Side by Side

Today, I found hidden treasure. My old Photobucket account, which I use sporadically for things like creating avatars and blog headers, contains 111 pictures spread out over six pages. I never look at them. I use the account to host whatever image I need to use at that moment, and then forget about it.

So today, I decided to check out the earliest pictures and see what they were. How could I have forgotten?!

Before I tell you what I found, I first need to give some background. Part of the reason I started this blog was to help me sort my thoughts on homemaking. By the grace of God, and thanks to the advice and insight offered by the wonderful people I've linked to in my Resources and Inspiration list, my house is fairly well-run and looks pretty decent these days. Albeit, my version of "well-run" may look a bit different than some, and there are still a few rooms I keep closed up when company comes over, but they are finally the minority -- most rooms in my house are actually quite lovely. But it wasn't always this way ... much to the consternation of my husband, who in a fit of frustration sometime toward the end of my oldest child's first year, threw everything in my slovenly home office in the trash -- including my laptop computer.

In fairness, the screen was broken and I was not using it. But I had not removed the hard drive yet to put it in a safe place, and that drive contained all of the photographic evidence of Ian's first year. To say I was upset would obviously be an understatement. By the time I realized what had happened, my computer was long gone, and with it, my precious pictures.

So what did I find today in my Photobucket account, but a page-and-a-half worth of baby photos of my oldest son -- all my favorites, no less! I guess I put them there to share on one forum or another back in the dark ages before Flickr and the Blog (is that a great name for a band or what?), and they sat there all this time waiting to be rediscovered! Better yet, my Dad says he has lots of pictures that I've e-mailed to him over the years and is going to burn them onto a CD for me. So I am a happy woman, indeed.

So, what's up with the title of this post? What does "Side by Side" have to do with anything?

Well, this is actually going to be more like "Over and Under," since I can't figure out how to get Blogger to let me put two images side by side. But in each of the next two sets, the top photo is my youngest, and the bottom is my oldest at about the same age. I'm in awe of both the similarities and the differences. God is an incredible artist.




Top photo: My youngest at about a week old (he was six weeks premature).
Bottom photo: My eldest at about a week old (he was full term).




Top photo: Youngest today, at seven months old.
Bottom photo: Eldest in March 2005, at nine months old.

As you can see, the little one overcame his prematurity very well and is now every bit as large and agile than his full-term brother was at the same age or older. God is good, and we are thankful for both of our babies' health and beauty.

Shopping with Emeril

Of all the nights to have forgotten my phone, not to mention my digital camera ...

Monday night, I stopped at Whole Foods Market on my way home from running a few errands to grab something quick and healthy-ish for dinner. Our Whole Foods is fancier than most, party because it's new, partly because it's in a fairly posh part of town, and partly because it has to compete with nearby Wegmans, which in my neck of the woods is like a culinary Disneyland.

Anyway, I mention the fanciness factor because the store has five mini-restaurants in it that all serve beer and wine, plus there is a wine bar upstairs. So when I walked into the restaurant and heard some bombastic guy in the back of the store whooping it up, with a crowd egging him on, my first thought was, "Who is this drunk idiot in Whole Foods on a Monday night?" (So charitable of me, I know.)

So I headed back in that direction, not to see the drunk guy, but because whole organic chicken was $1.99 a pound and that's usually where they keep it, and at that price I wasn't leaving without some.

As I approached the refrigerated sale bin, this big blond guy rushes up to me and physically blocks my way like we're in a basketball game and he's my defender. Bewildered, I gave him an "are you kidding me" look and tried to get around him. It was then that I noticed that there was a huge crowd of people over by the fish, not a soul near the chicken, and a huge flank of television cameras pointed right at me. Oops. Minus one for lack of observation.

I asked what was going on, and the blond gentleman turned into a living, breathing promotional spot for Emeril Green, celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse's new show on Discovery's "Planet Green" channel. I turned around in disbelief and saw that, indeed, Emeril Lagasse was standing twenty feet away from me, cooking and hollering and carrying on.

It was very cool. But I didn't have my phone to call home, so I couldn't stay and watch, and I didn't have my camera, so I didn't get a photo. However, I did find this photo, which is a close approximation of what I witnessed:



Anyway, if you watch the show, you might see me -- I'll be the disheveled girl wearing a lavender tunic and khaki walking shorts, standing by the chicken with a very surprised look on my face.

