autumn — Page 16

Random Thoughts: Sunday Edition

November 2, 2014 at 8:04 am by Claudia

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I do love fall colors, don’t you?

• Why, oh why do we keep having to change the time twice a year? It drives me nuts. I’ve read all the reasons behind the original idea and they seem entirely outmoded now. Now I have an entire winter of darkness arriving at 4 or 4:30 to look forward to. Thanks a bunch.

• I’m still making coffee the new way. I really love it. The coffee maker hasn’t been used once since I returned home. What I find amazing is that the taste is so much better and the ultimate cost is so much less. Filters and coffee. That’s it. And I find myself really looking forward to the ritual of pouring the water into the filter, bit by bit, until I have a full, aromatic mug of coffee.

It’s the little things that can turn out to be big things in the end.

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• I caved yesterday and ordered one more Emmie Blind from someone on eBay. It was more expensive than the ones I previously ordered, but there seem to be only a couple of them left out there in the width I need, and as I walked into the bathroom and saw the same dreaded tie-up blind that I had in the living room, I knew I had to do it. I’ve searched and searched for something comparable on the internet and haven’t found it. And interestingly, the fabric blinds I did find were all more expensive than the one I was dithering about on eBay, so what the heck? I did it. By the end of this week, Emmie should be happily established on all the living room and bathroom windows.

• Goodness, am I enjoying watching Netflix on the new television! We all know there is a dearth of quality programming on most of the networks, so having the option of watching Netflix on a big screen rather than my 13″ laptop is greatly appreciated. I’ve been watching the BBC series Luther, starring the amazing Idris Elba. Have you seen it? It’s a gritty cop series that takes place in London. Excellent writing, acting and direction. I can’t wait for Don to get back home and see our new television. I envision many cozy evenings ahead.

• I’m not watching Death Comes to Pemberley on PBS. Not because I don’t want to, but because I want to read the book first. I usually avoid all those Pride and Prejudice take-offs like the plague (why mess with the best?) so I avoided this one. But I am a huge fan of P.D. James (I met her once!) and I know anything she writes is of the highest quality. I was having a conversation with Darko’s assistant, Sarah, when I was in Hartford. She’s a fellow book lover and her mother is a librarian, so we loved talking books. She raved about it, which was enough for me. It’s now on my list. A list, by the way, that is so long I could easily be daunted if I thought about it for any length of time. So I won’t.

• Missing my mom. I had a hard day yesterday in that regard.

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• Scoutie slipped off the loveseat and fell yesterday. She usually jumps up there and looks out the window before she lays down and her two rear feet are on the outside edge of the cushion. Sometimes she slips because she her feet are too close to the edge. I heard a thud from the living room and ran in there to help her up. I think she must have really bruised herself as she was definitely in pain last night. Today, she’s a bit better. Poor girl. We will take it easy today and I’ll give her some more Rimadyl, which seems to be the only medication she can tolerate. I worry about my baby girl so much.

• I drive to New Haven on Friday to bring Don home. It’s been way too long. Our pack needs to be back together in our little cottage. It can’t come soon enough.

Happy Sunday.

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Home Again

October 26, 2014 at 9:20 am by Claudia

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We’ve got some leaves here. No leaves left on our trees. Oh my goodness. I have a LOT of raking to do.

My neighbors, by the way, did a stellar job of clearing out our gutters and I am so grateful to them. We are very lucky to have them nearby.

I drove home with no stops, hoping to get to our post office to pick up the mail before it closed at noon. We arrived in our little town at 12:15. Darn. Packing everything up, going up and down the elevator countless times, loading the car, waiting to get Scout in the car before I pulled up the rugs – all of that took a bit longer than I thought it would. Meanwhile, Scout got increasingly more hyper as she realized something was going on. By the time we got here and she watched me unload everything and sniffed around her corral, she was exhausted.

I also think she misses the park. So do I. I’ve noticed by the way she goes up the steps from the den that she seems stronger. So little trips in the car so she can take a walk are definitely a must. I don’t want her losing that strength she has built up.

But we miss the park. And, though I was happy to be home, suddenly being done with all my work in Hartford and coming home to a house that’s been closed up and is missing my husband made me a bit blue. This transition will take some time.

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But I have leaves to rake. And grocery shopping to do.

There must have been a frost while I was gone. I don’t think it was a hard frost, but it was enough to kill the morning glories and a lot of the zinnias. I did find this morning glory bud:

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It’s supposed to get a bit warmer this week, so perhaps we might see one more flower?

