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Early Morning

January 18, 2012 at 9:07 am by Claudia

One of my favorite moments in the early morning or evening is the time when the sky is changing – when it’s about to be dark or about to be light. The deep blues move and shift and if you blink, it all changes. They remind me of the blues in a Maxfield Parrish illustration. He always used those mysterious, rich shades of blue. It’s one of the reasons I love his work so much.

I woke up too early today. While letting the dogs out, I saw the sky and grabbed my camera.

I wish I’d slept longer as I have to drive to New Haven again today – this time later in the day because I have to catch an evening performance. I’ll be driving back home late tonight. A bit more sleep would have been most welcome. I fall asleep just fine, but somehow during the early morning hours I wake up and my thoughts start running rampant, I can’t get comfortable and eventually get up.

Those middle-of-the-night thoughts and worries can really get to you.

On the other hand, I love the early morning hours when everything is quiet, when the world is still sleeping. I grab a shawl to ward off the chill, take my little furry pals with me into the den, drink a cup of Peet’s French Roast and watch the sun rise.

I like the quiet. More and more, as I get older, I crave quiet. We’re out in the country, yes, but we live on a very busy road. In the summertime, with the windows open, the sound of trucks and cars can be too loud, too annoying. In the winter, with the house shut up tight, those sounds fade into the background. And when it snows: quiet everywhere. We haven’t had a snowfall like that this winter. I wonder if we will in this strange winter of 2012.

I’m on my second cup of coffee now. Riley seems unusually restless this morning and I can’t figure out what he needs or wants. Scout is sleeping on the sofa. Don’s asleep upstairs. I just sneezed five times in a row.

A glimpse of my morning here at Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

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Tomorrow starts a new series, Thrifty Living 2012. Five of us will be sharing our tips for frugal, thrifty living. We’ll introduce ourselves and share our personal stories over the next two Thursdays, then we’ll take turns sharing the things we do to save money in this crazy economy. I hope you’ll join us.

Snow & Some Favorite Products

January 17, 2012 at 12:02 pm by Claudia

We got a smidgeon of snow last night. Just enough to mess with Don’s midnight drive home from work. What a bizarre winter this is! No snow until last night, if you don’t count the freak 10 inches we got in October, when it wasn’t officially winter yet.

I’m happy not having to contend with shoveling and salt and all the mess that happens with a snowfall, but snow, if you’re going to come, at least cover the ground, okay? This just looks messy.

My head is spinning (just a little) from the font thing. Most of you said you liked the new font just fine, but that you also liked the old font. A few of you took the time to write me and say that my old font (Century Gothic) was more me and suited my blog. Most of you, I’d say 98%, said you had no trouble reading the old font.

What the heck should I do? I’m going to leave the new font on the blog for a while. I like it, so I’m going to give it some time, just like a fine wine, to age and mature. I loved the old font, though. Who knows? It may appear again.

I thought I’d mention a couple of products that I’m liking very much these days:

This line is carried at Target. When I was working in Wisconsin last summer and a trip to Target and Trader Joe’s was the most exciting part of the week, I tried a little sample of this. I love the texture of the cream and the scent is heavenly. I bought a big old tube of it around Christmas time just for me. Wouldn’t you know it? That darned Don is using it, too. Apparently, he’s decided to say Yes to Carrots. I wonder if it’s possible to hide it from him?

One of my Christmas presents from the aforementioned Don was this candle from Barnes & Noble. This is part of a series of library candles by Paddywax. It’s made from soy, rather than paraffin, which makes it more eco-friendly. This one has a quote from Oscar Wilde:

“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.”

Oh, that Oscar. Besides writing my favorite play ever, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” he was one witty guy, always coming up with a quote that makes me chuckle.

These candles are a bit pricey at $20. But both of us love the scent (which usually isn’t the case in this household) and I like to burn it in the den which sits right on top of a dirt-floor crawl space that can be a bit musty smelling at times. Besides, you can reuse the deep purple glass candle holder. Love it.

I redesigned my sister’s blog yesterday. She will be the first to admit she is seriously tech-challenged. It needed some updating. She may be seriously tech-challenged but she is a seriously talented knitter, weaver and crocheter!

For everyone who might be checking in to read a Defending the Small House post, Brenda and I are going to run this series once a month on the first Tuesday of the month. It’s a challenge to keep coming up with ideas and this change will eliminate the pressure of having to coming up with a fresh post every week. Yes, we’re brilliant, but we’re not that brilliant.

Have a great day!

Twitchy, Lamps & Fonts

January 16, 2012 at 11:14 am by Claudia

I’ve had a twitch in my left eyelid for 2 days now.

It’s as if the eyelid has been possessed.

Meanwhile, it’s very cold here. I had my flannel pajamas and a shawl on for most of the day yesterday. Very cozy and, frankly, warmer than a pair of jeans and a sweater, which I also had on for a short time until I realized my pajamas were a much better choice. Does extremely cold weather make you sleepy? Must be the urge to hibernate that runs through us all.

I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to sit here in my blogging chair and see this funky, cheery desk across the room. Seriously, it makes me smile. It brightens up that corner of the room. I brought the lamp down from the studio and replaced it with another cute lamp that I found at Target.

This isn’t the best photo; I took it very quickly. The wall needs painting, as does every other wall in this house. But you get an idea, right? A soft pink color on the shade that really suits the colors in the studio.

Here’s the question of the day: Brenda and our friend Nola have been bugging me about my font. The one I was using previously is Century Gothic. (I love it.) For some reason, they have trouble reading it. Yesterday, while on the phone with Ms. Brenda, we tried other fonts and this is the one I ended up with. It’s called Josefin Slab.

But at the end of the evening yesterday and again when I woke up this morning, I had a little trouble reading it. (Perhaps because of the dreaded twitch?) I spent an obsessive 2 hours this morning trying different fonts. Now I have no idea what I want.

What do you think of this font? Can you read it? Is it too dark, too light?

Let me also say that there’s no guarantee I won’t be messing with it throughout the day. But I promise to leave it alone for a couple of hours so I can read your comments.

Let’s close with a shot of the sky this Monday morning:

I’m glad I snapped it when I did, because it looks totally different now.

Go figure. Now I’m liking the font again. I’m sure that will change in about 2 minutes.

Update: Now I’ve changed it to Merriweather – Josefin Slab was just too light. What do you think? And yes, I know I’m slightly obsessive, but the look of my blog means a great deal to me. And if you liked the old font, let me know that, too.

Early Morning

Snow & Some Favorite Products

Twitchy, Lamps & Fonts

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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