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You are here: Home / Archives for hunting

Snow, Pillows and Hunting

November 17, 2018 at 9:18 am by Claudia

The annual pillow migration has begun. I’ve retrieved all the cushions from the glider and the adirondack chairs. Some will be stored. But the three that are the back rests on the glider move to the loveseat in the living room. They work the best there. The pillows that I had on the loveseat (including the red checked one above) are, at best, filler during the spring and summer. I search every spring for indoor/outdoor pillows that will work on the glider or sofa, so I can have two good sets, but so far, I only have one.

Don just left for a rehearsal in the city and the loveseat is in a state of disarray, so I’ll take a picture of it later today.

We spent several hours shoveling yesterday. The snow was heavy and wet and there was a lot of it. Don wanted to do it all because I wasn’t feeling well, but I wasn’t going to let that happen. It was exhausting. We took a break for a while, went back out and shoveled some more, but the snow was even heavier. And our muscles were complaining. So we did everything we had to do to make sure Don could leave today and I could get out if necessary. There’s still a bit to shovel, but there might be some melt today, so I’m hoping I can avoid that. Still not feeling tip-top.

We hobbled around the rest of the day. I treated myself to some hot chocolate. We made dinner and watched the tube. All the while, we were saying that we couldn’t wait to go to bed!

We were cheated out of the pleasure of watching the first snow, which is usually gentle, with maybe a few inches falling. Nope. We got a big storm and giant mess.

Oh, in case you’re wondering, we didn’t use the snow blower because it tends to eat up the Item 4, or gravel. Since we just had the driveway done, we trying to insure that it stays in place. It’s impossible not to get some in a shovelful of snow, but there’s much less. If we had someone plow the driveway? Forget it. We once watched in horror as a guy plowed our driveway, depositing the snow and half of our new gravel along with it in a pile across the road.

I have heard four rifle shots while I’ve been writing this. Hunters. I despise hunting with every fiber of my being. I want to find them, grab their damn guns, and tell them what I think of them. Obviously, that’s a fantasy, but the intensity of my feelings about hunting are not a fantasy. And please don’t bother with any of the usual defenses of hunting. In truth, there are none. Not in this day and age. The most egregious excuse is that it’s a “noble” cause, that the hunter is just helping to thin a population that will starve over the winter. I’ve never believed that for a second. It’s about killing an innocent, magnificent animal and finding an excuse to do it.

My dad, gentle soul that he was, had a bow and arrow and went hunting every fall for a number of years when I was in high school. He never killed a deer. Because, when up against it while aiming at a defenseless animal, he knew it was wrong. And he stopped any pretense of hunting after that. We had many arguments about hunting before he stopped, but it wasn’t until several years later that I realized that he deliberately missed. That he didn’t have the heart to do it.

I talk about this every other autumn, it seems. We live in the country. I see these guys wearing camouflage in local shops and at gas stations. It’s an unfortunate fact of life here. I can’t wait until hunting season is over. Unfortunately, it just opened today and it goes until December 9th.

Wonder what it would be like if animals had the guns and we were the prey?

Happy Saturday.

 

 

Filed Under: den, hunting, living room, snow 26 Comments

Thoughts on Saturday

November 19, 2016 at 9:07 am by Claudia

It’s one of those days where I want to block out all sound. Since early this morning I’ve heard the sound of rifles. It’s hunting season. You know how I feel about that, so I won’t go into it here. Suffice to say, I keep chanting, “Miss! Miss!” and silently willing the deer to take cover.

I’m heading more and more into veganism. I’m not quite there yet. But I’m eliminating butter and cheese as much as possible, as well as eggs. I’m not perfect; I have leather shoes and leather bags, but as I move forward, I am going to try to make better, more humane choices.

From our walk yesterday:

11-19-reedswatersunset

The building on the left is part of a rather well-known company that has its headquarters in our little town. They make natural products; makeup, soap, cleansers, etc.

It’s November 19th. Time to remove our window air conditioners, don’t you think? Yikes. We seem to do this later and later every year. But today is the day. And tomorrow night the temperatures are going to plunge at night and stay there consistently throughout the next week, so I’m bracing myself to say sayonara to my porch plants. Sigh. It really is the end of the season here at the cottage.

A month from today we start rehearsals for Comedy of Errors. Suddenly, I’m aware of all I have to do before the 18th, when I will travel to Hartford. Since I have been either stressed or down and somewhat unmotivated for the past couple of months, I guess I needed something to kick me in the tush, and this is it. We had planned on traveling down to Florida for a visit, first in October, then we pushed it back to around Thanksgiving. But, after much discussion, we made the decision this week not to go. It just seemed to be too much for us at the present time and my gut was telling me it wasn’t the right time to travel. So we’ll go sometime after the first of the year. Meredith was disappointed, I know, as are we. But I know we made the right decision, hard as it was.

