Heavy Rain & a Tale of Two Trellises

We need to remember to buy a new rain gauge!  Our old one was broken and leaking, and we keep getting these monumental amounts of rain, with no way of knowing exactly how much we got.  Inches upon inches, Monday evening/night.  (Edit:  Donald reports that Grandpa and Mom both recorded over 8 inches!  That's a lot for one 24-hour period, even around here.  Donald brought home a new rain gauge, which is now in place, ready for the next deluge.)  The ground still squelches when you walk in some spots-- but we're lucky; we live in a place that drains pretty well.  No flooding.  Just some puddles and very saturated soil in low spots.  

After the rain pushed through, cold air followed, and temperatures plummeted down to near freezing, last night.  Possibly freezing in mid-April, down here, when you've planted vegetables and tender annuals?  Not fun.  We took the precaution of covering lots of things, which means not only covering them, but also uncovering them.  It seems like a lot of work to a lazybones like myself.  ;o)  But we did it.  As it turned out, we only got down to 34, just above freezing.  Could've saved ourselves the trouble.  Oh well.  Such is life! 

Photos of the very full pond:

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When we were inspecting our raised beds yesterday afternoon-- (sprouting squash, zucchini, okra, beans, radishes, and Swiss chard!)--  we found a snake toward the end of the new bed-- actually in/on the raised bed!  Fortunately, it was a kingsnake, one of the good guys. (g)

Here he is heading toward the "forest".  (I guess he wasn't in the mood for company.)

I think this is the third snake we've seen this year.  There was a garter snake making repeated appearances in one area of the yard, a couple months ago, and then more recently I saw a plain black snake of some sort-- nonvenomous-- hanging out near the raised beds.

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I posted the "before" shot of a new trellis for the passionflower vine, a couple of entries ago.  Here it is with the vine on it:

No blooms at the moment, but it looks happy enough.  I do wonder, though, if we shouldn't have woven it as high as possible... Reading about ivy-- (see next item)-- I've learned that if you try to make it grow vertically too quickly, it can get leggy, with all its leaves at the top.  You want to go slowly so that it fills in the bottom, too.  Of course, ivy and passionflower vine aren't remotely the same plant.

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Speaking of ivy... ;o)

Here's a "before" shot of the area where we put our second trellis:

It's an ugly spot, with all those boxes and wires and pipes-- and it's right by the door we (and most other people) use 99% of the time.  I think most houses are planned so that these unattractive utility boxes aren't in plain sight, but the way our house was situated, this is just the way it worked out.

(Side note:  This photo highlights the need for some future improvements, such as painting the door, touching up the paint on the covered patio, and finally putting in a permanent step to replace the shabby-looking, make-do tripping-hazard that has been there "temporarily" since the house was built.)

I had the idea of putting a trellis over as much as possible of this mess (while still leaving access to the breaker box and the electric meter), so Donald planned one out, and we built and put it into place over the weekend.

Here it is with the ivy planted:

The path between the planter and the post of the patio cover isn't roomy, but it's not too bad.  We made the planter pretty narrow, and most of the time we'll be using the wide passage across from the door.

(The blue rope on the ground is where we've been planning out the placement of some new gravel pathways we're going to put down in this part of the yard.)

Of course, after building the trellis and planting the ivy, I decided to look it up online... So I had the pleasure of reading that (some people say) ivy doesn't adhere that well to vinyl.  (NO!  Our lattice is vinyl!!)  And then there were the people telling how terrible ivy is, period-- so destructive to brick.  (What if the ivy outsmarts me and gets onto the brick?  Our house is DOOMED!!) 

Well, it might do fine.  This isn't slick vinyl.  It's textured, and there are small holes so I can try to weave it back and forth to help keep it in place, too.  If it absolutely refuses, we could try it somewhere else (away from our precious brick) and try another plant on the trellis.

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Garden Notes

(Notes more for my future reference than anything else, I'm afraid...)

The vegetable garden's grown so much in the past month or so!  It's gone from this:

...to this:

(Both this photo and the next have notes on Flickr.  If you're interested in each specific plant's identity, click over to Flickr and hover over the photo to see the notes.)

Vegetable Gardening Lessons (from this year, to date):

--  Don't plant tomatoes and squash in pots.  You don't want to go out there and water them every day, and they'll get very droopy even with watering.  Go ahead and plant them directly into the ground.  PLEASE.

-- Don't plant so many radishes at one time.  I don't eat them, and Donald doesn't eat that many, either.

-- Harvest and eat the lettuce faster.  What were you saving it for?  It doesn't get better with age.  (g)

--  Chives are very yummy and extremely easy to grow.  They taste like a mild onion and are nice as a sandwich topping-- or anywhere else you'd ordinarily use raw onion. 

-- The dill was easy, too.  (We should have seeds left over from some of these packets, btw...)


Annual Gardening Lessons:

-- The best performers this year (so far) have been petunias, marigolds, dusty miller, and begonias.  The impatiens don't look as happy, for some reason, and the vincas just don't grow as fast...

--  Morning glory seeds were pretty easy.  They took a while to get any size on them, though... Maybe start them earlier?  On the other hand, they're not really any slower than the self-sowed seeds of the cypress vine-- and those get huge by the end of the season.  (Patience!)

