Pink Ribbon Kitchen -- Comin' right up

Sigh. Yesterday I said goodbye to my pink dream. Rosie, I called her. She is a 1950s pink stove. Okay enough referring to inanimate objects as "she." General Electric range, creeeeamy pink. Dreeeeamy fluorescent light, right below the clock and buttons and such. Oh what a masterpiece. Why didn't I keep it?



Because. I don't have $3,000 to spend on a fridge to match. Getting a fridge to match it would have been a nightmare so I decided to donate Rosie to Habitat for Humanity. It is in their showroom right now. Please check it out! If you want a pink ribbon kitchen and something sweeeet to go with your pink kitchenaid, consider Rosie!

Currently I do not have a stove. I don't even have a microwave. I went to Trader Joe's yesterday because I realized that I hadn't any food either, and loaded up on all sorts of good stuff, so I thought. At checkout, the outgoing young man said, "Getting-ready-for-a-meeting food?"

"No." I said. "I have no stove food." His teeth, my teeth, lady behind me, all our teeth flashed. Nobody knew what to say.

"Thanks!" I said.

Ok. So. I have a cleeeeeean slate. I want to have a pinky kitchen but I am too poor for a pink fridge. Here are some options that are BETTER than the same old WilliamsSonoma crap. This stuff endures. Like ME. And YOU!

to be continued, as I have to work at 4 tomorrow!

Kitty and Minchie

Kitty is turning 18 this year. I don't know how old that is in cat years, but judging from her looks and her behavior, she is a crabby old girl. She never liked dogs, nor did she like any cats other than her little companion Cleo, who passed away a few years ago.

So when Kitty found that she was decidedly alone, she seemed more content. I decided that since she probably has few years left, I would hold off on getting a dog. Then Christmas rolled around and Herc did what a person should NEVER, EVER do: he gave me a pet!


Oh yes, little Minchie. She is a frisky little Bichon, whose capacity for excitement seems limitless. She likes to jump around like a kangaroo. She particularly likes to use human legs as springboards during one of her spastic episodes.


Kitty was openly disappointed at first, and still can't stand the sight of little Minchy. But if it had to be a dog, thank goodness it had to be this dog, who would never hurt a fly. Unless the fly happened to land on my leg just before a power-spring off.

Fun with secondhand bookcases

I procured these old bookcases for free, soon before the demolition of a downtown building. They were both originally over 7 ft tall, but Herc cut the top shelves off in order for them to fit through my doors. They were used to store huge binders for construction projects. They had greenish laminate shelves, and the rest is plain old cheap plywood. We did our best to cover up all of the noticeable cosmetic problems like dings and ill-placed screws, and I spent three days sanding, priming and gel-staining to match the stain of my floor. Herc was the hero of this project. It would not have been completed had it not been for him, because I didn't know the first thing about sawing and nailing. These bookcases spent three months' time providing rich habitat for several black widows and their broods before Herc got busy. Now half of my books have a nice place to sit.