Surprise! It's still cold! Today, I worked from my laptop, as the office gets pretty chilly compared to the rest of the house. Instead, I lounged on the sofa with the pet animals. Minnie was happy:

It's really tricky to get a good photograph of Minnie, as she's so dark and wiggly. This might be my favourite that I've taken so far. She was actually looking at me when I took the picture; I was holding the camera by my side. I don't use auto focus very often, but it sure comes in handy from time to time.

Earlier this afternoon, I trimmed down all the quilt squares from yesterday. Booty, ever the enthusiastic quilter, was happy to lend a hand paw:

The squares are looking nice now they've had the ragged edges cut off. I can't wait to buy the rest of the fabric and put it all together! Booty eventually left me to my trimming, and when I wandered out to the living room some time later, this is how I found him:

Do please make yourself comfortable, Booty. It seemed to me he had a pretty good deal going there, so I scooped him up, made him sit on my lap, and had my own little afternoon doze in the sunny chair. Yep, not too bad. Eventually, I started to feel guilty about having not gone on a walk with Minnie. It's just so cold out! But I had bills to drop in the post box, so we went for a short (one mile round trip) -- and brisk! -- walk. I didn't think it was actually so cold out once we were moving, but I had the benefit of shoes. When we were nearly home, Minnie (who was, thankfully, wearing her coat) started hop-skipping and held up one paw at a time when I stopped.

Even two blocks is too far to have to carry a fifty pound dog, really. Thank goodness I didn't get a bigger dog!

Now, since it's January in Minnesota, this might be redundant, but. . . it's been cold the last few days! I feel like a wimp for saying anything because, though it's below freezing, it hasn't really been below zero (Fahrenheits). But the temperature has definitely dropped a bit, and the animals will back me up on this.

Booty's basket is right by a window, and I've noticed that his soft, soft fur has been getting cold when he lies there. The windows aren't too drafty, but they do let in a bit of frizz, so I placed a rolled up towel on the sill for now. I'm halfway through crocheting a proper draft excluder snake-y job. Click here to see Minnie bundled up early this morning. She's got the right idea!

A few things in response to my last couple of posts: (1) I would love to eat seasonally and locally, and I can't even use the 'but it's just so hard' cop out, because making up confusing rules for myself is what I'm all about. Really, though, I think the most you can hope to find during a Minnesota winter is, like, a rutabaga that rolled to the back of the pantry in November. (2) Yes, Booty really does eat on a shelf. Out of green glass dishes. (3) I'm so glad some of you have printed out the calendar!

Today, I went to Hopkins. I was hungry for more antiques, but didn't want to go all the way to Stillwater. Hopkins is to my south-west (and I really do mean west, this time) and is also known for its antique shops. I found a couple of Jadeite tea cups -- one's Fire King, and although the other one matches it, there's no logo on the bottom, and I think it's a knock off. I was just about to leave the last shop for the day when I spotted these under a pile of old tea towels:

Fifty-six pieced quilt squares, waiting to be turned into a quilt top! I'm assuming these are from the 30s or 40s, based on the prints and the quality of the fabric. There are so many prints here begging to be reproduced! Only about forty-two of the squares will be usable; the others are stained. Sadly, the square with the sailor man fabric is one of the stained pieces -- I shall attempt to salvage even a tiny bit for another project, though!

The squares are 8"x8" right now, but the edges are fraying from being carried around unfinished for so many decades, so I'll trim off 1/4" all the way around to give myself good edges to work with. That should mean a finished size of 7"x7" for each square. I'll checkerboard them with a solid cotton (white probably) and get quite a big quilt out of the deal. Hooray!

You'll say when you've had enough house photos, won't you? It's been one sunny day after another here, and the house does look so nice with sun streaming through the windows.

I tend to go to the supermarket on either Sunday or Monday, since the coupons come in the Sunday paper. I went early this morning, while the streets and shops were still empty. It's a new era of food shopping for me -- I'm actually enjoying it, for once. By going alone, with nobody to meet and no train to catch when I'm done, I'm able to amble along and take as long as I like. And I think the amount of time I take is inversely related to how much money I spend. Instead of quickly picking something off the shelf, I think about what I've already got in the cupboards. I buy more fresh fruits and vegetables and buy 'cupboard goods' only when I plan on using them that week.