--  The portulaca (moss rose) grew readily from seed.  Plant more of it next year.  (I think they reseed, but the little 20-cent packets are cheap enough.)  Maybe plant more containers of them.  I think they're pretty drought tolerant.  (We'll see...)

--  The cleome from seed have done much better than anticipated!  I hope they make it long enough to flower!  (If so, I think they'll reseed...)

-- On the other hand, larkspur was a dud.  I think they like cool summers.  Ha!  Not going to happen...

-- Next year, maybe try some other seeds with good reputations.  Cosmos?  Sunflowers?  Something not too fussy, because I'm not that devoted to gardening once the heat and humidity arrive.

91/365 - Working on the Garage

We're working on insulating the garage.  (The tape is just to hold the insulation in place temporarily, until we can put up the drywall.)

There are a few more photos of the garage on Flickr, and we'll be sure to take more when there's more progress to show.  

85/365 - Tidy

This is actually a make-up photo.  I forgot to take one for this day, so I took two the next day.  It's an accurate representation of the missed day, though, because that was the day I finally tidied up the dressing table.  Most of my collection of little trinket boxes went into a shallow drawer cleared out for the purpose.  Maybe I'll rotate them to put different ones out on display, every so often.  Most likely, I'll never bother...  I much prefer this less cluttered look. Maybe I'll be able to keep it dusted, now.

82/365 - Electricity, Part 3

The "pre-drywall" electric work was completed on this day.  Here you can see the wiring ready for a security light on the outside of the garage. 

81/365 - Electricity, Part 2

The second day of electric work.  They started pulling the wire throughout the garage and buried the conduit connecting the line to the house. 

80/365 - Electricity, Part 1

Things are moving in the garage, again.  We hired an electrician to wire it for us, because electricity is something we're just not completely comfortable doing on our own.

73/365 - Primed

Priming boards to trim the pump house...

(And here's a bonus photo ;o) of the pump house... painted red but still without most of its trim or a door...)

68/365 - Trench

We dug a trench to prepare for taking electricity to the garage. 

Garage-in-Progress

We've been trying to take photos of each stage of the garage-building process.  The concrete's curing, and the builder has been informed.  Now we wait for the concrete to cure a little longer and the builder to start bringing in the materials.  (Not yet sure when, exactly, but soon.)

Here's one current photo.  There are several more over on our Flickr photostream.  :o)

This photo is taken facing the southern side of (what will soon be) the garage. The larger ramp/apron on the right is where the garage doors will be.  The two others will lead to a personnel door and a larger door for the lawn mower, wheel barrow, etc.  (There's also a small concrete square that's there just temporarily.  The "concrete guy" found that when he was clearing the sod, and I guess he set it there when they finished cleaning up today...)

There's a little left-over dirt around the site that we told them to leave as-is, because we have a few spots around the yard that could use filling-in. 

Oh, and One More Thing ;o)

Since writing my last post, it has come to my attention that the "no closer than 40 feet" rule has something to do with a goal to "Preserve the Beautiful Rural Nature of B-------- County's Roads" (or some other such nonsense to that effect).


Point Number 1:  
In that case, O Brilliant Minds of Local Government, why not have a rule that you can't build within 40 feet of the road (as opposed to one's property line)?  If I didn't make it abundantly clear before, we live-- and our property line lies-- way off the road.  There's no way our garage will affect the nearest county road at all.  I doubt you'll even see it from the road, and if you do, you'll have to be looking for it (which isn't a safe driving practice).  In the next twenty or thirty years, two or three more houses could easily be built between our garage and that road.  So... basically what I'm saying is that you need to re-write your dumb rule for it to make any sense at all.

(Oh, and if/when we alter the property lines so that our proposed garage will satisfy the zoning ordinance or whatever it is, the garage will be the exact same distance from the road as it would be if you DIDN'T put us to this unnecessary expense and trouble.  ~youdarnstupididiots~   ...See my point?  No?  Oh.  Well, I tried...)


Point Number 2:
I am a native and lifelong resident of this county, and in general, I like it (though you shouldn't ask me what I think about its government, right now).  I think that it has at least its own fair share of natural and man-made beauty-- but let's just be honest.  Like most large counties, there are also plenty of eyesores right off many roads, in very plain view.  Junky trailers.  Run-down or abandoned buildings.  Overgrown fields of weeds.  Our proposed garage, even if it was closer to the road and not hidden by eleventy-hundred trees and shrubs, would not be as offensive to the eye as hundreds of other extant spots along the county roads.

Just sayin', is all (as the cool folks put it).

On Building Permits & Idiotic Zoning Laws

You decide to build a garage on your property, which is way off the nearest county-maintained road.  You try to follow the rules by going to get a building permit, even though you really feel that it isn't any of the county's business, anyway, where / when / how you build said garage.  (Seriously, why must you pay the local government for the privilege of building a simple garage on your own-- decidedly rural--  property, which you own free and clear?)

But still, you go to apply for the permit.  And then they inform you that you are not allowed to build it where you've planned it (and in fact, have already had dirt brought in and leveled, because who could have foreseen that there would be an issue?).  No, they say, it's too close to the property line.  You see, that's the property line that faces the nearest county-maintained road (which, again, is way off through hundreds of yards of trees), and any structures built on your property must be at least 40 feet away from that property line.  Now, if it were the side property line, 15 feet would be enough of a buffer.  (Our buffer is currently about 18 feet.  We had no idea our rural area even had zoning laws.  I am SO VERY VERY HAPPY to know, now, that it does.  Yippee, hurray, hurrah.)

