The apartment is coming along right on schedule, but I’m beginning to worry about getting it all packed in time. I’m spending too much time supervising and not enough sorting and packing.

Now the story. We looked at three different apartments in the building over the year and a half. Each time the hallways were filled with artwork: drawings, posters, prints, all nicely framed and reflecting the interests and tastes of the apartment owners. Robin and I both thought this was great. Much better than the usual dark or overly decorated hallways. Shortly after I closed on the apartment I received a letter saying the hallways would be painted this year so the art had to come down. That was OK; painting was good. But after the halls were painted we would each be allowed only two small pictures and nothing on the brick wall on one side of the hall. The reaction was immediate. Letters were sent out; a petition was put on the bulletin board. It looked like the entire building concurred in their hatred of the new rules. Over the weekend a note was placed in each of our boxes: the new rule would be changed. Here is a picture of the hallway.

Last night the condo association met. After the usual activity and financial reports we got to the big question. This condo board is smart. We can put back the art subject to approval by our neighbors and we can put art on the brick wall. It makes the bricks much easier to live with. Furniture and plants were prohibited: fire department rules. I think everyone won.

My cabinet painters returned this afternoon with the drawers all painted. The paint smells awful and the sprayer makes a lot of noise, but if the cabinets look as good as the drawers, I’ll be happy. This is a picture of the kitchen all masked off and ready for spraying.