life — Page 309

Ice Station Zebra

January 25, 2013 at 8:03 am by Claudia

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Greetings from Ice Station Zebra! Don started calling the cottage, in this frigid, stuck-in-the-house, worried-the-pipes-might-freeze weather, Ice Station Zebra (after the movie of the same name) when he was dealing with it all by his lonesome 4 years ago. At that time, I was working in sunny San Diego. Now, the tables are turned and I’m dealing with it all by my lonesome. I get it. I feel like I’m in some cold, lonely outpost trying to stay sane.

Incidentally, I turned on TCM last night and what was on? Ice Station Zebra.

After I wrote and published yesterday’s post, I went to turn on the cold water in the kitchen. Nothing. The pipe had frozen. Trying to ignore the more than slight feeling of panic that was trying to take over, I grabbed a hair dryer. Sometimes we have to go down into the basement to thaw the pipes. But I thought I’d try the pipes under the sink first. After about 5 minutes of work, I saw the stream of water from the tap get a little stronger. Eventually there was a nice, heavy flow as the pipe thawed.

Phew!

Our pipes in the kitchen and bathroom have a history of freezing. They are on the outside wall and I suspect there’s not quite enough insulation there due to some mouse activity in the past. Since the next 2 or 3 days promise to be just as frigid, I am now dripping water which has turned into a steady stream, all the time in both the kitchen and the bathroom – hot and cold. I might just go mad. I’m also keeping the heat at a higher temperature than I like overnight. Monday, when the temperatures are supposed to be warmer, cannot come soon enough.

Because of all this, I have truly lost track of what day it is. I was all set to do a big post today on Decorating on a Flea Market Budget in the Kitchen. But then as I emerged from a restless sleep, I realized that today is Friday. Not Thursday. Friday. And my posts on Friday are usually not big ones because I also post A Favorite Thing on Friday evening. So I’ll hold off on the kitchen post for a day or two.

In the photo, a few treasures: my dad’s toy, a Model T made out of cast iron that still has remnants of its original yellow paint, and some things I’ve gathered on my walks – a pinecone, a feather, some pods and some acorns – sitting on a brown transferware dish.

And I made another scarf:

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I love this color. If you were interested – and why would you be – you’d find several items in my wardrobe in this color. It’s made of silk and bamboo – very soft and silky to the touch.

I’ll be back this evening for A Favorite Thing. In the meantime, I’m running some quick errands and getting ready for the snow that is supposed to fall overnight.

Why am I not in Southern California at the moment?

Happy Friday.

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Reading Rules, Frigid Weather & Sick Husband Update

January 24, 2013 at 9:21 am by Claudia

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May I say one thing?

It’s friggin’ cold here!

Yesterday I had to run an errand or two and I thought I just might be walking around with a frozen face. I wondered if everyone was looking at me and thinking, “Poor girl, her face is totally frozen…how sad.” Right before I left to run those errands, Scout had been hopeful that my putting on my coat meant she might get a walk, so when I came back home I figured I would walk her around the property. Let me tell you, that was the fastest walk we’ve ever taken. I couldn’t wait to get back in the house.

Too cold.

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A curious thing has been happening. I think I will now call it a ‘rule’ of my reading life. I often reserve books through our library’s loan system. We have a little branch here in town but the loan system covers several counties. I put three popular books on reserve quite a long time ago – I’m talking months.

A Wanted Man by Lee Child: On the waiting list for a few months. I finally broke down and asked for it for my birthday. Received the present on November 21st. A week later, I got a notice from the library that the book was on hold for me at my local branch.

Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young: Don’s a big fan of Neil Young and we had talked about how much he’d like to read this book. I signed up for the waiting list a few months back. Nothing. So I gave it to Don for Christmas. A week later, I received a notice saying the book was on hold for me at my local branch.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: On the waiting list for the longest span of time. Figured I’d never get it. Broke down and bought it last week. This morning I received an email from my library saying it was in the library waiting for me.

You see? This is the rule: If I want the book I’ve reserved to appear on my local library’s Hold shelf, I have to buy it first.