Barbara sent me a birthday card and this was enclosed:

11-19-mininancydrew2

A mini Nancy Drew mystery! The Hidden Staircase, with a Russell H. Tandy cover. Let’s get a closer look:

11-19-mininancydrew1

I love it. Thank you, Barbara! Yesterday, I found it on this chair, which sits in the living room of Hummingbird Cottage. Obviously, Caroline has been enjoying some vintage Nancy Drew! (Have you noticed we have a lot in common?)

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: books, dollhouse, hunting, miniatures 33 Comments

Come On, Really?

November 6, 2013 at 8:40 am by Claudia

brownzinnia2

There is beauty in zinnias that have succumbed to freezing temperatures, have lost their brilliant color, yet still retain their shape and form. They are like earth-toned sculptures. I wanted to capture them with my camera before I start to clean up the Chicken Wire Fence Garden, which might be today. Or not. I also have to clean up the side of the house, where there is a greenish tinge on the siding that I have ignored far too long. That is definitely on the agenda for today.

A story from yesterday: Around noon, Don and I went to run some errands. We also stopped at our town hall to vote. After we voted, Don asked me if today could be the day we used a $25 gift card for Applebee’s that he had received as a gift last year. Okay, I said. I’d never been to an Applebee’s. I’ve found that most chain restaurants have a menu that is mostly comprised of meat and fish. I’m a vegetarian. But in the past few years, I’ve noticed that more and more of these chains have incorporated a veggie burger or a pasta dish that works for vegetarians into their menus, so I was hopeful.

We drove to Applebee’s.

The menu had virtually nothing for vegetarians. Even the salads had chicken or bacon or shrimp. Don started feeling guilty because I couldn’t find anything to eat. But after some discussion with our waitress, I discovered there was a three cheese grilled sandwich and a house salad that normally came with bacon, but that could, she assured me, be specially ordered without bacon. Okay. Good.

In the meantime, I started to look around the restaurant. There was a bar in the middle of the room with several television screens that I could see from my booth. There were also television screens in the dining area. One of the screens was showing Law and Order SVU. The others? A program that is all about deer hunters, deer hunting and killing those deer with crossbows.

Are you kidding me?

This is on in a restaurant? While people are dining?

Now, if you have read this blog for any length of time, you know I am passionately anti-hunting. I abhor it. So being in a room with some frigging television screen projecting images of deer peacefully grazing and being stalked by men wearing camo is about as distasteful as it can get for me.

But, even if I was someone who didn’t have a problem with hunting, does my local Applebee’s really think that showing deer being hunted and killed is a good accompaniment to the dining experience? Does anyone want to see this stuff while they are eating?

I had one screen directly in front of me that was showing the program and one to my right. If Don, sitting directly across from me in the booth, moved his head ever so slightly, I was suddenly thrust into the world of deer hunting. If I turned my head slightly to the right, there it was again.

Really? What are people thinking? It was like we had been transported to some world dominated by survivalists and hunters instead of a large city relatively close to Manhattan.

The whole experience was unsettling and I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Yes, I know I could have asked them to change the channel but I didn’t want to stay there one minute longer than necessary.

Also, this brings to mind another question: Why do we need all those televisions on when we are dining? We can’t manage to get through 60 minutes or so without a screen in front of us? This certainly isn’t just happening at Applebee’s. It’s happening everywhere. Can’t we just talk? Or, if dining alone, read? Or be alone with our thoughts?

The cheese sandwich was very good. And my salad? Very good except for the 2 or 3 pieces of bacon I encountered.

I don’t eat out very often and my tastes are pretty simple. I’m not a demanding diner who sends things back. But no bacon is no bacon. And dining to the accompaniment of deer being killed is definitely not acceptable.

No more Applebee’s.

That’s my story from yesterday.

Happily, the day ended with watching A Streetcar Named Desire on TCM, with the brilliant performance of Vivien Leigh doing a great deal to erase those horrible images from earlier in the day. Thank goodness.

(In a bizarre sort of irony, what is showing up in my Adsense ads? Coupons for Applebee’s.)

Edited to add: Dear reader Lori, who manages an Applebee’s in South Dakota, wrote a wonderful comment assuring us that all Applebee’s are not like the one I went to. Maybe mine is the black sheep of Applebee’s? Thank you, Lori!

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Tagged With: applebee'sFiled Under: hunting, life 84 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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