Chocolate makes everything better.

Yes, that's a cast on my three year old's arm. He fell down the concrete stairs in front of the neighbor's house. I was spared the horror of watching it happen. I was inside, cleaning the boys' bedrooms while my husband watched them outside ... and then I heard that scream. You know, THE scream that can only mean the next stop is the nearest E.R..

Thank God he was wearing a bike helmet at the time, because he landed on his head. We'll take a broken elbow over a broken skull. We have a follow up appointment June 17 to see whether it's healed ... they don't like to keep casts on little guys longer than three weeks. Which is a good thing, because it's SUMMER! Sandboxes, swimming pools, sprinklers, water fights ... all a bit hard to do with a cast on your arm.

He's been quite a trooper. I think he's braver than I am. And we'll soon have lots and lots of pictures of him in his little blue cast, because his birthday is the 14th, and so is the party! My little guy is turning 4. Amazing.

A Note to Real Estate Agents, Buyers and Sellers

We have been in the process of trying to get our house on the market for over two years. Lack of funds, time and good babysitters means we've had to do most of the work ourselves, piecemeal, and it sucks. We missed the peak, the beginning of the decline and now that we're well into the doldrums, we're just about ready to sell.

In my I-can't-do-another-thing moments, I sit and search real estate listings and try to remind myself why we're doing all this. I've noticed a few things, things I must share. It's a tough market out there, and hopefully these tips will help someone.

NOTES TO AGENTS:

1. Learn to spell. Failing that, please write your listings in a good word processing program that has spell-check, then copy and paste the corrected version into the MLS. Poor spelling is always annoying, but it makes me loathe to even think of dealing with you as a listing agent on a property I'm interested in if you are so oblivious and/or careless as to mangle words related to your own profession, such as SALE, SUITE or LOCATION.

2. Learn to take decent photos. You don't have to become a pro, just keep your thumb out of the shot, make sure you're photographing the home's rooms and features instead of just the homeowner's stuff (I'm not buying the couch, bed, dining set or cool antique sewing machine, so I don't need a closeup). This goes double for people's trinket collections, especially if it's something creepy like dolls (shudder). Also, and this is just a pet peeve, turn off the TV in the media room EVEN IF IT'S THE MIDDLE OF THE GAME and the seller pitched a fit. If it's that important to them that they not miss a single minute, they should have gotten a Tivo. I'm really tired of looking at pictures of 52" football games.

For advice on taking good listing photos (and examples of bad ones), I recommend this blog.

3. If the house backs up to the freaking cemetery, you might as well mention that in the listing instead of wasting everyone's time. I guarantee you'd only get very serious buyers coming through the door. Same deal with the house that shares a 9-foot barbed wire fence with an impound lot, and the house that's pretty much IN the busy restaurant's parking lot.

4. Don't be snotty. Just don't. It doesn't impress anyone, and neither does your leased Mercedes, Hummer or Lexus. Be polite, return phone calls, and always remember that (especially in my area) you never know who you are dealing with, so it's safest to treat everyone as if they were a big shot.

NOTES TO BUYERS:

1. My house has people living in it. Two of them are under the age of four. We also have a cat. I'm sorry if you hate children, or cats, with the fiery passion of ten thousand suns. I promise if you buy my house, I will take my children and my cat with me, along with every trace of their existence. The toys in the playroom and cat litter box in the laundry room should not be deal breakers for you, but to listen to the real estate agents tell it, there are a lot of you out there who will run screaming for the hills if they get the slightest inkling that real people and (the horror) animals live in a house. News flash -- this house is twenty-four years old. People and pets have been here. If you want a brand new, model home, feel free to go overpay for one.

2. My taste in decor may not be your taste. I get that. I've done my best to neutralize it, but I'm not dropping ten or twenty thou at Pottery Barn so my agent can write "Picture Perfect Pottery Barn Charmer" or something like that in the listing description. Like the kids and pet, it's all going with me when I leave, so if you can't stand the sight of it, fear not! Buy my house and I'll take it all somewhere else! (And for the record, none of it is horrible or outlandish -- it's just that I've watched those House Hunter shows where some guy is all "Hmm. I don't like that couch." or "I hate green." and moves on to the next listing.)