I've never really noticed my eating habits changing with the seasons, but I've been eating an awful lot of soup lately. I buy tins of Healthy Choice 'Country Vegetable' (I name it because it's the only tinned vegetable soup I've ever been enthusiastic about!) and have that for four meals a week, usually (one tin equals two meals -- with sides, of course). I feel as though I ought to make my own vegetable soup, but I don't want to mess with a good thing! Do you tend to change your meals throughout the year (as foodie magazines would suggest), or do you tend to make the same things day in and day out?

Booty doesn't seem to crave much variety:

If you don't happen to live by yourself and work at home, the way I do, you might wonder what a person in that situation does all day. It turns out I take photographs. I just wander from room to room, pressing that little shutter button, whether or not there's anything interesting in the frame.

Okay, that's not entirely true. But one can get carried away. I didn't think these fading remains of the fabulous bouquet my parents gave me were ideal photo fodder, but then I noticed how lovely they looked against the colour of the kitchen walls. This was what I was originally photographing:

I bought the little radio I mentioned a while ago. I had a few Target gift cards burning a hole in my wallet, and what more could I ask for than the cutest radio in the world? It's stylish and nice just to look at, but it's also a great radio! Its reception is fantastic; the speaker is loud and clear; you can tune into not only radio stations, but television channels and weather; and my dad says the preset buttons are superb (he has the same radio, but in white). I've been carrying it around all afternoon, since Saturday's programming (on MPR) is so great. Me and my radio:

The new fern has also snuck into that photo. There's something so forest-y about the fern; I love it. Unfortunately, Booty the Cat also loves it, so I've been keeping the door(s) into my bedroom closed during the day. Last night, Booty (who sleeps on my bed, but comes and goes during the night) hopped to the floor, and Minnie (who sleeps on her dog bed, in the corner of the room) gave chase. I tried to get her to lie back down without actually lifting my head from the pillow ('Go lie down' is one of her best 'tricks.'), but she kept pacing around. I finally sat up, to see Booty curled up snugly in the middle of Minnie's bed. He's been doing this a lot lately, because he's full of badness. I shooed him away, and we all settled down again.

And then this morning! We went to visit my parents' puppy!

My parents adopted Sasha (the little one) a few weeks ago now. They know she's half German Shepherd, and it was guessed that the other half is Collie, but we'll see what she grows into. I think she's twelve weeks old. She makes Minnie (who has such pretty eyes in this photo) seem like a well behaved, refined lady dog. This was their second time playing together. Sasha runs around and barks, while Minnie tries to get all the rawhide and Nylabone chews for herself (I give her one a week, after I go grocery shopping, so I think she must find it unfathomable that a dog could have three or more of these things just sitting around!). For the most part, they seem to play together pretty well.

One last photograph. I've been having real trouble 'pulling together' the craft/guest room. I prefer quite small rooms that are rich and cozy, and while the craft room is by no means huge (! It's 12'x12'), it still seems like a lot of space to work with. Then I found this bed cover (table cloth?) on clearance at Anthropologie:

And things are starting to click now. It's given me colours and a style to work with. Luckily, it matches the rug very well, as well as the cushions I already had. The aqua fabric hanging on the side of the bed (with the white diamonds) is a good-sized piece I've had for ages. It's very pretty, but it's sheer, and I've had no idea what to do with it. It matches the new colours for the room so well, so I'm going to turn it into a simple sheer curtain. The squares perched on the back of the bed are cork tiles (bought VERY cheaply from a thrift store, since one was missing from the four-pack) I've covered with Denyse Schmidt fabric. I think they'll get hung over the bookcases on the other wall, with some photos tacked on. Bit by bit.

Okay, one last last thing! I always like to make a calendar for myself, one which I don't mind writing all over. I usually spend a silly amount of time sitting at my kitchen table with a ruler and pen, when I could simply use something store-bought, but that's nothing new. I thought other people might benefit from my doodling, so if you'd like this calendar for February. . .

. . . then just right click here and save-as. Let me know if you have any problems with the PDF; I think it should be fine. And let me know if you use it and if I should keep making more as the months go by!

Annnnnnnnnd, last last lastly, here is the Carrot Cookie recipe I promised ages ago. Kind recipe testers Nancy and Rachel gave it the thumbs up, so I hope everybody enjoys it!

Whew. That's enough for one post.

