No Mistress Her, but I

Nothing in Particular

2008-09-02T01:08:00.000-07:00

After three months of neglect (I moved away for the summer), my porch garden is - needless to say - completely dead. So now I get to start over from scratch. The only plants that have carried over from last year are the aloe and the ivy, and neither looks particularly healthy, so we'll see how that goes.... Also, because I currently have no roommates, I'm taking the opportunity to redo the living room with the "bright colors and random stuff" approach. Hopefully it'll be easier than the actual-theme approach. Haven't figured out what I'm going to do about the couch and chair - making slipcovers didn't really work, and buying them is too expensive - so for now I'm just pretending they don't exist... ^^;; On the plus side, I've spent less than ten dollars so far, and both the kitchen and the living room currently look reasonably decent. It's amazing what an in-depth search of an over-stuffed closet can yield.... With any luck the sewing machine will come out tomorrow, and I'll be able to have people over for dinner by Thursday. *crosses fingers*

Garden: Update II

2008-05-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

The Houseplants:

The fern is looking slightly sickly after its enforced drought, but I think it'll start looking greener tomorrow - I gave it a pretty good drink a few minutes ago. The ivy didn't seem much phased, and the aloe, of course, was basking in the dryness.
The Sunset is not being a sunset, yet, but it's still pretty robust for a scraggly green thing, even after having been mauled by one of the cats. I think it'll take a few weeks or even months to come into full bloom. Contemplating putting it outside for the weekend.

The Ex-houseplants:

Had to prune off the bottom-most leaf of the Red Anne, because it was starting to look and feel like cardboard, but other than that she seems to be flourishing as always. Bottom leaves are beginning to uncurl, which rocks.
Cat grass is being not-very-exciting, but that's cat grass for you. Another day or two and it'll be ready for kitty-consumption. Tomorrow I think I'll start the second bowl - I picked up two of those heavy $1 bowls at Walmart (plain white, will work with any decor, and I think they'll be heavy enough to resist the Gravity Storms with which we seem to be so frequently afflicted). Might wait until next week, though.

The Strawberries:

...are still being boring. Least exciting kit ever. But oh well - no one expects instant results, right?

The Tomatoes:

I have decided that the big strong tomato shall be named "Sylveste, the Big Strong Tomato". Yes, it's a reference to the song. Names aside, Sylveste is still trying to produce five or six very green tomatoes, and is thus far unafflicted by rot or pests. In fact, his only problem at the moment seems to be that his leaves are all stretching out towards the shade - which is odd. I'll rotate him around tomorrow.
The other tomato has not yet acquired a name. Possibly "Perdana" - an Indonesian name meaning "the first". Kreeno suggested Zeus, but Zeus came back and killed people, so maybe not. Anywho, Nameless Tomato is still struggling with its two little tomatoes, and some of the lower (not all bottom) leaves are still a bit yellowish. Also there are tiny patches of death scattered around. I'm not sure if it's an infestation, or just a remnant from the unhappy rootball - gonna keep an eye on it for a while. Also, some of the leaves have a dusting of what looks like little salt crystals or something. It could be organic, but I'm thinking it's probably just dried residue from the soap solution. Gonna check the marigold (see New Stuff) tomorrow, see if it shows the same crystal dust.

The Peppers:

The yellow is looking less yellow! Wahoo!
The sweet red has two leaves that are turning a darker, mottled color - I don't know if this is because of some sort of infestation, or if it's just what bell peppers do. I'll check the ones at home this weekend. It's the two biggest leaves, which makes me lean towards the latter explanation. But! But but but! It's trying to put out no less than six blooms or peppers, which rocks. (O'course, they're all miserably tiny, but growth is growth, yes?)

The Lettuces:

The Romaine is doing its Romaine thing. Not sprouting quite as fast as it was the other day, but still, respectable growth.
The Black Simpson (or whatever the regular green lettuce is called) is coming up fairly quickly, in two little stands. About an inch and a half since I laid down the seeds - that's what, a week ago? Couple of days before the last post. So that's good.
The spring mix hasn't poked up any shoots yet, but those only went in four days ago, so it's all right.
The chard, on the other hand. Oh. Wow. The chard went in on the same day as the spring mix, and it's coming up so quickly it's literally pushing the top layer of dirt up. As in, if you're looking straight down on the box, everything looks normal, but if you get down at eye-level with the top of the box, you can see an inch separation between the thin layer of dirt on top and the rest of the dirt under the shoots. Very, very cool. Very, very impressive.

The Herbs:

The rosemary is continuing to be healthy happy rosemary, even if it does have sort of a Leaning-Tower-of-Pisa look to it.
The cilantro is starting to look alive again, which is nice. About half of the stalks are more-or-less upright, instead of almost laying on the dirt.
Catnip's still going wild. I swear it's gotten bigger since Saturday. Snipped a bit off for the cat today - he seemed to enjoy it very much. Hopefully by the end of the summer I'll have enough to dry some out for the Ewok and give some to Rachel. I might look into getting her an actual plant - I don't know, can you make cuttings of catnip? Something to think about. (Otherwise, a catnip plant from the pet store works just fine - obviously.)
The basil hasn't done anything yet, but again, I only put the seeds in four days ago.

Temporary Plants:

Tiffany's aloe seems to be doing well. It had a drink the day before yesterday, which perked up the leaves quite nicely. Now there's only one or two still sort of slumping over. Might give it another quick sip tomorrow morning - her mom is coming over this weekend, and it would be nice to have the aloe looking all nice and happy for her.

New Stuff:

Bought two little marigolds ($1 each, the price was right) in hopes of having at least some color out there. One seems very healthy, so I went ahead and potted it today. The other is heavily infested with some sort of little tiny red bug on a web. My miniature magnifying glass wasn't strong enough to really get a good look, but I don't think they were spiders, and last I checked aphids weren't red. I rinsed and wiped the leaves as best I could - which wasn't very - and sprayed it liberally with the soap solution. Hopefully that'll kill whatever it is. Even if they are beneficial bugs - which I doubt - I'd really rather attract my own than import them from the store, you know? At any rate, I've semi-quarantined the marigold - there's not really a good place, unless I want to leave it in the car - and I'll keep an eye on it.
Went looking for those little seed-tray things at Walmart the other day; the store on 71 didn't have them. Mummum mentioned our Home Depot having them, so I'll check there this weekend. Not really a priority, just something that will become scarce when they're in-season.
In the meantime, I went ahead and got six of those little $0.50 pots and a plastic tray ($1), and seeded five different things out of The Box. If I'm remembering correctly:
1. Lavender
2. Morning Glory
3. Four O'Clocks
4. Moonflower
5. Cucumber (spacemaster variety)
I'm hoping that by starting things inside, I'll be able to have actual plants (even if they're just little sprouts) by the time I get suitable pots - 'cause this having boxes of bare dirt is just not very pretty, y'know? Optimally I'd like to get a series of pots for the three flowering vines, and have all three vines in each pot. If all works out well, I can have open flowers at all hours - which would rock. We'll see how that works out.
On a closing note: Apparently Tiffany's professors really like giving out plants. First the aloe, and now another prof gave her one of those massive sunflowers. On the downside, s/he bought the sunflower several days before giving it to her, so it's looking a bit worse for wear. I cut the stem down to fresh quick and put it in warm water with a bit of Miracle Gro. It's not exactly thriving, but then it hasn't lost any color or gotten any droopier, so we'll see. I'd like to take it outside tomorrow and see if some decent sun doesn't perk it up - right now it's in the kitchen, which really doesn't get much light, natural or otherwise.

Scrapbooking: Collecting the Stories

2008-05-06T02:44:00.000-07:00

The Situation: My family has a tradition of going on one really big, really cool vacation every summer (at least a week, usually two, to either some amazingly awesome place or occasionally several slightly-less-cool places, almost always involving much camping). This has been going on for somewhere in the vicinity of ten years - mostly since we stopped going to White Chalk Bluffs in Uvalde, but Deer camp rocked too. What with having all these planned adventures, and our numerous unplanned adventures - both while on vacation, and during regularly scheduled life - we've got quite a few stories to tell. But somehow we've never really had one place to put all these stories. Solution? Scrapbook with pictures, mementos, et cetera on one page and the relevant stories on the back (or facing page - haven't decided which, yet).

The Goal: Comprehensive scrapbook including all of our major vacations and any particularly memorable holidays, plus a few other random events that I think deserve a page (particularly good camping trips, prom, things like that).

Thoughts on the Matter: I've already pulled together about 350 photos from my computer. That covers the past ten years in fair detail, but there are a few vacations that I think I need some more photos for - when I get to them, I'll pull the rest from my external hard drive. Also, I've been collecting the little things from various vacations over the past year and putting them all in a box. Brochures, maps, ID tags, so on and so forth. And of course scrapbooking paper - mostly neutrals, since most of our stuff is outdoors and I generally want the focus to be on the pictures, not the backgrounds, but I've also got one of those pound-of-scrap things and miscellaneous ribbons, stickers, etc. Now all I need to find is a thing of plain white cardstock to print on - I think paper will be too flimsy, the glue makes the ink run - and away we'll go!

Well, not quite. There's one more thing I need, and that's the stories and one-liners we invariably come up with. Things like "Danger: Hot Brakes Fail!" and "No soap or water, eight days!" Thus, my current project: Scouring my blogs for the post-vacation outlines. Really makes me wish I'd kept a diary. I'll get what I can from this, and then I guess I'll start asking around for the stories I've forgotten or wasn't around for. Should be interesting, at least.

