Don — Page 175

Snowathon

February 4, 2014 at 8:29 am by Claudia

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I’m going to name this week The Snowathon.

The predictions were for about an inch of snow yesterday. Ummm…..not quite. It snowed all day long and I think we got at least 4 inches, if not 5. Roads were messy, traveling was unwise. So we were stuck here. We are expecting anywhere from 6 – 12 inches of snow on Wednesday. Don leaves for Boston on Friday. That leaves just about a day, if that, to take care of any business he needs to attend to before he leaves. And, to top it off, they are predicting a Nor’Easter with more snow Sunday into Monday. At that point, I will be the only snow shoveler around here and it’s hard to imagine where I’m going to put all that snow.

Not a big fan of February so far.

The bed is supposed to be delivered today sometime between 1 and 5. Don asked them to make sure it says California King on the packaging. (I did the same thing last week.) It does. I actually felt a twinge of sadness at leaving our little full-sized bed in the spare bedroom. That room, like the den, is sunken. You walk down two steps to get there. So it has a sort of attic retreat feel to it. I think we’ve done fairly well, we two tall people, adapting to the bed. Now we’ll have to adapt to a new one. Don will have three nights to sleep on it before he has to adapt to another bed in Boston.

Thanks for all your wonderful comments on our new addition to the living room. We love it and are absolutely sure that buying it was the right thing to do. Oh gosh, I’m itching to do some rearranging, rethinking, re-everything and once the mattress has been delivered and the old mattress taken away, I’ll be able to look at things more clearly. Not that I haven’t already been thinking about it. These aren’t big changes, more like little tweaks I want and need to make.

I’m also dreading the fact that Don is going away. We’ve done this many times and we know how to handle it, but it doesn’t make it any easier. He’s my best friend as well as my husband and I love being with him. We work well together. We like hanging out together. We sort of adore each other.

And he is my fellow snow shoveler!

Happy Tuesday.

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A New Find For Our Cottage

February 3, 2014 at 9:45 am by Claudia

I think that what we bought the other day might surprise you.

I know some of you had an idea about what it might be, but believe me, I gave no hints in yesterday’s post. We bought something that I might not have noticed had it not been for Don, who pointed it out to me. As we stood there and stared, we found we couldn’t take our eyes away from it. We’d leave that particular area in the shop and then we’d circle back, together and individually. We took photos.

We knew right where it would go, where it had to go.

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There it is, above the piano. It’s a chromolithograph of the Aquitania, circa 1913, one of three ships in the Cunard Line, ships that crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the heyday of transatlantic travel.

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These chromolithographs were given to travel agencies to hang on the wall, extolling the wonders of ocean voyages. This one is in particularly good shape. The Aquitania was launched in 1913 and was part of Cunard’s ‘grand trio’ of ocean liners, along with the SS Mauretania and the SS Lusitania. The Aquitania’s nickname was ‘Ship Beautiful.” It was in service for 36 years and held the record for the longest serving Express Liner until into the 21st Century when the Queen Elizabeth 2 became the longest serving liner. The ship also served in both World Wars.

We both love the ocean and Don spent a lot of time on the Pacific Ocean in his youth. The ocean still calls to him. There’s something glorious about the vivid red of the funnels, the choppy seas, the smoke pouring from the funnels, the cloudy skies. I’ve tried to capture its beauty in these photographs.

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We can’t take our eyes off it. It’s also highly collectible and a good investment, but that’s not really why we bought it. We bought it because we love it and we wanted it to be a part of our home.

You understand, I know you do. Something touches you, you can’t stop thinking about it. You know, deep within you, that you have to find a way to make it yours.

It is made for this spot above the piano. For the first time, the piano makes sense where it is. I’ve always had a bit of a problem with this massive piece in our little living room, with its dark mahogany finish. It takes up space, and though I love it very much, I struggled with how to make it work. Somehow, this lithograph with its intense colors and its dark frame, makes it all come together.