You explain that you are way off the county road, and that the proposed garage, like the already existing house, will face the (non-county-maintained) easement... so really, that is the front of your property. (Through gritted teeth:) ...Right? 

Sorry, not so!  We, the Mighty and All-Powerful County Zoning Poo-Bahs do hereby proclaim that the front of your property is now and forever shall be that north-facing side, because of how it is oriented regarding the nearest county-maintained road.  But no biggie.  Just move the garage (extremely inconvenient) or have the property line moved.  Simple as that!  Then (and only then) we'll be more than happy to accept your money and generously grant you permission to build ON YOUR OWN PROPERTY.  You're welcome.

Oh, and have a nice day! 
We're always happy to serve!

They don't care that no-one lives anywhere near that property line.  Neither are they moved by the information that the land is owned by family, who would not care about the location of the garage and would sign a document to that effect.  Nope.  (In robo-voice:)  Does not compute.  Must not build within 40 feet of front property line.  MUST NOT-- MUST NOT-- MUST NOT...

~soul-weary sigh~

We're fortunate that my family owns that land, and there's not a house or something already on it-- so we can work something out-- but still, incredibly infuriating. 

One of the things I want in our garage, should it ever actually be built, is a punching bag.  No, seriously.  I mean it.  I need an outlet for my rage.  In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to hold it in.

Pet Peeves of "Window Treatment" Photos

I'd like to sort out the "window treatment" situation in a few rooms of our house.  We've been making do for years; it would be nice to gradually upgrade to something nicer. 

(And I guess we've already started, in at least the breakfast room.  I like the thicker, faux wood blinds we put in however-long-ago so much that we may not even need any curtains/shades/whatever else in there-- but I'd like to find a way to fix it so that the cornices (?) that came with them sit straight.  They tend to slide down too far on one side, which is painfully obvious from the bright light that sneaks through the gap.  This bothers me more than it ought to.  Anyway, as I was saying... )

So I'm trying to figure out what might look nice in different rooms (and what curtain rods we need to make those looks possible).  Of course this eventually leads to looking online for inspiration photos-- which in turn leads to the titular pet peeves.


Pet Peeve #1:  Where are the blinds?


It seems very rare that these photos include blinds.  Maybe this is just another way in which I am weird, but I must have blinds on (almost all) our windows.  (Exceptions: the window over the kitchen sink and the windows in the doors.) 

Partly this is due to a wish for privacy without completely blocking out the light and the view with curtains.  (Yes, those airy, billowing sheers next to the bathtub are lovely, but-- privacy?  Or maybe this is an upstairs bathroom-- and they live on their own personal island in the Caribbean.) 

Partly it is because I live in a place where it gets insufferably hot in the summer, and to cut down on the heat in the house-- and the electric bill for the A/C-- we use blinds to block the direct sunlight.  (Maybe these people live above the arctic circle and don't have to bother about grueling summertime heat.  Lucky.) 

So there are all these gorgeous curtain arrangements-- but none of the photos give me a good, realistic idea of how a similar curtain might look in our house, because we are weirdos who use blinds.  No matter how hard I try, my curtains will never look as nice as theirs, because I use blinds.  (Boo hoo.)

(Related:  These windows never seem to have screens.  Ours do, of course.  Screens are ugly, but necessary, if the window is ever to be opened.  I hate flies, mosquitoes, wasps, etc. more than I dislike the ugliness of screens.)  


Pet Peeve #2:  Why are all the windows so FANCY?

This isn't as much of an issue-- because there are fairly regular, plain-jane windows in some photos-- but very often, these photos of curtains and "window treatments" (which phrase I cannot use without the quotation marks, sorry) are set in such fancy, perfect rooms!  And ok, that's just the way it's usually going to be in any home decorating photo, but still, the windows!  The very windows are all so FANCY that I think to myself, "Why are you even bothering with curtains at all?  You're hiding your fancy (and obviously expensive) windows!" 
 
Well, possibly that's an exaggeration, but you get my point, right?  Once again it's a case of  "no matter how nice my new curtains are, they cannot make my plain window into something that extravagant, and by the way, thank you for making me a little bit dissatisfied with my plain windows". 




...You know what?  I don't really enjoy figuring out "window treatments", at all.   Another tick against me as a perfect homemaker.  Shoot, and I was going to be so close to perfect, other than that one little thing! ;o)

Random Things

In no particular order...

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We've been seeing a couple of turtles in the pond, lately.  They seem pretty skittish, though, so no up-close viewing.  Mostly just a splash when we get anywhere near where they are, then two little heads popping up out the water-- and popping back down again when they apparently decide that we look scary.


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I've been trying to do a little yard work this spring.  There's still so much more to do, but at least I'm trying.  Every little bit helps, etc., etc.  This morning, I planted a new "daisy gardenia" near our patio (where we can enjoy the fragrance of the blooms), transplanted some roses, and mulched a little.  Next up-- more mulching, more transplanting (white spider lilies, snowflake flowers, montbretia), painting the sundial and obelisk "trellis", finishing bushwhacking the Jungle (a.k.a. the overgrown flowerbed by the bay window), putting river stones and pavers by the front door (where the runoff from the roof is particularly punishing during downpours), doing something about that unfortunate patch of the yard that covers the septic tank, and so on and so forth.  It should be enough to keep me busy for, oh, the rest of my life-- or longer, if there were a way to do yard work from the Great Beyond...