The Links:

Vaguely Related: These deserve a place in the "friends' stuff" scrapbook.

Dear Ha'Ri,

It has come to my attention that you have procured a Spanish language CD set of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. I congratulate you on your acquisition. I hereby request that this CD set (and all future CD sets of this type in any and all languages) be copied and sent to me. Si éstas órdenes se ignoran un desastre inimaginable ocurrirá.

Your Obedient Servant,
K.M.

Dear Maki,

In response to your letter, I am obliged to express my deepest regrets for being unable to supply with a copy of the CD in question at this time, as you and possibly myself will not be present at the Den this coming weekend. However, I would be more than happy to deliver the CD at a later date.

I also feel it my duty to inform you that the CD is merely a one-disc affair, the two-disc set being unavailable through Barnes and Nobles and considerably more expensive as well. In addition, it is not the recording to which we listened some weeks ago; rather, it is more similar to the English and Japanese versions already in your esteemed possession, in that it does indeed contain fully-orchestrated music.

Si tengas mas preguntas yo iré en Australia.

Your obedient servant,
L.E.

Potential for the back of a Bilge Pumps spread?

We went to Mardi Gras on the Strand, it sucked. As usual. But we -did- find this one cool group called the Bilge Pumps. They dress like pirates, sing vulgar chanties, and have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much fun on stage. The Charlie Mopps lyrics on the previous post are the regular lyrics, except the stuff in italics, which is what these guys throw in...it's cool.

And duuuuuuuuuuuuuude! This one guy, E the Bosun, plays a fricking didgeridoo!!

All right, well, that's the posts from Xanga. I'll start digging through LiveJournal (it's older, and will take longer) - for now I want a quick nap, and then off to Walmart for cardstock and some other schtuff.

Design: Living Room IV

2008-05-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

The Situation: Hideously ugly sofa and chair that I can't do anything about. Destructive cat. Rotating roommates and not exactly an unlimited budget. Minimal skill with a sewing machine.

The Goal: Decent slipcovers that I can replace as whim or necessity decrees, and that don't break the bank.

Thoughts on the Matter:

Will continue to keep an eye out for pre-made covers at Big Lots, but I just haven't seen anything I like.
Currently have a sofa throw and a loveseat throw, both in drab green loose waffle weave (which does not withstand cats very well). Sofa throw sort of fits sofa, but look at it wrong and it falls off. Loveseat throw does not fit chair at all. No "chair throws" available, as far as I've seen.
Two main options -

Fitted slipcover. Would require cheap fabric (the thrift store across the way has sheets for $2, works great), much effort to make a pattern, and then making the cover. On the plus side, it would fit well, and I could hold onto the pattern and whip up other covers whenever I felt like, which would be nice. Would be one solid color or print, so decoration would have to be in the form of pillows..
Sofa wrap. Basically, a well-tucked throw covered with a nicer fabric in a T-shape, tied at the corners with some sort of interesting treatment. If I did a throw in a basic neutral color, it would be really easy to come up with a new top piece....

I'm three-quarters of the way to having a cover done - even if it's not one I'm particularly fond of - for the sofa. So I'm thinking for the moment, I'll go ahead and finish it - worst come to worst I'll replace it in a couple of weeks, and it'll get stashed in the closet or something until I decide to rotate themes again. So tomorrow's chore is to get thread, cut the bits that need to be cut, sew the bits that need to be sewn, tack and velcro the bits that need to be tacked and velcroed (namely the back and bottom, out of sight), and if I'm really fancy, run up some white and off-white shams for the pillows. I'm thinking Hobby Lobby for thread and then across the street to Savers for tablecloths, sweaters, etc - cheaper than buying yardage, most like. For the moment I'll leave the chair uncovered, unless I just happen to find something I really like and that won't require much effort on my part.

Water Features: Rainbow Dace

2008-05-04T02:36:00.000-07:00

The Situation: We have a small pond (I don't know dimensions - maybe three feet wide, roughly circular, and two feet deep? ish?) with some plants. We're looking for cheap, readily-replaceable, reasonably pretty fish (we have a lot of outdoor kitties, and annual floods, and dogs that fall in, and....) that can withstand the outdoor life.

Rainbow Dace:

Cyprinella lutrensis, formerly Notropis lutrensis
a.k.a. Red shiner, rainbow dace, horse-head minnow, red horse minnow or shiner, rosysided dace, Asian fire barb, African fire barb, redfin giant danio, {blue dace}*, shiner
*Blue dace and red/rainbow dace are NOT the same - in fact, rainbow dace are hybridizing with blue dace
"cool water fish" (prefer 60 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit)
freshwater fish
very invasive, may threaten native species if released
(native to TX, so no issues there)
"Predominantly a denizen of creeks and small rivers, it is adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions, including seasonal intermittent flows, degraded habitats, poor water quality, and natural physiochemical extremes" (3)
Reproduce prolifically in crevices or on rocks or leaves, but tend to eat a lot of the fry
Do well in cold temperatures
(again, probably not going to be a problem but good to know!)

Sources

Notes:

"Rosey Red minnows" mentioned as also being great mosquito control, cheap, and possibly easier to find (5)

Design: Living Room III

2008-05-04T00:22:00.000-07:00

The Situation: Same as always - dark, boring, and not a living room. Now includes one more, currently sad-looking plant.

The Goal: A functional room that's easy to maintain and nice to be in - preferably with sunny space for some herbs.

Thoughts: There was an old dresser or something in the dumpster today. Way too big and heavy for my purposes, but it did get me thinking: Move the small bookshelf into my room (along the wall where the blue box currently is, since I'm not actually planning on keeping the blue box), and in its place, make a sort of miniature china cabinet. Nothing fancy, certainly nothing as nice as an actual china cabinet, but just a place for the extra cups, plates, pans, etc that we don't actually use all that often. Since none of my roommates last year had anything kitchen-wise (one plate, cup, fork, spoon, knife per person, one pot, one pan, and one wooden spoon - that was the sum total when I moved in) I've collected an entire kitchen on my own. And this year it seems like everyone has an entire kitchen on their own - there's just not cupboard space for that. So having a smallish, nice-looking cupboard somewhere else, to keep the stuff that doesn't actually need to live in the kitchen, might be a good idea.

Procedure: Most difficult part would be finding something to start with, I think. Free would obviously be best, but if I can find a beat-up old chest of drawers or something for five or ten bucks at a garage sale or flea market, that would be okay too. Strip out the top drawers; if there's space, I'd like to leave one at the bottom, but if there's not that's okay too. Get some cheap cabinet doors or make some. If I can find enough pre-cut glass (again, free is best, cheap is acceptable), having a glass front would rock; otherwise, a wicker panel or something similar would do. Worst come to worst I think an interesting set of frames and no actual door would be okay. (Hard to describe, but I know what I mean.) Maybe an old fireplace screen or something? Anywho, just something to keep it from being an everyday set of shelves. Paint, obviously - possibly basic white, maybe something more exciting. That would depend mostly on the colors scheme at time of creation - it's easy enough to repaint it later. Then just stuff to fill it and maybe some plants or something on top, and away we go. Only downside would be finding a place to put it - at the moment it could live on top of that stupid TV cabinet, but I don't want to put anything permanent there, in case I ever get a roommate who wants to keep their TV in the living room. The only other spot, then, is in that nook next to my door. Which would be fairly convenient (and is the place described above), but again that stupid built-in cabinet interferes: Anything much taller than the cabinet looks funny, and anything much shorter is just useless (and, honestly, still looks funny). I seriously hate that thing...even more than I hate the upholstery on the couch. Gah. Anyway - not an immediate project, but something to think about.

Recent Changes: As previously mentioned, new plant on the windowsill. Am thinking that instead of a table lamp on that end table I might go for a big bowl of flowers or something...just not sure that I'd trust the cat(s) with it, is all. Maybe a lamp seated in a big bowl, and flowers in small pots surrounding it (inside the larger bowl, so it looks like the lamp is growing out)...? I dunno. A problem for another day. Only other new addition is a semi-decorative bowl of lemons on the table. I actually really like lemons, and they're incredibly useful, and they're a heck of a lot cheaper than I thought. Fifteen lemons (plus a folded section of that drawer-liner stuff on the bottom) fills the bowl nicely, I think. The bowl itself is a plain white round affair - I think it's supposed to be a salad bowl or something - 'bout $2 at Walmart. I went ahead and splurged another $2 for a square black charger (flat plate) to go underneath the bowl. Simple, basic, bold, easy to move when Ashlee does her ironing...I like it, anyway, and that's what's important.

Tomorrow's task: Get up, go check out flea market, and then sew up that couch cover!

Gardening: Update

2008-05-03T23:06:00.000-07:00

[ EDIT: Photos available here. ]

The Houseplants:

The living room plants (aloe, ivy, and fern) seem to be doing fine. I'm letting the soil dry completely before I water again, in hopes of getting rid of the handful of flies before the handful becomes a roomful. The fern won't like it, but the aloe will be happy, at least.
I put the hanging ivy out yesterday with some water, and it's going nuts in its own quiet way. I think I'll bring it back inside tomorrow. No apparent problems as a result of its week-and-a-half stint without water. Tough little bugger.

