Arachnophobia

You know how I feel about bugs (and, yes, I know that spiders are not, technically, bugs, but you know what I mean). Imagine my pleasure when this huge, orange interloper set up housekeeping outside our patio doors. And this is only two days after I thorougly swept the outsides of all the windows and doors. (The blurry pencil in the foreground is to give you a sense of scale.) I guess all those years of our yard returning to its natural state - ungroomed, left to the local flora and fauna - are going to take some time to undo.

In happier news, the living room is finally coming together. Emily put the curtains up yesterday, and the room immediately felt a lot cosier, more homey. As a reminder, here is a "before" picture of the room:

And here is the After:

Doesn't it look like it's just ready for a fire in the fireplace? And doesn't the new mantelpiece that Steve built look much better proportioned? (I still wish the shelves were thicker, but we have plans to fix that - thanks for your suggestion, Mary.) It still needs a rug, but that can wait until I get a job.

And, here's a picture of yesterday's birthday boy. The cake is a little unorthodox - it's just a simple vanilla cake, but, instead of frosting, Brian asked for Brown Sugar Sauce. What! You've never heard of Brown Sugar Sauce? It's just the yummiest comfort food around! It was always my favourite as a kid, and now it's Brian's as well. He keeps chirping, "You know, I wonder why the food industry hasn't grabbed onto Brown Sugar Sauce." Here's the recipe the way my mother always made it, if you want to try it yourself:

Mix in a saucepan:

1 Cup brown sugar

3 Tablespoons flour

Add:

1 Cup boiling water

Cook over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat and add:

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon butter

Ladle over the cake to glaze it, then ladle on more as you serve. That's it!