Why do cute forest critters run away from humans?

Because they saw these new holiday candles and were as creeped-out as we were. Those birds to the right must feel like self-roasting holiday dinners.

We'll protect the identity of the retailer and simply say the name rhymes with Lottery Yarn. The same store has some equally cute pine-cone critters that you don't light on fire -- warmer and fuzzier than watching little Rocky Raccoon's ear drip down his back.

We're accepting nominations for the weirdest, most disturbing holiday decor at home@latimes.com. Include a photo and your own caption. Best entries will get posted on this blog.

Squeaks, cuddles, poops, seeks human companion

Do you rent or own? How often do you travel? What kind of food will you serve? Do you plan to breed?

Geez, personal. But then again, this is guinea pig rescue, and the volunteers who save these pocket pets from dark fates and foster them to health want to make sure the animals land in good, loving homes. Some rescue groups have more than 100 of the critters in their care, awaiting adoption, and the ranks are expected to swell in the aftermath of Disney's summer kid flick "G-Force."

How does one get into guinea pig rescue? Julia Hinrichs of the Texas Rustlers Guinea Pig Rescue had been involved with various animal welfare organizations when she started noticing that guinea pigs in animal shelters were not being adopted and eventually getting euthanized. Shannon Cauthen of the Cavy Care Guinea Pig Shelter and Sanctuary in Colorado had a similar story. "There is nobody else championing them," she said. "They do nothing but offer love and devotion. They will learn their names. They give kisses. They ask nothing, and they give so much. It makes me cuckoo." 

Read our feature story on the guinea pig rescuers. You might go cuckoo too.

-- Craig Nakano

Photo: Jenn Lima, a volunteer with the Orange County Cavy Haven rescue group, fosters a mother-daughter pair in her Los Angeles home.

Photo credits: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

The Weekly Wrap-Up: Aquascapes, sanitariums, crickets, problematic vegetable gardens and more

In the still-kicking, hold-in-your-hands, costs-less-than-a-tetra issue of the Sept. 19 Los Angeles Times Home section:

Aquascapes: Who needs the fish? The story and photo gallery on the art of aquarium gardening. (If you want to see the aquascapers' miniature tool shed, including those scissors pictured above, used to trim ground cover, turn to Page 6.)

The Realist Idealist: Victory gardens sound great, but what if your soil is contaminated? More important, how can you tell? The column by Times staffer Susan Carpenter, who writes on green home improvement and sustainable living for Home. Want to get your dirt tested? Click here.

Lost L.A.: Long, long, long before Burke Williams, there was the Glendale Sanitarium. It's the latest installment of Sam Watters' column on Southern California social history as told through the homes and gardens that are no longer part of our landscape. Past columns are archived here.

Hot Property: Milla Jovovich, Bing Crosby, former Raven Chris McAlister, "Grey's Anatomy" actor Mark Saul and more. Times columnist Lauren Beale's latest is here.

Man of the House: It's that time. Chris Erksine on cricket and soccer season.

-- Craig Nakano

Photos, clockwise from top: "Mountainscape" tank design by Peter Kirwan of Dublin, Ireland; Susan Carpenter's raised vegetable beds; Jiminy Cricket; Pro Scissors Wave Type designed by Aqua Design Amano; Milla Jovovich; the Glendale Sanitarium as rendered on a vintage postcard.

Photo credits, clockwise from top: Courtesy of www.showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org; Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times; Walt Disney Studios; Aqua Design Amano; Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times; courtesy of Sam Watters.

Ventura's Main Street, the anti-Rodeo Drive

If you're planning the weekend, don't forget the thrift stores on Main Street in Ventura. Get over the Uncle-Wilber's-basement aroma that magically graces the shops and you'll undoubtedly come across some entertaining finds. Seen recently, from left: At the Child Abuse & Neglect Thrift Store, a $35 Siegfried & Roy white tiger (I don't sell 'em, I just report 'em); at American Vintage for $12.50 apiece, wood-framed wall silhouettes that looked like they could have come from Anthropologie but that still carried ancient $3.99 price tags from Sears, Roebuck; and at the Nicholby Antique Mall, the inexplicably labeled Pleasure Chest, $65. (I thought it best not to look inside.)

At Fusion Home, one of the few contemporary home furnishings stores in town, I was intrigued by colorful ceramics displayed on a shelf. In an era when "made in China" is usually a pejorative or a punchline, Cynthia Bowman highlighted vases ($21.99 to $79.99) as handmade Chinese designs from Jingdezhen, renowned for its porcelain since the Han dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. "We are very careful about not selling made-in-China product unless it is of artisanal quality," she said. "And most of us forget how much beautiful quality work is produced there."