The Ex-Houseplants:

Tossed out the old cat grass - the soil was hugely infested with the aforementioned flies, and I don't want them spreading to the tomatoes, etc any more than they already have. (Will have to come up with some way of deterring them...I wonder does the soap solution work on flies?) Set up new, smaller cat grass in half of one of those sandwich-shaped sandwich containers - the kind you get for $1 at any grocery. The other half seems to have gone missing, so this seems a reasonable enough way of utilizing the rest, especially since I've basically given up on having an actual theme in the living room (see LRII). I'm gonna keep my eyes open tomorrow at the flea market for two other likely containers - one semi-nice and fairly heavy, for my room, and one just something interesting, for the living room - so I can get at least three small grasses in rotation. Possibly four, we'll see.
The pink thing - "Red Anne", according to the label - seems to be much happier now that it's out in the sun. I really should put it in a different container, though. The soup cup is about the right size, but it has no drainage. Still, if I let it dry out thoroughly it should do all right, at least for now. (Note to self: Hit up Ross's for interesting not-actually-a-pot pots!) I should also do some research and find out if the thing has any actual use, or if it's just an interesting-looking plant. As a side note the bottom leaves are curled, but I don't think that's new...I'll keep an eye on it.

The Strawberries:

...are being very, very boring. I put in some more water today, I think with Miracle Gro...that's about all that can be said for them. I might ask Mummum next weekend if I can steal one of her plants. Then again I might just wait until the actual plants start showing up at stores - that's what, next month? Give or take? Don't really remember, I never paid much attention....

The Tomatoes:

The Walmart tomato has another little tiny tomato starting up, which rocks. It seems to be doing wonderfully, which is good (but not terribly surprising, seeing as how it was a healthy plant to start with).
The other, more troublesome tomato is also trying to produce! It has a couple of blooms and one itty-bitty tomato poking its head out the top. ^_^ I dug it out of its pot and pulled off that biodegradable thing it came in, so we'll see if that helps. (The bottom leaves were yellowing and dying off around the edges.) I did break off most of the lower leaves, though - since they aren't in a position to get any sun, and therefore aren't actually helping - so it'll be a little hard to tell.... I also moved it to the other end of the bench. I'll check tomorrow and see, but I kind of think that about a third of the plant was in shade. There's nothing to block the new spot, so hopefully that'll help too.

The Bell Peppers:

I did the same thing for the yellow pepper. But only one of its leaves was bad enough to bother pulling off, so I can watch the other two or three yellow-ish leaves. I gave it (and the tomatoes) a bit of Miracle Gro, as well, so we'll see if that helps. But even with the bottom leaves being sickly, the top leaves are bright and green and healthy, so I think it'll be just fine.
And the red pepper (orange? I forget) is already trying to produce! It's got two pretty white blooms and a little pepper starting up. I haven't decided yet if I'm gonna let it keep trying, or if I'm gonna keep it pruned until the actual plant is bigger....

The Lettuces:

The one remaining Romaine is doing well. I chopped off all the leaves about eight days ago (finished 'em last night - whoever came up with those produce bags deserves a cookie), and the new leaves are between two and four inches long. I think next time I chop off all the leaves, though, I'm gonna try chopping off the top bit of stalk, too. Otherwise it's gonna start looking like a pineapple. (Tiffany thinks so, too.)
The other half of the romaine box I seeded with regular green lettuce two days ago. I'm pretty sure that's what's poking its little green head out the top now, but I've had some random volunteers in other boxes before, so we'll see....
The spring mix had only grown an inch or so since I got it, so I gave up on it and tossed it out (I suspect it was potted in regular dirt, not potting soil). Put in half a box of spring mix seeds - we'll see how those work.

The Herbs:

The other half of the spring mix is going to be basil, at least for now. When it comes time to thin out I'll move it (or at least some of it) into the tomato buckets - I sort of don't want to try to seed the basils directly in the tomato buckets until I'm sure I won't have to repot the tomatoes again. 'Cause that would be a waste. I'd also like to have some indoors basil. Can never have enough of the stuff - it just plain smells good.
Haven't done anything with the little oregano yet (or the basil in the pot)...I'm thinking about maybe making a somewhat decorative tray of little tiny herbs. Seedling herbs or something. Haven't really decided yet, though.
The catnip is going absolutely bananas, I'm thinking about maybe drying some out and storing it (it would make a great gift for cat owners - e.g. Rachel - especially if I made something cute to put it in...a fleece mouse or something? Worth thinking about).
Moved the cilantro out of the catnip box and into another box. It's looking a little sad, but then again it always has. And I'm not sure cilantro likes the heat - it hasn't been that hot here, but I think I remember Mummum telling me it's a very picky plant. (Not that that makes much sense, cilantro being a staple herb in Mexico...hm. Maybe it's from the mountainous region?)

New Stuff:

The other half of the cilantro is seeded with Swiss chard (which will be included with the lettuces next time). Chard rocks. On the downside I think I got boring-looking green chard, but who knows? And I'll keep my eyes open for the red or purple kinds. We'll see how fast (or slow) it grows.
Also picked up a rockin' rosemary. It's like ten inches tall! I figured it was a good sign when the biodegradable cup had already biodregraded enough that when I went to pick it up, all I got was the plastic rim. So I got a pot to hold it until I got home, and stuck it in with the cilantro. Definitely want to dry some of that - for cooking, for smelling good.... And if memory serves, I think I read somewhere that rosemary keeps away flies. Could be getting it confused with something else, though. It got a little mashed in the Walmart bag, and I'm sure the five-hour stint in the heat of the car wasn't exactly helpful, but a bit of water and some time, and I think it'll pull through nicely. I may leave this as an outside plant, and start a separate seedling when I go to do the window herbs. Rosemary's said to prefer the outdoors anyway.
On the subject of herbs, I found this odd little thing in the 99-cent section. It didn't have a label, I couldn't find anything else that looked like it, and the salesperson had never seen it before. Mystery plant! But it smells great - I actually thought it was oregano, but then I checked out some pictures and now I'm not so sure. I can't really tell if it's a tall thing that got smushed, or a flat thing that got uprooted...very odd. For the moment it's in my room on the wire shelf, where it'll get mid-range sunlight and I can keep an eye on it. And, of course, so I can stick my nose in it whenever I want! ^^ The aroma's not strong - you almost have to crush a leaf to really smell it - but it rocks. It reminds me of something Mummum uses all the time, I just can't place it....
In hopes of eventually having at least some flowering plants - right now there's nothing out there to attract any sort of pollinator - I snagged an interesting-looking plant for like $2. It's an Amazon Sunset (nice name, at least). It's got those pale, almost frosted-looking leaves, kind of like very tiny rosemary. Even without blooms it's pretty. Sorta sparse, though - if it doesn't start to fill out within the next week or so, I might plant some other (small) stuff around it, just to make the pot look less sad. For the moment it's out on the windowsill. Might look for a better place later - I'm thinking about forgoing the table lamp and just putting a big bowl of flowers on that end table - but for now I think it'll benefit from the direct light.
One of Tiffany's profs gave out small plants as a sort of end-of-the-year celebration or something. (Not entirely sure why, but okay.) So she brought home this sad-looking little aloe plant.... Instead of being sort of short and stocky, like mine, it's long and thin, which means it's drooping under its own weight. For the moment it's still in the nursery pot, but she's gonna look around for a better container, spruce it up a bit, and give it to her mom (a green thumb type) for Mother's Day. Which is cool. I put a little extra dirt in the top of the cup to help prop it up until it bulks out a bit, so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully a week of direct sun will make it less wimpy. Does Miracle Gro work for aloe? Should look into that....

Thoughts and Plans:

As previously mentioned, I need to set up some rotating cat-grass.
I'm halfway through a thing of bean dip - when it's empty I'd like to paint the lid and set it in the kitchen, along with a card asking for leftover eggshells, coffee grounds, and used tea bags. (I'll wait a bit before I start asking for leftover tea and coffee, I think.) Fritos dip has that nice well-fitted plastic lid, so as long as I don't poke holes in the top it should keep the leftovers from stinking up the kitchen or attracting flies.
I'm collecting big soda bottles for the window herbs. So far I've got two empties, and there's another Pepsi in the fridge and a lemonade in the TV stand - that's what, basil, rosemary, oregano, and dill? Might do the lavender before the basil, since I've already got some basil doing on the porch...or maybe before the rosemary, same reason. We'll see. Not quite sure how I'm going to manage this, is all. Tiffany isn't so bad about keeping the blinds closed, but it's sort of a constant war between Ashlee and me - I guess it's an A/C thing. Herbs won't grow on the windowsill if the blinds stay closed, though. Guess I could do 'em in my room - set 'em up on the window during the day, put 'em on the floor or desk at night? I'm just worried about the cat knocking them over. At any rate, I think the coke bottles will work well - they'll be like mini-greenhouses, and the cats won't be able to eat the herbs before I get to them. Plus I'll be able to watch the root systems, which will be cool. Gotta remember to include the gravel, though. (Mental note: Run by the dollar store this weekend. Cheapest place to get the rocks-in-a-bag, assuming they have them at all.)
Maybe this would best be left for a "kitchen" post, but oh well: Once I actually have some harvestable herbs (and yes, I know that's not a word), I'd like to start drying them and keeping them as spices. Hopefully I'll get some roommate-free time this summer - even just a few days would be enough - just long enough to buy an empty spice rack and set it up so that the mismatched bottles live in the cabinets, while the rack itself contains matched bottles filled from the mismatched (and therefore cheaper) ones. Given that I'd like to have dill, basil, oregano, rosemary.... Basil I'm not so sure on, but I know dill dries out well, and I think I remember seeing dried oregano and rosemary in the cabinets at home. And that would just be really cool, to be able to have home-grown dried herbs. If I can get enough (which I probably will, considering that I don't actually use herbs all that often) they'd be another good gift, especially since Kreeno and Rachel are both starting the apartment life this year. Bet Mary would appreciate some, too, she being the cooking type....
Must come up with labels! For the moment I'm just using the labels that came with the plants, which works okay, but they're mismatched and not all of the plants have them (e.g. the ones I'm starting from seed). I'd like to hang onto the labels I have - they've got info on them that is still useful to me - but I'd like a decent-looking, matched set as well. There's always the $3 packs at WalMart, but somehow I'm just not fond of those. I remember a post on ThriftyFun about using plastic knives from take-out, which might work, except that I don't think I have any lying around...and a pack of plastic knives costs just as much as the pack of actual labelers. Will keep looking.