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We've started looking more seriously into having a garage built.  It's one of those things I really want to have done-- but dread doing.  (Or deciding, planning, arranging, and paying to have done.  Same difference, as they used to say in school.)  Still, it will be nice to have a really good storage spot for our tools (which now take up too much room in the utility/laundry room) and various other odds and ends-- and I long for the day when the threat of a severe thunderstorm doesn't make me worry that one of the cars will sustain hail damage.  (Alright, damaging hail doesn't happen that often, but it has happened once, and I'm paranoid about hail, now.  You'd almost think I was Pa Ingalls worrying about an all-important crop that's a week away from harvest.)

I think Donald mostly wants a garage so that we'd have a place to play ping-pong, justifying the purchase of one.  (Well, maybe not really.  I don't think I'll be enough competition to make it that much fun for him.)


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I tried making some hypertufa in the past couple of weeks.  Some of it turned out okay (knock on wood), and some of it did not.  I'm not sure what was wrong, really, but I plan to give it another try, sometime. 

I've made hypertufa stepping stones, troughs, etc. before, and it always worked fine.  (Not to say that none of it ever broke; some things did, but that was probably because I didn't use any reinforcing wire mesh or fibers... and they were relatively thin.) 

Anyway, hypertufa is a fun and easy outdoor project-- but it's more fun when it actually works.  (g)


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I (and then sometimes Donald) started watching That Girl in the evenings, a couple months ago, when the local "retro TV" station began showing an episode every weeknight.  I was really enjoying it-- and so of course the powers that be decided to reschedule it for 7 a.m.  I still catch it, occasionally, but it's not exactly a convenient time for relaxing in front of the TV.  (Tsk!) 

Anyway.  About the show.  I find it inordinately amusing-- and curious-- that (reportedly) Marlo Thomas didn't want the series to end with Ann and Donald (um, a character on the show by that name) getting married because she didn't want the young women watching at home to think that marriage was a woman's only real purpose or goal in life.  She even thought that having the (engaged) couple actually get married at the end would "defeat the somewhat feminist message of the show" (according to, erm, Wikipedia... so give that as much credence as you see fit). 

And yet taken as a whole, the program (or as much of it as I've seen so far) is far from presenting what I'd consider a uniformly strong feminist message.  (Maybe that says more about me and what I think of as "feminist" than the program itself... Or maybe it's a reflection of how feminism has changed over the years.) It's just that Ann is frequently presented as a somewhat scatter-brained (or maybe "scrape-prone" would be a more accurate descriptor) individual and regularly needs Donald (or her father) to come to her rescue.  Not a very feminist portrayal of an independent woman, as I understand it. 

That's not to say that the character seems weak-- far from it.  Let's just say that her boyfriend is a prominent feature of her life in the show.  He's in nearly every episode, usually to play some important role.  He treats her with respect and affection, takes her career aspirations seriously, and supports her in her pursuit of that career.  I can't see how it would've hurt anything to have her finally marry him.  It's interesting how you never hear people saying that it somehow emasculates a male character when he gets married in a book or TV show.  I can't recall anyone ever suggesting that when a male character admits he wants or even needs a woman to be a permanent fixture in his life, he's no longer independent enough and is setting a bad example for the young men who look up to him.  Why should it be any different for a female character?  Sure, she could continue living alone, unmarried.  Hadn't they already shown her doing just that for a few seasons?  Why would having her marry-- at some point-- not even necessarily the very last episode-- have weakened the "message" that Ann was a successful example of the independent woman?

...But again, "feminist" isn't one of the labels I'd apply to myself, so possibly I'm just incapable of seeing the what the big deal was or is.  Of course I think women should have the same rights as men and be treated with the same level of respect, but that's just common sense and common decency-- and so the belief doesn't (imho) require any special designation.

...Not that it matters whether the character marries or not.  (g)  It was the (supposed) fact that it was purposely avoided that makes me think about it at all...


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Gee, aren't you glad I got started on that tangent and that-- lucky you!-- you were here to skim or altogether skip it?!  ;o)  (I don't blame you.)


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I recently had cause to glance into some of the earliest journals I ever wrote (and kept), and let me just say that few things could be as mortifying as reading your own words from when you were... I don't know, 13 or 14 years old.  So embarrassing.  My only hope is that (nearly) everyone is as silly at that age as I was.  Of course, not all of them were or are foolish enough to make a written record of it... 

It wasn't so much what I wrote about-- well, okay, maybe that, too, at times-- as it was the way I wrote it.  Good grief.  If you think I'm too wordy now.  I clearly wanted very desperately to be "fancify" reality.  Actually, I wanted to be living in an LMM novel, and apparently I thought that if I wrote as though I were, then I would be.  (Or something like that.)  The horrible purple prose-ification of a teenager's rather dull life!  The amplification of the mundane and the trivial into the Deep and Meaningful!  And, of course, almost every teenage girl's natural gift for finding potential for drama in the most unexpected places.  Well, at least I have a handy way to bring myself back down to earth, whenever I begin to form too high an opinion of myself. 


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And that's more than enough for one entry.  Much, much more than enough.

