Dusa's Profile

@iphigenia and manu_pty: ayep!

When the CatMan and I pack to come home from a trip, I'm specific about segregating items for different parts of our home. For instance, all our trash and leftover snack stuff is in a box in the back of the car to go directly into the kitchen when we unload; all our laundry is in a mesh bag to be unloaded into the hamper; and our toiletries are travel sizes kept in their kits until the next time we travel (we throw out the soaps and disinfect and dry the toothbrushes before we store the kits.) Unpacking is relatively painfree. And since I clean before we go, planned a freezer meal, and queued up a fun Netflix movie, we can relax and ease back into home life!

We have lived in our apartment )in a turn-of-the-century farmhouse) since 1996. For the first 13 years, we did nothing to the apt. and I agree with home body - I was deeply resenting my space. I got together with my very cool landpeople (who live in the apartment below ours) and over the past 3 years we are slowly but surely renovating and updating. We are buying quality fixtures and paint, and not charging back to our landpeople: we figure since they haven't raised our rent in 13 years, it's the least we can do. We don't have any plans to move in the near future, so I know we'll be around to really enjoy our work.

I never saw eggs prepared that way until the movie "Moonstruck" when Olympia Dukakis prepared them (with pimento on the top?).

Dad used to make 'slop' for dinner: browned ground beef and canned baked beans, with liberal dollops and splashs of ketchup, brown mustard, Worchestshire sauce, and brown sugar. Eaten with a side of buttered white bread: no nutritional value but beyond yumminess.

The worst meal ever? 'Poor Man's Lobster': boiled cod and new potatoes with a side of melted butter. Yeah, even the butter can't redeem that. And as an adult, I have and never will eat frozen cod again.

The straight-up mild salsa. I use it in everything that requires tomatoes - here in VT, we don't get fresh good tomatoes 11 months out of the year. This stuff give the taste of fresh.

I was recently gifted with homemade mint jelly. Any receipe suggestions besides ones utilizing lamb (hubby doesn't eat it!). Thanks!

Michael W. - I got the impression the Bible he's storing away was more "memoribilia"-related.

I like minpin's idea to find your missing color - and I 3rd the wallpaper idea. With the tile so far up the wall, I think a stylized, viney paper would give a great 'cap' to the room. And I also echo changing the window treatment to something more streamlined and lower-profile.

If there isn't a local shelter/rescue, you can usually donate them to your vet's office for use in the recovery cages.