Claudia — Page 997

A Tech-ish Sort of Day

August 16, 2016 at 10:10 am by Claudia

Yesterday will now be labeled “Tech Day.”

It started off with Don and I taking turns as we waited for the FedEx guy to deliver Don’s new iPhone. It arrived while I happened to be out watering and I signed for it. Then came the ‘orientation session’ where I showed Don how to activate it, etc.

I know guys are supposed to be adept with all things high tech, but in our house, that role seems to be mine. I’m always a step or three or four ahead of Don and I guide him through these things, whether it’s the remote, or a laptop, or a phone. Once we ironed out a misstep with Don’s Apple ID number, we were good to go. I mentioned to Don that he might want to get a case as soon as possible, because the newer phones are slimmer and can quite easily be dropped.

Then I went upstairs to work on my new drawer unit. Shortly after that, Don called up to me, saying he thought he should get a case ASAP. So we jumped in the car and went to a Verizon store in a neighboring town.

Here is where it gets tech-ish. Don picked out his case. I wandered next door to the Rite-Aid to get a couple of things. I came back to the Verizon store and the woman who was helping us – she was really great – asked if we had a tempered glass insert to protect the glass on the iPhone. No, I didn’t, though I had certainly thought about getting one. Next thing I knew, we were both getting the tempered glass.

Then…she mentioned a special deal on iPads, specifically the iPad Air. Now, up until recently I had no desire for an iPad, thinking I had my phone and my laptop. But this was such a good deal (a slightly older model, just like our iPhone 6.) I knew I would use it a lot both here and on the road, where I could take it to rehearsals and use it for research and downtime. I love my phone and I use it all the time, but for research? I need a bigger screen. So, after gulping a bit, I went for it.

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And then felt guilty. Don, ever wonderful, urged me to get it and said he didn’t want to hear me expressing any regrets once we left the store.

Because he knows me.

The mobile version of the blog looks pretty good! After charging it last night, I synced it, and today I will spend some time getting to know the newest addition to my Apple family.

Still feeling guilty.

In other news, I did a little prettifying of the IKEA drawers:

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I am not a scrapbooker, but I do have a pad of scrapbook paper that’s been hanging around here for a while. So I cut the paper to fit the bottom of the drawer.

Each drawer uses a different design:

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Six drawers = six different designs.

Then I went back to something I had done in my youth – gosh I must have been sixteen or so when I got my first file cabinet – and cut the scrapbook paper to fit into the label slot on the front of the drawer. I did the same thing all those years ago. I cut a pretty piece of paper for the label, rather than use a boring old white label.

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Each label matches the paper in the drawer. Why? Just because I like it.

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And there you go!

In the midst of all this activity, I actually did put minis in each drawer.

Added note: I love the way you can see the Target Loft to the left. See the tiny chair? The loft is currently on the floor until I decide where to put it.

A tech day, plus a little prettifying.

Happy Tuesday.

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First and Last

August 15, 2016 at 9:52 am by Claudia

The first zinnia:

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They’ve been a long time coming. Next year, I am amending the soil in the chicken wire fence garden. It clearly needs some nutrients.

The last of the daylilies:

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I had two surprise blooms this week. That nicely extended the day lily season, but I’m pretty sure this is it.

It’s a soggy, humid mess out there. The hollyhock looks like it was struck down by some disease, it hasn’t been, but it is definitely done. The rain has been hard on all the flowers in the garden. There are weeds everywhere. It was cloudy yesterday morning, and it seemed cooler outside, so I grabbed the weed chomper and worked on the area surrounding the Funky Patio. At the end of five minutes or so, which also included some quick stabs at weeding, I was dripping.

Maybe this is nature’s way to slowly bring me around to the fact that September is a couple of weeks away. The garden looks bedraggled. I only have some much energy/desire to tackle it at this point in the summer. The humidity is stifling.

I’m not kidding. I think Mother Nature has a way of bringing us around to the realization that it’s almost over until next year. She breaks the news gently, but the facts stare us in the face and we have to admit defeat.

Though I’m still waiting on my morning glories and moonflowers and the rest of my zinnias.

Yesterday, I tackled the Helmer drawer unit from IKEA.