Something for Everyone

Well, there's something for everyone if everyone is interested in eyeglasses, dog grooming, nature trails, crochet scarves, "shoe benches", or any of the other fascinating subjects included in this entry.

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Last night, Donald and I finally got around to ordering some new glasses.

It's about time. I knew it had been a while-- maybe even over a year-- since we'd had our eye exams and got the prescriptions, but I had no idea (until I pulled out the papers and read the date) that it had been nearly two years.

Seriously, though-- this is ridiculous! I know times flies and all that, but nearly two years?! (Minus a couple of months. The exams took place early December 2007.) That's just. . . scary.

Life keeps slipping away, one day at a time. . .

Well, moving right along. . . (g)

We're trying Zenni Optical, an online source with exceptionally low prices and (as far as we can tell) a pretty good reputation for quality, too. You can get a pair of glasses (no extra frills, but perfectly good glasses) for a mere eight dollars (+ a flat rate shipping charge of $4.95). If you're in the mood to splurge ;o) there are other options (glasses for $15, $19, and so on-- tinted lenses-- anti-glare coatings-- etc.). Honestly, though, some of the $8 models were my favorites from the bunch.

Our new glasses should arrive within a couple of weeks. I'm excited! It's been more years than I care to admit since I had new glasses-- mostly because I rarely thought about it. (And when I did, I dreaded the hassle of the exam and picking out new frames and ended up putting it off.) These old ones are showing their age and are ready for retirement.

I'll probably take photos of the new glasses once they arrive. (Thought I'd give you all something to look forward to. (g))

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I think the hummingbirds (or at least "our" hummingbirds) have moved on to their next stop. We haven't seen them in two or three days (and I had already heard that they generally leave this area around the middle of October). The patio seems emptier without them. . . Time to dig out and fill our other bird feeders, I guess!

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The hummingbirds may have left us, but my sister and brother-in-law, who have been living in the Montgomery area, are planning to move back to the coast soon! I know my family will be happy to have them close by again, so that we can see more of one another.

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Over the weekend, we gave Molly another haircut. It's not 100% done (Is it ever?), but it is much better than it was before. Part of the time, she was fairly well-behaved. ("I don't really want to do this right now... *whine whine* Why do we have to do this? I really don't like this very-- Oh! Is that peanut butter you have there? Well, I don't mind if I do!") Part of the time, she was not. ("Mess with my feet, will you? I'll show you! I'll somehow manage to lie on top of all four feet at the same time so you can't reach them! Nanny-nanny boo-boo!" . . .Or even "Ohmygosh ohmygosh OHMYGOSH!! They're making me lie on my side!! NOOOO! NOOOO! I shall surely perish a most excrutiating death if I am made to lie on my side!! NOOOOOOO!!")

As we struggled to cut her hair (and nothing but her hair)-- sometimes against her very vehement wishes-- I renewed my vow to never have another dog of such a grooming-intensive breed. It simply doesn't work out well.

If I could go back in time, maybe I could familiarize her with the grooming process when she was still an impressionable puppy. Maybe then it wouldn't be such an agonizing ordeal to brush and cut her hair on her legs, feet, and underside. Maybe she would never get in such a state that I feel terrible, guilty helplessness over her mats and tangles. Then again, maybe there's nothing we could've done to make it easier. Either way, from here on out, I don't see myself ever owning a spaniel (or similarly haired breed) again.

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Also over the weekend, we took a quick trip to Meaher State Park (on the Baldwin County side of the Causeway). It was ok, but not as nice as the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail(s). There's simply not as much trail there, for one thing, but my opinion might also have been influenced by the hot, muggy weather. (We are still waiting for autumn to get here and stay for more than a couple days at a time.)

On the boardwalk, we saw lots of small crabs, some water fowl, and a raccoon. No turtles, snakes, or alligators, though. (I wouldn't have wanted to see them too close up, anyway.) I did a little filming there, so I'll try to edit and post that soon. In the meantime, here are a few photos that we took:

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Donald added a couple of doors to the "shoe bench" by our kitchen door. (He built the bench years ago using leftovers from the bookshelf he built.)

After years of having it just as it was-- always right next to the door we use most, to house a few pairs of our most-frequently-used shoes-- it suddenly seemed odd to have a bunch of shoes in close proximity and open view of the table where our guests sit and eat. Isn't that the way these things usually work? You go a long time without noticing something, but once you see it, you realize that Something Must Be Done. So Donald found a piece of wood that would work-- the kitchen-sink-shaped cutout the builders made in our counter-top-- and with a little sawing, sanding, spackling, and painting, the shoe bench had two doors. We filled the middle compartment with a basket, and the result looks much more "finished" than it did a few weeks ago!

Here's a "before" photo:

And a couple of "after":

That'll do nicely!

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I think the last time I mentioned crochet on this blog was back when I had decided to try a scarf that was basically a bunch of Solomon's knots (love knots, lover's knots). I gave it a try, and after the first or second row didn't know what to do next. It was night, and I was tired, so that may have accounted for it. Whatever the reason, I couldn't see where/how I was supposed to attach the next row into the previous one. I'm going to give it another try-- and maybe seek advice if I still can't figure it out on my own-- but in the meantime, I happened upon a different scarf pattern.