Design: Kitchen III

2008-05-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

The Situation: Tiffany has about four black-and-white washcloths that we usually rotate through. She's moving out in less than a month, and it would be advantageous to have fresh new washcloths available when she leaves. Said washcloths live draped over the cabinet doors, or over the edge of the sink - they're constantly falling off, or dripping onto the floor, or onto bare toes, which is just gross. They need a better place to live.

The Goal: Fresh, bright, easy-to-clean washcloths with designated, easy-access homes.

Thoughts on the Matter: I've got two (and a half?) ideas brewing for this.

Hanging pegs. There's a video on the BHG website (or at least, I think it was BHG) about adding ribbon edging, a hanging loop, and a grommet to plain washcloths to make them spiffy. I've got the ribbon, the hem tape, and the grommets, and it's an easy enough project to do. I also picked up two miniature wall shelves with hanging pegs from the paint-it-yourself aisle at Hobby Lobby (both together were less than $3). A coat of plain white paint, and they'll look awesome, especially with crisp bright-edged washcloths hanging underneath and something useful and / or mildly decorative (salt and pepper? mini vase with flower? you get the idea) sitting on top. Only downside is, there's not really a good place to put the shelves. The only wall that's broad enough, high enough, and not in the way of a cabinet door is the wall between the hallway and the kitchen. The shelves would look decent there, as would the washcloths (so long as there was some color - thus the ribbon), but it's about three and a half feet away from the sink. Even I have to lean just a bit to reach it if I'm standing at the sink. Anyone shorter would have issues. Also, if I end up putting a breadbox or rack in that corner, the towel shelves would have to be bumped higher up - so the top shelf would hang uncomfortably high (again, even for me). So the idea is good, but one more time the layout of the kitchen thwarts me.
Over-the-cabinet racks. I saw some hangers today at Bed, Bath and Beyond that were intended for hats or coats or something - single hangers, designed to hang over the closet door. (Kind of like these, but simpler and not an assortment.) Two of those (or something like them) with a dowel glued across, and the whole thing painted in waterproof paint (or regular paint and sealant, or some such) would make an easy, no-drills-required hanging rack that could sit right on the cabinets under the sink. We'd still have the drip issue, but honestly the drip issue is less a problem than the washcloths-are-constantly-nasty-because-they're-always-in-the-sink issue.
Combination. Set up one of the hanging shelves, so there are fresh clean cloths ready for use. Also set up one of the over-the-cabinet shelves, so that there's always a cloth immediately to hand - for drying, for cleaning spills, whatever the case may be. This would put three cloths into rotation, and if I kept another three or four hanging in the laundry room (shower curtain hooks from the dollar store, on the rack over the dryer), it would be easy enough to rotate out the used cloths every second or third day (some roommates go through 'em that fast, some don't). This may be the approach I take.... It has the added convenience of only requiring me to buy one set of over-the-door hangers. One set of hangers was going to be more expensive than both of the wall racks, which was a shame. Might still snag a couple extra - it would be nice to be able to hang the bag dispenser, instead of leaning it against the cabinet wall, and over-the-door works both ways - but we'll see. First I want to nose around and see if there's a way to make them on my own (cheaply and without access to tools, as always).

Other Thoughts: I'm not so sure I'm gonna keep looking for a bread box. As nice as it would be to have a designated, contained place for the bread, I don't think it would work out - we always have too much of it, and I tend to buy oddly-shaped bread (baguettes, round loaves, whatever's on sale and more interesting than wheat). So, we'll see. If I happen to run across one at the flea market or something, then maybe, but I'm thinking the $20 Walmart / Target kinds are out.

Design: Kitchen II

2008-05-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

Thoughts: Walmart and Target both have metal breadboxes for $20. I want to check the sizes before I buy - it has to fit comfortably on a 12"-wide counter - but if a breadbox would help keep our seventeen loaves of bread fresh.... And more importantly, let me keep some sort of bread that isn't 90% preservative....

Also, I'm considering giving in and stealing from home / buying a slow cooker (crock pot). I really like having a small salad and some sort of warm food, and there's a lot of few-ingredient slow cooker recipes out there. And it has the advantage of being something I don't have to pay much attention to.

Note to self: Make up some sort of lidded can or something for used coffee grounds, and a semi-permanent plaque asking the resident coffee drinker(s) to deposit used grounds and rinsed eggshells. The tomatoes will appreciate it.

Still working on the spice rack. I went ahead and bought one of the little wire shelves you install inside cabinet doors, but I'm reluctant to put holes into the cabinets - you can't hide those like you can hide holes in the white walls. And honestly, I'm not sure there's a point...Ashlee's the prime troublemaker, and so far she hasn't cottoned on to any of the space-savers I've managed to implement. For crying out loud, she doesn't even clean out her own coffee maker. I glanced at the pot the other day, and the half-inch of coffee on the bottom was half-covered in mold. Shoulda gotten photo-docs. Oh well, I'm sure there will be a second opportunity.

I wonder if there's any use for coffee mold?

Note to self: Toss out leftover watermelon today. Next time, buy smaller quantity, no matter how much you've been craving it for the last month.

Design: Bathroom

2008-05-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

The Situation: Small private bath, with the sink and vanity separated from the toilet and tub by a (surprisingly small) door. Walls are, of course, don't-paint-me rental white, as are the shelves, and all the tile in the actual bathroom is white. Vanity has the same faux-wood cabinets and gray-mottled countertop as the kitchen. So I'm considering them separate rooms, separate themes. Two reasonably deep shelves directly over the back of the toilet, no space on the facing wall for more storage. Only other storage in the bathroom itself at all, actually, is the gap right behind the toilet. Not very helpful.

The Goal: Decently presentable, low-upkeep bathroom. Nothing fancy, just something that's not sterile hospital white.

Current Look: Deep brown ribbed shower curtain. Two white candles bracketing low round wicker basket of rolled white hand towels on lower shelf, three small white candles in front of dark brown basket of (fake) English Ivy on top shelf. I have a pale green floor rug, but I hardly ever use it. It just doesn't fit well in the space, mostly because of the door. Green "garden basil" scented candle on the back of the toilet, usually one or two home / garden-related magazines under it.

Thoughts on the Matter: Not much more I'd like to do, really, mostly because there's not much I can do. I'm keeping my eyes open for a small white (or brown) wire magazine rack to sit next to the toilet. Not so much because I need a better place to keep my reading material as because if I have something there that I like, I'll be less tempted to keep my dirty laundry there. ^^;; (Admittedly I am planning to subscribe to two or three magazines sometime soon, so having a designated place for them would be a good thing.) There's one at Big Lots, but it's $11 and it's freaking huge. I ran across instructions for making a handbag out of a cereal box the other day - I might modify those plans, come up with some sort of waterproofing, and make my own rack, at least temporarily. We'll see. Other than that, I'd like either one big picture or a handful of smaller pictures of a formal garden, or an English garden, or basically any garden with a lot of dark green, deep purple, and white, for the facing wall. You can only see it if the door is closed, though, so it's not a priority. I'll try to take some shots next time I'm home. Mummum's formal garden would be perfect, if I can get a shot without the A/C or the Visqueen (sp?) behind it.... If I happen to see a nice deep brown (and properly small) floor rug at a good price, I'll get it, but I've basically given up caring. The tile doesn't care if it's wet. Alternatively, a hotel floor towel, which I could keep on the towel rack in the back of the shower...that's actually not a bad idea. Will contemplate. For now, must go find shady place to vacuum out car.

Design: Gardening II

2008-05-02T08:23:00.001-07:00

Discovery: I measured the wrong shelves. The black WalMart shelves are significantly deeper than the pale Dollar General shelves, so I can't implement the kitchen-wire-shelf-risers idea. (The shelves are sort of like these, just simpler. Plain white, and not extendable.) Hm, risers... I wonder if I could keep an eye open for cheap bed risers, and use those? Alternatively, bricks or scraps of 4x4 from home, or something. At the moment it's no big deal, given that I want to get my current plants under control before I plant anything new, but I'd like to start some cucumber and chard before the end of the month, if possible. They're both supposed to be easy, and cucumber is just tasty and chard looks pretty. ^^;; So I have at least a month before I really have to worry about it. I'm planning a trip back to the island next weekend, so I can scrounge around and see what I can scavenge.

