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Author: Kate

  • April 23rd, 2013
  • 2

Hello, dear readers! Just FYI, the blog is being revamped for your reading pleasure. For the next few days, it may look a little funky as it undergoes maintenance. See you on the other side!

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the rat mansion: unveiled

  • August 3rd, 2012
  • 2

Whew! I promised in my last post that I would share a lot of goodies about the rats’ new cage when it was finished, and finally, after a month of work, it is. Like many of my projects, I thought it would be a quicker and easier process than it was, but I’m really pleased with the result–and more importantly, so are Ari and Vetty. Their old cage was perfectly nice, but not ideal–it never really looked like it belonged in our living room, they scattered food and bedding all over the floor, and we had to hide all their [...]

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rats are people too: interior design in miniature

  • July 26th, 2012
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I’m Kate Moore, and I love rats. Still with me? Good. That sentence carries a bit of a stigma. When I tell people about my beloved pet rats, reactions range from the disgusted (“Ugh! Why would you bring a rat into your house?!?”) to the politely baffled (“Rats? You mean…like actual rats?”) to the downright mean. Only very occasionally will I get a positive response, and I cling to those people like peanut butter on the roof of your mouth. The thing is, most of these people haven’t ever met a pet rat. Fancy rats, as they’re called (meaning “bred [...]

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oh, the life of a cat: diy outdoor lounge for a spoiled beast

  • June 11th, 2012
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How about this weather, Midwest? It’s been gorgeous, although the drought has put a damper on things a bit (fortunately it gave us a nice big storm today). Our garden has been soaking up the summer sun and giving us outrageous amounts of zucchini, a few handfuls of edamame, a nice crop of watermelon radishes, countless herbs, and around 20 not-yet-ripe-but-starting-to-look-delicious tomatoes. Between the garden’s generous production and our Bounty Box subscription (a local grocer, the Root Cellar, provides us with a big box of local and seasonal produce every week), we haven’t needed much else in the way of [...]

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get your om nom on: three-mushroom three-cheese pizza

  • May 8th, 2012
  • 0

What I have to offer you this evening is not for the faint of heart, ladies and gentlemen. It requires a keen appreciation for two of the world’s tastiest things, mushrooms and cheese. Do you have that appreciation? Yes? Good. This is one serious pizza, though it has not-so-serious origins. Jimmy and I were scrounging around for dinner, wanting to get something done fast so we could watch old episodes of Star Trek (we’re so close to the tribbles episode!), and he suggested pizza because we had a spare crust lying around. Typically I make crust from scratch, but we [...]

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it’s a walk-off: stephens college fashion show

  • April 23rd, 2012
  • 5

I know I usually show inspiring spaces and objects, but today we’re going to take a look at some inspiration of a different kind. Once a year, Stephens College here in Columbia has a juried fashion show, where all the fashion students can submit work for display. I think the seniors have to exhibit a collection as part of their graduation requirements. This year, Jimmy was filming the event for CAT TV, and I was offered a ticket. I also happened to have a brand new camera I wanted to test out, so I schlepped it along. I was seriously [...]

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room inspiration: bright breakfast nook on a budget

  • April 17th, 2012
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Way back in January, I asked whether you all would prefer the kind of inspiration boards I’d been putting together–without regards to cost–or if it’d be more helpful for you to see some boards done on a tight budget. The budget boards got the most votes, and so I’ve been hard at work putting some together for you. They definitely take more effort; pretty stuff is everywhere, but pretty and cheap stuff is a little more hidden. It totally exists, though! If you can, scour your local thrift stores and garage sales–you can find an incredible number of gems–and if [...]

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container gardening for the lazy

  • April 15th, 2012
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For the last few years, every spring Jimmy and I have tried to plant a vegetable garden. We have had varying degrees of success with this. Two years ago, knowing very little about gardening but wanting the Earth Mothery feeling of digging around in the dirt with my hands, we bought a bunch of terra cotta pots, filled them with potting soil, and planted some seeds from the hardware store creatively labeled with names like “EGGPLANT” and “ZUCCHINI.” As our stunted, wispy seedlings grew into stunted, wispy plants, I glanced at the potting soil bag and noticed in big letters [...]

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apology sandwich: vegetarian banh mi

  • April 12th, 2012
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Oh, children. I’m sure you feel like I’ve abandoned you. Would you believe me if I said that abysmally slow February was followed up by an outrageously busy March? I know it’s no excuse, darlings. But don’t despair. You know I’ll always love you. To make it up to you, I made you a sandwich. Not just any sandwich. This sandwich is piled high with love, care, and more condiments than you can shake a mid-century walnut veneer stick at. It’s my favorite vegetarian banh mi, originally cobbled together from several sources and tweaked obsessively until it was as close [...]

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spray, girl, spray: paint makes everything better

  • February 23rd, 2012
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(The title of this post is for my dear friend Emily, who greets me with a Tila Tequila-ish “hey girl heyyyyyy” now and then.) I’ve been feeling the DIY urge pretty strongly lately, but at the moment I don’t have much to apply it to. February is a very, very slow month for me on Etsy, historically, so our budget has been pretty tight; thus, projects like building a DVD rack for the alcove or re-renovating the master bathroom have been put temporarily on hold. For the moment, I’m limited to projects that are either cheap or free. Fortunately, I [...]

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