Rob and I went to Stillwater yesterday. Stillwater is right on the western eastern edge of Minnesota, known for its antique and book shops. It's entirely lovely in the summer, except for the hordes of tourists; we decided to brave the cold yesterday and were treated to nearly empty shops and streets. I had thought it might be a fun little trip (it's about thirty miles from my house), but it was even more enjoyable that I had planned. We had tasty omelettes and coffee at the Main Cafe and then hit the shops, where I found the following:

A vintage birthday card -- the pansies are flocked! A pretty little hankie, which I wish I had yardage of. All the fabric designers just seem to find old patterns and create knock offs, so who's to say I can't? I call dibs on this pattern! And lastly, a little Jadeite-looking dish. The grand total was $7, and you can't argue with that. I'm looking forward to taking a solo trip out there some day, so I can spend as long as I can stand pawing through pristinely ironed handkerchiefs and old glassware. (In the foreground of that photo is my new Maiden Hair fern -- I love it!)

And now, since Gemma tagged me, the six weird things meme:

1. I like to have only one sweet treat in the house at a time (one packet of biscuits, one tub of ice cream, etc). If there's a choice to be made, I become paralyzed by the options and can't decide. I've had to throw out a lot of the open house leftovers, because it's just not worth it (and they were going stale more quickly than Rob could eat them).

2. I tend to count steps, sometimes without noticing. There are 14 stairs up from my basement. Each block in my neighbourhood is roughly 105 steps long.

3. I have very vivid memories linked with my various senses. If I'm listening to something (music or a movie, etc), I can often remember exactly what I was doing the next time I hear it -- other way around, too. If I'm hand stitching a project while I listen to the TV, I'll remember what the characters were saying the next time I work on the project. Scent and taste also take me right back. Smelling hyacinths doesn't just remind me of my freshman year of college; it makes me feel like I'm there again.

4. I've always been good at memorizing things, and I sort of rely on it. I like to 'store' the complete route in my mind before setting out in the car. I'm not very good at sight reading music for piano; I have to more or less memorize the music before I can play a piece all the way through.

5. I have a bad habit of trying to over think things before I say them. If I want to make a point, I try to think of everything the other person could say in response and then preempt those responses. The result can be a very fractured (but rambling) statement. It annoys me, and I'm sure it must be annoying to others, but it's just how my brain works.

6. I am in the 4% (I think that's the figure) of Americans who don't go to McDonald's even once a year. I haven't stepped foot in a McDonald's in at least three or four years. In fact, I think the only time I've been in a fast food restaurant in recent memory was to get ice cream a few months ago.

That was difficult! And I consider myself to be fairly weird -- maybe that's the problem: I kept thinking of things and then deciding, 'Nah, that's not so weird.' Maybe my idea of normal is so bizarre that I can't fairly judge!

Whew. This past Saturday was my housewarming. If you ever want a ridiculous amount of pressure to get your new house in order in only a month, scheduling a housewarming will do it. But as Rob pointed out, everybody seemed to say that they liked the house, so it must have been worth it. There were certainly a lot of cakes:

I made cupcakes and macaroons and a flourless chocolate cake, and my mom was going to make a cheesecake and biscotti, but when she showed up, she'd also make a couple of pound cakes, mini cheesecakes, cookies, and brought plenty of sweets as well. So there are a lot of leftovers.

It was fun to show people around the house, and especially exciting to see some folks I haven't seen in ages. If you're wondering why I might be a bit quiet this coming week, it's because Rob is in town for a visit, so we'll be off having fun, trying not to freeze.

Who's got the prettiest bedroom oh them all? Oh yes, it is I!

I've never thought of myself as a girly girl, but this bedroom is pretty sweet (and not in a 'suh-weet' way!). I love all the furniture in here; the dresser and nightstand came from a Craigslist seller, and the headboard was sold to me by a woman my mother used to work with. I had to paint the headboard to match the other pieces, which came to me painted antique white (thank goodness!).

This is the prettiest dresser ever. The chair goes to my kitchen table, so it's there just to get it out of the way for now. There's an empty spot in the corner as well, so maybe I'll someday slide the dresser further down the wall and put a tiny armchair in the corner. Maybe.

Pretty! Because I've done so much decorating in such a short span of time, it doesn't quite feel like mine yet, so I can still sit back and just appreciate how lovely everything is. And now that I don't have to pick up a paintbrush for a while, I can even manage to relax and enjoy it. But, hey! What's that?

No, Minnie! Bad dog! Get off the bed!

p.s. -- Another postscript! I just realized that, as of today, I've owned the house for one month. Hooray! Check out the Flickr set.