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Don is still sick. For some boneheaded reason, the theater doesn’t have understudies during the main season, only when the Shakespeare Rep is going on over the summer. This decision was apparently made several years ago. When I worked there, the MFA students routinely understudied all roles throughout the year. There are MFA students in the cast of Pygmalion. So on Sunday when he came down with the flu, the theater had to cancel two performances. Don’t get me started on that. Why a huge theater doesn’t ensure that a performance can go on if an actor is sick is beyond me. No actor should have to feel guilty about being ill.

On Tuesday, the powers-that-be decided to rehearse one of the MFA students in the role, just in case. Don was sick but prepared to go on but those same administrators thought he should take one more night off and see a doctor the next day. The MFA student performed that night, script in hand. (Audiences usually love that sort of thing and they cheer the understudy on.) Don went to the doctor yesterday where it was confirmed that he had the bad strain of flu that is going around. (Don calls and says: I’ve officially got the flu. Says me: We already knew that.) He’s been on antibiotics since Sunday and the doctor gave him some Tamiflu yesterday. He went on last night.

He’s getting better, slowly but surely, but he says this is the worst flu he can ever remember having.

For those of you who are also dealing with this deep freeze, stay warm. I’ve been taking a break from quilting to crochet some scarves, but I may go back to quilting today just to have those three extra layers on my lap!

Happy Thursday.

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On a Cold Sunday Morning

January 20, 2013 at 9:01 am by Claudia

This particular Sunday starts what promises to be a frigid week. Temperatures during the day will be in the twenties and temps at night will be in the single digits. Yikes. Yesterday it was warm enough to melt a great deal of the snow. I don’t think there will be any more snow melt for several days!

Ah, but I have my big old queen sized quilt to keep me warm as I sit on the chair or sofa, hand quilting each square. It would be insufferable in a warmer month. Grandma had the right idea; work on a quilt or two every winter. I now have five rows of blocks quilted. I’m in the middle of the sixth. There’s a lot more to go.

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I’ve resorted to plopping the whole thing on top of the vintage wire laundry basket, which now does double duty as both a yarn and quilt holder.

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This flower frog has been transformed into a pen and crochet hook holder. It sits on the table right next to my blogging chair.

Can I stop to mention just how much I don’t care about any of the Kardashians or their publicity craving mother? Or any of the Surreal Housewives of any city? Or any bachelors or bachelorettes? Or pretty much anyone who thinks I want to tag along as they live their unreal, completely staged lives?

Or how sick I am of commercials where the actors stress the pronouns, as in ‘me, my, I, our’? As a text coach for the theater, I know that one of the cardinal rules of speaking is not to stress the pronoun. It’s a pronoun, for goodness sakes. The verb is more important than the pronoun. The subject is more important. The action is more important. In Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter verse, which scans ‘da DUM, da DUM, da DUM,’ 98% of the time the pronoun will be unstressed. It will fall in the ‘da’ unstressed part of the beat. If it falls in the stressed part of the beat (DUM), it’s for a specific reason. As in “No, you misunderstand me, it’s not just anyone’s dog, it’s MY dog.” Then it’s okay. But all of this ‘me, my, mine, I, we’ stress jars my ears. I asked a friend who works in Los Angeles about it and was told that ad companies and producers are requesting this sort of thing nowadays. Because any actor worth his salt would not stress the pronoun. They are being told to do that. I guess the advertising world has decided that we consumers could use even more self-absorption than we already have. I know I’m especially sensitive to this kind of thing, but next time you’re watching television for any length of time, see how often you hear this sort of thing. There’s one commercial out right now for Dr. Scholl’s inserts that, to my ears, is the equivalent of fingernails on a blackboard. I have to mute it.

I know I sound like a teacher. But I am a teacher. It’s in my DNA.

In closing, Scout has become radioactive:

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She’s glowing.

Have a happy Sunday.

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Ice Station Zebra

Reading Rules, Frigid Weather & Sick Husband Update

On a Cold Sunday Morning

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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