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I’m Stuck Here, So I’m Rambling

October 26, 2010 at 9:57 am by Claudia

A different view this morning. (Note painting by door that gets crooked every time we go in and out. Annoying.) Normally I’m ensconced in my chair in the den. However, that chair is not good for my back in its current condition. So the laptop, camera and heating pad have moved to a new location in the living room. I’m sorry to say that my aching back is still aching. Thanks for all your advice. In case you’re thinking that I clean the siding on my house on a regular basis, let me assure you, I don’t. The side of the house where I was merrily cleaning away gets that green, mildewy stuff occasionally, especially after lots of rain. I ignored it for a long time (2 years) and that is why I was wielding a brush the other day. And the cleaning didn’t injure me…not looking where I was going was the culprit.

Okay, since I’m stuck here, I submit some rambling thoughts for your reading pleasure:

:: If my beloved Red Sox couldn’t do it, the two teams I wanted to see in the World Series are in. Love the Rangers and the Giants. Mostly, I love that two scrappy teams beat the big guys. They play with such heart! Can’t wait for the series to begin on Wednesday. I might be watching it from the floor, but I’ll be there.

:: In the “Drives Me Crazy” category: the misuse everywhere of the word literal or literally. I hear it all the time: “I literally died laughing.” “We were literally sweating bullets.” No…you weren’t. Otherwise, we would be mourning your death or watching bullets pop out of your body.

I hate it when a word gets twisted into a casual, less-than form of what it was (i.e., ‘awesome’ – that’s another post entirely.) The latest example? A commercial for Dodge Minivans that has the tag line (I paraphrase): “…this minivan literally gave birth to all other minivans.” Really? That would have been a sight to see. And this misuse was okayed by an ad agency. Someone actually signed off on the copy. Yes, I know that language changes, but it shouldn’t be cheapened for a lazy writer’s ad copy. Each of the sentences I referred to would be just as effective without the insertion of ‘literally.’

:: The kids have new clothes:

Scout obviously didn’t want this picture taken. Note slightly pissed off facial expression.

The ever-elusive Riley. Any photo of him requires some sort of sneak attack.

:: When I said there were no orange pumpkins here at MHC, I was sadly mistaken. What was I thinking?

After the dogs reminded me about the dollhouse porch, I was shamed into taking a photo of the pretty display of lovely pumpkins – orange pumpkins.

:: I forgot how much I like crocheting. I’ve started a throw for the den and now that I’ve memorized the pattern, it flows and an almost-meditative feeling comes over me.

:: My Mom is scheduled to go home this Thursday. We don’t know how that is going to work out, as she is not really any better. There will be someone to help out a few hours a day. My Dad desperately wants it to work, but he’s 87 and this is enormously stressful for both of them. I’ll write more when I know more.

:: Last but certainly not least, I had to share this photo with you. It’s my husband as young boy playing the steel guitar in his godfather’s Polynesian band.

He was 11. I can’t even begin to tell you how cute I think this is: the Hawaiian shirt, his sweet face, the look of concentration, the retro starburst clock. Oh, and his haircut. I just want to squeeze him.

Have a lovely day, my friends.

Pumpkins, Color & an Aching Back

October 24, 2010 at 11:53 am by Claudia

Imagine a woman who simply wanted to clean the dirty siding on the far side of her house. There she is, bucket of water and bleach by her side, long handled brush in hand, working away at a task she has put off far too long. Lots of trips back to the inside of the house in order to dump the dirty water, then back outside to refill the bucket. As she blithely walks on the uneven ground, she steps in a hole, twists her body and falls to the ground, thereby straining the muscles near her right knee and badly wrenching her already problematical lower back.

Well, obviously that’s me. The knee is all better but my back? Not so much. I’m walking around like an old woman. Sitting makes it worse, standing eases the pain. Last night, I watched the last hour of the baseball game flat on my back on the floor. Right now, I’m wearing my flannel pajamas, an old shawl that I knit a few years back and a heating pad on my back. The pain is getting to me, yes, but mostly I’m just ticked off that I am so incapacitated. I don’t do incapacitated well.

So let’s look at my new pumpkins. I did manage to get out yesterday to buy some yarn – my need to make something during the colder weather has taken over. I’m going to crochet a throw for the den. On the way home, I stopped for some cider donuts (husband’s request) and I saw these neat pumpkins.

They’re called Cheese Pumpkins. The color and funky shape called to me. I was going to buy one but I was using my debit card and a $10 minimum was required. So I bought two. There is nary an orange pumpkin in sight this year at Mockingbird Hill Cottage. I’m loving this more subdued, subtle coloring. And I have to thank Tracie for jump starting this with her gift of 3 white pumpkins.

Don’t you just love that stem?

In other news, Don shaved off his mustache and goatee the other day and it took me 3 days to notice the change. Does anyone else have this problem? He was patiently waiting 3 whole days for me to discover and comment on the new look and I didn’t come through. See? I always tell him that it doesn’t matter to me whether he has a beard or not. Obviously, I proved my point.

One more photo of our trees in their fall colors:

Have a wonderful Sunday. Me? I’ll just be hanging around with my heating pad.

Blue on Blue

October 21, 2010 at 4:31 pm by Claudia

Thank you for the compassionate responses (I expected nothing less) to my last post. If I learn anything more about the mystery, I will pass it on.

I was standing in the kitchen the other day, after touching up the kitchen island with paint, and I realized that my seashell finds from Florida could no longer stay on my cake plate. Yes, they were under a glass dome….but the whole thing had somehow lost its appeal. I was on a mission to find some sort of jar to put them in. Enter Home Goods:

Timing is everything, isn’t it? There was only one glass container left in this beautiful blue. Hello! You need to come home with me. I think it was about $5. And doesn’t it go perfectly on my little table?

And there’s plenty of space left for more shells. That means I have an excuse to gather some more next time I’m down in Florida. Which may be sooner than I think. I will update you on my Mom in a future post. Suffice to say, things are complicated.

More blue, in the form of a bird:

The little nest I found the other day seems to have found a home. It seems entirely appropriate for a bird to carry her nest on her back. Maybe she’s moving and doesn’t want to go to the trouble of rebuilding?

We’ve been raking, carting tarps full of leaves to the woods, cleaning gutters, cleaning the house, getting our furnace cleaned, having the chimney experts check on our aging chimney (this house was built in 1891). Today they were here to clean the chimney, install a liner and make everything safe and sound until we someday rebuild the base of the chimney. Oh, and get a new furnace. Our old one is sadly energy inefficient.

Maybe I’ll win the lottery.

I’m Stuck Here, So I’m Rambling

Pumpkins, Color & an Aching Back

Blue on Blue

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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