Heard this evening at Saw-whet Manor...

Bill: We have, like, every size of cast iron skillet that they make.

Me: Does that make you happy?

Bill: YES! I mean, what other measure of a successful life could there possibly be?

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Some boys want big TVs or fancy cars or expensive watches. My man wants a well-seasoned 20-year old pan that costs $5 at a garage sale.

Love it.

and you thought I was kidding...

...about the OCD. The ball jars were getting out of control and spilling into our laundry baskets. Something had to be done.

So, we emptied the panty and let all jams, jellies and canned fruits mingle. All the colors! All the flavors!!

 

(Pictured above: pear jam, blueberry jam and two types of peach butter)

Ta da! Our pantry at the end of the adventure. Bill counted 18 types of canned spreadable items. Plus some whole fruits and even two cans of beans:

Whole fruits are in the middle. Jams and jellies on the bottom. And the top...well, those are a Christmas surprise. 

We did have some sad jam fail. :(  Bill said the Bel Air peach butter was his favorite. And then we realized that two of the four jars of this treasure had bulging lids. They hissed when we opened them and smell like alcohol. Our guess is not enough sugar.

 

Now with 50% less blue

Two of the four rooms in our house that were a tired sky blue when we moved in have been transformed into much nicer rooms that people would actually want to spend time in. You may recall our bedroom was the first to be tamed...

Bluefore and after:
And now the living room is done being painted! More photos when it's cleaned up, but here is a preview.

Bluefore:

(This, by the way is a photo of Bernie on the night before we brought Sugar home and threw his entire world into disarray. He thought the new doggy-sized bed was for him. Sucker.)

AFTER:


Two rooms are still in a state of bluedom. This was previously, I imagine, a lovely parlor before an awkward bathroom turned it into a "master bedroom." We've never showed you a photo before this moment because it is really the saddest room in the house. It will be the next to be tackled with the intent of creating a hobby room. We'd ditch the bathroom, but the walls contain the pipes going to the upstairs bathroom we want to keep. Dilemma.


The kitchen and adjoining pantry are also blue:


Eradicating those blues, however, is for another time. After a hard day of painting, some sleepy snuggles are now in order and I'm going to get in on this: