It's beginning to look a lot like...

 

 

Here she is, all decked out and lit up - I'm really loving these LED lights that don't get hot to the touch - they're amazingly bright!

And here's a shot I took from the bottom of the tree, looking up:

Marcheline Wishes You a Very Merry!

 

This is Ailith, our 2024 Yule tree.  Because of newly-added bookcases (between tree and window) we opted for a more slender tree this year.  As you can see, there are only lights on her just now - the ornaments will follow.  It is yet to be seen whether Ailith will be able to hold all our ornaments - with our usual extra-fat trees, we were hard-pressed to get them all on, and with this slimline version I am thinking we may have to forego some of them.  In any case, it's nice to be able to walk between the living room and the kitchen without having to turn sideways and risk swiping ornaments off the tree with your butt as you travel.  Of course you can always blame the cats, but there are some around here who would protest that line of thought.

AHEM.

Marcheline Presents Her Very Own Cocktail - Meet the Tropical Tongue Tango!

 

I know, I know, summer is over and gone... but I still want to share a cocktail recipe that I dreamed up while spending many enjoyable hours watching (and re-watching) Netflix's "Ripley".

I have always been a fan of tall, sweet men drinks with lots of money ice in them, and this one does not disappoint.  I'd been craving something different from my usual Cosmopolitans, and while perusing the shelves of my loqual liquor store (or is that my local licor store?) I discovered a new liqueur (spelling that word makes me feel drunk even when sober) called J.F. Haden's...

... Key Lime Pie Liqueur.  Yeah, it's plant based and probably gluten free, yada yada yada, so it's a bit pricey - but the good news is you don't use much of it to make one of my cocktails.

Tropical Tongue Tango:

*  Take a pint glass out of the freezer (where else would you keep them?) or use a hurricane glass, like the one in the top photo that I snagged off the Interwebs.  Half fill it with ice cubes.

* Uncork (I just love bottles with corks!) the J.F. Haden's Key Lime Pie Liqueueueueur and pour a few glugs over the ice.

* Take the bottle of orange-infused vodka out of the freezer (where else would you keep it?) and add four ounces, or two large jiggers.

* Add a splash of Triple Sec.

* Add a generous squeeze of sweetened lime juice (or fresh lime, if you've got it handy).

* Fill the remaining space in the glass with cranberry juice.

* Stir gently with a chopstick, or maybe the silicone straw that you're going to suck this drink up with.  I bought a package of multi-colored silicone straws a while back, and have not regretted that choice for one second.  The J.F. Haden's is VERY dense, and will sit down at the bottom of the glass unless you stir it into the rest of the cocktail.

ENJOY!

We're on the Typewriter Database!

 

It's official!  I've uploaded our entire typewriter collection to the Typewriter Database!

Anyone who is interested in seeing it can CLICK HERE.  My user name on the site is "Montague Withnail"... don't ask, just roll with it.

See you there!

At Last: THE TYPEWRITERBRARY!

 

Here's how it started out - a two-by-three foot tiny coat closet.  I had my electrician hang the chandelier, then I primed the closet using grey primer, because that's the color you're supposed to use if you are painting walls a dark red.  White primer will show through and make the walls look pink, and don't nobody want that.

Here it is with the walls done.  Floor fan is helping the drying process.  So far, so good.

One cannot properly accomplish a project like this without music.  I chose some really good 1960's/70's orchestral stuff, like what my mom used to play on the radio when we were cruising around in her Country Squire station wagon.

Once it was dry, I un-bagged the chandelier and starting taping off the door frame.  The door itself was removed completely to keep the typewriterbrary open to view on a permanent basis.

Every project has to have a challenge - at least one - and I found out immediately that all the shelving brackets I had bought were completely useless, because the struts underneath were exactly where the typewriters on the shelf underneath that would need to sit.  FAIL.

I had to come up with another way to mount the shelves.

Next came the installation (after cutting them to size) of the melamine shelves.  The higher up ones I started with were fairly easy, because I could do this standing up.

Here it is with all the shelves installed, plus the cool little miniature oriental rug that I bought which exactly fits the floor!

Next up was figuring out how to put all the typewriters in there so they all fit.  Took a bit of doing, but finally I got the configuration right!  When I finished this project, we had 21 typewriters.  Now we have 22, but luckily the newest one fits underneath the bottom shelf.

Next, I installed old-fashioned library label frames and wrote labels for each typewriter which show the year, make, and model of each.

The very last part of this project was coming up with a way to keep dust off the machines (dust will kill a typewriter faster than almost anything) while still leaving them visible.

The answer: A wine-colored organza fabric which is simultaneously see-through and also catches the light of the chandelier beautifully, making the whole thing look like a gothic waterfall.....

ET VOILA!!

THE TYPEWRITERBRARY!

In the throes of creativity...

 Just now working on another DIY project in the house - have not really got "stuck in" so far, unless you call having a chandelier installed real progress....

Got this lovely wee chandelier online, and bought a package of red glass droplet beads from somewhere else, and installed them by hand using some fine bead wire, and I really love the gothic look of it!

This isn't where it's going to stay, it's just where I hung it momentarily to get a good picture of it.

STAY TUNED

MORE TO COME!

Also - a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of the loveliest people to grace the planet - our dear friend GB turns 80 today!  WOOHOOO!!

R.I.P. Whisky Whiskers : May 1, 2024

 

Back in November of 2018, we rescued Whisky from our literal doorstep, where he had arrived half starved to death.  He had a good life with us, but a short life.  He developed cancer in his intestines, and we had to let him go.  He was no longer able to be a cat, to do cat things, and he was losing weight visibly by the day.

He was always much smaller than his siblings, but he had a heart as big as the sky.  For such a diminutive cat, he left a huge hole.

We'll miss you, little fella.