Yesterday was warm and sunny and quite beautiful. (These photos were taken yesterday afternoon.) But it’s very cold this morning. Very cold indeed. Our winter coats are in a bin in the shed. I’m not ready to haul them out of there yet. I just can’t do it.
Today a repairman comes to look at the washer. By the end of the day, we’ll know whether we should repair or replace. Crossing fingers for repair. Pretty please?
Tomorrow, another trip to the laundromat. Each load is $3.00. That’s more expensive than the washers I used at the hotel and apartments in Hartford. So when I did the laundry last week, I just brought everything home wet and spent the rest of the afternoon drying it in our dryer, which is working just fine. It does end up being a day all about laundry, but what can you do?
This morning I was visiting blogs and I saw a blog post by a young mom with a tutorial on how to make a cardboard house out of a box. In this case, she used a cereal box.
My immediate reaction was “Gee that isn’t new. I did that when I was a kid. I made houses out of shoeboxes and decorated them.” You know, the whole there’s nothing new under the sun thing.
But then I thought about it some more and my reaction turned to a resounding ‘Huzzah!’ Huzzah to moms and dads that are helping their kids develop their imaginations in this All-Tech-X Box Playing-Texting-Computerized World. Huzzah to parents and teachers who foster and nurture those Imagine It and Make It skills. Huzzah for re-using basic things we all have in our homes and transforming them to something fun and wonderful.
It’s natural to worry about kids today who play endless computer games and who use their phone as a permanent 11th appendage. But something like that little cardboard house gives me hope.
Since it’s not even my birthday yet, nor is it Thanksgiving, I’ve already had to begin ignoring the various Christmas decorating posts I am beginning to see everywhere. Just as I hate walking into a store in October and early November to see Christmas merchandise everywhere – I’m talking to you Lowe’s and Michael’s and Target- I feel the same way about early Christmas decorating posts. Don’t get me wrong, I like Christmas. I like decorating, albeit simply, for Christmas.
But, my birthday is still over a week away! So I’m not clicking on anything Christmas. Here’s how it goes in my world: birthday, slight break, Thanksgiving, slightly longer break, Christmas.
No fuzzy lines.
The winner of a copy of My Sister’s Grave is Jo. Jo, just sent you an email – I need your mailing address so I can forward it on to TLC Book Tours. Congratulations!
Happy Thursday.
Claudia, I love your pictures. The leaf is so pretty. Show us your little box houses if you make them. I too like to hear of parent teaching children the simple things in life. Blessings for a great day, yes for repair not replace. xoxo,Susie
Oh, I’m not going to make one, Susie. But I sure did when I was a kid!
Here’s hoping the washer can be fixed – but if it cannot – now is the best time for a replacement. The big box stores (Home Depot, Lowes, Sears, Best Buy) all have their Black Friday sales going on now. Several years ago, I hung dry all of my laundry (many times in the house) just waiting for the early Black Friday sales. This year we have been limping along on a sick 19 year old refrigerator for months….we went ahead and picked out the new replacement…but waited for the Black Friday sale….will likely get it ordered today! Today is my bday – guess I’ll consider it my bday present! :) Oh and by the way, it is crazy cold here – in the teens at night, highs in the low/mid 20s during day. Had no choice but break out the coats!
Hoping it can be fixed, Deb, but if not, thanks so much for the info about the sales going on!
Happy Birthday!!!!
It has turned cold here in IL this week! I remember making houses out of shoe boxes. My mother always encouraged us to make gifts for each other and these houses were favorites to make and play with!
Me too! I was always so excited when my mom gave me an empty shoe box!
Yes, positive vibes the ailing washer can be repaired! At one point in my life, I enjoyed the laundry routine. I am so spoiled now, the fancy machines do it all except fold and put away.
Oh my goodness, I could stand on my soapbox for hours and talk about children and all the electronic “crap” they are given these days. My husband and I made the choice years ago for me to be a stay at home mother, during the 80’s when it was sort of looked down upon. I tend to march to my own beat and everything centered around my kids and their well being! They painted with real paints, baked in the kitchen, played dress up, listened to their father’s 1960’s rock and roll vinyl records…everything imaginable BUT electronic. Guess where all the neighborhood children wanted to be after school? I have a daughter-in-law who thinks she is insulting me when she tells me I was a late model hippie :-) BUT, I have well rounded, responsible adult children with whom you can hold a meaningful conversation with, who can dream up some pretty darn awesome Halloween costumes for their own children, and I challenge anyone to pick out an “oldie” song my daughter does NOT know the words to!!! She is the reigning karaoke queen in her circle of friends! I personally think it is so very sad to see tiny toddlers holding iPads and such. I recently heard someone commenting on how they gave a book to a 2 year old and he didn’t know how to physically change the page, thought he could sweep his finger across the page. My opinions are my own, of course, and I am not an ostrich with my head in the sand. I do realize the world we live in demands children be well versed in the usage of computers and all. Did not mean to hijack your blog post, honest :-)
You didn’t! As for your daughter-in-law, perhaps she should be told that being a late-model hippie is a complement. Gentleness, peace-seeking, back-to-nature? All very good. I’m proud to be a former hippie who practices those same beliefs.
Fingers crossed on the washer being fixable!! I love that my daughter and sil are so great about toys with Tiger. He has lots don’t get me wrong, but mostly because he has 4 sets of Grandparents and a few Great Grandparents. I does add up. BUT his parents really love books and things that use imagination to play with. I stopped by the other day and Tiger had a submarine made out of a big box. Then there was the airport he made using blocks, Tinkertoys and his imagination! For Christmas we are getting him things to use as dress up (Dr, Cowboy, Spaceman) and of course his biggest love…trains! I’m proud of my daughter and son in law…they are great parents!
hugs,
Linda
They sound like the best kind of parents, Linda!