I know a lot of lip service is paid to the enjoyment of simple things, but it can be difficult to reduce the clutter around you and actually make time for it. I feel like I'm getting there. In the midst of (or, if I'm being hopeful, the tail end of) a very stressful period, it really is the simple things that have made me happiest.

Minnie is learning about mirrors. She sounded her warning bark the other day, and I spied out all of the windows, wondering if the postman was outside, before I realized she'd just seen my image in a mirror. Yesterday, she reclined on her dog bed while I painted bookcases. I looked over to see her watching herself (you can see the nose smudge from her curiosity). Every now and then, she'd try to look at me in the mirror, but that other dog kept getting in the way, following her every move!

That broken mirror, by the way, belong out in the trash. Sometimes the garage seems so far away. As a side note, look at Minnie's fantastic ears. Top quality. Perfect triangles!

I can't remember how the mirror thing tied in with my thoughts on simplicity, but there you go. One of the biggest improvements to my life in recent weeks has been the huge reduction in the amount of television I watch. There are only three shows I make a point to watch (Bones, House, and Scrubs), and that's only 2.5 hours a week. That's not to say I don't sometimes look for a program, but I never turn the TV on before 7pm these days.

Instead? I listen to NPR (actually Minnesota Public Radio). For me, this was always a 'I really should...' sort of thing, but when you're used to being inundated with graphics and whizz-bang effects, it's hard to make it a habit. Now I listen to the news channel throughout much of the day, and I'm completely addicted to it.

I waited on the edge of my figurative seat all this morning, waiting for the clock to change to 12:00, so I could buy tickets to Prairie Home Companion. There are three shows in February, and I was so sad when I missed out on the tickets (they're hugely popular around here). A few days ago, they announced that there would be three extra non-broadcast Friday night shows. After stalking Ticketmaster, I came away with two excellent seats to the February second show, and one super excellent seat to the show two weeks later. So excited. I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I won't be allowed to dance during the Be-Bop-A-Re-Bop Rhubarb Pie theme, though.

This post is just all over the place. Let's end with some food:

My pal Mo and I went to dinner the other day, when she was in town (and we had the BEST meal I've ever et at my favourite Indian restaurant), and she asked me if I cook a lot of meals for myself. I wasn't quite sure how to answer, because I don't really consider heating a Quorn fillet and making veggies to be cooking. But a look in my cupboards reveals mostly ingredients, so it must be true. I do eat tinned soup, but I don't have boxes of 'tip into a pot of boiling water' meals or microwave entrees or even jars of pasta sauce.

Now that I've realized it, I'm very proud of this fact, because it's what I've always wanted. When I feel like pasta, I want to chop an onion, fry it up with some mushrooms, and make a quick sauce from cream and eggs (and herbs). I could care less how other people eat, but this is what I want for myself, and I'm so happy I've got here. I've long held the belief that the more you do for yourself -- the closer you are to 'the basics' -- they happier you'll be. I think I'm finding out it's true.

p.s. -- I keep forgetting to say: If somebody would like to do a trial run of my carrot cookie recipe, leave a comment. First person to call dibs 'gets' to do it. Please make sure you'll be able to bake them in the next day or two. I always change things as I go, so I can't be sure what I've written down is actually what I used.

Oh, the craft room. Oh dear, oh dear. It's come a long way.

It's looking pretty good right now, but that was not always the case. When I moved in, the room looked like this:

Thick grey carpet, blue grey walls, and -- the worst bit -- a false ceiling. And how do you properly accent an enclosed room (only one window) with a low ceiling? With a pole-mounted ceiling fan, of course! Oy.

The big project was the ceiling. Underneath the false ceiling was. . . another false ceiling! Hooray! This time, it was small acoustic tiles, which turned out to be nailed and glued to the framework beneath. And here's something strange:

Running along the outside wall, the ceiling was actually solid plaster/concrete. A two-by-four framework covered the rest of the ceiling, above which was the original plaster work. As best as I can guess, the part of the room under the concrete ceiling must have been a porch at one time. The wood floors are much more weathered and worn there, as well.

My dad did the bulk of the work on this room, for which I'm so grateful. We hung sheetrock from the two-by-four frame (the original ceiling has a huge crack from ancient water damage), and used construction adhesive to adhere it to the concrete bit. For extra fun, that slab happened to be neither level nor flat, so shims and wedges had to be fixed to the ceiling first.

Now, though, it's finished! Taped, mudded, sanded, and painted. And it looks fantastic! (And isn't falling down, whew.)