Green Stuff Update: I bought two bell pepper plants, one yellow and one orange. I forget which is which (they're labeled, I'm just too lazy to go outside and check) but one of them is doing great, and the other is a little sickly looking. I think it's the yellow. Which is ironic, because its bottom leaves are yellowing. Admittedly it's no worse than it was when I bought it. I gave it some Miracle Gro the other day, which should help - I figure that's safe enough so long as it's not producing, which it's most certainly not - and if it's not greening back up by tomorrow, I'll see if taking it all the way out of its biodegradable cup helps. The roots are already digging their way out of it, though, so I'm not sure how much that'll do...we'll see. Same applies to the (smaller) tomato, though I might do that this evening instead of tomorrow. [Note to self: Research tomato blight.] The larger tomato that I bought the other day - also a patio plant, and already producing, though nowhere near ripe yet - seems to be doing quite well. Must figure out a way to hide ripe fruits from birds and neighbors. I'm replacing the cat grass today, since it could probably do with some fresh dirt and I think the old dirt is infested with fruit flies. *le sigh* The romaine lettuce is doing well - now that it's starting to grow back, it's growing inches per day, which is awesome. For the moment I've got the cilantro sharing its pot (just until I make a decision: inside herbs or outside herbs, and then actually start planting them) , and it's doing okay. Not great, but it's not dying, so that's good enough for me. Must remember to plant the basil in the tomato pots soon. Wanna make sure both tomatoes are doing what they're supposed to do first, though. The spring mix lettuce is dying, but I don't really care - it hadn't grown since I brought it up a month or two ago, so I want to start new from seed with fresh dirt. If that doesn't take, I'll just switch to all-romaine, which is just as good. The strawberries are being boring, seeing as they're still seeds and only recently planted. The odd little pink-leafed indoor plant - will find the name later - seems to be flourishing, now that it's outside. I really should give it a bigger pot (it's in one of those soup cups, the kind you get at Big Lots for $2), but for the moment it seems happy enough. And I really like the idea of planting small decorative plants in big cups and stuff. Haven't a clue why, but I do. I put my ivy out for water, too, since I don't think it's had a drink in a month. Thing's freaking tough. I'm amazed I haven't killed it. And then there are the cuttings, which have been in tap water in a shaded corner since they were cut, and are doing just fine. Gonna try a touch of Miracle Gro in the smallest, just to see what happens. The aloe/ivy/fern had a handful of flies hovering around it the other day, so I'm gonna let it dry out (the fern's gonna hate me) before I water again. But it's doing good. Turns out, of course, that all three plants are mildly poisonous to cats.... *le sigh* As are tomatoes, of course. And most of the herbs I want. Go figure. But the brushing-lemon-on-the-edge-of-the-pot seems to have deterred Rebel, who was the only one interested in the plants at all. And the outdoor kitties at home have never had issues with eating the tomatoes or anything, so I don't think it's that big a deal.

I'll make an update sometime in the next few days with actual names and maybe some photos.

Thought: I might play around with moving the plants to the other side of the porch. Right now they're against the wall, for no particular reason. If I move 'em they could use the porch railing as a trellis, which would save me a few bucks (always good) and - more importantly - I could see them from the bedroom window more easily. On the down(up?)side, they'd also be more visible from the ground. Better for how-to-get-to-the-apartment directions, worse for defending them from hungry neighbors. We'll see. First I want to know if the makeshift benches are actually going to hold up, or if I should steal some clamps from home and just go on ahead with the Gorilla Glue.

Design: Living Room II

2008-05-02T08:16:00.000-07:00

Thought: Okay, new plan. I still don't like the green color as much as I thought I would, and given the revolving door of roommates I'll probably have for the next few months - each coming and going with their own kitchen stuff, decorations, stuff that doesn't fit in their room, you name it - trying to choose one theme and stick to it is going to be a massive pain in the rear. With one exception. Eclectic will allow me to toss whatever miscellaneous stuff I want out there, and their stuff will fit right in. On the downside, "eclectic" requires a lot of good taste, and I have none. So it'll probably end up looking like no theme at all. But really - it's a college apartment. No one cares. So until I come up with something better, this'll do.

Still contemplating the white-slipcovers idea. I don't want to go out and buy a whole new set of sofa covers - that would be assuming I could even find what I want, which is unlikely - but I could always bleach the ones I have. Heck, I'm planning to dye my curtains at some point, why not bleach the covers while I'm at it? Ah, the joys of buying cheap stuff. But yeah - white slipcovers. They'd work well with the eclectic thing, for reasons outlined in the previous LR post. But, as also mentioned previously, there's always the chance of a roomie with a dog, or who just is messy...which brings us right back around to the bleach thing. So, yeah. Still thining on that one.

Design: Gardening on a Porch

2008-04-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

The Situation:
When I signed the lease, I was told I would have a porch. And I do. Sort of. I have a walkway about four feet wide and eight feet long, that leads from the common stairwell to the front door. The porch faces almost due east, so we get direct sun in the morning and none at all in the afternoon, year-round. On the plus side, we almost never get wind from that direction, so the porch is well-protected.

The Goal:
I would like to have a reasonably sized garden, predominantly edible but also incorporating a few flowers just for looks. I'm not expecting to be self-sufficient with regards to produce, but it would be nice to be able to give visitors a garden-fresh salad, or a dish made with real fresh herbs. At the same time, I don't want to take up so much space that I inhibit access to the front door. Four feet sounds bigger than it is. It would also be nice to be able to store my gardening tools on the porch with the plants. An ash tray wouldn't be a bad idea, either, considering that one of my roommates smokes, and I'm always finding cigarette butts on the ground.

Thoughts on the Matter:
I think I've actually got this one figured out. The Dollar General sells a plastic-and-fake-wood bookshelf for $15. Each leg of the bookshelf is made of four sections that screw together through holes in the corners of each shelf. Liberal application of hot glue, however, will fix the legs in place without their counterpart above the shelf. Gluing each shelf together like a small table will give me four long, narrow, raised surfaces - a total length of about 92 inches. At the moment I've only got three long, narrow boxes, so that would be more than enough space - 92 inches is long enough for four boxes. The shelves are deep enough to hold two boxes, so I could conceivably have a total of eight long boxes. More likely I'll have four boxes of vegetables and an array of smaller bowls, cups, or pots with flowers or herbs. Each shelf is a little more than 13 inches tall. That leaves plenty of room underneath for three or four woven baskets (about $6 at Big Lots) to store bags of potting soil, extra pots, tools, Miracle Gro, and whatever else needs storing. So I get a neat, tidy appearance, plenty of space, and all for about $30. Heck of a lot better than buying enough plant stands to accomplish the same goal!

Also, if I want to be really fancy, I can spend another $10 or $15 to buy four wire racks from the kitchen aisle at WalMart. Run along the back of the shelves (against the apartment wall), they would raise the back plants high enough that they wouldn't be shaded by the front plants. I think this would look better, too. Overall it wouldn't be as nice and full-looking as a compacted, overflowing container garden in big fancy pots, but I think it would work fine for a limited-space high(ish)-yield apartment porch garden. I can always space the shelves out a bit with taller wire planters holding hanging vines or something.

Another advantage to the converted-shelf idea: During the winter season, when it occasionally does actually get cold here, I can move the plants and their shelves inside onto the otherwise-useless TV cabinet.

Further Thoughts:
I'm no expert, but in looking around it seems like most of the herbs I want to grow actually prefer shade to full sun, in which case they'd do better as indoor plants. I don't have a huge amount of space for an indoor herb garden, but if I keep the living room window blinds pulled back, I think they'd do all right on the end table or even on the windowsill (assuming the cat doesn't knock them over). It's worth looking into, at any rate. There's certainly no point trying to grow anything in the kitchen.

Design: Kitchen

2008-04-28T22:40:00.000-07:00

The Situation:
As previously mentioned, I currently live with two roommates, both of whom are moving out by the end of summer and will be replaced by two more people I don't know. We have a reasonably-well-designed kitchen - it feels quite spacious when only one person is using it, but when two of the three tenants have a tendency to leave their utensils, empty packages, and leftovers sitting out, it very quickly becomes cluttered.

The Goal:
A kitchen that's easy for everybody to use, nice to look at, and that flows well with the rest of the living / dining area.

Current Look:
White walls, dark grey flecked countertops, pale faux-wood cabinetry. White fridge and dishwasher. All in all, tidy and easy to clean, just not very exciting.

