Sunday, January 25, 2009

Want some "cheeken"?

Which came first, the chickens or the coop?

The cheekens, natch!

My friend, Robert, was hurriedly building a coop this weekend since he became the proud owner of 4 rescued chickens.

I don't *think* I have ever scratched a chicken's ear lobe (did you know they have lobes?) or even petted a cheeken before. {Very soft}

Here are they are in all of their glory!







Guess what? I am on the egg list :)

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Gather 'round! It's story time

This is seriously one of the cutest kids I have ever seen.


Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.

A little Amelie who paints the world with her words and smiles :)

Mr. BITH sat through a few videos after hearing me laughing like crazy from the next room. His only comment was,

"My gosh. You'd kidnap her if you could"

I just smiled.

Apparently, this video has gotten the most attention, but I really like Capucine Meets Alex, Yuuuuuuuuum, Too much candy, My name's Ingalls, Carrie Ingalls and Elementary my dear Watson.

*hell* watch them all.

She's too, too adorable.

Make sure you check out her t-shirts and other items on various websites. All proceeds go to Edurelief.

Oh, and if you think my fascination makes me look like I am off my rocker, Google this child. Here's just one small sample . . .

My favorite line from Capucine's letter to Santa:
If I hug you, your beard will not sting, it will only tickle.

My favorite line from the author:
We take back everything bad we ever said about babies. As long as they look, talk, and think like this one


Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Good luck, Mr. President




May you be wise enough, smart enough, humble enough and
tough enough to guide us safely through the rough seas ahead . . .

That is my hope.

What's behind wall number one?

Finally made it to go see Slumdog Millionaire and came home to find an object like this on our front porch:



accompanied by a note and business card. The gist of the letter was that some contractors were working on the house next door and heard water running next door (that would be our house). They came to investigate and saw water pouring out of the basement door.

After realizing no one was home, this very nice man used that thingamabob pictured above (also known as a water valve key) to turn off the water to our house to stop the river running out the door. The contractor and his twin brother then came over and helped us identify the pipe running to the area where the leak was very obviously occurring.

Discovery #1:

The previous owner decided putting in valves that would allow you to turn off water to only parts of the house wasn't necessary.
The contractors sadly told us we would have to tear out drywall to get to the problem area.

They helped us move extra drywall away from the wall, told us what we would have to do and then headed out. {{Thank you wonder twins! They didn't have to help us, but they did.}}

Note: Previous owner of house will henceforth be referred to as Dumbass. This isn't an arbitrary pejorative and grounds for using aforementioned "Dumbass" reference will become more clear and justified after Discovery #2 and Discovery #3.

Discovery #2:

I realize construction workers have this inclination to put empty beer cans, Styrofoam containers and various other sundry behind walls and below floors of buildings they, well, build. I don't get it, but they do.

But why would you do this in your own home? I repeat, why?

The following picture is what we found behind wall number 1.



In case the jumble is too much for your brain to process, those are umpteen empty buckets of mudding compound, pieces of drywall and old pieces of wood stacked neck high.

These were all - of course - soaking wet at this point.
Remember the pipe? We hauled this stuff out the door to get to the pipe.

{Did I mention I am snotty sick?}

Dumbass.

Discovery #3:

After moving all of the junk aside, we found the crack in the pipe (a frozen chunk sluiced out when Mr. BITH disconnected it). This pipe was leading to a spigot on the outside. Guess what? No insulation on pipe. None. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

Dumbass.

Mr. BITH headed to Lowe's, got some materials and came home to fix the pipe. My hero :)

Lesson learned? We are pretty much resigned to the fact that
DIY Dumbass = do over of drywall, electric and HVAC in the basement.

Can't wait to find what else DIY Dumbass decided to put behind the walls instead of renting a dumpster. Wait, DIY Dumbass is also a Cheapass?!

I guess that is Discovery #4.

P.S. Guess what Mr. BITH found in the basement the next day while cleaning up? Insulation for pvc piping. Not anywhere on the pipes of course. Dumbass.


Friday, January 9, 2009

It was such fun

{click on image to see in more detail}






to decorate our home for Christmas . . .


*sigh*

The little elf guy was a Christmas gift last year from our good friend, Robert. This year Lorraine painted little gourd spinners and gave them to us as a gift. They completely fit in!

Our sweetheart neighbors gifted us this musical Fitz and Floyd Santa's Toyland:


Friday, January 2, 2009

Green Goddess redux

Remember this post?

Well, now you can experience the goodness of Green Goddess and stay regular.

Who knew . . . ?

{click on the image to actually be able to read it}




And if that is just too much trouble to throw together, you can always depend on Phil Hartman's favorite cereal (although I think this appeared in Mad Magazine first).

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Mr. BITH's January 1st




It came out in 2003. It somehow made its way into our home in 2008.


Andy
.


Mr. BITH bows before Katamari Damacy.

A new addiction is born.

Andy
.


:::


He'll be back to his normal self any day now . . .

I just know it.

Andy.

:-)~

Day one of 2009

Big ass baklava at the Marietta Diner and skipping stones on Lake Allatoona at Red Top Mountain


(creamer is in there for scale)



:::

Oh, my! How could I forget . . . the leftover, crock-potted split pea soup made from the Christmas ham.

A happy and content January 1.

Pickled herring and party hats