Libraries + Ice Cream = Tasty Awesome

From Tasty De-Lit:

“(1) Libraries are awesome;
(2) Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream is tasty;

therefore:

(3) A library-themed Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream would be tasty awesome.”

Oh, I am soooo on board with that.

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In Which We Learn Mr. Squirrel is Not Happy

Dear Reader, before you roll your eyes at the thought of another story about my backyard wildlife (bats, skinks, snakes and bugs, bunnies, coyotes, and chipmunks) know that this time, I have a witness to back up my tale!

Last night Mr. Catastrophe came over to watch Watchmen (Who will watch them? We will! Ha.) and we encountered Mr. Squirrel hanging out in my gutter above the kitchen door. (A spot that is quite popular with all kinds of creatures, apparently.)

We didn’t know it was a squirrel at first, just that there was something rustling around in the gutter and making squeaking noises. So of course I decided to poke the gutter with a broom. Mr. Catastrophe supervised. The Big Black Dog sniffed around the patio, and generally ignored us.

There was a great deal more chattering and squeaking, much of it sounding not happy. And the creature in the gutter was making noises, too. 😉

Finally a nose stuck out of the end of the guttering and Mr. Squirrel jumped out and ran over the roof and into the trees, where we watched him chatter and squeak and generally cuss us out.

Mr. Squirrel was pissed off because all he was trying to do was relax in his little squirrel cave away from home, and we had to mess that up. I mean, Mrs. Squirrel nags him constantly about gathering nuts, and if he’s taken out the bad leaves from the nest, and did he do all those other things she mentioned? So he takes off to his little home away from home, where he can relax, take a nap, and generally get away from things. And then come the mean humans prodding his getaway and harassing him.

At least, that was our interpretation.

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Helpful Tip #8

If you wear glasses and think it’s really foggy or unclear when driving on your way to work in the morning, first check that you are, in fact, wearing your glasses. You may find the unclear driving conditions are due to leaving your glasses on the kitchen counter, and not having them on your face.

Consider the extra drive to and from work “practice”, and try getting more sleep.

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And I Thought I Read A Lot

From the BBC: Library fan nears 25,000th book

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Helpful Tip #7

Don’t freak out when you can’t see or find your Big Black Dog in the dark. Start walking around, and you are sure to trip over him. Instant location!

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Video Fun

I know I’ve inflicted so much discussion of my various home improvement projects on you this week, Dear Reader, but I couldn’t resist these videos. First, from English Beat:

And something from Sesame Street:

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Bathroom Project

The ongoing saga that is my bathroom has reached a stage where decisions on final decor must be made and things changed out. (Well, fixed whenever my dad visits again, because I don’t see myself installing a light fixture and mirror by myself without issues.

I’ve got to pick out a new mirror. The oval one in there now, while an improvement over the giant one from before, is temporary — not big enough to stay, and not exactly what I want. I think there really needs to be a tilting mirror, because that way you could have the bottom of the mirror hang below the tile line.

No idea why the tile goes so far up the wall, but something that I’m not changing, so I have to live with it. I do hope to take down the towel bar that is tiled in — if it stays, I may have to pick a different size or shape mirror, and rethink shelves above it on the wall.

Here are the mirrors I’m thinking of using:

• Kensington mirror from Pottery Barn — currently on sale, and I think my first choice. I’d like the extra-large one, but I don’t think it will fit unless I remove the previously-mentioned towel bar that offends with its current placement.
• Sloan rectangle or octagon mirror from Pottery Barn — the octagon would be interesting, but I think too small, and the rectangle is nice, but again may be too small.
• Bistro rectangle or oval tilt mirrors from Restoration Hardware — upside is that there are more sizes to choose from that I may need, downside is the price. Good grief, those are pricey mirrors!

I was thinking oval since there is so much square and rectangles already in the bathroom from the tile, just to give added interest. However, there’s more mirror for my buck if I go with a rectangle. Not sure what to use.

As for other options, I’ve looked at Home Depot and Lowe’s, but they don’t have what I want, and other online stores are proving problematic at finding tilting mirrors.

