Random 5 for February 8, 2026 – De-icers, people, weather, surgery, renovations

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That’s different – My local Starbucks uses pink de-icer on their walkways. I’ve never seen that before. Maybe it comes in colors now?

Speaking of Starbucks – I’ve been going to the current one for almost 14 months. The clientele is different. It’s a younger crowd (drinking pink foo-foo drinks for breakfast!) and everyone is in a hurry. I go between 7 and 8 so the everyone is on their way to work or school. Yes, there are moms getting pink drinks for their kids on the way to school. It’s taken a long time to get a casual “hi” from someone who comes every day. It finally happened this week. There is a guy who comes on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays to work on his laptop. I see him every week but for the first time he acknowledged me. The baristas know me (and more importantly, my drink) so I get enough socialization especially for before coffee!

Iceland – we are still encased in ice. Anything that wasn’t cleared before the sleet that came on top of the snow, is firmly encased in ice. I’ve never seen that before, especially for such a long time. It’s been over a week now and I’m getting grumpy about it. Fortunately, our streets are clear, and we have power so I shouldn’t complain.

Miracles! – Both my cat Sasha and a neighbor had surgery this week. I am amazed at how fast both bounced back. I remember as a kid, surgery meant a week in the hospital. New techniques; better medications; and knowing that recovery at home is better; help.

As promised – Here are pictures of my bathroom. I had wallpapered about a year and a half ago, but it didn’t work for me. The beauty of doing it myself was that it only cost the price of the new wallpaper (and Advil for achy bones!). I am very happy with this version.

The room is long and narrow so it’s difficult to get pictures. This is the vanity wall.

This is the back wall with the vanity wall on the right and shower on the left.

So how was your week?

43 thoughts on “Random 5 for February 8, 2026 – De-icers, people, weather, surgery, renovations”

  1. I like the wallpaper – very nice and the soft lights on either side of the mirrors is nicer (and kinder) than bright lights. I heard that Starbucks is debuting a new roast tomorrow … it is actually a roast from their original days in the early 70s and they’re bringing it back since lots of people need extra coffee as they stay up too late tonight for the Super Bowl. And it comes in a vintage cup. Pink drinks for kids … I was a boring kid drinking OJ for breakfast, probably Minute Maid which is going away now, probably because kids want to drink pink drinks. I find OJ too sweet now and drink V-8 instead, but one brand of OJ may have 15-20 types of OJ … it’s as bad as finding the toothpaste you always use!

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  2. I love your new wallpaper, soft light blue with memories of nature gracefully climbing the walls.

    Not being familiar with your snow and its topping of frozen sleet, I’m imaging that if you step on it, you crunch right through. If that’s true, a cat could get lost in there.

    I’m glad Sasha and your neighbor recovered so quickly.

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  6. Your bathroom is my color! We have blue going on here at the Casa. Beautiful shade of blue you have. I love this kind of blue because it reminds me of the ocean. Your wallpaper is so pretty. I love the birds… a sea turtle or a fishie would be nice passing by here🤭 Speaking of shower curtains… I need to click a picture of our shower curtain in the guest bath and shoot it to you!

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  10. Love your bathroom! It looks the size of our ;lounge! Bathrooms here in the UK are usually basic and small, with a loo, shower/bath and sink. Not much else. We took our bath lout a few years ago and just have the shower cubicle, sink and loo.
    Glad the surgeries went OK.

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  12. What is in those pink drinks? I’m very curious. And I’m struggling to visualise parts of the world covered in deep snow when we are all snowdrops and crocuses (croci?). Catorze will be getting his Spring Zing soon, which is both cute and concerning.

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    • Oh no! I remember the winter I lived in New Jersey and it snowed every Wednesday. There was a pile of snow under dense trees at the back of my neighbor’s driveway that didn’t completely melt until the first week in April!

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  17. Enjoyed seeing the bathroom and what you have done with it. Enjoyed the blog about the wall paper as you may remember. I got to completely redo mine..a tiny one, well, wait…I didn’t do it Hired someone, but oh what a lovely difference it can make when you’re in there cleaning, etc. Worth it always but when it’s pretty…makes it easier to do in a manner of speaking.

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    • We had the entire bath renovated 2 years ago and it made a huge difference. When they left everything was off white and quite boring. There is no window in that room. Initially my first wallpaper was pretty dogwood blossoms (which I loved) on a dove gray background (which I did not love). The background didn’t work as well as I had hoped. I’m not a fan of gray. For me taking it down and replacing was a couple days of work and well worth it. I was lucky to find a great washable runner to go with it. You are right. Cleaning and even being in there is so much better when it’s pretty.

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  18. Hmm…..pink de-icer huh? That’s a new one on me! Designer de-icer…what the heck will be next I wonder? Anyway, nice to have at least one “hello” friend at your Starbucks. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the bathroom – you definitely did a beautiful job. It’s elegant – which is a tough “look” to master in a bathroom sometimes. You did it!

    Hugs, Pam

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