Can I just say that it was a pain in the tush? In the interest of total honesty, it was a pain in the tush because I had the drawer glides installed incorrectly and I didn’t realize it until I had cursed for over an hour as I tried to get the damn thing together. I finally realized my mistake and took the whole thing apart.

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It’s fine now. It’s very inexpensive and, therefore, the quality is fairly flimsy, but it will do until I can afford something else. Or even want something else. By the way, the screws that attach the casters to the base won’t go into the base correctly. They, my friends, were also a pain in the tush.

Little Z’s dollhouse should be a breeze compared to this.

We’re going to try to mow a bit this morning before it gets real hot. The grass is so long – everywhere – and there is still rain in the forecast for this week, so we have to grab any non-rainy time we can get.

Don’s getting a new iPhone today and he’s very excited. He’s been using an older model, much smaller than the one I have, and he needs something bigger and faster. He’s a big guy and he’s got big hands. Since he was eligible for an upgrade, his shiny new phone will be delivered to our door today.

Happy Monday.

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The Arrangement

August 14, 2016 at 9:56 am by Claudia

The heat index hit 109 degrees yesterday. Heck, it might have hit 110, but I can only vouch for the temp when I clicked on the weather app on my phone. The same today.

I will be so happy to see the last of this – maybe tomorrow or Tuesday? I’m not sure, but I do know that the grass is too long, the weeds are too many, and we’re sick of staying inside because there is an “excessive heat warning.”

We did decide on the placement for the watercolor of Scout, as well as the pencil sketch. Don and I tend to make these decisions together as the placement of beloved items, whether we’re talking about furniture or wall art, is important to both of us. We decided we wanted her in the living room, a room we spend a fair amount of time in. As it turns out, she’s looking down on her favorite place to sleep, which seems fitting.

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As Don said, she’s protecting us.

Looking at her, we think one word: Joy. I also love the fact that the turntable, the albums, the name of the Parrish, which is “Pierrot’s Serenade,” not to mention the piano to the right – all represent music which is so important to us and was a big part of our life with Scout. When she was younger, every time we put on some music and started dancing, she would want to join in. She’d get up on her hind legs and we’d hold her paws and all three of us would dance.

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(We love the light streaming in these windows, but it does make taking pictures a somewhat frustrating task!)

Previously, the Maxfield Parrish was the only piece hanging here. We thought we’d hang the watercolor here, move the Parrish, and maybe hang the pencil sketch on the stairway gallery wall. But then we played around with possibilities for the Parrish, which is very special to me and not something I want to hide away, so we went with the Parrish and the watercolor. That seemed a bit off, so I grabbed the pencil sketch and then we knew we had a winner. The arrangement also takes the focus off the alarm pad and the thermostat, which is just fine with me.

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We also played with hanging the Parrish next to the Aquitania, but that gorgeous lithograph shouldn’t have any competition in its place above the piano. It needs to be the star.

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Just had to get a shot of our newest find. I love, love, love this chair. And it’s so comfortable!

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I wish a magazine photographer would come in here and take some pictures. Not so much because I’m craving a magazine feature (I sincerely doubt that this house is ‘magazine-worthy’) but it would be so great to have some photos that were taken by someone who knows what he/she is doing! Wouldn’t that be nice?

What were we doing while all of this was going on?

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Listening to some Kenny Rankin – one of our favorite albums.

I know there’s a lot of focus on Scout, because we lost her most recently. But I’d love to get a good photo of Winston to enlarge and hang; difficult because he had a black coat and I didn’t have a good camera then, so our photos aren’t the best. And I’m going to find a place for this photo – my favorite one of Riley and Scout:

scoutandriley

I framed this and it’s in our bedroom. But I’d also like it down here in the living room. We need Riley with us, too. Dear Riley, who also loved music. Whenever I played the piano, he would come over and plop himself down. It soothed him. And both Riley and Winston loved it when Don played the guitar.

I’ll work on that.

Oh, by the way, I woke up early this morning and after I snuggled up to Don, I went back to sleep whereupon I dreamed I was Michael Phelp’s girlfriend.

Happy Sunday.

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A Tech-ish Sort of Day

First and Last

The Arrangement

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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