3. When I say "at least one hour's notice" I mean it. Don't show up before then unless you want an eyeful of dirty dishes, piled laundry, half-dressed children or worse. I have two boys under four, anything could happen. My oldest likes to answer the door with his pants around his ankles. Heck, if it's the moment I've seized to be able to shower, you could see ME naked ... and you don't want that. Trust me.

4. We pay our mortgage on time every month and have for the last eight years. We have put serious money into the improvement of this home. If you want to buy a broken down, nasty, as-is foreclosed-on home and deal with all the attendant hassles, be my guest, and I hope you get an awesome deal on a diamond in the rough. But don't expect me to price my home like one of those. The reason you like my house better is because it IS better, and therefore worth the somewhat higher price we're asking for it. We're not asking for 2005 prices here ... but we're not going to give it away, either. Like I said, we pay our mortgage. We may want to move, but we don't HAVE to -- and it's not worth it to us for less than a certain price. Deal with it.

NOTES TO SELLERS:

1. The summer of 2005 was three years ago. Please be realistic. I'm not getting an inflated price for my house, and I can't afford to pay an inflated price for yours. I respect your desire to make a modest profit, but when I see you bought for $143,000 ten years ago and want $750,000 for the same not-even-updated house today, I laugh. And if you bought in 2005, God help you. I know better than to pay what you paid, and that's public record. If you're not prepared to take the hit, don't sell the house. Unless you're going to lose it. But in that case, everyone is just going to wait for the bank to take it from you and sell it more cheaply, sorry to say. I'm not saying it doesn't suck to be you -- it does. But don't expect others to pay for your mistake.

2. If your house has an unpleasant odor -- or any odor at all, really -- please fix that issue before you sell. If you're not sure whether your house stinks, ask a trusted friend.

3. I like pets. But if you have them, please note that on the listing -- some folks are highly allergic and pet hair can be a really unpleasant surprise for them.

4. Dog poop. Pick it up. 'Nuff said.

5. Wallpaper. Take it down. Yes, it's a pain in the tush. And that's exactly why your house isn't selling -- no one else wants to deal with the problem any more than you do. Same deal with super dark paint. It's out of style, depressing looking, and a pain in the you-know-where to cover up with a lighter, happier color. So save your buyers the trouble and do it yourself, or pay someone to do it.

6. This one is going to sound a bit racist, but I'll put it out there -- if your decor is overly ethnic, tone it down. I'm not talking one or two Japanese fans on your wall -- I'm talking My Big Fat Greek Wedding-style ethnic. Odds are, the person who is going to buy your home isn't from your country (especially in the area I'm shopping in, since it is one of the most diverse in the nation), and potential buyers will have a hard time feeling at home there with your Ode to the Homeland consuming every square inch of space.

7. If you're a bleeding-heart liberal, hide the Michael Moore videos. If you're a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, stash the Ann Coulter books. We're a polarized nation and you don't need to be ticking off half your potential buyers when they look at the contents of your built-ins (and they will, because we are also a nation of nosy people). So unless the mere thought of someone of a different political bent living in your former home gives you hives, get the really controversial stuff out of public view.

There. I hope this helps someone. Pray for me as we head into the final stretch of preparations and please pray that God would guide as as we search for the very best spot to raise our family.

Summer Menus!

Except for today (raining and 48 degrees!), we've been enjoying warmer weather recently. I've switched our meal plan over to something more befitting the season. We're trying to be healthier in our choices, so we're focusing on the chicken, pork and lean beef, and trying to lose the fatty steaks and other naughties.

Some of what we've enjoyed recently or are looking forward to trying this week (if you see anything you want a recipe for, then comment and I'll post it!):

- Grilled jerk-seasoned chicken breasts topped with melted pepper jack cheese and served with sweet corn and green salad.

- Chicken pesto sausage tossed with linguine, sauteed portobella mushrooms, and basil pesto.

- Grilled tri-tip (also known as Santa Maria-style steak, a hometown delicacy for me!) served with fresh pico de gallo, brown rice and green salad.

- Mediterranean tuna salad and field greens sandwiches (made with olive oil and onions, not mayo and pickle relish) on flax bread, served with fresh fruit.

