I know she was speaking English, but I don't understand the words she was saying....

[lagilman]

tv's on in the background this afternoon, some design show, and the homeowner is saying "well, I have these bookcases, I thought I needed them to fill the space, but I don't have anything to put on them or in them...

Bwa? Huh?

Please, honey, give 'em here. I neeeeeeeeeeed 'em!

Meanwhile, work done for the day, I have moved on to the hot bourbon toddy recipe, as was given to me several years ago by an evil friend. You have to be either just coming down with or in the recovery stages of for it to work, but oh it does indeed work...

Comments

[deza.livejournal.com]

I saw that one--hate the orange they used on the walls. Any house that devoid of books scares the crap out of me!

[girasole.livejournal.com]

So will you share this recipe? Please?

[lagilman]

Place a teaspoon of honey (I use Tortuga honey, lime-infused. If you don't have that, add a splash of lime or lemon juice to the water before you mix) into a glass. Add one or two shots of quality bourbon [according to your alcohol tolerance and/or need for sleep] and a splash of hot-not-boiling water. Stir and drink while it's hot.

The stirring is important, because you want the bourbon and honey to blend.

[girasole.livejournal.com]

Ok sounds like mine: Jack Daniels, honey,lemon, hot water. Good for what ails ya.

[lagilman]

some people use simple syrup, and/or tea. I've found water and honey are what works.

(we also had a deep argument over the appropriate bourbon to use, but agreed it had to be bourbon. Much as I love Scotch, it just doesn't work the same.)

[girasole.livejournal.com]

To me, the tea interferes with the sedative portion of the drink; honey has various qualities that simple syrup, much as I love it, does not.

Random comment: I like to infuse a little fresh spearmint into my simple syrup. Great in iced tea and various summer drinks, if you like that sort of thing.

The icon, btw, is a piece of the stencil that we found in the house under the 1950s wallpaper in the hall.

[adpaz.livejournal.com]

Oh Gods, I could use them too. The problem is that I don't have anyplace to put the bookcases. Unless I get rid of my son's bed.....

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Every time I watch a home design program, my first reaction is, where are all the books???

[lagilman]

I've actually been pleasantly surprised by the number (small, but present) of people on those shoes with bookcases that are in obvious use.

Of course, I also wonder, once the camera shuts off and the door closes, how many of these 'improvements' are then further adapted to fit the owner's actual needs....

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Back when I had expanded cable, I used to watch a show called Clean Sweep occasionally. A lot of the stuff they helped people clear out of their homes was necessary and logical, but every time they told someone to cut back by half on their books, or made them get rid of craft supplies (I quilt -- my fabric stash is my palette, just like an artist's oils -- except that if I get rid of a particular piece, I can't count on being able to go to the store and buy it again, esp. if it's more than a year old), I just wanted to reach into the television and strangle them. There are some things that are Not Clutter, under any circumstances, and those organizer folk need to recognize and respect that.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Obviously the space that needed filling was the one between her ears...

[moschus.livejournal.com]

I love that you have a tag for 'alcohol'. And let's hear it for those evil friends with their hot toddy recipes...

[javacatz.livejournal.com]

My current favorite for coughs and other ickies.*

Hot Buttered Rum

1 T brown sugar
1 T butter (not margarine)
1 oz rum
3-4 cloves

Put everything into a nice mug, pour boiling water over everything and stir. Let sit for a few minutes and drink. You can leave the cloves in and be careful or them remove before drinking.

I prefer a dark or spiced rum, but any quality rum will work. I also like mine a little sweeter, so I use more sugar. Haven't tried this with honey, not sure how that would taste with the rum and cloves.