The Luna Lovegood Scarf (pattern by Melissa Helton) is so called because it's based on an accessory worn by a character of that name in a Harry Potter movie. I liked the looks of the scarf, and none of the stitches seemed too difficult for a beginner. Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out. It is a little wider than I pictured it, but that's not really a problem with a scarf. I think my beginner status showed itself in a couple of spots, but I can definitely wear it without wrapping it up to my eyes to protect my identity. ;o)

(There are a few more photos on Flickr, if you'd like another look.)

Oh, and this was also my first attempt at blocking. I still don't know if I did it perfectly, but I do think it made a positive difference in the shaping and arrangement of the stiches, so that's good. At least I have a little blocking experience under my belt, now.

Scarf stats:

Yarn: Red Heart Sport, "Aran Fleck"
I used a little less than two 2.5 oz (70g) skeins.

Hook: G (I think...)
That's not what the pattern called for, but I knew it didn't really matter that much, seeing as it's a scarf, and I didn't have whatever hook the pattern did call for.

Time: I don't know. I don't really time my crafty pursuits. It's supposed to be fun, and I don't like timing things. Makes me feel like I'm in a race. . . It probably took longer than it "should" have, but I'm still a beginner.

Dimensions:
Approximately 5.5 inches (14cm) wide and 78 inches (198cm) long.

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Last week I received a jury summons. (I mentioned it on Twitter, so if you read those updates, you already know about this. But in that case, you already knew about some of the other things I've written about, too. Let this be a lesson to you. . . or something. . .)

The last time I got a jury summons was my first time to get a summons-- the first time I'd ever been notified that I might potentially be selected to sit on a jury. (When was that, exactly? I probably ought to try to figure it out in case they ask. Seems like they did ask something about previous jury experience, last time. . .) So, seeing as it was my first time seeing The Law up close and personal, I was interested, nervous, and kind of excited, even though I knew it was my civic duty to be completely bored and annoyed by the prospect of sitting on a jury. Everyone is (or so you'd think, based on what you usually hear and see people saying).

I happened to see a (2nd? 3rd?) cousin on my first day there, and she seemed bored and nonchalant. Unfortunately (?) I don't find it so easy to be bored and nonchalant. ("A bundle of nerves" might be closer to it, actually. This makes certain aspects of life more difficult, no doubt, and I'll never be really "cool", but at least it's probably also more dramatic and interesting this way.) In any case, being interested/excited made the first part of the experience. . . well, interesting and exciting. As time passed, some of that wore off. By the time it was over, I was ready for it to be over.

This time around, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I think I'd rather not have to go, but since I don't really have a choice, I'm trying to feel interested in it. It is interesting, when you're actually sitting on a jury and not just sitting or standing around waiting to be selected. I honestly feel a little sorry for people who don't feel even the least bit interested in the prospect of a brief period of jury duty. It must take a lot to keep them occupied and interested* in life in general. . .

*Note to self: Practice using synonymns for "interested" and "interesting". ;o)

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Well, that's more than enough blogging for one day! ;o)

A Trip Through the IKEA Catalog

I love looking at photos of organized spaces. Pantries, mud rooms, and entryways! Hooks, shelves, jars, and boxes! Tantalizing peeks into partially (artistically) opened drawers and cabinets! Those photographs are somehow fascinating. (Larger versions of these photos are just a click away...)





(Ok, I'll admit it. I like to look at "home" photographs in general, even if they're not focused on organization. I also am extremely fond of House Hunters and a handful of house-flipping and -decorating programs.)




For someone who loves the clean look of organization, though, my own ability to keep things organized is sometimes lacking. Of course, no-one (or let's err on the side of caution and say "hardly anyone") keeps his/her home as perfectly/artfully arranged as the rooms presented in many catalog and magazine photos.

There are lots of white-spined books in these showrooms-- probably because white is not distracting and goes with anything. Then there are the photos where some of the books just happen to match the decor of the room. Almost as though they had been carefully chosen for that very reason. . . Like these touches of blue that go with the painted wainscoting:


Coordinating colors in the furniture, flooring, and wall art of the room, I can accept. (I pay some attention to those things, myself.) But what are the chances that the books in the bookcase-- or the clothing stored in the closet-- would magically fit into that particular room's palette? (Unless this person is completely, unhealthily obsessed with a certain color scheme. "No. I keep telling you, I can't buy carrots. The orange just doesn't 'go' in our kitchen.") The results are attractive, but artificial. As much as I like the look of those perfect, photoshoot-ready rooms, I'm just not prepared to arrange my entire life around the color of the family room rug-- or sofa-- or what-have-you.

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Interesting (?) side note:
Years ago, while browsing a book about the "shabby chic" style, I was amazed to see that the author actually suggested purchasing cosmetics (for example) in colors that coordinate with the room where they'll be kept.

Kind of like this, I guess:

Note the "pretty" toiletries in glass dispensers? And see how they're all either white/clear, acid green, or gold? Now, that takes some serious devotion-- especially if you do it in real life and aren't just putting on a temporary show for a photograph or sales display.

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Then we have photos like the one below:


It's a pretty room-- so fresh and open, with all the windows and the white paint, curtains, and bedding. The wall of green houseplants really gives it a little extra something, doesn't it?

But then you begin to wonder who's going to keep those plants watered, fed, cleaned, etc. Some of them are 'way up there. . . Who's going to enjoy the plants when they're five inches from the ceiling? No wall of fresh green houseplants for me.

