JPEG GHOST

So of course I'm into crocheting since my hobbies are wide and varied. I don't crochet much but I'm making a blanket and I really do enjoy it. So mindless! 

I'm trying to think of Christmas ideas that can use this skill. I don't have a lot of money, so making something out of discount yarn seems pretty nice. Anyone have any experience with crocheting gifts?

ALSO regarding Xmas, who wants Xmas cards from me? I'm always down to support the postal system.

On Sunday me and Alex had a very dangerous undertaking. CLEANING OUT THE CLOSET.

We have a very small closet that we tend to just toss stuff into. For a long time it's been chaos and ... Well, let me just show you the picture.



Yes I have 25 lbs of onions, it was 7 dollars. Okay?!

Okay. Now that that is established, here's the point of this post. Alex is getting hardcore into Tiki stuff, such as making his own drinks. He needs a space for all the specialty syrups and drinks he hand-makes himself, because he likes to be crafty. I also need a place to store my canned goods that I make. So we decided it would be a big cleaning day for the closet and we would finally organize it with a little help from IKEA.





We ended up installing lights, a mini fridge for Alex, and some shelving in total. Alex's stuff was so vast that we ended up using all the shelves for his Tiki drink supplies, and my stuff will eventually go ... somewhere. Since he makes his own stuff, it's nice to have all his ingredients in one place.

On Wednesday Alex has a job interview with a hospital; his current position in home health has tired him to the bone for months with how demanding it is, and traveling to people's houses all day sucks. There's a whole lot of factors into how much it all sucks that would take too long to write out, but I hope he gets it. It would be salaried, too, which is a way more stable paycheck. Fingers crossed!

I had been lusting for a rotary phone for a long time; one with a doily beneath it, and, I don't know. A notebook beside it? Shit, what did people in the 1960s use to decorate their gossip benches with? A cocaine mirror?

Since landlines are prohibitively expensive these days and I'd rather just press a button on my phone to call someone, it'd be nice to have it as a decoration beside my couch, as currently my tripodal side table has been housing absolutely zilch and it's killing me. I wanted to pick up a crappy old one to easily spraypaint wine red with gold numbers beneath the dial, but many were cracked with decaying cords so it was hard to find -- Alex was able to snag one on eBay or something, he texted me yesterday that he received it and I yelled a lot because I was across the city and had to read about cremation standards instead of visiting him.

It's circa 1960s and absolutely beautiful. I love the color! (Ignore the clutter, we dumped our stuff on the table as soon as we got to his place).



Despite how much I like the original teal color and almost prefer it, there was some noticeable yellowing and discoloration and I still wanted a deep red phone. Alex was just excited for another quarantine 'couples project'. Here it is after a much needed bath that got rid of rust and 50+ year old grime.



Alex really enjoyed taking this thing apart, he said it activated the reptilian part of his brain. That's not suspicious at all. Anyways, we just sprayed it down a few times with some white primer, once every hour, then later we will be spraying it with deep red spray paint. I'm thinking of leaving the main circle ... part white, then adding gold stickers beneath the holes in the plastic dial, which I don't plan on bothering since I think it looks great as is.



I'm extremely excited, and can't wait to see what it looks like later.

Also, Alex is making me a sidecar drink tonight and I have no idea what the hell that is, but I'm drinking it anyways! If it's especially cool looking I'll take a picture, because obviously you guys care about the liquor I consume.