Our house is a 128 years old; a mish-mash of slanting floors, and funky, not-quite-square windows. It’s full of collections, found furniture, lots of guitars, ukuleles, and mandolins, a piano, and books everywhere. See? One of Don’s guitars is stashed by the sideboard.
It wouldn’t be right for everyone, but it’s made for us.
But, as homeowners, we can be dolts. We forget to check the level of heating oil in our tank and now we’re faced with two storms, one this afternoon, and the big one that’s headed here on Saturday. The big one promises at least a foot of snow and ice and it will paralyze our area for a few days. So we’ve had to make three rather panicked phone calls to our oil guy. The problem is, they’re getting panicked phone calls from hundreds of people. On Monday, we’re to have temps in the single digits and wind chill that will be below zero. Our oil won’t hold out until Tuesday, even with the thermostat turned down.
They’re promised to get us oil by Saturday. I cannot imagine how busy they are. And we have to do better in the future. We’re artistic types, you know, with our heads in the clouds much of the time.
I’m dreading the storm. It sounds very, very bad. We just hope we don’t lose power and/or trees.
Eyeglass update: Don went to his eye doctor’s office and they had the same frames as his in stock – but only in black, not brown. They popped the lenses in and all is well. He’d recently been thinking that he’s like to have black glasses, so I guess the universe heard him. I was the facilitator.
We’re stocking up on non-perishables, Don’s working on the snow blower, which we haven’t used in a long while, as I didn’t use it last winter when he was away.
And I woke up to a message from Netflix saying that someone had signed into my account from Bangkok and was it me? So I had to change my password and have an online chat with Netflix about the whole thing.
Sheesh! Enough, already!
Okay. Have to go and run some errands before the snow starts falling this afternoon.
Happy Thursday.
I’m glad you got Netflix straightened out—some things are necessities! Good luck with those storms and your oil delivery. Time to crank up Stella and get baking? (Oops, reminds me that we’re almost out of bread. To the mixer I go!)
We’ll crank up Stella to give us some warmth should the power go out!
You seem to have had more than your fair share of stress this week. We had a similar problem with Netflix and had to change our passwords etc. This morning it is currently minus 28C (minus 18F). We’re used to cold, but now we’re expecting a huge amount of snow on Saturday. My daughter is away in another jurisdiction with her fellow articling students, so of course I worry about them all getting safely back tonight. Think I’ll do a quick run to the store tomorrow after work and then hibernate on Saturday.
Changed the pw then thought I should change my email password as well. It’s the domino effect.
Sending positive thoughts re your daughter’s safer return home tonight.
I hope you get that oil. Back when the girls were little we had a tank and had to remember to have gas put in it and sometimes we forgot. Emergency! I like an electric house except when the power goes out so does the heat or air. I’m old and spoiled now with my creature comforts. Glad Don got his glasses without a problem. Hugs.
Thank goodness we have Stella – we can make coffee and cook and get a bit of heat, if necessary.
Hey Claudia,I was thinking when the person delivers your oil, maybe slip her/him a fin.
Maybe only enough for a cup of coffee or hot cocoa,but it definitely say’s “I know you went the extra mile for us and we sure appreciate it. Just a thought.
Love ya much, Judy A
It’s a good thought. But sometimes they come when we’re not here!
Claudia, can you put a reminder that rings once a week or however you need into your phone to check your oil? How you get your delivery!
I’m going to write a reminder on the calendar that’s hanging in the kitchen.
Dumb weather! I hope it all works out and the oil gets there. I can’t remember ~ does Stella use propane?? Glad Don got the snowblower working, too. I’m sure you have good books awaiting the weekend. We aren’t to get more than 2 or 3 inches, but the farther south of us the more that is to accumulate. So much has gone south of us this year!!
Hope everything falls into place and it is a soft dry snow and not a heavy wet one. Take care and stay safe!
Stella uses propane.
Unfortunately, it will be a heavy, wet snow.
Claudia,
I just love your house. Good luck with the fuel delivery. We are expecting similar weather in PA. Luckily we are on automatic delivery. I’m so glad things worked out so well with Don’s glasses, especially the color. Had to help alleviate how bad you felt about them.
Yes, it did. I was relieved and Don was very relieved!
Doesn’t your oil company do auto delivery? They calculate degree days, along with your usage history, and deliver accordingly.
I’m sure they do, but our income is so dependent on freelance work that we are leery of committing to any auto delivery. We have to calculate when we can pay for things.
well it’s the nature of the business isn’t it! the necessities of life that become emergencies
when Ma Nature does a number on us!
I’m happy to hear about Don’s glasses. a change is always nice. and the cottage is such a beautiful little piece of your personal history!
I remember Mother using the cookstove oven when we first moved to Colorado in my childhood!
not sure how good it was on the stove. but we were kept warm enough in the kitchen!
we’re to get your storm too. but they said ours would be more of a wind experience. the snow would be blowing totally sidewarys! I can’t wait! lol.
