living room — Page 3

The Daily Routine & Some Sad News

March 21, 2019 at 11:09 am by Claudia

Such a beautiful sunny day yesterday! Today? Rain. Tomorrow? Rain. But I don’t mind. We need rain in order for the grass to get green, for plants to grow, for trees to bud. I’m just happy to see all of the snow gone!

I spent a few hours working on the dollhouse yesterday, doing the tedious work of getting rid of all the excess glue. Applying heat – in my case, with a hairdryer – softens the glue. But getting it out of there involves scraping or using your fingernails, which is what I did. My sore fingers this morning indicate that I did a lot of that. But huzzah! I’m done!

There’s still some excess glue around the windows, but that will be fairly easy to deal with. Next up: my plan for the exterior. And that, if I do it right, is going to take a long time.

I want to share two things with you today.

Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while remember the story of Ashley and Pliers, the two horses that we fed every day on our trail walk. Ashley was the mother and Pliers the son. They were devoted to each other, but they lived in a muddy field and their owner was no longer capable of caring for them. They were in their thirties and Ashley was blind. Sometime she would fall and Pliers would stand guard over her. And Pliers wouldn’t let anyone get near her. He never left her side.

Some good neighbors intervened and temporarily housed them until the wonderful Catskill Animal Sanctuary took them in. That was 29 months ago. If they hadn’t taken them in, both horses would have died.

Today, on Instagram, there was a post from Catskill Animal Sanctuary:

“When 35-year-old blind Ashley, terrified of humans, and her 33-year-old son arrived here in October of 2016, we thought they had just weeks to live; they were dangerously attached to each other and had myriad health problems. In fact, Ashley’s back end gave out when she walked. But expert and exhaustive care (even helping them up when they couldn’t stand), exercise, and an abundance of love, likely gave them the best 29 months of their long lives. With their health rapidly declining and falls more frequent, it was time for our final act of love. Goodbye, teachers. Goodbye, old friends. Goodbye, Ashley and Pliers. You are forever in our hearts.”

My heart is breaking.

But without the Sanctuary, they would have been gone much sooner. Everyone at the Sanctuary lavished their time and care on them. Pliers began to feel less need to protect Ashley. He felt comfortable leaving her to come to the fence or for training. Ashley was tended by volunteers who were experienced in working with blind horses. The quality of life for both of them improved greatly.

I’m very sad. It’s hard to grasp that they are gone. But they went together and I know that it would have been impossible for either of them to continue without the other.

Farewell, Ashley and Pliers. You were loved by many.

You know what? That’s enough for today. I’ll save the other ‘share’ for tomorrow.

Let’s leave this post with a photo of these two beautiful souls.

Ashley.

Pliers.

Rest in Peace, my friends.

Happy Thursday.

Oh So Satisfying

March 15, 2019 at 10:32 am by Claudia

The temperature hit 60 degrees yesterday. I had all the windows open, as well as the front door. Light was streaming into the cottage and I decided that this was the day to tackle the wardrobe/cabinet in the living room.

I found it at an auction many years ago. It’s huge, has interior shelves, and I love it. $100.00! One of my favorite “steals.” It has such style. It has furnished us with storage that we wouldn’t have otherwise, which is why I got it in the first place. Over the years, it became the repository for office supplies, jewel boxes and CDs (from the time that Don was recording his songs), telephone books (do we really need them anymore?), binders holding every script I have worked on since we moved here – stacks of them, old theater contact sheets, old bills, paycheck stubs…you name it.

You have to be in a ruthless mood. I was – a strange combination of ruthless and happy – so I tackled it. First, I used some Murphy’s Oil Soap on both the pew and the coffee table. Then, armed with contractors bags, which are huge, I started throwing things away. Three contractors bags later, I was done. Well, not quite. I had to wait until Don got home to ask him about his blank CDs and his masters for some of his recordings. He sorted through those and then we were done.

In the meantime, I took the opportunity of an almost empty cabinet to remove the McCoy from the top and push it to the left about 3 inches, so there could be some space between the cabinet and the pew.

And now the door shuts again. I had been propping the child’s chair against the cabinet to keep the door closed.

Now there’s a little air between all three pieces.

And you can see some of the carving on the pew. And it’s easy to pull out from the wall if you want to see more.

Such a satisfying day! I’ve long known I had to tackle the cabinet. I just kept putting it off. But the addition of the pew, along with my need to see some of the carving detail, which necessitated moving the cabinet, is what clinched it.

Even warmer today with possible rain, then back down to the mid-forties tomorrow, which is still positively balmy considering what we’ve been through this winter. No complaints from me.

I woke to the horrific news from New Zealand. I will never understand how such hatred can exist. My heart is with you, New Zealand.

With hopes for an end to hate with the realization that we are all one,

Happy Friday.

A View From The Pew

March 12, 2019 at 10:53 am by Claudia

I thought you might enjoy this view. Monty, still sporting his holiday garland, the pew, and off in the distance, the vintage dollhouse.

I see evidence of snow melt out there. I can tell the height of the snow has shrunk. Huzzah! The big piles that grew from shoveling will take longer, but eventually, they’ll be gone, too.

During our second cup of coffee this morning, I read the Mary Oliver poem I posted yesterday to Don. Then he read a poem by William Carlos Williams about Spring. In that poem Williams describes the brown and dead looking landscape perfectly. And we agreed that it’s hard to imagine my garden emerging from all that brown, dry, seemingly dead landscape. Or wildflowers emerging. Or daffodils pushing up from the ground. The rebirth that never fails to stun us with its beauty.

We spent the late morning and early afternoon with Rick, Doug, and Doug’s daughter, Alecia. She’s headed back to Japan today (where she teaches at a university) and we wanted to see her one more time. I got to know her last year, but Don was in NYC at the time, so he didn’t have that chance. They got to spend some time chatting together yesterday. As always, great conversation, lots of laughter, and time with Sam. We all went outside and threw his ball for him as he raced back and forth on the snow.

Then we realized that it looked like Don’s gas tank was leaking. Gulp. So Don drove over to his mechanic’s station and I followed. Turns out, it’s a leak from the line that goes from the gas cap to the tank and it only happens when the tank has been topped off. But we’re going to get the line replaced today.

All of this took up much of the day, so I will answer your comments from yesterday’s post this morning, right after I finish writing this post.

Contemplating sorting through all the stuff in the white armoire/cabinet in the living room. There’s much that can be tossed. And after it’s tossed, it will be easier to move the cabinet a few inches to the left. We’ll see if I get around to that.

Happy Tuesday.

The Daily Routine & Some Sad News

Oh So Satisfying

A View From The Pew

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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