Oh dear! You’re so sweet! Here, I am surrounded by such skill and creativity! The hostess gift conundrum goes both all ways.
Autumn autumned on us over the last week. 5 days ago we had highs in the 70s. We’re now expecting highs in the high-40s to low-50s! Ambient temps too low to stain the table in our unheated shop. Unless, that is, you can call in the Eye of Sauron to help!
Which I did. It oscillates. And there’s a little Vornado heater on the other side - the kind you might put under your desk in a cold office. It was keeping the temps in the high 50s yesterday. Fingers crossed it dries in the 24-48 hour window so I don’t have to scrap/sand it off and start over… in the house.
UPDATE: I typed that in the pre-dawn hours and since then Vivienne has woken and gone outside, necessitating turning on the outside lights - it snowed/is snowing! There are chances of snow over the next few days. Not that unusual for this time of year to have snow fall, then melt, then fall and melt, etc.
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AIMR
(Linda -In the year 2025, I am happy to be alive! :us:)
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It is looking really good!
I am so dreading snow. We are having nice 60-65 degree weather, but it is dreary and drizzling. It is expected to be as high as 74 with lots of sun the rest of the week. My kind of weather!
We are having our first Nor’easter. Lots of rain and some wind. It had been so warm and sunny, perfect fall weather and then bam. First frost and then rain.
Rushed to get the sweet potatoes dug and curing. Gathered some beets and carrots too. I see a root veggie bake later today.
I’ve added to my guest room a bit in the last few months. My mom sent me a picture of her bedroom, which she redecorated, and I really liked the cream rug she had picked. Turns out, it came in black too, and was perfect for the colors I was looking for in the guest room. It’s a nice thick rug, and 100% wool, so it feels really nice under foot. We also added the “snowflake” above the bed. I had bought it to style the entry way of our last house when it was for sale, and am thrilled to finally have it up on the wall. (Though now I feel like it needs something on each side. Like a sconce candle holder? Not sure.
Then this week I was in Goodwill looking for something totally different, and ran into a beautiful piece of art. It’s a big (about 18" x24") framed piece of hand-marbled paper. The back had a penciled in price for $300 from the gallery it came from, but the price tag from Goodwill said $12.99! It was in absolutely perfect shape. Not a single nick out of the frame, or scratch on the glass. I just needed to clean the glass with some windex. It’s hard to capture the colors. The photos make it look like mostly grey, but it’s actually medium blues and burgundy, and a touch of French grey and forest green.
I hung it up on the wall opposite the bed. I had been leaving that spot empty, as I look for a small, skinny dresser for the space, but I just can’t seem to find one. So might as well hang some art. If I have to move the hook later, oh well. I think the raspberry walls really help the colors pop against the cream paper and white mat.
What a welcoming and comfy space for guests (and pup) you’ve made! The rug looks great with the paint and the quilt. And the colors on that art piece really do pop on that raspberry wall!
Looks good @MistressJennie ! My craft room has one wall in that berry colour, inspired by your room. It still cheers me up every day.
We went floor shopping yesterday and today. We still need a bedroom floor and we’ve decided to not DIY it. But we went to two shops and I was almost ready to DIY again…. It’s not that I don’t want to pay for the service, but they keep being very unclear about the cost (it keeps getting more expensive) and when we finally asked for a formal quote there were even more hidden costs.
One shop was still significantly cheaper than the other (same type, same brand) the employee was nicer and they can put the floor in next week, so we went with them. But I wish they would have just told us the full price up front. I guess that’s a sales tactic, coming up with a low price and increasing it later on, but it annoys me.
@Immaculata That is such a gross sales tactic! Good for you for comparing a few different options so you wouldn’t be stuck partway through with unforeseen costs.
Y’all, I finished that dang table and posted it a few days ago. WOOHOO! I hope that I’ll still be motivated to rehab our 6 patio chairs next year before al fresco season.
It looks great! And look at what you’ve achieved this year - a gigantic deck, a fancy library and now custom furniture too!