Then there is the light fixture. Considering everything, I’m probably better off doing a 3 sconce fixture installed in the middle of the not-tiled wall area, which is were the current light is installed. I toyed around with single sconces on the sides, but I don’t think the plumbing will allow it, and besides I don’t think there will be room once a decent sized mirror is up. So middle it is.

I’m thinking of going with this one from Pottery Barn, mainly because it looks nice, I have a glass shelf already that is the same style, and it’s reasonably priced.

To be honest, I’ve got more important light fixtures to worry about (like my bedroom and hall), and I would be happy with it, so why try and search and search when I can just go with that?

Then there is the paint. You can see the various colors I’ve tried. Just when I think I have it, I realize I need a different color. After I fix the wall, I’m going to put primer on all the walls and start over. Wish me luck in finding a color I like (I’m thinking a celery — spa-like, calming, etc.).

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Another Weekend of Home Improvement

This weekend was all about home improvement, except this time, my dad did all the work. Lots of projects got done:

New door handles on all interior doors. Goodbye, old gold ones that were practically broken! Hello, pretty new black ones!

New light fixture in the dining room. Goodbye, nasty rusted looking thing! Hello, new pretty chandelier!

Bathroom improvements — dad took down the old mirror that was taking up the whole area above the sink and toilet, and put up new gypsum board. Now I just have to finish it, paint, pick out a new light and mirror (the one shown is temporary), and figure out some storage. Wish I had thought to take a before picture — when I moved in, and the various paint colors I tried in my ongoing saga of color choice for the bathroom — so you could see what changes have been wrought.

More on the bathroom in another post.

Other projects currently under consideration: interior paint (similar colors, but needs to be done); exterior paint (I’m thinking white trim with black shutters and accents like new house numbers, and maybe one day painting the brick a nice taupe or gray); landscaping / yardwork (clearing out some bushes in the backyard and formalizing my herb garden); and of course the long term goal of redoing the kitchen (a major undertaking, not happening soon, but can’t hurt to look and decide what I like, right?).

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Oh, Yeah… That’s the Spot

A while back I noticed that the Big Black Dog had a new favorite spot to rub / scratch near his right ear. He would tilt his head dramatically whenever you hit that sweet spot. I thought it rather endearing.

Last night I was giving the BBD some much needed love and attention when I realized that he has another spot like that, but on the left side. He had such a look of relief and pleasure when I did would scratch him — his tongue would hang out, and he would make noises that I’ve learned to interpret as supreme doggy happiness.

I spent — no exaggeration — about 20 minutes vigorously rubbing and scratching and massaging the area on top of his head between his ears, the side of his face, and under his chin. It got to the point where I wondered what his deal was, because as soon as I stopped, he used his head to nudge my hands or legs or whatever else he could to get more rubs.

That’s when I realized I must be scratching the BBD’s mosquito bites.

See, I’m very careful to apply Frontline every month to prevent fleas and ticks and other bugs like mosquitoes (especially ticks — do you have any idea how impossible it is to find ticks on a black dog?), but that gets put on his neck and shoulder, moving down the rest of his body for protection. I don’t think it does anything on his head, so the mosquitoes that are repelled by the Frontline on the rest of his body are left with only his (rather large) head.

I tried to look and count the bites, but the BBD was having none of that unless I scratched a lot. Kind of hard to see mosquito bites on him anyway, but I know that’s must be what it is causing him to need scratching in that area so much.

I’d share my After Bite with him, but I need it for all my spots. Guess I’ll just have to spend quality time loving on him and scratching all his itches for him.

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Mashups

I love musical mashups. For those who may not be familiar with them, mashups are a blend of two or more songs, which can give a completely different take on the music.

My all time favorite — Boulevard of Broken Songs. You can download it from Party Ben. He’s got some other good mashups, so check it out.

Some other mashups I have been known to enjoy: Rhianna vs. New Order, Evanescence vs. Tears for Fears, Black Eyes Peas vs. The Cure, and Snow Patrol vs. The Police.

When I came across this one (h/t: YesButNoButYes), I just had to listen. And then I found myself just loving it. Please don’t hate me for my (lack of) taste:

I don’t know, but it just seems to work.

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