One of the many things my wonderful parents have given me lately is a panini press. Oh, sure, you might think that a panini press would be pretty low on the list of priorities one has when filling a new house. I mean, how many paninis does a person ever eat, anyway? Well, I've long wanted one, and look! -- you can use it to make french toast:

Oh yes, I felt very clever, using my panini press to make french toast. Quesadillas? Why not! Toasted peanut butter sandwich? Sure! Fried eggs? Hmmm. . . I'll have to think about that.

But, of course, you can also use it to make, you know, paninis (not made on the proper sort of bread, I know):

Mozzarella and fake bacon (commonly called facon, at least by me). I don't know what it is that makes a sandwich taste better when it's pressed rather than just grilled in a pan. Maybe it's just the heat being applied more evenly/directly? Cooking more quickly equals less moisture lost? The weight compresses the flavour into a smaller, flatter, tastier sandwich? I'm tempted to believe the last one, but I'm not a sandwich scientist. I just know what I like.

* The title -- Okay, the world isn't really my panini. But I imagine if certain presidents were more fanciful, they might think thoughts like that. Must smash the world!

I haven't posted any pictures of my bedroom yet, because it's still a work in progress. Not as big of one as the craft room, but still not there yet. In the past couple of days, I've got paint on the walls and shades on the windows (there are also miniblinds, which were there when I moved in).

I wasn't originally going to paint the bedroom, because the walls were white, and it seemed like I could save myself having to paint at least one of the rooms. But then I got it into my head to have the walls light blue, so I ran to the store for a gallon of paint. And what a difference! I'm no stranger to the change a coat of paint can bring, of course, but the bedroom looks so much better now. The walls were actually quite dirty, and now they look pristine. I had to paint the window frames white (they were a pinky brown bleh colour before), and now there's all the other trim to paint. . .

The dresser and night tables for the bedroom are arriving on Sunday, from a craigslist seller, and I'm still looking for a headboard. The room is pretty small, so it's anybody guess as to how it'll look with everything packed in there, but at least it'll be bright and cheery. I got those roman shades from Ikea yesterday, on clearance, for only $6.99 each! And they fit my oddly-sized windows perfectly. Huzzah.

Here's Minnie, sitting by her favourite piece of furniture:

She actually got to spend about twenty minutes sleeping in the bed this morning. She woke up around 4:20 and was sick on the floor (thankfully, she didn't aim for a rug, the way Booty does), and her stomach continued to gurgle for a couple of hours. She wouldn't lie down in her own bed again after I cleaned up, so I let her on the big bed, since she wasn't feeling well. I tell you, it's just like have a big furry kid who you can leave home alone for hours at a time. And eats rabbit poo. She's still working on growing back the hair they shaved off when she was spayed. It looks silly, but it's soft as soft velvet.

'Mmmm,' says Booty, 'Why did you not tell me before that this house came equipped with cat warmers?' While we're talking about pets being gross, I might as well say that Booty always manages to find a rug to be sick on, which means I have to clean it in the tub, hang it to drain, and then lay it over a radiator to dry. Booty approves. In fact, I can't be sure this wasn't his plan all along.

It might seem like I've been doing a lot of baking recently (ginger biscuits for Christmas, then oatmeal cookies, orange cake, etc) -- and I have been -- but it's because I'm trying to bake sweet treats rather than buy them. Having a packet of biscuits in the house is fine, but since I enjoy baking AND have a chance to cut out the preservatives, why not? And I'm getting more adventurous: carrot cookies --

Seemed like a good idea, and I think I got very lucky with my recipe. Perhaps could do with a little bit more carrot, but the simple icing really makes these fluffy cookies a treat. Remind me to post the recipe later.

My mom found three of the little Corelle bowls above at the Goodwill. They match my (lone) Pyrex teacup, which I love. I've got a few pieces of mismatched Pyrex (teacup, creamer, gravy boat [I use it to hold the sponge by the sink], etc) -- it's always exciting to find something new at the thrift store.

This is quickly becoming an over-photographed area, no? I bought this rug at Pier1 yesterday. It must've been about 50% off! It'll go in the craft room, if we ever finish with the ceiling in there. It's miles ahead of where it was a couple of weeks ago, but there's still a lot of sanding and mudding to do. When it's finished, I'll have to have a post dedicated to its transformation. At the moment, there's thick grey carpet on the floor in there, but there's dark maple floors underneath (like in the living room and office, only with the original stain). They're in rough-but-livable-for-the-moment shape, and this rug will cover most of the middle of the room anyway.

