House and Home
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A Short Trip to some Local Parnassus History
Hello reader people. Jenny and I were sitting on our soon-to-be-rebuilt porch this evening as the light went golden. We were just reading away, enjoying the evening as the temperature started to cool…
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Woodshop Time Again: Blanket Chest #1
When I had finished the frame for the hall mirror in this post about my previous woodshop project, I had an idea to start working on a blanket chest. I had just finished…
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Woodshop Time: Hall Coat Rack
Hello world. It has been a little bit since I posted a build article here on a woodshop project, so today I’m writing two! The first is for a coat rack that I…
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Christmas Past in My Parnassus
Ten years ago this month, I drove into Parnassus (and New Kensington) for the very first time. On that bright, warm December Saturday I followed Jonathan’s directions from the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I drove…
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Old House Hardware
There is something wonderful about old house hardware. Well, actually, there are usually many things wonderful about old house hardware. For instance, it is usually built to withstand long periods of (ab)use, constructed…
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Parnassus is Not Gone: A Non-Review of “American Elegy” by Jeffrey Simpson
When I found Jeffrey Simpson’s 1996 New York Times article about Parnassus two weeks ago, I was so excited that I posted a link to it on a Facebook page for local historical…
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Parnassus Mentioned in the New York Times / Chicago Tribune News
I want to share this article by Jeffrey Simpson dated August 31, 1996 titled, “When You Inherit the Family Farm, You Own the Memories, Too.” The byline identifies it as a New York Times story; however,…
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From the Sewing Room: Skirt #3 (and more about how sewing is just engineering with soft material)
Hello world. Jenny has been working hard on keeping the blog here up to date with her stuff. I’ve been slacking, though, mostly because my brain has been busy when my hands haven’t…
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Disposable Engineering
It has been a little while since I’ve had a post here. Sorry about that. Jenny has been picking up my slack and trying to get interesting things posted here. While I haven’t…
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Urban Gardening, Part I: Where to Plant?
Hello everyone. Jenny and I have wanted to start a garden here at the house for quite a while. Shortly before I met her, I had a small garden in the back yard…