In today’s episode of The Never-ending story: mouse edition: they’re back! I went into the pantry to get a can of soup and it had some mousey mess on it. On the floor beneath were droppings. I looked on the top shelf and that was clearly where the mess came from. I kept a box of seeds there (the type of seeds I put in homemade bread). The seeds are sealed into a thick plastic bag, not a flimsy one like cereal, and that bag goes into a cardboard box. As this one was unopened I figured it was safe to keep in the pantry. Nope. They ate through the plastic and destroyed the cardboard box and spilled seeds everywhere. It’s a mess but I guess I’m glad they didn’t go for the stealth approach.
After I’ve finished cleaning up again I need to figure out what the point of entry is this time. I sealed the floor and the wall they came through just a week ago, and I didn’t see any other vulnerable spots. But I suppose I was looking at the floor mainly, and not really at the ceiling. They accessed the top shelf this time, maybe they came in from above??? If we can’t find it, it’s time for pest control.
This really is the worst timing because the new floor will be put in on Friday. On top of working our day jobs, we’re going to have to empty out the bedroom, find a spot for all our furniture and remove the temporary floor.
This hole was not there last week and the damaged items were right below it. Can for size. It might have been a small nail hole, there are many of those in the pantry. Our house is old and I’m assuming this space has been a pantry since the house was built in the 40s. There are many old nails, nail holes, remnants of old shelving and the like. So I emptied it again, swept, got out my sealant, filled every single nail hole, found out there is some space around some plastic pipes that wasn’t there before, pushed in a ton of steelwool and added more sealant. Then cleaned and filled the pantry (again). Later this week I’m going to take a good look at the other side of that wall. That’s where the kitchen is, which is a great place for mice to hide. We had a dog guest this week and he kept going near the bookcase. It’s close to the dinner table so we figured he was after our food, but the book case sits on top of an air duct in the cavity wall a.k.a. mouse highway. It’s covered with mouse mesh but who knows if that really works
Luckily for me and my aging body, the deck was last year! Still, I feel accomplished with checking 2 big, difficult projects of my list this year!
So sorry about the mice finding another way into your pantry. It’s a big, difficult project finding how they get into the house in the first place on top of the big, difficult project of keeping them out of the pantry.
Guys, they’re back. Roughly the same spot. I must have missed an entryway there. What they ate today was in a sealed aluminium bag in a box. I’ve taken everything out of the pantry that’s not in glass but I swear someday soon these guys are going to eat through glass, too. I hid the other things in the kitchen, I hope it’s not going to lure the mice family into the kitchen tonight … I’m going to do one last attempt at sealing the pantry.
I’ve been looking into pest control but prices vary so much that I’m asking around for recommendations.
Is it possible that they are entering the structure somewhere else and squeezing under the door? But yes, also traps. Trapped mice can’t return to the scene of the crime.
I have set traps but somehow I never manage to trap any which is why I’ve always focused on blocking them out instead. But I’ve not heard of those electric traps, maybe I should go to the hardware store in my lunch break to see what kind of traps they have. Maybe there are more effective things on the market than basic Tom & Jerry style mousetraps.
I don’t think they can go under the door, but who knows. In the past I’ve found dead ones who trapped themselves underneath the door trying to get in. The damaged items weren’t close to the door, but they are close to where the pipes (gas and water) enter the house. That area is supposed to be covered with mouse mesh but I’ll take a closer look at it later today or tomorrow.
As I understand it, if the space is big enough for their skull to get through, they can get the rest of their body through. Not sure if this applies to pregnant females, but mouse babies are born only partly “cooked” so maybe?
In the ten years that we’ve lived here, a few mice clearly weren’t able to get their skull through the gap underneath the door… but I suppose I’ve only found the ones that didn’t make it. Maybe smaller mice did come through.
I haven’t caught any mice yet but I did get new traps. The hardware store had a limited selection of non-poison based traps, the ones I got look a bit like that children’s game where you push the teeth of a dog and it snaps shut. It’s extremely sensitive, and it’s supposed to have a certain smell that’s both attractive to mice and covers the human smell. I hope that works. I also put a handful of granola near the traps to lure them towards the right spot. I put traps on the floor and one on each shelf.
We’re busy working on the bedroom (the floor will be put in on Friday!) so we don’t really have time to fight mice properly until the weekend.
which is why I’ve always focused on blocking them out instead. But I’ve not heard of those electric traps, maybe I should go to the hardware store in my lunch break to see what kind of traps they have. Maybe there are more effective things on the market than basic Tom & Jerry style mousetraps.