In a desperate attempt to find something that is not the usual photo on the blog, Claudia wanders the kitchen and comes up with this. (Note that this wall has yet to be painted yellow.)

On top of the cabinet, which is what I was concentrating on: two Fiesta mixing bowls from my former collection (I saved my favorite pieces) and a Fiesta gravy boat. Sheep: salt and pepper shakers and another one given to me by a friend. A fisherman from our long ago Dept 56 collection that Don always thought looked like him. A McCoy vase. A McCoy pot planted with pothos. An old tin that I found at the Country Living Fair.

And for those of you who said I should use my great-grandmother’s china…

In addition to our everyday china, I have yet another set of “good” china that I fell in love with several years ago. After searching for the pattern, I happened upon a guy selling all of this on eBay. And he lived in New York State. I love this set.

But it’s on display. I use some pieces occasionally, but it basically lives here in the cabinet. As my great-grandma’s set will live in the cabinet in the den.

We eat our dinner on trays in the den. We rarely use the kitchen table. We got into the tray thing years ago and we like it. Since we spend great chunks of the day together, it’s not as if we have to meet up at the dinner table to discuss our day. We’re discussing throughout the day.

Also, I do not like to entertain. I didn’t inherit that gene. When I do entertain, I feel incredibly stressed. This house is small and it gets tight with just Don and me, let alone others.

But to be honest, I’ve never been comfortable entertaining. I’m solitary, remember? I like my quiet and my routine. It’s amazing that I somehow managed to let Don into my life. (Best thing I ever did!) Since he feels more or less the same way, though he’s definitely more social than I, we are fine the way we are.

I also don’t like to go to parties. I’ve had a lifetime of cast parties and opening night parties and closing night parties and I usually do my duty and make an appearance, but I can’t wait to leave and breathe fresh air and not have to make small talk or shout over the noise. I can’t wait to get out of my fancier duds and put on jeans and a t-shirt or, better yet, my flannel pajamas.

When I work as a coach, I’m surrounded by lots of people all of the time, lots of energy, and lots of noise. The same can be said of my years teaching. So when I get home, I crave quiet. I am capable of being social and charming and chatty, but I much prefer the opposite. I’m an introvert, I guess.

Though Don would certainly say I’m chatty at home and I suppose I am. “Solitary but chatty…” see blog sidebar.

You can better see the pattern of the dishes in this photo of a serving dish.

I’ve got china and pottery everywhere in this house, stashed on shelves, stashed in cabinets, on tables, on desks, on top of the kitchen cupboards.

A couple of days ago, we finally managed to shovel the far side of the parking area near the shed where Don usually keeps his car. He’s been having to park in the driveway. We were too sick at the time to shovel it out and then we kept getting those storms with ice and it became impossible to shovel. Too many layers of ice. After freeing my car last week, we cleared the other side and salted it on Saturday. Don was finally able to park his car normally. As for yesterday’s snow clean-up, Don ended up shoveling the driveway and I shoveled the parking area. More salt was put down knowing that we had a big freeze coming last night. All is clear!

It will be very cold for the next three days and then it will gradually start to warm up. Next week, temperatures will be in the forties, which seems positively balmy.

I’ve seen robins for the past few days and I heard the call of mourning doves both yesterday and today. Spring is coming.

Happy Tuesday.