- Grilled lamb chops seasoned with a fresh rosemary, olive oil and herbed pepper rub; served with mint jelly, roasted baby red potatoes and green beans.

- Sauteed garlic chicken sausage tossed with penne pasta and cooked-until-just-wilted fresh arugula.

- Shrimp, pepper jack and shredded veggie quesadillas served with black beans and chipotle salsa.

- Grilled jerk and ancho chile pork chops with brown rice and steamed broccoli.

The go-to salad for the past couple of weeks has been a packaged fresh arugula blend that Wegmans sells, tossed with fresh pear slices, crumbled goat cheese and maple vinagrette. So delicious!

I hope this list inspires somebody on one of those can't-think-of-anything nights ... I don't pretend to be a great chef, so you know all of these recipes are easy to make and most take less than 30 minutes start to finish. Enjoy your own summer meals!

A visit from the fire department!

No, not for us, thank God ... and everything seemed to be okay at the home they were called to, as well! No one got taken away on a stretcher and nothing was on fire ... but the fire truck and ambulance did come today, with lights, sirens and everything! The kids got a good look ...





The kids proceeded to spend the next three hours playing "fire truck and ambulance" with their bikes and some sticks (for medical gear). Nothing like an emergency to liven up a long, otherwise boring day. I'm just thankful everything turned out okay!

Family life: When it's good ...

... it's really, really good.

They love each other!



What could be better than that?

The Blessed Mother endured many things ....

.... but she never had to balance the needs of two small children.

I just completely lost it on my older son for waking up the baby I spent an hour rocking down. Frankly, we're both lucky my hands are full of fussy infant right now. Please, pray for us both.

For obvious reasons, no picture will be posted.

What my oldest son is wearing as he watches TV in the living room:

Long-sleeved thermal top in urban camo.
Gray briefs.
Mid-calf height rain boots with pictures of salamanders on them.

Who needs pants?

April Fools!

Ha! I so need this: Gmail Custom Time

How to Make Vacuuming Smell Good

1. Spill a bunch of your favorite aromatic spice (curry powder, for instance).
2. Vacuum it up with your bagless vacuum; empty the canister.
3. For weeks afterward, whenever air passes through the filter, it will be scented with above-mentioned aromatic spice. Instant cravings, whenever you vacuum!

Ask me how I know all this ... later, though, I need to go find some curry now.

The baby is lying on the floor kicking and screaming.

Of course, he's also grinning from ear to ear. Looks like I've got another loud one on my hands. Pray for me!

That's the last time I let you watch the Discovery Channel special on acid rain ....

"Mommy, is it going to snow?"

"No, sweetie, it's too warm to snow."

"But the clouds are moving in front of the sun and they will cover it up and then it will be cold and then it will snow."

"Honey, it's already fifty degrees outside. If any water falls from the sky today, it will be in the form of rain."

"Mooooommmmmy! Water doesn't fall from the sky. That's so silly!"

"Oh, yeah? What do you call rain?"

"Poison."

Such a tease ....

... this weather, that is. Spring has visibly sprung. There are buds opening on every tree and the sun is shining brightly.



The rays refracted through the glass doors in the living room are so very warm and inviting.



Unfortunately, the backyard thermometer reads 36 degrees -- and it's in the sun.

Try explaining to a cabin-feverish three-year-old why we can't play outside on his brand new bike (Happy Easter!) when it looks oh-so-lovely through the windows. According to weather.com, it's supposed to get up to 56 degrees today, but not until 6 pm, and really, what use is that?

I figure if it tops 40 degrees, we'll bundle up the baby and head outside, but I don't do 36 unless there's snow to play in.

I can't wait for the REAL arrival of spring!

Where I've been

God used me to make this little guy, born November 4:



He's nearly five months old and I'm just getting back into the swing of things. It was an exhausting pregnancy (with the insane three year old running about) ending in bedrest and an emergency c-section six weeks ahead of schedule. By the grace of God and many, many prayers (especially the Memorare), he was absolutely fine. As you can see from the picture, he's robust (rotund, even!), and happy. Praise God for His generous gifts.

(Check out big brother rocking out on his guitar in the background of the picture if you want to start your day with a smile.)

