Shelf

Posted on January 13, 2019 by kimerer_brian

I have not blogged for a few days because I was building a shelf. I know that is a pretty lame excuse, but it really is true.

The Shelf

Originally we were looking for a piece of antique oak furniture to go into that corner, but due to the funky location of our heat/AC inlet (which is just under the bench in the corner), we never found anything suitable that would fit. It is amazing that those 19th Century furniture makers did not anticipate the configuration of our heating/cooling system.

So I made the furniture myself. I built the bench a year and a half ago, and just now I have finished the shelf to put our hats and coats on. Here is a closer look.

Closer

OK. That’s it for the “ho-hum so what” post. I will try to get back to more entertaining material shortly.

Be grateful that I do not posts photos of my lunch.

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New Year’s Resolution

Posted on January 7, 2019 by kimerer_brian

DG made a New Year’s resolution to exercise more, eat better, and try to lose some weight.

So, he ran off and found all of his gymnasium equipment… the weights and ropes and water bottles… he gathered it all up.

But then later, I caught him with this donut.

DG and the Donut

I don’t think that the word “exercise” is very relevant in this instance…. although I can see the effective application of the word “dumbell” here.

As for me, I always make the same New Year’s resolution…. to eat more fat, salt, and sugar and try to put on weight. That way, when I fail at it, it makes me healthier.

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Scratch n’ Sniff

Posted on January 5, 2019 by kimerer_brian

Here’s a new Scratch n’ Sniff post.

Scratch N Sniff

(Don’t do it)

I was shown this innocuous looking little plant.

The Plant

I was advised to pinch one of the leaves just a little bit.

Pinch a leaf

Then, take a sniff.

YIKES!

Skunk!

Ya. The plant smells just like a skunk. Ick.

To express my opinion of this plant, I have created my own, very mature drawing of stink lines.

stink lines

I would rename this plant “Coleus Africanus Stinkzoidus”.

In case you really do want to look into growing a skunk in your house, here is what it is.

Plectranthus Africanus

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Aloe Microstigma

Posted on January 3, 2019 by kimerer_brian

Here is a strange plant that is happening in the basement.

Aloe Microstigma

Sorry about the sign being in the way of the picture of the plant, but that doesn’t matter because the interesting bit is down under.

Roots

The roots don’t seem to know which way is up………. or down. I think this guy is trying to escape.

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Happy New Year

Posted on December 31, 2018 by kimerer_brian

Happy New Year!

It looks like DG didn’t make again this year.

Sleepin'

Hmmmmm. That image looks familiar.

BTW, this picture is not an antique from the 1970’s. It is, in fact, brand new. I guess DG hasn’t changed much over the years.

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Merry Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2018 by kimerer_brian

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

DG wore himself out so much getting ready for Christmas that he has fallen sound asleep, still in his Santa Suit. We will wake him up when the turkey is done.

Sleeping DG Santa

P.S. This is another image taken from a linoleum cut done in the early 1970’s.

P.P.S. Don’t worry, I do not have many of these old prints, so this is not going to become a “thing”.

 

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DG is Ready for Christmas

Posted on December 22, 2018 by kimerer_brian

DG is all ready for Christmas. He has found his Santa outfit and tried it on.

DG as Santa

Actually, this drawing was originally made as a linoleum cut back around 1972 or 1973. That shows you how old DG really is.

Back then we made our Christmas cards by cutting the pictures into linoleum blocks and using them to print the cards ourselves. We printed them on construction paper. Those were the salad days fer sure.

Last year I found the original linoleum blocks for the cards in a box in the basement. The original printer’s ink was in the box as well, and the brayer and other printing necessities too. It turns out that the ink was still good, so I printed some new copies of the cards, scanned them into digital format and, voilà, DG as a young man.

He doesn’t seem to have changed much since then. We can only wish we could do that trick ourselves.

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More tiny flowers

Posted on December 9, 2018 by kimerer_brian

I found another plant that has tiny flowers on it. But…..  to top off the tiny flowers, the leaves are pink as well. And to top that off….. these “flowers” are weirder than those other tiny flowers.

Pink

See that little round flower just above my thumb? Well, that isn’t the flower. Those are specialized leaves. You have to take a closer look to see the flowers.

The flower

See the little yellow flower in the middle of the leaf? That isn’t the flower either.

That is called a “cyathium”, or “false flower”. The yellow “petals” are also modified leaves. The flowers are the even tinier things in the middle of the cyathium. They are blurry in the photo because of my cheap camera and lousy photography skills. The flowers themselves are not blurry.

Here is the name of the plant to look for if you are interested.

Label

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Rake

Posted on December 1, 2018 by kimerer_brian

This is what a garden rake looks like after you have driven your car over it.

Bent

I am not certain how that happened, but I suspect that *somebody* (me) left the rake leaning against the garage wall with the teeth sitting a little too far out into the garage.

Nevertheless, DG is lovin’ it because that means that I can no longer subject him to the old step-on-the-rake gag that hurts so bad.

Thumbs up

I think that DG should not be so cocky because we still have some tricks up our sleeves.

 

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Diet

Posted on November 25, 2018 by kimerer_brian

After all of that Thanksgiving feasting, DG inadvertently stepped onto the bathroom scale and got a shock.

Scale

Consequently, I was forced to put him on the “97 Diet“.

What, you may ask, is the “97 Diet”?

I made up the 97 Diet, so you won’t find it described out on the interwebs….. well, except for here. It is basically a diet that allows you to live to the ripe old age of 97 years…. and then die of disappointment.

The foundation of the 97 Diet is that you can buy any sort of food you want, but then you have to discard the food and eat the box that it came in.

Eating the Box

This is very similar to the famous Shredded Wheat® and Cardboard diet (which I also made up)……. except that you aren’t allowed the Shredded Wheat. It works great. You should try it.

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