Mmm, sun. This is extra funny, because Minnie is ordinarily such a cushion snob. Her dog bed is okay; the chair and sofa are better; the bed is the ultimate goal (and forbidden). It must've been a really good patch of sun to convince her to lie on the floor!

Still loving the wallpaper wall:

I bought that mirror yesterday for $5, at the thrift store. I can't decide whether to hang it above the cabinet it's currently sitting on, or whether I should paint it white and put it in my bedroom (I'd sort of like a simple black-framed mirror for the office). Decisions, decisions. Actually, I've been having a hard time deciding where to hang anything, with the exception of that German print. That narrow bit of wall was begging for something to be hung there, and what better than a narrow frame? I think the peacock will go above the piano:

Probably. Maybe. I've got so much 'stuff', and this stuff on my piano is some of my favourite. That bowl came from the Isle of Mull, and I just love everything about it. Down the far end (catching the glare of light) is a photo of Jamal, because he always used to lie on the floor while I played piano. Minnie does too, but she likes even better to actually lie right on top of my feet. I don't think she understands their importance in playing piano. So many things to learn!

That's a nice bit of cake, eh? I have a six inch cake pan from John Lewis which I really like, because I like my desserts small and round. I used it to make this cake for Em's birthday, and last night I used it again to make a little orange cake. It's sort of a pound cake, I guess, with orange zest and vanilla and cinnamon (basically whatever seemed good at the moment), with an orange glaze on top. They work quite well together, as the cake is very dense and sort of dry, while the glaze is super sweet.

Don't you wish you could taste the things I bake? Well, now you can! I'm having an open house on the 20th of January, for friends and family, and you're invited! Of course, it might help if you live in the Twin Cities (or don't mind traveling and ridiculous expense just to meet some weird lady and eat her baked goods). It doesn't matter if we haven't met before -- think of this as the perfect excuse! Send me an e-mail if you'd like a proper e-invite with the details.

I love kitchens, don't you? Growing up, a lot of my family time was spent in kitchens -- around the table for dinner, waiting for special weekend breakfast to be finished, talking in the evening. And because I love food and baking so much, it's only right that I enjoy just *being* in the kitchen. I like standing over the sink, washing dishes, listening to MPR (I want this radio so bad!). Here are a few of my favourite kitchen bits:

Blue jars in my china hutch. I still haven't progressed any further with painting than the last time I mentioned it, but it will be awfully nice to get the drawers and shelves in it. The little green glass bowls in the foreground are Booty's food and water dishes -- they're in the hutch so the dog won't eat his food. I went to Target the other day (narrowly avoiding buying the previously mentioned radio) and picked up a few Tord items at 50% off. Fantastic!

My mom bought me this bowl, also from Target (Target and I are getting married, and we're going to have stylish yet affordable children). The colour and design remind me of Cally, so it's like she's visiting every time I see the bowl, even though it doesn't really have anything to do with her. Some milk glass dishes snuck into the photo too, tricky things.

The kitchen counter and backsplash. I was unenthusiastic about them when I first moved in, and I'll eventually replace them both, but the countertop is growing on me. It just gets so shiny when it's clean! I object to tile countertops (even marble ones) because they're so impractical -- you can't roll out dough when you've got grout lines to contend with! Harrumph. They didn't get in the way of making oatmeal cookies (in the glass canister) or in the eating of the vast majority of them.

The back door, with its tea towel curtain. It was originally a temporary measure, but I like the colours so much (and the towel itself) that I might have to make it a bit more permanent. This part of the kitchen (it was listed as the dining room when the house was for sale, but it's completely open to the kitchen) was painted yellow, and you can see that the radiator still matches that old colour. Like the tea towel, it might be another happy mistake. It's pretty cute, and who'm I kidding by painting it to match the wall? It's not going to disappear!

Okay, just an excuse to photograph my lunch. I love these plate and bowl/cup sets I got from Ikea a while back. I never used them in London, for some reason, but I've been using them quite a lot since I moved in. They're just the right size for so many things! This is my favourite sort of lunch, by the way -- a little bit of lots of different things. Much more satisfying!

And Booty the Cat to end with. He was keeping an eye on Minnie the Dog. They're still not best friends, but a lot of Booty's fuss is just for show. Give it a little while longer, and they'll wonder how they ever survived apart. Maybe. I hope.