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If you haven't been to my Flickr photostream in a while, there are some recent photos of our non-catalog-worthy (yet (g)) breakfast room/kitchen. I took them mainly to show the progress we've made on our beadboard wainscoting project.

There's still a lot of painting to do. The cabinets will eventually be painted white. (I've written about it too many times to back out now. ;o)) The walls will also be painted, but at this point I can't tell you whether they'll be robin's egg blue or cream/almond/sand. Then there are the hinges and pulls (more on that another time). . . some crown moulding to install. . . and a few smaller projects for revamping the room's furniture/accessories.

. . .Oh, and I just remembered the "tables and chairs" project. . . So I'll probably have the official "before and after" photos ready for you in about two or three years.

Happening Lately

What's been happening lately, in (informal, not at all "parallel"-- sorry Mrs. Boswell) list form:

• Quite a bit of rain, lightning, and thunder-- not constantly, but frequently enough.
  
• Such intense humidity that it's not very pleasant to be outside, despite temperatures lowered by the rain. (There. That's weather out of the way. I think...)
  
• Donald joined Facebook and discovered some type of Tetris game there, after which fact, Facebook = Tetris, for him.
  
• I've mostly abandoned Facebook. I'm still trying to decide how I feel about it. I like being able to keep up with people who don't (to my knowledge) blog, but there are other aspects of it I don't like at all.
  
• Watched Coraline and thought it was visually striking (in spots, at least) and pretty weird overall.
  
• Watched Being John Malkovich and thought it was really weird.
  
• I started watching Wives and Daughters again. (Always a good antidote for weird.) I think I like it even better on this viewing than before, maybe because of its stark contrast to the Malkovich atrocity. (Apologies to those who love it. There are funny, creative bits, but it just goes off the deep end. Insanity is not creative genius. It's merely insanity. Plus I didn't like any of the characters well enough to care about them. That's never a good sign, in my opinion.)
• Watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the theater (a weekend or two ago). The special effects were pretty special. I've forgotten most of the book, though, so I can't say how good it was as an adaptation. (It sounds like I've been doing a lot of movie-watching! More than usual, probably, since there's not much new on TV this time of year.)
• Gave Molly the first half of a haircut. She was fairly well-behaved for a while, but progress slowed drastically when we started trying to cut the places she's sensitive about (that is, practically everywhere but the back and sides-- but most especially her legs, feet, and "underneath"). After a while, we decided she'd had enough for one day. Round two awaits... Still, we've removed a lot of hair. She must be more comfortable this way-- and it's funny how much smaller she looks without all that extra padding!
  
• I noticed Donald's driver's license was about to expire, and he went to have it renewed. (Mine's good for another year. I need to write myself a note on the calendar, since they don't send reminders...)
• Someone spoke of "co-boys". I was mystified for a moment, then realized that "co-boy" = "cowboy". So if you ever hear a Swede say something about "co-boys" or "co-girls" at the "ro-day-oh"-- now you'll know what s/he means. Oh! And every Swede knows that "co-boys" love Mexican food, so if you ever have to feed them, I suggest "tack-ohs"-- not tacos, mind, but tack-ohs. Definitely not pasta, though. Co-boys loathe "past-ah". (Sorry, you-know-who. I only do it because you make so few mistakes these days, and I want to remember them for the time when you no longer make any.)
• Oops. I accidentally published this entry prematurely, and I don't see a way to undo it, short of deleting the whole thing... Well, that's ok. I'll just wrap it up quickly...
• Donald's been putting up beadboard wainscoting in the breakfast room. He's making fast progress. Fast by our standards, at least. I've posted a couple of photos (at Flickr) from the first bit he put up, but I need to take more. Maybe later today...
  

Variety Pack

It has been brought to my attention ;o) that I haven't blogged in a while. So let's see if I can scrape together a few things to make a new blog entry. . .

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We had a Fourth of July grill lunch with my father's side of the family (or at least those who could make it). I took some photos and video of my two youngest cousins (Jacob & Olivia) demonstrating their diving ability. They're up on my Flickr and Vimeo accounts, and if you're a friend or family, you can see them there (or in the case of the photos, on Facebook). (You'll need to be approved as family/friends, though-- just a matter of asking.)

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That brings me to Facebook, which I finally got around to using. (This after joining a while back and never even uploading a photo of myself.) Well, I used it for a few days and haven't been back since. I don't know why... It's more fun than I thought it would be, but I can see it becoming an(other) obsession-inducing Internet time-waster. I'm definitely going to drop out of the whole Mafia Wars thing. I just have enough places where I already waste time, and I don't need another. (I'd rather waste my time with Flickr, Vimeo, Blogger, and my off-line time-wasters.) "Thank you" to the people who tried to help get me "set up" on it, though. (g)

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Here's one for the "Oh My" category. Did you hear about Chia Obama? (It seems vaguely familiar to me, but I'm not sure where/when I heard about it before... From Donald, I think.) If you hadn't heard of it until now, let me assure you that I'm completely serious. It's a terra cotta Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia-style bust of you-know-who, originally intended to be sold by Walgreens, but quickly yanked off the shelves when someone decided that it was potentially offensive.

Still think I'm pulling your leg? Take a look at the commercial:



(Does it remind anyone else of an Oompa Loompa, with that orange complexion and green hair?)