To my delight, some of the roses are still blooming:

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The zinnias in the barrels are still alive, though bedraggled. I’ll share some photos of them tomorrow.

And my impatiens, sitting in pots on the porch, without water for three weeks?

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Still blooming. These are the same impatiens I overwintered. They are amazing.

I guess I’ll be overwintering them again.

The television, which you might remember was on its way to its final demise before I left, bit the dust yesterday. I turned it on and the sound was doing its noisy clicks and pops and then suddenly the picture went crazy and that was it. All I wanted to do, of course, was watch the World Series. I managed to register online with MLB so I could watch it on my laptop. (I could watch it upstairs on the old TV in our bedroom, but I didn’t want to abandon Scout so early in the evening, especially since this whole moving thing is so confusing for her.)

So, on the agenda: new television, washer repair and/or replacement (remember it died, too?), paint the kitchen, bookshelves in the den, and sort and organize each room of the house.

And read books I have to review.

And rake. And rake again. And rake again.

While putting away the food I brought back from Hartford yesterday, I came across a little treat that I hadn’t had time to eat before I left:

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What a nice surprise!

It’s all gone now.

Happy Sunday.

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A ‘No Gourd’ Zone

September 15, 2014 at 8:21 am by Claudia

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Last night, the temperatures dropped – it may have been the coldest night in the last few months. Leaves are scattered around the property. Autumn is definitely on its way…but no, it is not here yet. I have no desire to rush headlong into a new season before it actually starts. Yesterday was quite warm during the daylight hours. When Autumn officially arrives in a week or so, I will greet it with a smile. But not until then.

I am not a seasonal decorator. I’m not counting Christmas, of course, but even then, my decorations have been winnowed down in the last few years to a group of very special items that we love. Let’s face it: there is a lot to look at in my cottage. China and pottery is everywhere, favorite prints and paintings are on the walls, there’s always lots of color, books are everywhere. I’ve written about this before in a post called Confession: I Don’t Decorate for the Seasons. And it still holds true.

Why? Well, it could be because we live in a part of the country that has four distinct seasons, each of them glorious. I can look out my window or sit on my porch and see nature’s seasonal decorations. And who could ever top that?

But even when I lived in San Diego, vastly different than the Northeast, I didn’t decorate for the seasons. I might have used some indian corn at some point during my eight years there and we carved a pumpkin or two around Halloween. Those were the days when we had trick or treaters, so we did it for them.

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This cottage seems to adapt to the seasons quite well on its own. In the spring and summer, our many windows provide lots of light and give us peeks at trees and flowers and butterflies and birds. In the fall, the light changes and the cottage seems cozier, though I haven’t done anything specific to honor the seasonal change. Lamps are turned on a bit earlier. The throws that are always (in any season) in a basket in the den are used more frequently. But I don’t decorate with them. I see the glorious colors of the changing leaves right outside my windows. In the winter, as the light changes yet again and is reflected off the snow, the cottage becomes even cozier- a haven from winter’s cold and falling snow.

But I don’t do any of that. The cottage itself morphs and adapts and nature’s splendors are right outside our doors – always on view.

I also must confess that I have an aversion to tchotchkes scattered around the house with the words Autumn or Fall or Spring! or whatever on them. Likewise ‘Snow!’ I avoid the seasonal displays and decorations at stores like Michael’s like the plague. Definitely not my thing. I’ve never been able to figure out why I need some words or decorations to tell me what season it is.

Oh, I know. I’m most likely the odd one out here. I understand. I know I often march to a different drummer.

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Ah…. see? Mother Nature designed this zinnia and its autumnal colors are perfect for this time of year. I take no credit. I’ll soon be seeing these colors in the leaves as they turn. I’d rather look at this ‘decoration’ than anything I could display in my house.

(By the way, Don, this is for you. More zinnia pictures are coming your way.)

Also, the thought of having to seasonally decorate my home makes me want to take a nap. I’m betting, however, that a lot of you love to do just that. And more power to you!

Just don’t stop by expecting to see gourds and pumpkins and indian corn and the word, ‘Autumn,’ everywhere.

You’ll be disappointed.

(New post on Just Let Me Finish This Page: “On Not Wanting a Book to End.” Please stop by.

Happy Monday.

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Random Thoughts: Sunday Edition

Home Again

A ‘No Gourd’ Zone

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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