31.1.09

I am a genius

well on someone's scale somewhere, anyway...

Doormat Quandary #1
My door and the neighbor's door are right next to each other at right angles so there has never been enough room for me to have my own doormat. No big when Sheryl was here since she always had a huge one and I just used it. Now the new kids have a really old fairly useless mat which would not do much even if I did use it. Plus, isn't it just nice to see your own doormat at your door? Kind of a nesting thing.

Doormat Quandary #2
I had one of those really cheap plastic grass mats on the deck in back but found early on that it was light enough for the slightest wind to move it, so it's been nailed down in two places, loosely, ever since, making it harder to shake out, etc. Further, it impinges TC's dinner comfort as well as his saying-hi-to-Sam-and-Lucy comfort since he hates to have his feet on it so sits to the side of it all the time. (S&L concur on its paw unsavoryness btw: they are quite loathe to step on it on occasional deck outings.)

Doormat Quandary #3
I'm really picky about doormats. My all time fave was my old fish one in Aub*rn, one of the recycled tire ones. I lucked out finding it right after I moved there and kept it the whole time even tho by the time I was ready to move here you couldn't really tell the fish in the middle were fish anymore.

Ever since moving to SC, I've been looking at this mat at Target:

I really liked the colors despite the slightly hokey zen-wannabe theme. But get a load of those scary end pieces. Holy Incongruous, Batman.

Major Brainstorm:
Tonight in the Target doormat aisle once again, I had an idea. Here's a hint:

Thanks JFF yet again for some really great scissors!

Et voilà!!

Front door view.

Notice how it fits almost perfectly between neighbors' skanky old mat and my doorsill. (Full disclosure: I had to scooch the NSOM over about 2" off center - hope they're not as picky as I am or it will really bug them... Yeah, figure those odds.)


Back deck view, TC's bowl to the right.

As soon as it was down, TC stood right on it to meow at us, so apparently it is much more comfy on catpaws than faux turf is. Also now he can eat right in front of the door and I can more easily watch out for Grey Cat who sometimes purloins TC's repast.

I'm going to nail the little end pieces on a couple of the deck steps which are slopey and have been the source of Susan Foot Slippage numerous times taking trash out on rainy days.

It dawns on me that it is fairly frequent that I purchase something and then feel the need to alter it in my own particular idiom. Just can't leave well enough alone, can ya, Suz? I have to say tho, it's almost always better my way. This time the improvement is dependant on the specifics of the situation but even just taking those end pieces off makes a way better mat, no? Who the heck thought those up? Give that doormat designer a raise...

From another perspective, this particular project perhaps underlines my need either to fricking get to work (go procrastination energy) or find some friends already.

2 commentaires:

Jessica a dit…

wheeee! I love it - 2 mats for the price of one! How frugal and smart! Why did I just type one number and spell the other out? I have no idea!

I'm home. Tired of driving. Had a good time with H.

Applecart T. a dit…

Nice mat work, indeed.
(It's flat and smooth / non-dirty-grabby, yes?)