If you heard about Seattle’s torturous snow/ice storm last week (south of Seattle, we added an inch of ice to our half a foot of snow), you heard right. It was a tough one. The worst ice south King County had seen EVER.

And in spite of no power, me flying out in the middle of the night and packing a suitcase and putting on eye makeup in the dark, and packing all our food in coolers filled with snow, the images my husband snagged during the thick of it are now reminding me of a Dale Chihuly sculpture.

More images of our ice here.

The ice is gone and all is well. The squirrels are back to their antics in our backyard and the sun is out. Happy Monday!

My name is Tricia and I’m addicted to books.

Hi, Tricia.

These are the inspiration pics showing what we’re going for. Hubby is building this for me and I’m so excited to have my own finish cabinetry professional (his job in a previous life) on call just for this project!

I was away last weekend.

My husband gets all the credit for this minor fix.

Finally, the light switches in my office and in the garage all flip DOWN when the lights are off and UP when the lights are on.

Yes, minor. But so good for my soul.

And, he changed out the old decking pieces for some new freshly stained ones. These should withstand our fierce Pacific Northwest drip for a little while!

Just part of living with trees!

Have a great last few days of November!

And it’s winter. And we’ve got two projects we’re still working on that are not done. So, to tide you over, here’s our Halloween pics!

Hope you all had a great Halloween! (no, that is not my outline or the outline of Gumby)

I have an addiction.

I love looking at before and afters on house remodels. I love the voyeuristic feel as I get to peek inside other people’s houses.

Who’s with me?

I love seeing how other people live. Perhaps it’s for inspiration? Perhaps I just covet their stuff?

I bought turquoise Japanese glass fish floats at the Coburg Antique Fair this year and Todd added the little plastic pumpkins. Yes, they light up every evening about 5 pm. Hysterical.

And more of the fish floats on top of the tv cabinet. I love them!

New rug with a touch of fall color (from Target clearance).

And also in the kitchen, replacing the very old one we received for our wedding eight years ago. I love the update.

And last, but certainly not least, the pumpkins for this year’s carving. I will reenact Munch’s The Scream painting like I always do, but Todd has some terrific plans for his big one, I know.

Happy fall! I’m back at home after enjoying a week away in New York City. I’m exhausted, but it was a great trip!

We’ve had a tough year with allergies. Because of the eleven months of rain the Pacific Northwest endured, hubby seemed to suffer more than the usual itchy eyes, runny nose, and endless bouts of sneezing.

About midsummer, I figured out that we needed to spend more time cleaning. So we did. We hired help though. Carpet cleaning, window cleaning, floors scrubbed, shower/tub deep clean, and paying attention to the dust bunnies that hide everywhere they possibly can.

Did it help?

I think so. I hope so. With the weather changes in 2011, and expected repeat in 2012, I would like my husband to be able to not have to live under the haze of heavy drugs all next year too.

But we also sent him to an allergist, and now we finally know what we are dealing with.

And yep, the dust bunnies were definitely part of the problem. Plus, we like spending time in our house now!