Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Putting the TMI in absentminded

Author: Ellen S______

  • Not my business

    There are a fair number of people who approach all situations with “That is not my business.” Say a nearby stranger is having some drama? These people step daintily in a huge arc around that stranger’s drama. These people didn’t have my mother. My Mom insisted I wade into other people’s dramas. Usually these discussions…

  • Weekly Paint Progress: 6/11/2026

    Weekly Paint Progress: 6/11/2026

    Here’s the previous: Here’s the barest touch of progress : I made the closet door half a shade darker. It’s shameful but I tend to go too far too fast and I’m deliberately going at a crawl. So it’s like a guess the difference puzzle. Do you see ANY change? … when it was originally…

  • Update on the deer update

    Previously seen on Real Deer of My Subdivision: Two days ago a doe and two fawns were in our yard. Mom left one of the two fawns behind in our yard. Hours later the fawn was gone. One day ago a mystery neighbor posted in community Facebook page there was a fawn in his landscaping.…

  • Impending bear and raccoon visitations

    There’s a bear less than 50 miles away, as is their wont in summer. I’m surprised we haven’t had a baby raccoon visitation yet. Deer update: a neighbor reported seeing a lost fawn in his front shrubbery. I will worry about that baby deer for the rest of my life.

  • Deer visitation

    Very exciting visitors yesterday. The two fawns below had alread been nursing for a minute before Gary looked up from his book. He was caught unprepared so he was a little rattled. After they left, I walked to the front yard to watch where they were headed and discovered that when deer are rattled they…

  • TWIL: Some slime molds have great names

    Gary’s biology degree (well, near-degree) has some benefits. For example, our shower never has mold. It has “slime mold.” I see now there are even more descriptive names for some specific slime molds. For example, dog vomit slime mold. (It doesn’t grow out of dog vomit. It just looks like dog vomit.) Other Slime molds:…

  • I have Become Death, Scanner of Documents.

    I had assembled all the documents I needed to submit for this Radiation Compensation Claim, but then I stopped and dragged my feet for a month. I had a plan to scan in one document a day into the online portal, but then I went on a tear and scanned everything from 4:30 to 12:30.…

  • How to fix a noisy Toto toilet the right way

    Remember when I fixed my noisy toilet? I was so pleased with myself for having jiggled the toilet into submission. Sadly, it began making noise again last week. I had to wait until Gary was out of the house before I could get my hands into the tank and begin jiggling again. I was poking…

  • Weekly Paint Progress: 6/4/2026

    Here’s where I left off on the pitcher of peonies: … when it was originally this:  Let’s see if I can’t make peony petals look like they aren’t made of bologna.  

  • Neck Update

    The science experiment with the Pricey Lancome Cream continues. Here’s the opera bathroom update at four weeks in. I suspect it’s the angle of the light in the opera bathroom that makes half the wattle look smaller. (Treated wattle is on the right side of the photo.) (This pose makes me look like I am…