Thoughts on the Matter:
I'm not really planning on any major theme or anything - there just isn't enough space. And with a constant rotation of tenants, the dishes and such are going to change, too, so there really just isn't a point. The biggest issue is really just making convenient, accessible places for the things that get used frequently (bread, spices, knives, utensils, pots and pans) so that tidying up after dinner is as effortless as possible. So far, here's what I've got in mind:

Small shelves with hooks for hanging washcloths
At the moment our washcloths live on the edge of the sink. They hardly ever actually dry out, and they're constantly in the way. I think if they were hanging up within easy reach, they wouldn't be as gross - or as annoying. I already bought two mini-hangers from Hobby Lobby. At $1.27 apiece, the price was right. Some white paint, some fresh washcloths (since the current ones are a bit grimy).... I'm going to keep my eyes open for grommets and a grommet tool, since I think hanging the cloths by a corner loop will be easier than hanging them on the current hooks. The hardest bit will be finding a decent place to mount the hangers.
Bread box or shelf
Somehow we always manage to have at least two loaves. Which is stupid, because we all eat the same kind of bread, and it always results in most of a loaf being thrown away because it's gone fuzzy. An actual home for the bread, preferably right next to the toaster, would eliminate that issue. Originally I thought a breadbox would be great, but now I'm thinking a shelf might be better - it won't hide the bread from view, and I rather doubt the roommates who won't put the dirty spatula in the sink will be bothered to put a loaf of bread back in the breadbox.
Spice rack
A decent spice rack would be the crowning achievement in that kitchen. Again, with three people doing the shopping, we've got a lot of redundancy - because each person has more-or-less claimed a cabinet and keeps everything in that place. While we don't have enough spices to merit buying a revolving rack (or enough wall space for a traditional wall-mounted rack), we have way too many to just leave them lying around taking up counter space. One convenient spice rack, right next to the stove, would give us a place to keep all of the spices ready-to-hand and would get rid of the growing stack of Tony Saccharee's. The trick here is going to be finding something that will allow spices in different-sized containers to be neatly displayed. I was thinking a miniature chest-of-drawers (again, a Hobby Lobby paint-it-yourself special), but that would present all the same problems as the breadbox. Namely, no one would bother to put things back. So I'm still working on that one. I keep running across the magnetic spice rack, which I think might be really cool, if properly managed. I particularly like this one - it would force people to keep the spices fairly neat, if I end up going with the magnet approach. We do, however, have a fridge handy, so we might end up with something more like this.

Design: Living Room

2008-04-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

The Situation
I live in a reasonably large three-bedroom apartment with two other girls. It's student living, so the location is convenient, the prices aren't so murderously painful as they might be, and my internet and cable are free. In exchange for this, though, I have to live with the cheapest, ugliest furniture the manager could find, a poorly designed built-in TV cabinet, and gallery-white walls, none of which I can paint or replace. And then just to keep things interesting, I get a new roommate every six months. Any decorating theme I choose has to be readily adaptable, and of course has to work with the gallery white.

Current Look
I'm in the process of putting together a fitted slipcover for the couch (can't afford to buy one pre-made), and once that's done, a second for the armchair. At the moment I'm working with sage green, because that's the color fabric I have, and I'm too cheap to replace something I bought last week. The massive, could-be-really-awesome-if-we-ever-opened-the-blinds 10-foot long window has sheer sage curtains at either end, tied back with a simple loop of off-white ribbon. The only other decoration is a display of four green candles on a plate, on the end table. The black floor lamp in the corner is ugly and not terribly useful, but it was $20 and it's the only light available in the living area.

Thoughts on the Matter
I'm thinking of breaking one of my cardinal rules, and trying for a predominantly-white room. At the moment, that would involve replacing (or possibly bleaching) the sofa and chair covers, and the curtains. I'd like to replace the floor lamp with a table lamp anyway - gonna start hitting garage sales and the local flea market - and the coffee table and end table I can't do anything about.
Downsides: White is not the most low-maintenance color in the world. Neither of my current roommates use the living room very often, but I could very easily get saddled with someone who does, or who throws parties, or some such. Also, I have a cat. But he's Himalayan, so his fur doesn't really show up on white, so that's not as big a problem as it might be. And Rebel (my roommate's long-haired black cat) is moving out next month - no issue there. But the fur thing could still be an issue if a new roommate has a dark-haired pet.
Upsides: White slipcovers would mean that if someone did stain the couch, removing the stain would be a simple matter of soaking the cover in bleach for a while. Which has some distinct advantages. A predominantly white theme would also reflect the light in the room, rather than absorbing it. Opening the blinds wouldn't make the place quite as warm, and what little light there is, would be enhanced instead of swallowed. The simplicity of a white theme would also allow me to rotate displays and color schemes more often. I'd only have to change the accents - candles, lampshade, throw pillows, artwork, whatever it happens to be - in order to change the colors of the room. Which, given my tendency to get bored with a theme every few weeks, is probably a good thing.

Other Potential Ideas:
I'm also considering three other themes, each seated in green-and-white but with a slightly different accent palette.

Floral
On the upside, floral prints and art are easy to come by. On the very serious downside, I have this small and minor and complete hatred of floral.
Dragonfly
Distinct advantage of being a critter I very much like. Accents would be brown or black, both of which are easy to come by. On the downside, I'm sort of at a loss for how to decorate in dragonfly, other than wall prints.... At least, how to decorate without overdoing it.
Gardening
I only have two issues with a gardening theme. One, it's my mom's hobby, and thus it would make my entire living space look way too much like a copy of her. Not necessarily a bad thing, but, you know. And two, it would really only work during the growing season. As soon as fall sets in, I think it would feel out-of-place, and I'd have to change it out again. On the plus side it would allow me to leave my small collection of gardening tools and such out in the open, but since I've got a project coming up this week that will provide good storage for all that outside, that's really not important anymore. However, if I do stick with the green throws - at least for now - this is probably the theme I'll go with.

Sasquatch - Vocal communication?

2008-02-09T14:54:00.000-08:00

I only recall having heard of whoops, howls, and non-vocal noises (breaking things, walking, knocking, &c), but in the past three years BFRO has started acquiring reports and recordings of "chattering". They've also dug up an old (1970s) recording of whistles. Now, are these new developments, or are have they been around the whole time and we just didn't know it? Is this a sign of developed communication, perhaps to the point of speech?

As an interesting sidenote, the Samurai recording (see BFRO) does sound distinctly Asian. Why? What is it that makes up the Asian accent? Also, I could swear I'm hearing the word "umare" in there.

Things to think on:
- Infants have undeveloped vocal tracts, but they learn the rest of the human speech range fairly quickly. [--link--]
- Lots of other primates have advanced vocal communication. What noises do they make? What does their communication involve? (Vocal aspects, gestural aspects....)
- One of the BFRO research teams instructs its members to try to "talk with them". How? On the one hand, the recording indicates a primarily visual-gestural sequence, given that we don't hear the woman making any particular noises. On the other hand, the recording seems to have been cut down to only the important parts - people talking, stuff making noise, etc - maybe they cut out any sounds the woman was making? Worth thinking about.

Books to consult:
- Linguistics text, for information on phonology, primate studies, etc.
- Anthropology text, for information on primate communication, vocal tracts, etc

Mothman - Michigan Bridge Collapse

2008-02-07T23:59:00.000-08:00

I-35 Bridge Collapse in Michigan Background Info: 01 August 2007. Previously called the St. Anthony Bridge Crosses the Mississippi at Minneapolis 13 deaths? Bridge built 1967 (the year of the Silver Bridge collapse) Disaster occured during bumper-to-bumper traffic of rush hour (Note: Silver Bridge was also part of !-35) Reports: Loren Coleman (Cryptomundo) Original Blog Loren Coleman (Cryptomundo) Follow-up Blog As far as I can tell, though, there were no actual sightings of the Mothman in Minnesota before, during, or after the incident - admittedly I'm still looking, but you'd think Coleman of all people would have mentioned that little tidbit. The only paranormal event that he remarks on at all is a "Phantom Panther" sighting 16 months before, in Willmar, MN. I don't know much about Phantom Panthers, but I'm kind of not thinking this is hugely important. All of which just tells me that this Minnesota-bridge-collapse thing has nothing whatsoever to do with the Mothman. In fact, the only creepy thing about it is that it was built in the year the Silver Bridge collapsed - and that could very easily be pure coinkydinky. Perhaps Wikipedia will have some answers.

As of early 2008, the NTSB has not reached a determination of probable cause for the collapse, but has identified a possible design error from when the bridge was originally built, which may have caused or contributed to the failure.^[9]

The area of the bridge's south abutment was a site of industrial chemical pollution.... The tract's long-term industrial use effectively resulted in a toxic-waste dump below the bridge. ... 5,000 tons (13,600 t) of contaminated soil were removed from below the bridge....

n 1990, the federal government gave the I-35W bridge a rating of "structurally deficient," citing significant corrosion in its bearings. "Structurally deficient" is a classification term which does not in itself indicate a lack of safety. ... In 2005, the bridge was again rated as "structurally deficient" and in possible need of replacement....

Thirteen deaths were attributed to the collapse. The victims, eight males and five females and aged 22 months to 60 years, were all Minnesota residents....
- I-35W Mississippi River bridge, Wikipedia

While that first bit is intriguing, it's worth noting that construction began in 1964 (the bridge was completed in '67). So I'm not sure you could even draw a one-ends-and-another-begins sort of connection there. I was rather hoping for a precise date, but oh well. The "structurally-insufficient" bit also makes the whole thing seem much more ho-hum. I don't know what the story was on the Silver, but on the I-35 bridge, there was plenty of (entirely un-paranormal) warning, if anyone had bothered to pay attention.

In fact, the only really noteworthy bit in the article - noteworthy in the paranormal sense - is the bit about the pollution. And even that might be stretching things a bit too far, y'know? I'm thinking about Chief Cornstalk's curse, here. But his words - at least, the words I have - are "blighted by nature", and this is more of us-blighting-nature, not nature-blighting-us. Coleman seems to have thought along the same lines, judging by his miniature essay on the Native American history behind the area, but...I'm not sure I'm buying it. Priests and Hiawatha really don't have that much to do with Cornstalk. I think. I should go nosing around in my First Peoples book, though - the Hiawatha/Cornstalk thing is ringing a bell somehow. But the only thing I really remember about Hiawatha is that he started the League of Nations, and I'm not sure Cornstalk was a part of that. Was he? Damn the fuzzy memory. Regardless, I think this is too big a stretch, and it also has nothing to do with the Mothman-Gray Man thing, which is much more interesting. So. (Still want to know what this 22-car pile-up is, though.)

