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Four Books in Two Weeks

February 13, 2020 at 9:57 am by Claudia

We had a mostly sunny day yesterday and one of the perks was seeing this silhouette of the sansevieria leaves on the wall above Stella.

Alas, today is not sunny, it’s gray. We had a small amount of snow overnight which has turned to rain, leaving us with a bit of a slushy mess. But we don’t have to clean it up as the temps will rise and it will all disappear. We’re in the low forties later today and then the temps plummet about 20 degrees on Friday – right in time for my trip to Hartford.

No complaints. I’ll bundle up and walk quickly through the streets of Hartford. Hat, gloves, scarf and winter coat; I’ll be fine.

I dropped by our little library yesterday to pick up two books that I had placed on hold. On the way in, I looked at the ‘new fiction’ shelf and there was the latest Lee Child. I haven’t read his last two books, so I grabbed it. When I arrived at the desk to check them out, I found there was a third book waiting for me, so I left the library with four books that are due in two weeks!

I finished The Snowman last night (excellent!) and I started The Family Next Door by Lisa Jewell this morning. It’s not quite at the level of Jo Nesbø, but it’s engaging, and I’m nearly 100 pages in. These books are considered ‘new’ so I can only have them for 14 days. I’m looking forward to all of them, but I’m especially fond of Joe Ide’s books (the IQ series) and was so happy to see another one had just been published. I’ve got a lot of reading to do!

When I’m in a book store and see a book I’m interested in, I take a picture of the cover with my phone and then I go home and search our library system for the title and, if it’s in the computer, put a hold on a copy. I took pictures of the covers of Hi Five and Lock Every Door last week and here they are in my hot little hands this week. It saves me money, as I don’t want to buy every new book I see, nor can I afford to. And, unless its Louise Penny or Michael Connelly, I have no guarantee whether I’ll like it. I’m trying to do this more and more and so far it seems to be working rather well.

We’re laying low today here at the Hill-Sparks cottage: reading, eating, Don may pay a visit to the library, I’m doing some laundry before I take off for Hartford tomorrow. Not very exciting, but we like it.

Happy Thursday.

Stair Art Again

February 12, 2020 at 10:38 am by Claudia

The other side of the wall. Looking at this, I realize some straightening needs to be done!

On the bottom, a needlepoint sampler I made for my mom many years ago – I’d say I was in my early 20s – and had framed. When she died, my dad gave it to me. It is priceless, of course, not because of my needlework, but because my mom had it hanging in their home for years and years.

Above it, the Use Other Stair sign which always gets a reaction. I found it in an antique shop several years ago. I loved the graphics and immediately thought it would be humorous on our stair wall, as we have no other stairs to use. It was about $25 and it’s quite heavy. It was the first thing we hung on this wall. I deliberately hung the Pointing Finger next to it.

Above that, a silhouette of me. My mom had them made of all three of her daughters. This hung on the wall of my childhood home and eventually it came to me.

Above it, a charming little print that we bought in San Diego – little boys dressed up as soldiers, playing with a water hose. It’s quite lovely.

And there you go!

We watched Parasite last night. It was stunning. Brilliant on every level. I can’t begin to describe it to you, though it has generated almost non-stop dialogue between Don and me. (We did stop to sleep.) It’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen. It operates on so many levels, and it does so impeccably. I see why it won so many awards this year. Believe me when I say it deserves every one of them. Bravo.

I’m about 3/4 of the way through The Snowman by Jo Nesbø. It’s a terrific read. Two books that I reserved have come to my local library, so I’ll go pick them up this afternoon. I want to finish the Nesbø so I can start in on the other books – there’s that library due date to consider, after all.

It’s been sunny off and on this morning, but we have a snow/ice/rain thing coming tonight. Then tomorrow morning, all rain.

There are two days this week where the temps are going to drop into the twenties during the day and single digits at night – Friday and Saturday. The same two days I have to walk around Hartford, going back and forth from the apartments to the theater. Oh, joy. I’m earning my salary!

Happy Wednesday.

Stairway Art

February 11, 2020 at 10:42 am by Claudia

Stairway art, part 1.

I’ll do part 2 tomorrow as I didn’t get a particularly crisp picture of that part of the wall.

The “Life is Very Short”….finger is a new piece made to look old. I got it at the Country Living Fair several years ago as a present for Don.

Next to it, a modern print that Don loves.

Above and to the left, an oil painted by my Great-aunt Ruth. She was a talented artist. This hung in my grandmother’s home for years.

Next to that a cow print that we love.

Above the cow print, a little framed piece that I found in an antique shop and a piece of architectural salvage.

To the right: two oil paintings by my dad. The top painting is of a beach and waves breaking on rocks. The other, below it, is of our cottage. My dad painted this for us right after we moved in. What makes this especially delightful is the yellow exterior. Our exterior is a green-gray, but Dad looked at the photo and thought it was yellow.

Top row, on the left: a Norman Rockwell print of Main Street in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, including the building in which he had a studio.

Next to that, a very old landscape that we found in San Diego. It needs a good cleaning, but I sort of love its dark tones.

Next to that, another oil painting by my Aunt Ruth, this time of their childhood home on the family farm in Orillia, Ontario.

________

It’s rainy and gray today. Most of the snow is gone. We may be getting more tomorrow night. We’re headed to the grocery store this morning and will be running a few errands, as well.

We watched Stagecoach on TCM last night. It’s one of my favorite movies. Don was reluctant, but I managed to persuade him and, in the end, he loved seeing it again. A great old John Ford movie with a very young John Wayne and a cast of wonderful actors. It’s my favorite John Wayne performance and Claire Trevor breaks my heart, every darned time.

Happy Tuesday.

Four Books in Two Weeks

Stair Art Again

Stairway Art

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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