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Our little area's been in the "big" news more that usual, lately.

First, the nominee for Surgeon General is from a town not terribly far to our west-- Bayou La Batre, AL. (Someone had a bit of trouble pronouncing the name, but because he made the fumble-- instead of, say, his predecessor-- it won't be used as proof of idiocy. Not that I think a mispronunciation indicates idiocy-- I've made too many of them myself to be of that opinion! (g)-- but you get my point.)

Second, there's the recent news story of the double murder in Beulah, near Pensacola, FL. Back when I lived with my parents, a drive to Pensacola led right through Beulah. (In other words, it's not very far away.) This story has been dominant in the local news, but I've also noticed that the national news is following it with greater than usual interest-- and Donald told me that it was even the top story on the online Swedish newspaper he reads!

(No, no comments on the stories themselves. For the first, I don't know enough about the doctor to make any relevant remarks. For the second, beyond the typical response that it's awful and I'm curious about the circumstances that led to it, there's nothing else to write.)

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I'm still having fun with photography, even if they're just run-of-the-mill nature and pet shots...

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Frequently, when I get e-mail saying that someone new is now "following" me on Twitter, Donald comments on it. (He himself doesn't "tweet".) I try not to pay too much attention to the notifications, myself, because if I did, I might start keeping track of the numbers-- and more specifically, keeping track of when they fall.

Twitter is a strange thing, with its instant feedback. The trending topics have more than once been my first alert of a news story. I've also used it to get an immediate feel for what people are saying about one subject or another. (However, I usually find that the results are skewed strongly to the left, as is typical online, in my experience. That does get old. ...Very old. But moving on...)

I'm sure that I've tweeted things that have lost me followers-- whether because I've made just one too many boring updates on local weather and the daily doings of my dog (Though honestly, who doesn't want to know what Trixie's up to? She's pretty darn fascinating!) or because I've dared to express an unpopular (on Twitter, at least) political opinion. Either way, it doesn't really matter. The key is that instant feedback-- that constantly rising or falling value of yourself (as a tweeter, if nothing else). I'm not a fan of that aspect of Twitter (or other social networking sites), to tell the truth, which is why I try not to glance up at that upper right-hand corner with the follower count. I don't need to know how many people deem me worthy of following today, as opposed to yesterday. But thanks anyway, Twitter.

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As if to make up for the drought of a month ago, we've been getting plenty of rain lately, and we're even supposed to get a "cold front" in the next few days. Of course, by "cold front" what the weatherman really means is that our highs should be in the upper 80s instead of the low-to-mid 90s. But hey! We'll take whatever we can get in the way of cooler weather! And it may actually be in the 60s overnight for a day or two! (Woo hoo!)

So, what's the weather like in Sweden, right now? Oh, just highs in the 70s is all. But it looks like they're getting rain and highs in the 60s, coming up soon, so I bet they're not too happy with their weather, either. I'd still trade, though. Sixties with rain? Sure. Bring - it - on. ;o)

By one reckoning, I probably ought to live in the Pacific Northwest, but I don't think I'd be happy in that political climate. Besides, that's a long move away from family and the places I grew up... And maybe I would get tired of the dreariness, eventually. It's hard to know how I'd react to nearly perpetual cloudcover, having always lived in such a warm, sunny place. Sure, we usually get a lot of rain here, but it comes in downpours-- generally with sun immediately before and after. Anyway-- "Bloom where you are planted", right?

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We're still considering different paint colors for the kitchen (and haven't even really looked at potential bath colors at all). Donald picked up a few (okay, more than a few) new paint chips, last time he was in a home improvement store, and now I think we're leaning towards one of those colors. But then I start having second thoughts and wonder if we ought to steer clear of blue/aqua-blue altogether. A different shade of yellow? A rich cream? A soft sand? Aaaaaah! Indecision! At least we're not in any big rush, so we have plenty of time to dither. We'll probably end up making our choice at the eleventh hour. (Part of the fun of painting is thinking about all the possibilities.)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Actually, the tree's been up a while, now, but it wasn't until last week that I felt like photographing it-- and then I had to get around to uploading the photos. . .



There are a few more photos (close-ups of ornaments, mostly) on my Flickr page, if you're interested. I know how exciting it is to look at photos of someone else's Christmas tree. ;o)

Microsoft Virtual Earth

This may be old news to all of you, but it was new to us.

Donald happened across something interesting this evening: Microsoft Virtual Earth.

How interesting it is to you, personally, may depend on whether or not you're able to see your own house on it. Also, if you're able to see your house in Google's "Street View" thing-a-ma-jig, you may not be impressed. Our house isn't on Street View, but we're able to see it (and my maternal grandparents' place) from multiple angles with Microsoft's "Bird's Eye" feature-- and that is pretty neat!

Here's how it works: Open the page I've linked to above. Type in the address you want (or use the zoom/magnifying glass and arrows to find your own way around). When you get in fairly tight on the area you want to see photos of, click "Bird's eye" in the menu at the top of the map. (If the words are greyed out, that means there are no bird's-eye-view photos of that area available.) Try clicking the rotate buttons on the left-hand side of the map to see different angles of the location. (This may not be available for some places.)

What is and is not available seems to be fairly random. We can't see my parents' house, for instance, and yet there's our house from four different angles!





Like I said, pretty neat. But also a little bit. . . creepy.