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Some rearranging of the McCoy singing birds and the McCoy vase had to be done. I took away everything but the birds and the vase, then Don and I eyed the whole thing and this is what we ended up with.

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Two on one side.

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One on the other.

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I love the way the lithograph changes depending on the light. It gets dark and moody at times. Then a burst of sun through our windows changes it yet again.

We are more than a little in love.

By the way, the Miss Keyboard sign has been moved to its new home, above the picture window in the den. I can’t get a good shot of it yet because of the light from the window, but I’ll work on it. I was a bit worried about where we would put it, but it actually looks even better there than it did above the piano.

There you go.

Happy Monday.

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A Bit More Antique Shopping

February 2, 2014 at 9:19 am by Claudia

Countdown until mattress delivery: T minus 2 days and counting.

Meanwhile, Don and Claudia had a lovely day yesterday, frolicking while out and about in a neighboring town. For a few hours yesterday, it was warmer (in the high thirties!) and sunny. I had a flash of spring fever, but only a flash, as the fact that it was only February 1st could not be ignored.

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Here I am, outside of Starbucks, clad in my red shoes. My hair isn’t this gray most of the time, it has a lot of brown in it, but when I’m standing under direct sunlight, wow. It’s gray.

The red shoes are unbelievably comfortable. Heavenly to wear. That’s my Calvin Klein coat that I got at a deep, deep discount a few years back. It looks vintagey and that’s why I fell for it.

We went back to the newly discovered antique shop, found a parking space that was non-metered, and spent a long time there. I got some photos but I must tell you that the aisles are narrow and it’s awfully hard to get a good photo – especially with my iPhone. But here goes.

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I’ve been searching for a vintage medicine cabinet for the bathroom and this shop has two of them.

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Look familiar? I have the same parakeet lamp! Donna, this shop has a pair of them! I remember how much you wanted one. Give me the word and I’ll get one or both for you.

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Love this china. It reminds me of something I might find in Tina’s house.

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Wonderful vintage ad for the Ouija Board.

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My shoe size, though not quite that narrow!

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Don loved this painting. Original oil, $650.00. Ummm, I don’t think so.

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This was inside a glass case. I’m thinking I need one of these. I have a pesky double chin that I’d like to tighten up. When I asked Don if he could go along with me wearing one of these at night, I was on the receiving end of some eye rolling.

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I have my eye on this vintage seltzer bottle in the most beautiful shade of aqua. It may have to come home with me.

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Sigh. Very, very pretty.

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I sort of fell in love with this peacock lamp. I love quirky, unique lamps and this certainly fits the bill.

This is just a minute sampling of what’s in the shop. I promise more photos in the future. Now that I know the shop manager, I’m sure she won’t mind me taking some with my Canon. There are some beautiful furniture pieces as well. It’s so densely packed with antiques of every sort that it’s hard to step back and frame some sort of photo. Gorgeous vintage jewelry, vintage packaging and military memorabilia, exotic masks, tiny collectibles, kitchen collectibles, lots of artwork, vintage maps and posters, china, pottery….you name it. And the manager has organized it all in like groups. So every display makes sense and once you realize that everything has its place, the sheer amount of inventory isn’t so overwhelming.

We found something there on our first trip that we fell in love with. We both took pictures of it on our iPhones. We talked about it when we got home. We crunched numbers. We talked about it again. I worried. Don worried. We researched the piece online and found the price to be very fair. It’s highly collectible and, more than that, it was calling our name.

We slept on it.

When we got up the next morning, we knew we had to get it. Sometimes you see something that you fall in love with and you are willing to sacrifice a bit to have it in your home. Of course, everything is relative. What is a chunk of money for us is a minor expense for others.

We bit the bullet and bought it. I’ve decided it will be our Valentine’s Day gift to each other. Now, with that teaser, I’ll leave you until tomorrow.

Happy Sunday.

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Snowathon

A New Find For Our Cottage

A Bit More Antique Shopping

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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