what's the holdup?

Why, you ask, no posts since our trip to a Pittsfield swamp?

What's going on with the house? Last I heard Dan was painting it.

Indeed, as the story of the house left off, Dan the painter was at work sanding away in preparation for painting the house. Since then, that part of the story has turned grim, with new hope appearing only in the last few days.The basic story is that Dan, the subject of praise three posts ago, is now the subject of disappointment around these parts, having decided abruptly to quit our contract to paint the house for the price he'd set. After some struggles, we have our new painters here at work, and as I write, the sweet, discordant, grating sound of disc sanders being applied to the walls outside the window rings out. They are now on day 3 of their work, which breaks Dan's previous record of two days, so it feels like things are moving in the right direction.

Fingers crossed - pictures of the abraded house to follow.