The cat above is our girl Griffin, who is going on 18 years old and has an inoperable tumor. We’re more than willing to sacrifice a little beauty for her comfort, which is why we’ve not tried to bar her from her favorite spot on the couch. But she uses her toenails to help herself up — which is evident in the condition of the leather. We tried to get her to use steps to the couch, but she wasn’t having it. We’ve tried a blanket, but it’s difficult to tuck in because of the way the couch is sewn, and Griffin manages to get her claws under it anyway. I’ve recently started to wonder what the best way will be to minimize all those tiny claw marks. (They’re in a small area, just in the middle of the couch.) Should I trim off the little edges that stick up? Use saddle soap? Give up and pretend it’s a Ralph Lauren-esque “weathered” look? What do you think? –Mary T.

There’s a pasta dish I cook so often, that is so simple, I don’t even consider it a recipe. I saute some finely chopped garlic in a bit of olive oil, toss in some al dente spaghetti, finish it up with some grated cheese and red pepper flakes, and voila! My favorite comfort food. In last week’s Dining In section in The New York Times, there was a recipe that turned my pasta techniques upside down: One-Pan Pasta with Garlic and Oil. It was a part of the story Do You Need All That Oil To Boil Pasta? The idea behind it is that you can save energy by not using so much water to cook pasta, and not bringing the water to a boil before adding the pasta. I know! Sounds crazy, right? But there’s a wonderful side effect from this concept: You create amazingly starchy, flavorful pasta water that can be used to make yummy sauce.

For this recipe, first you cook some garlic in a tiny bit of olive oil in a large pan. Remove the garlic once golden, and then stir in eight cups of cold water, and add in the pasta and two teaspoons of salt. Bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. One small problem I found: the stiff pasta that poked out of the water got a little burned on the edge of the pan. Just a tiny bit, because it softened quickly and then it was all submerged. Once the pasta is cooked, you pour the cooking water off into a bowl and set aside. To the pan with the pasta, add in the cooked garlic, more oil, fresh parley, and then some spoonfuls of the cooking water until it’s lovely and slightly creamy. After adding my usual cheese and red pepper flakes, I dug in and was AMAZED at how flavorful it was. The pasta had a nuttiness to it that was so interesting, and all the ingredients really clung to it nicely. It really elevated the dish to a whole new level. I will definitely to it again! Click here for the full recipe. — Angela M.

Like a lot of people, I’m a little short on cash these days. I’d like to try to sell some items on eBay, but I’m a little overwhelmed by the process. It seems like there are so many different choices when designing your post. Should I pay more to post extra pictures of my items? How should I choose my starting bid? Has anyone had success as an eBay seller? Do you have any tips you’re willing to share? I’d appreciate any advice. Thanks! –Erica P.

Disposable batteries are not environmentally friendly, but I confess we still use them in my digital recorder and our camping flashlights. We do, however, save them to dispose of properly — I have noticed, to my happiness, that you can drop spent batteries and lightbulbs off in bins in IKEA’s lighting department (at least in Seattle). But eventually I hope to be able to try new EnviroMAX batteries from Fuji, which don’t contain cadmium or mercury, are packaged with recycled paper and fully recyclable PET plastic, and won’t harm the environment if disposed of in a landfill. Not that any landfill waste is a good thing, but this is a step in the right direction. You can find them next month at ACO, ACE, and Do It Best hardware stores, plus Big Y stores in Massachusetts and Shop’ n Save in St. Louis. You can buy them in Fuji’s online store too, but right now they’re only taking contact info as the batteries are out of stock. –Mary T.

A lot of you share our fondness for Orla Kiely and her groovy designs, but only one of you will be getting a pile of her Target goodies sent to you. Deborah Bosket from Seattle, WA is our winner. Congratulations Deborah and thanks to all who entered. Stay tuned for another great giveaway, coming up soon!

It’s never easy to work a little circus humor into your decor, but this knife holder from Urban Trend has us snickering like a kid with cotton candy. It’s Throwzini’s Knife Block, designed like the Wheel of Death from 1938. Made of wood with five professional knives, you give it a spin to select the blade of your choice. We imagine pretending the little red dude is our boss (or former boss)… or maybe the tax man. Available at amazon.com for a sharply priced $95. Ouch.

It’s almost time for us to rake the straw away and get down to the business of reclaiming our yard, and we’re in the market for some strange shapes that a gardener at our local nursery likened to images from Dr. Seuss books. To our delight, she found us a not-too-expensive tree my husband has wanted for the yard ever since we moved to the Pacific Northwest: a Weeping Giant Sequoia. Ours is pretty small right now at about four feet, but they grow to ten times that size. Next on the list is something that was a common landscaping plant in the 1940s and ’50s, the Hollywood Juniper. I’ve seen quite a few of these out here — they don’t call this the Evergreen State for nothing. LA Land describes them as “unabashed individualists” that “grow and twist as they please.” I’m not saying this describes us, too, but… Yes, I am. I’m planning on a couple of these for a slightly narrow area in our yard, where they’ll amuse me and block a somewhat unpleasant view. And yes, eventually I’ll share my own photos. –Mary T.

Images via The Gray Barn and Cuyamaca College.

If I owned my apartment and knew I would be in this space for the long haul, I would most definitely invest in a roll of this Liquid Floral Wallpaper from Anthropologie. I could see this in my bathroom, or even on an accent wall in my bedroom. I love the use of gray for the background color instead of the more expected black on white. The best part is, it’s on super sale. Just $49.95 (down from $168) for a 33′ x 20.5″ roll. — Erica P.

Having a fancy new phone wasn’t that big of a deal for me. I wasn’t about to wait in long lines and spend loads of cash for an iPhone. Well lately I’ve had a bit of a change of heart. Just recently I’ve started to develop serious iPhone envy. It seems everyday I see another amazing application available for the iphone that I’m convinced would improve my life. Like this one spotted on Cool Hunting called What The Font. Imagine you’re sitting in a restaurant and the font on the front of the menu catches your eye. You’d love to use it on your new business cards but you don’t know what it is. Simply take a picture with your iphone and an in phone image processor cross references the typeface with the font database MyFonts. How cool is that?!?! If you’re one of the lucky ones, download the application here. — Erica P.

I recently started eating something I always thought I hated: plain yogurt. Oh, but not just any plain. Greek-style yogurt, with a texture and taste so creamy and rich, a friend calls it “dessert yogurt.” Add a little bit of honey or some frozen fruit, and suddenly my breakfast seems incredibly decadent. My absolute favorite right now is Fage, which tastes just as rich even when it’s 0% fat. Though I haven’t yet, this is a yogurt that begs to be added to recipes — and they supply some, too. My first runner-up is Greek Gods, which is available in several sweetened (but nowhere near as sweet as traditional yogurt brands) varieties like fig and pomegranate. And now I find that making my own yogurt is not only possible, it sounds sorta, well, easy, according to Beekman 1802 (a gorgeous site just learned about, where the above photo was taken). There will definitely be yogurt-making experiments in my culinary future. –Mary T.