If thrift is more your thing, the Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau has put together a vintage shops directory.

-- Craig Nakano

Photos: Craig Nakano / Los Angeles Times

Weekly Wrapup: A fire-proofed house, flu-proofed dorms and a boredom-proofed garden

In the still-kicking, hold-in-your-hands, probably-costs-less-than-what-you-paid-for-that-can-of-Diek-Coke issue of the Los Angeles Times Home section today:

Home of the Times: A couple in the Malibu hills vow not to let disaster strike twice. Their 700-square-foot weekend retreat, pictured at top, is built to be as wildfire-proof as can be. Check out the full story now, and look for the expanded photo gallery in a couple of days. Bonus: A sidebar on how baby diapers inspired a fire-retardant gel now available so homeowners can coat their own roofs.

Garden: Welcome to artist Kenny Scharf's mad world in Culver City. Read the story on an unconventional approach to low-water landscaping, and see the photo gallery, which includes the house. 

Living: Turn up the volume and pass the popcorn and ibuprofen, please. Read how universities are trying to prevent the TV lounge, dining hall and bedrooms from becoming a petri dish for H1N1. 

Maison & Objet: Because a trophy-head deer covered in vintage needlepoint is exactly what you were looking for. Check out that bit of insanity plus some bonus online-only reports in our coverage from the Paris design show.

Hot Property: Ben Stiller, Ruth Buzzi, "Juno" producer Daniel Dubiecki, Bette Davis, the Baltimore Ravens' Trevor Pryce and South Korean film star Leslie Kim.

Man of the House: Hold off on the frantic letters, please. We just gave Chris Erskine a day off. 

Datebook: Our weekly event calendar is posted here every Monday, so check back. For last week's, click here.

-- Craig Nakano

Photo credits, clockwise from top: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times; Frédérique Morrel; Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times; AFP / Getty Images.

Weekly Wrapup: The ultimate pizza party and more

In the still-kicking, hold-in-your-hands, costs-less-than-six-minutes-of-minimum-wage-work edition of the Sept. 5 Los Angeles Times Home section:

Alfresco entertaining: R.J. Cutler, "The September Issue" director and Anna Wintour survivor, hosts friends for a pre-premiere party in his new outdoor dining room and kitchen, complete with pizza oven. Join the celebration via Debra Prinzing's story and expanded photo gallery.

Digging the scene: The Home section aims for a little offbeat fun, checking into the Southern California music scene and homes with as much personality as the people on stage. It's a series we're launching called Backstage Pass, and first up is Cali DeWitt and Jenna Thornhill, whose punk band Mika Miko is playing at FYF Fest in L.A. on Saturday. 

Guilty-pleasure shopping: David A. Keeps comes out of the post-grad closet and declares his love of some cheap-chic furnishings aimed at college kids, including PB Teen camo rugs and the hefty metal Pixilated table from Target.

Gardening with a conscience: In case you've missed the last two installments of Emily Green's drought-tolerant gardening column, check out her discussion on how saving water also saves energy, and her review of a compelling new book that may make you see lavender in a different light.

Plus: Hot Property columnist Lauren Beale details pop star Natasha Bedingfield's new Los Feliz house, and Man of the House Chris Erskine reveals his connection to Abraham Lincoln.

-- Craig Nakano

Photos, clockwise from top left: Sprinklers gone wild; a masked Jenna Thornhill and Cali DeWitt; Abraham Lincoln; R.J. Cutler's party scene; Cutler's 16-foot outdoor trestle table; PB Teen's camo rugs; Target's Pixilated table; lavender.

Photo credits, same order: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times; Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times; Alexander Gardner; Ringo Chiu; Ringo Chiu; PB Teen; Target; Getty Images.

Bluelounge's Refresh: a better recharging station

Earlier this morning, my colleague David A. Keeps blogged about Drinn, a clever little piece of rubberized  plastic that can turn any electric socket into a cellphone charging station. At the other end of the technological spectrum are the designs of Pasadena-based Bluelounge. A year ago we reported on Bluelounge's  Sanctuary, a device that's capable of recharging an astounding 1,500 different types of mobile devices. Now the company has released the follow-up, Refresh, which in many ways is more appropriate for the times: smaller, sleeker and less expensive.

