Hours of Entertainment

Squirrels and bird feeders. One would simply not be the same without the other.

We put a feeder in our backyard a few months ago and really enjoy watching all the birds it brings to the house. But, inevitably, the squirrels found out about it, too, and lately they've been eating us out of house and home.

That is until yesterday, when we decided to take the feeder off its pole and suspend it from a tree. See, it was too easy for them to climb up to the free buffet, so we thought we'd make it interesting. Not 20 minutes after the switch, we had our first squirrel... and boy was he confused.

He climbed right up to the top of the pole before he realized the feeder was gone. It didn't take him long to see where it was moved, but he couldn't quite figure out how to get there. He thought about jumping onto the bird bath... but decided that was a no-go.

Then he got back on the ground to see if there was another mode of attack. No luck there either.

Finally, he gave it an evil stare and stalked off. I wonder how long it will take before they start taking flying leaps off the fence?

Important Lesson Learned

I thought I scored big time. I found this great rug at Tuesday Morning. Because it's Tuesday morning, the rug was rolled up and covered in saran wrap so it would't get dirty. The only part of the rug I could see was the edge, and it looked perfect!

Orange and purple, the two main colors in our living room. That's not a color combination you see frequently in rugs, and this one was only $50. I thought I'd hit the jackpot. I thought it would look great under our coffee table. That was, until I got it home and unrolled it to find this:



Next time, I will unroll the rug before I get it home. Luckily I can take it back.

Sprouts Gone Wild

There is good progress on the gardening front!

Take a look at my seedlings. They're growing like gangbusters!

The cucumbers are doing the best so far, already several inches tall (although they're growing sideways to try and get to the sunlight near the window).

In other home beautification news, we put some candle sconces on the garage outside. I can't wait to have a party so they can greet everyone on the way to the backyard. Hopefully we won't burn down the house :)

Science Experiment

We decided to start a garden. I've been waiting to do this for a while and am excited to see if it works. I planted some seeds in a mini greenhouse and will keep them in the kitchen until they're big enough to transplant outside. Hopefully this goes well, I'll keep everyone posted on the progress!

Cleaning House

I don't know if it's the new year, the fact that I spent two days on the couch with strep throat, or a slight feeling of annoyance that we've lived here more than 6 months and it still doesn't feel like home... but we were super productive this weekend! I woke up early both days (9 a.m. counts as early for me on the weekends!) and worked non-stop until the sun went down. My main goal was to organize the guest room so people can actually come over and sleep in it. While it's still not stylish or pretty, the bed is made and I can find what I'm looking for.



Eventually, I'd like to get a different frame. But this will work for now.



Meanwhile, B got busy cleaning out the garage. He wanted some more room to exercise (while it's cool), and we never got a chance to scrub it down when we moved in.



He emptied the entire garage, hosed it down and swept out all the bugs and dirt. Now, I don't have to worry about spiders or roaches (or worse!) when I'm out there looking for things.

We can even fit my car inside! There's not enough room on the sides to do this frequently, but it's good to know it's possible if there's a storm coming.

If only we had this much space inside the house!

In addition to organizing the guest room and garage, I also dusted, swept and mopped the entire house. It hasn't been this clean since before Christmas! I love it. Next on my list is some homemade art for the living room. I'll keep you posted on the progress!

Now THAT Will Get You in the Christmas Spirit

No, fair reader, your eyes do not deceive you. That is 3+ inches of snow in Baton Rouge! We woke up to a total surprise this morning (after the weathermen blew it off and said nothing was going to happen).

Brent got a lesson in how to sweep it off the cars. Yes, he's using a broom because us southerners don't have scrapers lying around!

Unfortunately we both had to work, so we didn't get to enjoy the short-lived winter weather. Most of the snow melted by the time we got home, but I managed to make a snowball.

In other holiday news, we got our first Christmas tree! How exciting! It's a variety of the Leland Cypress, a native tree to Louisiana.

We found it at a tree farm north of Zachary and the entire experience was wonderful! It's called the Louisiana Christmas Forest, and there were hundreds of trees to choose from.

We had to search for one small enough to fit in our living room. Claire and Brian helped pick it out! The farm provided everything we needed, free, including the saw and rope to tie the tree onto our car. They even served free hot chocolate!

Brent cut it down like a pro and we were on our way home.

Merry Christmas!

The Happiest Place on Earth

We finally made it to IKEA Houston to buy the rest of our furniture for the house. It was fabulous! I couldn't convince B to have lunch there, but we made do with tasty Blizzards from DQ :)

Even the Happiest Place on Earth got some damage from Hurricane Ike.

We got two dressers for our bedroom, a new bed frame, a TV stand (for the new flatscreen B is salivating over) and a new desk for the office.

I even managed to control my impulsive buying when we got to the market!

Four hours each way + 2 1/2 hours shopping = a very long day!

So many pieces, so little time.

Brent did most of the work, but I helped put the dresser drawers together. I'll post pictures of how it came together once we get some more decorations!