Also fabulous on a cold winter night. :-)

[lagilman]

dairy + sinus gunk = bad news, for me

[javacatz.livejournal.com]

Dairy products do make you secrete more mucus, but the more processed the cow juice, the less problems it causes. At least for me. I'm also lactose intolerant, but butter doesn't bother me. Unless I eat a whole stick. :-) This recipe is easily adjusted, so a much, much smaller amount could be used. It's really just to take a little of the alcohol bite away and soothe your throat as it goes down. You could even make it without the butter. It's just that any of the butter substitutes wouldn't have quite the same taste.

Since you pour boiling water over the other ingredients, the alcohol doesn't get hot enough to burn off. As a result, I've never had more than two of these in one night. Perhaps if I had three or more, the butter content might bother me.

[misofuhni.livejournal.com]

Mmmm...toddy recipes. Mind if I place this is my memories file?

[javacatz.livejournal.com]

Have at it!

[seachanges.livejournal.com]

The hot toddy recipe I always used was bourbon, honey, lemon juice and mint tea. Worked like a charm!

[lagilman]

I am not a fan of tea in a toddy -- the boiling water brings the alcohol and the honey into a nice blend, without changing the taste. Ditto the lemon juice -- adding citrus to the honey instead intensifies the taste-blend, for me.

[wedschilde.livejournal.com]

i'm sorry... i couldn't read anything after...don't have anything to put on them.

i think i either went blind after that...

or threw up in my brain.

er? wha????

[blazedglory.livejournal.com]

Have a bottle of brain bleach.

Really? No books? What is she thin--never mind. We finally got a few shelves up on the walls--bookcases won't sit well on the floor. We didn't get any of our books onto the first two shelves. Some thirteen-year-old put some of her books on them and is greedily awaiting the next open space.

[lagilman]

did you use floating shelves, or a bracket system? I'm adding shelves in my bedroom and am still considering options...

[blazedglory.livejournal.com]

Brackets. We put standards in every stud in the wall and are using brackets to support 8" boards in 6' lengths. We'll get some 10" or 12" shelves later, but 8" works well for most of El's books at the moment. She'd been keeping them in the old entertainment center and a cabinet in her room.

There are more color options for both standards and brackets than there were last time we did this. Not many, but more. We're painting the shelves, to brighten the room and keep them from looking quite so postgrad chic.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

Spouse and I have been looking at houses, and there are only a couple Must-Haves in houses, one of which is: sufficient usable wall space for umpteen bookshelves.

[lagilman]

I am the child of parents who, when they moved into their current apartment, had three renovation requirements; an updated kitchen, an updated bathroom, and built-in shelving for their books.

[irismoonlight.livejournal.com]

She bought bookcases to ... fill...up...space. And she has NO BOOKS?

I'm not sure which of those two concepts I find more flabbergasting. The second, actually, by a yard. Who has no books? Who has more bookcases than they have books? Mine are double-stacked!

[lagilman]

I can't stand double-stacking. I don't know why -- I guess I just want to be able to find everything Right Now Immediately. Of course, the stacks of books on the floor of the bedroom aren't that easy to search through, I admit...

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

well, I have these bookcases

did ya get the address? I can get a truck...

[lyonessnyc.livejournal.com]

I just can't fathom it. My living room is wall-to-wall books, mostly on shelves. :) The idea of not having books...? Huh.

I'm currently desperately trying to get myself to the point where I can divest of *some* books (so many of them are just in boxes in the storage unit), but it's so hard!

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

What odd people.

I do a similar recipe (my dad's) but add lemon and sage leaves (sage is an antiseptic and good for the throat).

[lagilman]

hrmm. I do have sage on-hand....

[logrusboy.livejournal.com]

Mindboggling. Excess bookcases? What is wrong with...how can...what kind of...aaauuuugh! Nope. Sorry. Refusing to believe it. I can't hear you la la la la la la....

[egret17.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I wonder if she leases space on her bookcases... I'm nearly to the point where building more bookcases with books seems like a good idea.

[6-penny.livejournal.com]

If you have a keeper handy who can bail you out and pour you into your place of repose, submerge in a hot bath and drink said toddy there. Wake up next week.