Thank goodness Stella uses propane. We can cook, even if the power goes out.
Interesting word ‘dolt’….made me laugh. Hope the oil gets delivered Saturday as expected. We will get groceries tomorrow…2-4” of snow is expected along with frigid temperatures starting late afternoon Friday. I’ve got a whole bunch of movies recorded for just such a hibernation.
I’ve looked at that picture of your sideboard several times now….and for some reason it looks new to me. But, I’ve been following you for so long I feel like I know your furniture as well as my own, so it can’t be new. Must be the way you’ve displayed your items on it…anyway…it looks lovely. Enjoy your day! ;)
We’re supposed to get 12 inches and up. And ice. It’s going to be a giant pain in the tush.
The sideboard has been with us since we first moved in together in San Diego. But I don’t often take a picture of it.
Oh no! Twice as much as we’re supposed to get! Hope the oil delivery goes on as expected!! Take care! ;)
Me too. We desperately need our oil!
oh, not dolts! just busy, creative people who’ve had other things to think about.
hope the oil delivery goes as well as did getting new frames for don’s glasses. also that you get less snow than is forecast. be safe!
i love mish-mash! i find it much more comfortable than some place that’s been “styled”. my home is very much like yours (only, i am sure, mine is much dustier) … lived in, with things i love/use in plain sight, cozy and with comfort chosen over what’s trendy.
we’re to get somewhere between four and eight inches of snow starting tomorrow afternoon. it’s been described as a fast-moving storm so hopefully we’re on the low side of things, too. especially after getting about six inches of heavy, wet snow last friday and saturday. i’m not complaining … farmers and wildlife need the moisture … just hope we get no ice! heading to the grocery store in a little bit, along with lots of other people!
hope you two have a good night!
kathy in iowa
The ice is what I find most troubling and we’re going to get ice. Worry about trees. Worry about power lines.
Glad that Don was able to get the same frame in black. Hope the oil gets delivered soon. Sorry about the hacking on your Netflix account. I receive so many warnings from McAfee that they have blocked a dangerous web-site. It is a shame so many people are devious. We are going to receive a mix of snow and rain. I hope they are right. Hopefully you will be pared too much snow.
Marilyn
If it turns to rain, that’s good. If it is icy – not so good. Stay safe, Marilyn.
I just love your cottage! And the photo above is so lovely.
I hope you get your oil in time for the big storm. We are recovering from a major storm last weekend and lost power for awhile. It was brutal. We are electric and natural gas heat here, but when the electricity goes out the furnace doesn’t work either, so makes for a very cold house. Thank goodness for the fireplace! And thermal underwear!
Take care,
Lily
Same here. When the electricity goes out, no heat, no water (we have well and a pump). I wish we had a fireplace!
Hope you stay cozy, warm and well fed durning the storm. And may you power!
Thank you, Tana!
Checking on the heating oil…can you put a reminder in your phone every couple of weeks (or whatever amount of time you’re supposed to check the oil), or write it down on a calendar or datebook or whatever you keep? I had to laugh about being the artist type with your head in the clouds though, as that’s what I tell Tim (about himself) all the time. He forgets everything and has since he was a little boy. I can’t tell you how many times I had to bring his lunch or homework or books to school because he forgot. No surprise that he’s an artist, huh? ;-)
This storm is going to hit us tomorrow afternoon, go through the night, and end sometime Saturday morning. They’re still not exactly sure how the pattern is going to come through Illinois. My area could get as little as 3″ or as much as 10″…and then I saw another model that said up to 12″. And then we could get a few more inches on top of that on Sunday with lake effect snow. And then bitter cold temps like you mentioned. And more snow next week. I’m hibernating!
I’ll probably put a reminder on the calendar. I’m the one who remembers these things and reminds Don to check them. Just didn’t this time.
Yikes! That sounds grim. I hope the storm isn’t as bad as predicted and the oil holds out. And good news on the glasses. No one wants to have to deal with it, but at least the lens was OK and they had the same size frames.
In a different vein, last night at “Anastasia,” your name was in the program! I had rather a big grin on my face when I saw it!
Oh, that’s nice! Thanks for telling me, Jeanie!
You have had one heck of a week! I do pray that the oil gets to you by Saturday or earlier. I think you have a wood burning stove. That will help. So pleased that your husband likes his new frames.
No wood burning stove, Mary. Unfortunately!
I got a few groceries tonight…I have meds to pick up tomorrow and we will be all ready for the big storm…9-13 inches due here on Sat-Sun…Coffee, tea, books to read, Netflix to watch and kitties to keep me warm…sometimes it’s not so bad to be snowed in if you nothing else to be done!
I wish you well during the storm, and I hope you get your oil. We ran dry one time in Alaska by accident and had just enough of a trickle to keep the cabin at 65 degrees – me and my two toddlers – until the truck could fill us up. Years later, I now live in an old farmhouse in the midwest and I thought I was the only person with slanted floors. If you put a grape on the kitchen floor, it will roll to the guest bedroom.