Mothman - Galveston.com Post [Draft]

2008-02-07T23:58:00.002-08:00

I'm a native of Galveston, and even though I've never actually gone on any of the ghost tours (though I really should), I'll be the first to agree that there are plenty of ghosts to be found. I haven't run into the Wal-Mart orphans, either, but that would explain some stuff.

Regarding the Mothman Prophecies connection (the mention of the Mothman having been seen on the island before the hurricane): I did a little digging (emphasis on the "little"), and ran across a quote from Loren Coleman claiming that there "are no records of Mothman at Chernobyl or Galveston or before any earthquakes". (Coleman is a reasonably well-respected paranormal researcher, who has spent considerable time dealing with the Mothman legend.) I still have to wonder, though. The character never actually says that he was talking about the 1900 hurricane. He never gives a year at all. IMDb says the movie 'mentions the Galveston Texas hurricane of "1969" ', but I don't recall any mention of that year, either. Which raises the question: Since the movie has all of its years and most of its details wrong in the first place (which is fine - it's a thriller, not a documentary), who's to say that's the storm they're actually talking about? Yes, the 1900 storm had a high death toll, but the Mothman's most famous appearance occurs before the Silver Bridge disaster, where the death toll was much, much lower. So - maybe they're talking about a different hurricane?

And on a related note, I also vaguely recall reading something, somewhere, several years ago, about the Gray Man having been seen in Galveston before a storm (the Gray Man being a phenomenon based in the Grand Banks area of North Carolina, usually seen right before hurricanes and other weather-related disasters along the coast).

So my questions are:
(1) Am I mis-remembering this Gray Man thing? Has anyone else heard of it?
(2) Is there any chance that the Gray Man and the Mothman are related?
(3) Could the movie reference to the Mothman in Galveston actually be a confused reference to the Gray Man?

Mothman - Sighting in Galveston?

2008-02-07T23:57:00.000-08:00

"Mothman. That's what the Ukranians called him. Rough translation, of course. There were sightings in Chernobyl the year the nuclear plantwent down. Galveston, just before the hurricane."
- Alexander Leek, The Mothman Prophecies movie script

LINK: Galveston.com Forums thread

"Okay here is the "real" story on the Mothman...He has been sighted in over 30 different cities starting with the earliest in Galveston, TX just before the 1900 storm. It's said that he is a harbinger of ill omen, because after each of these sightings a horrible event has occured. The storm in Galveston, A Bridge collapsed in Michigan, a 22 car pile up...etc. The latter I thought the most interesting because everyone at the scene of the accident had seen him at different times during their day They say he normally resembles a being of about 6 to 8 feet tall with no real humanoid body to speak of he appears to resemble an overturned vase covered in Coarse feathers or furs with two large luminous red eyes. They call him the Mothman because some people have claimed to have seen two large wings unfurl from his body"

- heytheyfoundabody, Unexplained Mysteries Forum

I'm unsure about using this as a source, but still, a lead is a lead, right? The "harbinger" thing seems to tally well with the Gray Man.
Michigan?
22-car pileup? (Where? When? I wish there was more info on this.)

"[The film] contains many elaborately fictionalized situations, such as Gordon Smallwood’s character, and contains little tidbits to support the storyline, such as the “factoids” that Mothman appeared before the Chernobyl meltdown and the Galveston hurricane. But there are no records of Mothman at Chernobyl or Galveston or before any earthquakes...."
- Loren Coleman, cryptomundo.com

A considerably more reliable source, and leaving some significant bruises on the Gray Man -Mothman theory. (I don't recall the Chernobyl mention, though - maybe I just missed it? Maybe it's not an explicit reference? I'll have to watch the show again.)

"Factual errors: When John consults the supernatural expert/book author Albert Leek in the library, Leek refers to other times Mothmen have been sited before big disasters. He mentions the Galveston Texas hurricane of "1969" when (at least the famous hurricane that hit that town) it happened in 1900. About 6000 people died."
- The Mothman Prophecies Goofs, IMDb

Ah, that fine source of fact. Still: Everyone is assuming they're referring to the Great Storm. I did, too. But Galveston has a lot of hurricanes - maybe there really was one in 1969? Or maybe it was another storm entirely. I mean, I know the 1904 (1905? 06? something like that) was significantly worse than the G.S., even if the death toll was lower. Whose to say we're even looking in the right direction here?

1879 Aug 23rd a cat2 with 105mph winds passes just east while heading north. 1886 June 14th a hurricane with 95mph winds passes just east while moving north. 1888 JUN 16 enter moved SW of Galveston. 13.9" 18 inches of rain in Houston. 1900 the great galveston hurricane kills 8,000 people with a 15ft storm surge even though it was low tide while hitting it traveled 6 to 10 miles inland .The pressure at landfall was 27.55inches with winds of 110mph.Half of Galveston destroyed with 2,600 buildings destroyed & 10,000 people left homeless would have been much worse if not moving so quickly. It is said that a one inch steel hull of an ocean going freighter was pierced through with a piece of lumber.According to the hurricane research division winds were of Category 4 strength at landfall. Newspaper headline | max wind map 1909 in july a 10 ft strom surge with a cat 3 41 killed in texas. 1915 AUG 5th a cat 4 kills 275 ,12' tides flooded Galveston 5' to 6' in the Business District. Winds at Galveston were 97 mph gusts to 110mph putting this in the cat 2 range.Press 970 mb,28.63inches.Seawall prevented a repeat of the 1900 disaster.Causes 50 million in damage max wind field 1932 Aug 14th 145mph winds from the SE direct hit 1934 july 28th, a storm surge of 5.9ft with a cat 2 that passes just east while moving south 1943 july 27th a storm surge of 4 ft with a cat 2,nineteen killed,86mph winds.More 1947 August 24th a minimal hurricane hits. 1959 in july hurricane debra hit with 95mph winds bar 29.07 14.42 inches of rain 1915 a 12 ft s.s 275 killed despite the wall,120mph winds aug 17th. 1983 hurricane Alicia on aug 18th causes 2 bill damage as a cat 2/3 with 71 to 98mph winds in Galveston moving at a forward speed of 8mph. 21 killed 1.2 billion dollars in damage,a 10 to 12 ft storm surge at normal high tide.90% of Dwellings on Jamaica bch destroyed.Many highrise glass buildings sustained heavy damage. Pressure in Galveston was measured at 989mb 29.20 inches at 2:00AM. Damage photo | #2 | max wind field 1989 Oct 15th Jerry 3 dead over 8 million in damage ,85mph winds.The latest a hurricane ever hit the upper Texas coast ---- 2001june 5th T.S Allison hits with 60mph winds dumping extremely heavy rain especially inland in the Houston area. Over a 120 hr period houston recorded 36.99 inches of rain.Only 3 tropical systems have produced more rain in this area. T.S Amelia 46.00",T.S Claudette 45.00",unamed 1921 40.00". 41 deaths related to flooding & 5 billion in damage. Allison was finally retired in July of 2002 as the only T-storm to be retired. - HurricaneCity.com Hm. Nothing listed as 1969, but again - so much in the movie has been warped, who's to say that's the actual year. Also, this list seems incomplete to me. We get hit by tropical storms almost every year, or at least that's how it feels - and yet there are huge freaking gaps here. Okay, just checked the script. It says "the hurricane", which explains why everyone jumps to the conclusion that it was the Great Storm. But could he have been referring to a hurricane, any hurricane? It's not like there haven't been others.... There's no other mention in the script, either. I'll try to pull a complete list of hurricanes, TSs, and TDs in the Galveston area from the National Hurricane Center later - I think theirs will be much more complete, and give me a better look at the years. But I rather doubt that they'll include information like who saw what sort of paranormal...thing...before which event. Not really their area, you know? ...and as of page 3 in the google search ("mothman in galveston"), I am getting no further relevant hits. Which makes me think that there aren't any Mothman sightings on the Island after all. A shame, but oh well. Still intrigued by the Mothman-Gray Man angle, though.

Mothman - Chief Cornstalk's Curse

2008-02-07T23:55:00.000-08:00

“I was the border man’s friend. Many times I have saved him and his people from harm. I never warred with you, but only to protect our wigwams and lands. I refused to join your paleface enemies with the red coats. I came to the fort as your friend and you murdered me. You have murdered by my side, my young son.... For this, may the curse of the Great Spirit rest upon this land. May it be blighted by nature. May it even be blighted in its hopes. May the strength of its peoples be paralyzed by the stain of our blood.”
- Chief Cornstalk, Ghosts of the Paririe: History and Hauntings of Illinois and Beyond

Translated and misinterpreted, I'm sure, but it does describe the US very clearly.

Timeline
1777 - Died 10 November.
1794 - Town established on site of Point Pleasant fort.
1840 - Remains moved to Mason County Court House.
1899 - Monument erected (at court house?)
1909 - Second monument's dedication ceremony postponed because of lightning strike to crane, 21 July.
1909 - Monument dedicated, August.
1921 - Monument struck by lightning, July 4.
1950s - Remains moved to Tu-Endie-Wei Park, and third monument erected.

