Scout — Page 87

Sunset, Scarf & Scout (and Cold!)

November 9, 2012 at 9:15 am by Claudia

Oh boy. It’s friggin’ cold here this morning. I am currently wearing a wool cap, a shawl is draped around my shoulders and a quilt is draped around my lap. Yikes. Don threatened to take a picture of me in this get-up for my readers, but I squelched that idea. Our furnace/oil guy, Gino, gave us two space heaters to use and they are helping enormously but I’ve realized what a difference it makes when you have no heat coming up from the basement. Somehow the temperature in here seems much colder than yesterday morning when we still had some residual heat rising from the basement. The new boiler will be put in later today. It cannot come soon enough. It went down to 27° last night.

But even though this is a pain in the tush, it is nothing compared to what those who lost power during Sandy are going through. I just saw an update from one of my former students who lives in NJ with his wife and children. They are on their 11th day without power. 11 days. So I will shut my mouth now and cease complaining.

This was the view out my kitchen door last night. I was so intrigued by the cloud that is low on the horizon. Doesn’t it look like an angel’s wing? It was so beautiful. Far more beautiful than my camera could capture. I love sunsets. Winter sunsets seem to be even more extravagant in their beauty. Perhaps Mother Nature knows she needs to step up the color?

My favorite subject. Scout was in a playful mood here as we wrestled a bit on the living room rug. Oh that girl has such lively eyes. She will be 14 in January. How can that be? The other night, as it was snowing, I let her outside. I came back a few minutes later to see her frolicking in the snow: running around, pouncing, smiling. Thank goodness she still has a lot of puppy in her! I am totally besotted by her and always have been.

I’m missing Riley a lot lately. It’s been almost 3 months since we said goodbye to our boy. Remember the stories about Scout and Riley barking together? Scout would bark, then Riley would bark, then Scout would bark? Don and I would howl along with them. When I was playing with Scout the day this photo was taken, I started to howl. I hadn’t done that since Riley left us. She stopped her barking, gave me a surprised look and came over and licked me on the lips. When I did it again, she did the same thing. She knew. She misses her brother. So do I.

There’s a new scarf in the Etsy shop:

This one is in the softest wool and acrylic – really, it is so soft that even I (sensitive to wool) can wear it. Update: Sold Out. I’m starting another one later today.

I’ll be back later today – at 8:00 EST – for A Favorite Thing.

Happy Friday.

Scoutie’s Feet

November 7, 2012 at 9:31 am by Claudia

Scoutie has Dr. Seuss-like feet. Don’t you agree?

I often think Dr. Seuss must have been thinking of Scout when he created some of his characters. Except for the fact that Scout wasn’t born then. But certainly some ancestor was the model?

By the way, trying to get her to stand still to take a picture or two of her feet was next to impossible. That girl is almost 14 and you would never know it.

Anyway, back to the feet:

So darn cute.

I had approximately 3 or 4 hours of sleep. I stayed up late watching election returns. Then the subject of this post woke me at 7 am because she felt I should be up. And now that I’m awake? She’s sacked out, sleeping on the sofa.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Thanks for all the interesting comments and discussion on yesterday’s post. I speak, of course, only for myself and for the decisions I have made about what to discuss and what not to discuss on this blog. That is what feels right for me. Regarding religion on blogs: I was speaking about overly-preachy blogs. And there are many of them out there. But, I do know that if faith is a big part of your life, it cannot help but be part of the fabric of your posts. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s when that fabric turns into a pulpit that I have to walk away.

And as for politics, I won’t write about politics. But I will, and do, write about certain social issues – never, however, wielding a political or partisan stick. Just from the heart.

Okay. That’s that. I am barely coherent at this moment.

Happy Wednesday.

A Fresh Coat of Paint for the Kitchen Island

November 2, 2012 at 9:39 am by Claudia

Yesterday turned out to be the annual Painting of the Kitchen Island Day. This island takes a beating as we circle around it, open and shut doors and drawers, bang into and generally abuse it. And once a year, I reach a point where I long to see it nick-and-chip-free, if only for a day or so. Out comes the paint. Scout is barred from the kitchen. I make sure Don is out of the house. And off I go.

I’d love to show you bright and sunny photos of the island, but I haven’t seen the sun in over two weeks. I’m not kidding. I don’t think I can take one more gray day. So here are the photos of the island, freshly painted, unstaged, and a bit grainy.

You can see all the details that its original incarnation as a dark brown sideboard hid. That dark brown, almost black, stain overwhelmed the piece and all the carving was lost in that heaviness. When I first brought it home, it looked so huge that Don wasn’t sure it would even fit in the kitchen. I quickly slapped on a coat of primer to show him it would work. I knew that this creamy color would bring out all the details. The back of the piece was unfinished, so I covered it with beadboard. And I changed out the knobs.

This piece has been a life-saver for us. We use it all the time, hence the dings and chips that will reappear shortly. Sigh. The drawers hold linens and baking tins. The cupboards hold our KitchenAid Mixer and various pots and pans. We don’t have a lot of cupboard space in this kitchen and the island has given us much needed storage.

And it’s pretty.

I don’t want to put anything on it.

Now I will do my usual thing and follow Don around for a few days, urging him to BE CAREFUL! He will get annoyed. I will try to fiercely protect my island and eventually I will give up. Because kitchens take a beating. At least, kitchens that exist in real life do.

Scout – showing her outrage that she had been barred from the kitchen for 3 hours.

I wonder if we’ll ever see the sun again around these parts. I’ve been thinking about painting the kitchen a pale yellow. Hmmm.

I’ll be back at 8:00 EST with A Favorite Thing.

Happy Friday.

Sunset, Scarf & Scout (and Cold!)

Scoutie’s Feet

A Fresh Coat of Paint for the Kitchen Island

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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