The Joy of Nature

It's been lovely outside the past several days, and we've been making the most of it. I am fairly newly (8.5 weeks) pregnant with our second blessing, and the good weather has allowed me to sit outside and rest, camera in hand, as my almost three-year-old runs around discovering anew all the wonders God provides him in his own front yard every spring.

We've been planting flowers, and he's happy to dig into the dirt with a shovel and help me gently pat the earth down over the tender roots of the plants. My neighbor even let him help with her large garden, and he did a great job!






Our neighborhood, like many in our area, has been completely invaded by caterpillars this year. I've never seen so many! The kids are all having a blast, picking them up, letting them wiggle all over their hands and arms, and trying to keep them as "pets" in plastic containers with a few leaves and some holes for air. We adults had been talking fondly about the possiblity of so many butterflies later in the season, but a friend who is more educated about nature than I am informed me today that the fantastic, furry, yellow-and-black caterpillars that have suddenly appeared in every nook and cranny of our town will soon become plain old moths, and they'll destroy our trees if we're not careful. I love our beautiful Thundercloud plum tree, so I won't be as enthusiastic about the caterpillars hanging around here anymore. But I did get some great pictures of my son "discovering" a caterpillar:






It is so thrilling to watch his eyes widen with each new experience and to see the smile on his face when he digs into something new -- quite literally, in the case of gardening! Though parenting at this sometimes difficult age (he'll be three in June) presents many challenges, the rewards of watching one's child explore the world with such eagerness and innocence are more than worth the trouble.

Meatless Meals Week 3

Week 2 got buried in the mess that is daily life -- namely, my neighbor had to take her 4 month old to the emergency room and left her three year old with us. My son and her son had fish sticks, my husband and I had tortellini out of a bag that I would not make again and took no pictures of because it was not good and I wouldn't want to share that with others.

But last night, we ate well.



LEMON PEPPER GRILLED TROUT

Ingredients:
2 fish fillets (I used trout, you could use almost any white fish or even salmon)
1 lemon
Olive oil
Lemon Pepper
Parsley (fresh or dried)

Directions:
Preheat broiler at 500 degrees. Place fish on non-stick broiler pan or heat-resistant baking sheet flesh side up. Rub fillets with olive oil until just coated but not dripping. Slice one lemon crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Place 4 slices on the pan alongside the fish. Squeeze the rest of the slices over the fish, letting the juice run, and discard. Sprinkle lemon pepper and parsley over the fish and lemon slices -- how much to put on varies with how much flavor you want.

Broil fish and lemon slices with oven door slightly ajar for 5-10 minutes or until fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork. Place roasted lemon slices on top of fish and serve with couscous and green veggie of your choice.

Meatless Fridays, Week One

Here is what we had for dinner tonight:



And here is the recipe (the usual rules apply about this being a meal for a couple with one small child, adjust as necessary for larger families):

Garlic Herb Pasta with Summer Squash

Ingredients:

1 box Garlic Herb Fettucine
1 large or two smaller yellow summer squash and/or zucchini (both work equally well and taste great together), cut in half lengthwise and then into 1/2 inch slices crosswise
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)
About 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (I eyeball this every single time, you just need enough to thorougly coat the pasta after it is cooked and drained.)
1/3 cup grated parmesan or parmigiano reggiano cheese (whichever you have on hand, I like the latter the best for taste, though)
More salt (to taste)
More pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Boil pasta as directed on the package. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick pan heat the 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Season the squash with salt and pepper and add to pan. Saute the squash, stirring frequently and adding salt and pepper to taste, until done to your liking (I like it to be very soft and have brown "grill marks" on it, but you may like it less cooked).

When pasta is done, drain in colander. Toss cooked, drained pasta in a large bowl with the squash, olive oil, salt, pepper, and grated cheese until everything is nicely mixed. Serve with a little extra grated cheese for garnish, and a side salad or breadsticks.


Enjoy!

Carnival of Meatless Recipes

Ruth at Just Another Day In Paradise is hosting a Carnival of Meatless Recipes for Lent. Catholics over age 14 are required to abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent, though many devout Catholics choose to abstain for the entire 40-day season or on additional days of penance. "Meat" includes all warm-blooded animals -- fish doesn't count. That's why you see the traditional "Friday Fish Fry" so many places -- back when EVERY Friday was a day of abstinence from meat, Catholics would get together for their weekly fish dinner. I bet it was fun!