See above link for possible related disasters.

Mothman - Bones to Gnaw

2008-02-07T23:54:00.000-08:00

My Twisted Train of Thought

Who is the Gray Man? History, haunting grounds, etc.
Possible Gray Man sightings in Galveston?
"22-car pile-up" quoted by heytheyfoundabody
Any actual reports available? Without buying the books, anyway.

Links to Check
Mothman Museum

Mothman - General Thoughts

2008-02-07T23:53:00.000-08:00

"Investigation of the bridge wreckage pointed to the failure of a single eye-bar in a suspension chain due to a small manufacturing flaw." - Wikipedia Article

For the want of a nail? Something to think about.

Another thought. The movie seems to hit most of the pertinent points of the legend, and even if they're a little warped, they're all based in truth. So what's with the mention of Mothman being sighted in Galveston before the 1900 Storm? I've never heard of that. On the other hand, I have heard of the Gray Man being seen at the time - and he pops up in North Carolina (the Grand Banks region) in all sorts of books. I wish I knew the years on those. Is there a connection? That would almost make more sense than the Mothman-UFO thing, anyway.

Something else. Some of these descriptions - fuzzy and outdated and re-worded as they are - do sound vaguely like Bigfoot descriptions. Now, is that just because big tall dark things in the night all look the same, or could some of the Mothman sightings be our fuzzy friend? I'm pretty darned sure he hangs out in that area a lot. On the other hand, Bigfoot is easily confused with bears - at least at night - and bears and the Mothman could also be interchangeable. Tall, dark, strangely shaped but humanoid, glowing red eyes. Not so sure about the red eyes on bears, though. And speaking of tall things with glowing red eyes - any relation to the Uvalde sighting? What the hell was that, anyway? Damn my youth!

100 Years' War: Notes

2006-01-05T10:23:00.000-08:00

Synopsis

The War
- First major battle: Sea battle at Sluys (Fr. vs E.)

The Names
Edward III
- b. 1313
- mother Queen Isabella (sister of K. Charles IV of France)
- father Roger Mortimer, Earl of March
- became K. of England

Philip VI
- K. of France

The Places
Sluys
- town in Flanders
- in Netherlands
Flanders
- "former county in the Low Countries, extending along the North Sea and W of the Scheldt (Escaut) River. It is divided among East Flanders and West Flanders provs., Belgium; Nord and Pas-de-Calais depts., France; and (to a small extent) Zeeland prov., the Netherlands. The name Flanders is also used for all the Dutch-speaking areas of Belgium. Flanders varied considerably in size in the course of its history and at one time also included Artois and parts of Picardy. In Belgian Flanders, Dutch is spoken by the majority of the inhabitants." {3}

The Battles
Sluys
- "As the sun and wind were both against Edward, he lowered his sails and moved round so that the sun [214] should be behind him. The French seeing this thought that he was afraid, and that he was running away. They had been waiting for the English in strong battle array. All their ships were fastened together with heavy chains so as to make it impossible for the English ships to break through their lines. Seeing the English flee, as they thought, the French unfastened the chains and made ready to pursue." {1}
- Cristopher retaken by E.
- Fr. defeated.
- "The first major battle of the hundred years war, Sluys was a dramatic naval victory for Edward III. The French ships were chained together, while the English remained mobile, and were able to destroy the French fleet - 200 French ships were lost, while only thirty escaped. Sluys began the process of recovering the reputation of English arms after the low-point of Bannockburn, and also saw the start of Edward III's successful military career." {2}
- "When the ships had anchored in a dense pack at Sluys in modern Netherlands, the English attacked and destroyed it with fire ships and victory in a battle fought across the anchored ships, almost like a land battle on a wooden battlefield..." {4}
Invasion of Northern France
- "Edward invaded northern France in 1345. The Black Death had arrived, and his army was weakened by sickness. As the English force tried to make its way safely to fortified Channel port, the French attempted to force them into a battle called..." {4}
Crécy
- "On August 26, 1346, [Edward] led his army in a great victory over the French at the Battle of Crécy..." {5}
- "The English were finally pinned against the coast by a much superior French army at a place called Crecy (pronounced "cressie"). Edward's army was a combined force: archers, pikemen, light infantry, and cavalry; the French, by contrast, clung to their old-fashioned feudal cavalry. The English had archers using the longbow, a weapon with great penetrating power that could sometimes kill armoured knights, and often the horses on which they rode. The battle was a disaster for the French. The English took up position on the crest of a hill, and the French cavalry tried to ride up the slope to get at their opponents. The long climb up soggy ground tired and slowed the French horses, giving the English archers and foot soldiers ample opportunity to wreak havoc in the French ranks. Those few French who reached the crest of the hill found themselves faced with rude, but effective, barriers, and, as they tried to withdraw, they were attacked by the small but fresh English force of mounted knights." {4}
Calais
- "Edward took the city of Calais after a siege..." {5}
Bordeaux
- "...the capture of Bordeaux in 1355 by Edward the Black Prince, son of Edward III. Using Bordeaux as a base, the English raided and plundered most of southern France..." {5}
Poiters
- "Nevertheless, facing much the same battlefield situation some ten years later, the French employed the same tactics they had used at Crecy, with the same dismal result, at the battle of Poiters (1356). The French king and many nobles were captured, and many, many others were killed." {4}
- "In September 1356 the English, led by the Black Prince, won their second great victory of the war, at Poitiers, in westcentral France. In this battle they captured King John II of France, who had succeeded Philip VI in 1350." {5}

Sources:
1. The Baldwin Project
2. History of War
3. Encyclopedia.com
4. The Hundred Years' War (1336-1352)
5. Black Studies

100 Years' War: Background

2006-01-05T09:58:00.000-08:00

EDWARD III 1327-77

Edward suspected the French to have designs on Flanders-vital to Englands trade
and her growing naval power, He formally claimed the French throne through right
of his mother [Isabella of France] and began what came to be known as the
Hundred Years War.The French fleet was utterly defeated in a naval battle at
Sluys in 1340 [see Battle at Sluys].Edward followed this up by a further land
victory over Phillip VI at Crecy in 1346. It was at Crecy that the kings eldest
son, the Black Prince, so named for the colour of his armour, famously won his
spurs. Edward then laid siege to the port of Calais, which eventually fell
into English hands. Queen Phillipa interceeded for the lives of the burghers of
the city. The war with Scotland, initiated in the reign of the king's
grandfather, Edward I resumed. Robert the Bruce was long dead, but his successor
siezed the chance to attack England while its king's attention was engaged
elsewhere. They were defeated at the Battle of Nevilles Cross. The Black Prince
vanquished the French yet again at Poiters in 1356. Peace was then negotiated
and by the Treaty of Bretigny of 1360 England retained the whole of Aquitaine,
Ponthieu and Calais, in return Edward relinquished his claim to the French
throne....Edward III's reign also witnessed the flowering of English literature
under Geoffrey Chaucer... Disaster was also to strike in Edward's reign,
in the form of bubonic plague, or the Black Death, which cut a scythe across
Europe in the fourteenth century, killing a third of it's population......As he
progressed in years he began to lean heavily on his grasping and avaricious
mistress, Alice Perrers. Her exercise of power as the king slipped into senility
was greatly resented by Parliament. Edward died of a stroke in 1377...

Summary:

Edward III
King of France?
Battles
Defeated by English at Battle of Sluys (1340)
Defeated Phillip VI at Crecy (1346)
Siege of Calais (defeated by English)
Defeated (by Scottish?) at Battle of Neville’s Cross
?? Poiters (1356)
Treaty of Bretigny (1360)
Events
Geoffrey Chaucer writes Canterbury Tales
Bubonic Plague strikes Europe
d. of stroke 1377

Sources:
1. English Monarchs

100 Years' War: Battle at Sluys

2005-10-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Chapter 50, midsummer 1340
Midsummer-even in the year of our Lord MCCCXL., all the English fleet was departed out of the river of Thames and took the way to Sluys. And the same time between Blankenberghe and Sluys on the sea was sir Hugh Quieret, sir Peter Behuchet and Barbevaire, and more than sixscore great vessels, beside other; and they were Normans, bidaus, Genoways and Picards about the number of forty thousand: there they were laid by the French king to defend the king of England's passage. The king of England and his came sailing till he came before Sluys: and when he saw so great a number of ships that their masts seemed to be like a great wood, he demanded of the master of his ship what people he thought they were. He answered and said, 'Sir, I think they be Normans laid here by the French king, and hath done great displeasure in England, brent your town of Hampton and taken your great ship the Christofer.' 'Ah,' quoth the king, 'I have long desired to fight the Franchmen, and now shall I fight with some of them by the grace of God and Saint George; for truly they have done me so many displeasures, that I shal be revenged, an I may.'
England defeated France in the sea battle at Sluys.

French
- Sir Hugh Quieret, Sir Peter Behuchet, Barbevaire
- 120+ (?) vessels
- 40,000 souls

English
- ?
- ?
- ?

Christofer was taken from the English circa 1339 by the French, while conveying a cargo of wool to Flanders:

... specially they won a great ship called the Christofer, laden with wool, as she was going into Flanders, ...

Sources:
1. World History: HyperHistory
2. The Hundred Years' War (1336-1352)
3. "Map Notes"