me Why You Should NEVER go to Schoen Place Auto in East Rochester, New York

Surprisingly, there isn't enough room in a blog to explain how after a couple of weeks, over $1,000 the car has just as many problems as when it went in...

"Nothing is something I'm use to working with!" -Mr. Jellineck

So, Megan went to New York and took the camera with her.  What does that mean for you?  It means you get to look at some of the odd artwork I've made while at home. 



Evidence of Megan in New York partying with her friends and being all business-like at her conference.



So, many of these are illustrations I've created based on a book about weird stuff in Michigan. Many of the stories I've forgotten, but the drawings remain.  This is titled "They've Kilt Me!"  I remember it's about some haunted house from the 1800's.  My favorite part of this drawing is his hand.  He's so scared that his fingers bend back very unnaturally.  Maybe he hit it with the hammer?



"What Burned Billy?"  A story about spontaneous human combustion.  Look at poor Socrates helplessly trying to aid his son...



"The Paw Paw Fire Breather."  Some guy who could breath fire in Paw Paw, Michigan.  For more information on this story, go to:  http://istina.rin.ru/eng/ufo/text/310.html



"Interplanetary Radio From Intermediate Lake," which is about a man who started his own radio station that broadcasts to possible aliens.


 
"Carolyn Drown's Trip To Walhala In the Trunk" is about a murder.  I can't remember the rest of the details.  



"Feeling Blue"  If I remember correctly, it's about a lady with ESP.  So, she could tell you things about stuff she touched.  



This was going to be used for some project.  It never was.  But, it's an industrial scene overlooking Detroit.  Why they are assembling a car at a dock on the Canadian side of the Detroit River is up for debate...



"The Big Three" is about three guys laid off from the auto industry.  



This wasn't suppose to be creepy.  But, it turned out that way.  So, Megan suggested that I give him laser eyes, which I did, but it's easy to see.  



ka-BOOM!  Really don't have much to say about this than "colored pencils..."



Here's Moxie, my former desk cat at Lollypop Farm, where I've been volunteering.  Here's she his headbutting my hand for attention.  As many of you will be excited to hear, she has a new home.  My new desk cat use to weigh 24 lbs. and is named "Mini" or "Minnie."


That's it from the land of cold and snow.  Lots and lots of stuff coming up in the next week.  I had another interview a couple days ago, family dinner, volunteering tomorrow, Amerk's hockey game on Friday, a gala on Saturday, and probably a lot of other stuff not worth mentioning.  YEAH!

Shotgun Wedding

WEDDING INFORMATION!

www.mywedding.com/bellkraus

If you have any questions about the wedding, please go to our website.

If there is something you have a question about that's not on the

website, please ask. It is the last week to ask!!!

A HUGE thanks to Mike Nummerdor for throwing the

Bachelor BBQ last weekend. It was a great time and I

thank all the guys for coming out as well!

Brent putting out the fire with lighter fluid...

Andrew, Jared, and Mike

Ka-BOOM!

Not nearly enough encased meat

Thanks again Mike! You're awesome!

AIC lion in Blackhawks gear

Megan works right outside of where the Blackhawk Stanley Cup victory

rally was held. So, she went to the parade. This is the beginning of the

impending doom of 2 million people

If you look VERY, VERY, VERY close, you can see the Stanley Cup at the

very rear of the bus right behind the last guy, who seems to be Toews?

What a lovely parade...

WEDDING INFORMATION!

www.mywedding.com/bellkraus

If you have any questions about the wedding, please go to our website.

If there is something you have a question about that's not on the

website, please ask. It is the last week to ask!!!