Refresh is a plastic tray with a false bottom that lifts up to reveal six ports: two for iPods or iPhones, one mini USB, one micro USB and two standard USBs. I used to think charging stations were idiotic, but after two weeks of using Refresh at home, I have to admit there is something beautifully efficient about docking an iPhone, an iPod, and a Blackberry in the same little tray powered by a single cord to the wall socket.

Last week the New York Times Home section beat me to the punch with its take on Refresh. The write-up noted that the product wouldn't work with a reporter's 4-year-old Samsung phone, but compatibility with old devices seems less of an issue to me than price. Yes, Refresh costs $40 less than the earlier Bluelounge charging station. Even so, the retail for Refresh is still $89.95. If I had a 4-year-old Samsung, I think I'd skip the $90 charging station and invest $99 in an iPhone.

-- Craig Nakano

Photos: Bluelounge

From the archive: Martha Stewart vs. Amy Sedaris

L.A. at Home's post earlier this week about the Martha Stewart holiday juggernaut and the inevitable renaming of Halloween to Marthoween sparked some debate among the staff here about our favorite dictator of domesticities. I unexpectedly found myself defending Stewart, citing the brilliance -- brilliance! -- of the autumnal-colored nesting bowls in her new fall collection at Macy's. Perhaps I had a little too much Coke Zero before noon, but think about it: That kind of colored mixing bowl set is in dozens of stores, but leave it to Martha to include lids, so they're easy to slip into the refrigerator or cover at a Labor Day picnic.

I'll probably always be a fan. Back in 2006, I asked Stewart if she would answer a half-dozen questions about being the quintessential holiday hostess -- the same half-dozen questions I was asking comedian Amy Sedaris. (Can you see where this is going?) To my amazement, Stewart agreed and was a great sport. I've dusted off the resulting story after the jump.

Weekly Wrapup: Outdoor rooms, The Fixers and more

In the still-kicking, hold-in-your-hands, costs-less-than-an-hour-of-street-parking Aug. 29 edition of the L.A. Times:

Outdoor living, Part 1: Barbara Thornburg's story and photo gallery of an Altadena retreat whose graceful architecture is matched only by its six outdoor rooms.

Outdoor living, Part 2: The story and photo gallery of a Koreatown apartment whose 750-square-foot terrace was transformed into an outdoor living room, dining room, breakfast nook, even yoga space.

Outdoor living, Part 3: Down in the O.C., a Corona del Mar designer recycles windows for just the right deck effect.

The Fixers: Our series on the artisans of home repair and keepers of dying trades swings west to Topanga, where enamel restoration expert Rosanna Polizzotto paints with magnifying glasses.

Mini McMansion: Dutch artists explore the fallout of the American housing crisis by building a model of a typical Victorville home -- and wheeling it through the streets of Victorville, eliciting reactions.

Plus: Our Man of the House, Chris Erskine, airlifts his daughter to her dorm. Lauren Beale steers Hot Property into the Valley, where David Hasselhoff's Encino home is on the market for about $4.2 million.

-- Craig Nakano

Photos, clockwise from top left: Walter Hubert in his Altadena garden; Rosanna Polizzotto repairing a teeny enamel treasure; Claudia Schmutzler's deck with recycled windows as an airy privacy screen; the mini McMansion being pushed across Victorville. Photo credits, from top left: Nancy Pastor / For The Times; Jake Danna Stevens / Los Angeles Times; Mark Lohman; Wouter Osterholt.

Valspar shows some love, changes its website

My colleague David A. Keeps noticed that the paint company Valspar has changed its new Love, Our Style website. Just yesterday I wrote about how it seemed oddly regressive for a company to define "couple" exclusively in his-and-hers terms. This morning, Keeps noted that the style quiz on the site now uses the language "you" and "your partner."

It's such a simple, little tweak that solves the problem without requiring a site design overhaul. I'm pleased, but not everyone will be. Check out my original post and you can see the first reader comment to come in. It closes with the line, "Gays like you are cultural fascists." Well, hugs and kisses to you too!

I can give this story a happy ending. When my cultural fascist husband, Todd, and I decided to remake our kitchen earlier this year, we tested about 20 different paints from Lowe's, Home Depot, OSH and Jill's Paint in Atwater Village, where we had purchased exterior colors the year before. (Cultural fascists like everything to look right, you know.) After two weeks dedicated to insulting each other's choices, we compromised on Beach Cottage, a Valspar paint from Lowe's. When we bought the paint, however, we accidentally gave the paint mixer the wrong color chip. Lowe's let us exchange five gallons of mixed paint -- not once, but twice (don't ask) -- no hassle whatsoever.

-- Craig Nakano