Anyway, in the spirit of the Lenten season, I have a few meatless recipes I'd love to share. All recipes, unless noted, are portioned for 2 adults with leftovers or a single small child's meal, but can be multiplied as necessary for larger families.

Here is the first of what will be a weekly topic during Lent -- tonight's meatless meal, in honor of Ash Wednesday:

"Got Ashes?"

Black Bean and Guacamole Burritos with Spanish Rice

Ingredients:

For the Beans:
1 Can Black Beans (preferably organic), drained of water
About 1/2 tsp Chipotle Tabasco sauce (optional)
Chili powder (to taste)

For the Guacamole:
1 large ripe avocado
2 tbsp prepared salsa (mild or medium)
Salt (to taste)
Juice of 1/4 lime

1/2 cup shredded Mexican or Colby Jack cheese (to garnish)
2 flour tortillas (whole wheat are best)

For the Spanish Rice:
1 cup rice, prepared according to instructions
1 tbsp chili powder (adjust as necessary for taste)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 can of diced tomatoes, drained of juice
Salt or seasoned salt (to taste)

Instructions:

Prepare 1 cup of dried rice according to package instructions. This should take about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, mix the drained beans with about 1/2 tsp tabasco and a couple of shakes of chili powder (depending on how much kick you'd like the beans to have -- you can add more if you need to. Heat the beans over medium heat, stirring frequently, until hot but not boiling, then turn down the heat to low or med-low, stirring occasionally.

For the guacamole, scoop the flesh of the avocado into a bowl and add salsa, lime juice, and some salt to taste. Using a fork or potato masher, mix the contents of the bowl until blended but still lumpy.

By the time you finish these two tasks, the rice should be done. Over very low heat, stir in the canned tomatoes, chili powder, onion powder and salt and/or seasoned salt. Stir until well blended and remove from heat.

Place tortillas between two paper towels, folding the corners of the towels underneath the tortillas. Warm in microwave for 15-20 seconds. Assemble burritos by scooping beans into each tortilla followed by guacamole and shredded cheese. Serve alongside spanish rice.

Yummy!



This meal is a big favorite of our 2.5 year old. The portions listed above are just enough to feed my husband and me with a small portion left over for the kiddo, who is a light eater. We serve him just beans, rice, guacamole and cheese in a bowl with a spoon and a tortilla on the side, ripped up in little pieces for dipping. It's less messy that way, and what toddler doesn't enjoy dipping?

Large families will want to at least double this recipe.

Anatomy of a Playroom

Some of us at 4real are discussing how best to finish a basement, and the conversation has turned to organization and storage. Having just finished creating a playroom for my son out of half of our basement family room, I thought I would share the ways in which I chose to showcase and organize his multitude of toys and educational "thingies."

Here is an overall view of the play area:


In the lower right corner, you can see the sofa that divides the "bowling alley" (as I call the family room because it runs the entire width of our townhouse yet is probably less than 10 feet deep) in half with the white bookshelf backed up to it -- that's serving as the 4th "wall" of the play space. I took the picture standing in the TV watching area, which contains the couch, a coffee table and the TV unit (among other clutter I'm choosing not to show you at the moment).

Here is a closer look at the toy/book storage and reading area:


I found this great organizational shelving unit at Michael's Arts and Crafts for $49.99. A lot of my friends and acquaintances have similar shelves to organize kids' toys, but I like this one because it has book storage in the top, and we love books around this house!

The fish was a gift from my best friend's husband, an avid (and I mean AVID) fisherman. The painting is a rendering of the Ark by my 2 1/2 year old son. Tucked into the space beside the bookshelf is a collapsible play tunnel and two huge art and construction paper pads.

Here is the kitchen and art table area:


Here is a closer look at the art table area, which also contains a small home altar shelf with kid-friendly (read: wooden) rosaries and some favorite images of Our Lord and Our Lady:


And here is the shelf backed up to the sofa where we keep toys that are too big for the toy shelf, along with a small drawer unit for art supplies (excuse the mess on top of the bookshelf, the other half of this room is very much a work in progress and the mess is spilling over):


Hopefully this will help someone.