I agree. Sometimes when I see people walking along gazing at their hands [instead of where they’re going, by the way] and I get peeved about it, I think I’m just being a cranky middle-ager [not ready to cop to old lady yet]. So it’s great to hear there are still folks out there making popsicle-stick houses and Dixie-cup telephones with children. Huzzah indeed!
PS – good luck with your washing machine. I’ve had a string of issues myself in the last week. The fridge was freezing food [in the fridge section] and water was running into the crisper drawers… a leaky faucet in bathroom.. and some furniture-to-thermostat issue [discovered in a routine check]. Maybe the only real advantage of apartment-living are those guys who come promptly, fix the problem and scurry away again…
Yes, we miss those days sometimes, Janet! (almost always when a house repair comes along.)
So. Cold. Too. Early. Supposed to reach 28* today. woot??
I have to say that the Christmas stuff in the stores now (but after Halloween) doesn’t really bother me. I like to have decorating finished before Dec. 1, and it just seems to take me longer now. I don’t even plan on visiting any stores ~ other than the grocery store ~ after Dec. 1. Doing it this way I have a less stressful December, and I can sit and just enjoy the time. Quite different than how things were before I retired. Always so stressed out. I still have my turkeys and pumpkins out now, nothing Christmas goes up before we eat Thanksgiving dinner, but I have purchased some seasonal things and some gifts already!!
Hoping the washing machine is fix-able. It is always something, and on that we can be certain.
Well, I’m well-known for not doing a stick of decorating until the second week of December. For me, and it’s purely personal, though it seems run in my family, decorating too early is a recipe for being too ‘used’ to everything by the week before Christmas. I have a feeling a lot of us follow a schedule that was the same schedule followed by our parents.
You’d best get those coats out.I don’t think the weather is going to wait for you..I agree with you about Christmas..We used to wait until after Thanksgiving..It’s all about money and marketing..I’m guilty of posting Christmas because when I run out of ides to post about, I go to the local nurseries and that’s what you get !! After all..What’s Halloween without Christmas??
Ha, ha! You’re so right, Missy.
$3.00 a load??..my but things have changed since my laundromat days..I did simple crafts with my son when he was little..some of the best times we had together..yes..I’m an out dated hippie too..lol..Good luck with the fridge!
I don’t know why I said fridge..I know it is the washer..lol..
I know – seems pricey, doesn’t it?
I hope there is a fix for the washer, Claudia!
The weather turned cold yesterday and I’m taking it slow doing the laundry — everything is slow now days. Ha! But with the wind whipping and the sun shining the laundry still dries pretty quickly. I’m trying to finish up some baby gifts so I’ve had to wash cloth that was given to me brand new never washed – still had the ticket pinned to it. But I’m grateful for free fabric to make into lovely baby gifts!
My grand daughter (five) begged me yesterday to learn to sew!
Of course, I let her sew the scraps. She’s pretty good. My Viking has a knee pedal and she can’t reach it but she sat on one knee and would guide the fabric and run the presser foot lift, and she even learned to thread! I pressed the pedal.
I think the doll houses out of recycled materials is a great idea. I someone make a loft apartment for her sons Ninja Turtles! I was thinking of making something like that with Easton and his super Heroes .
You’ve given me an idea!
Y’all stay warm.
It is UN seasonally cold – like a Texas January! Doesn’t feel like November at all!
Good to know I’ve given you an idea, Pat! Always happy about that kind of thing. It’s friggin’ cold here today and they are saying we might get some snow tonight. I don’t think it will amount to anything, but you never know! Too soon for snow.
Washer was not working because the top wouldn’t stay down snugly enough to switch on the washer. And, lucky us, he had the part on the truck. All fixed now – for a couple of hundred dollars.
That takes me back! My sister and I used to make stables out of cardboard boxes and masking tape for our “Best of the West” horses. I saw some of the Marx product at a doll show recently and the resale prices made me wish we’d kept our collection.
Fingers crossed for your washing machine. My mother used to say that she thought I’d go through withdrawal if my washing machine or vacuum didn’t work. But I’m also told that being slightly obsessed with cleaning makes me a very good house-minder.
What exactly is “Black Friday”? Is that like our Boxing Day where the retailers show a profit with lots of sales and are in the black, instead of red?
Black Friday is a big retail day – technically the day after Thanksgiving. And yes, it’s touted as the biggest shopping day of the year (though that’s changing with online sales) where shoppers can get great prices. Unfortunately, it causes competition and some retailers now stay open on Thanksgiving to get a jump on sales. Not very nice for their employees.
I’m glad to hear that some moms are ignoring hi-techie stuff…it does give me hope! Hi-techie stuff wasn’t available when my kids were young, but they did have access to computer’s in the 90’s. I always thought it was more important to help develop their imaginations when they were younger…and to develop their creativity….still think that applies! Hope it’s good news on the washer front…laundry is tedious enough, without complications! ;)
Good news. All fixed! Huzzah! I’m doing laundry at home tomorrow, not at the laundromat!
FANS.tas.tic! ;)
I know what you mean! Yesterday I stopped at the grocery store and there were potted greens made up for Christmas! Also wreaths. $25 and who knows how long those will last. Probably not until Christmas. They will probably be brown long before that.
I hope you can just fix your washer. $3.00 per load! Yikes!
It is cold here. About 30 right now at 3:45 and last night the temperature got down to 10 degrees. Plus it is very windy. It is way to early for this!
Cold here too. Maybe some snow tonight….Yikes!
I don’t get upset with craft stores. Individuals who make Christmas decorations or crafts for sale need the head start.
Ah, good point, Terri!
Hope your washer is repaired and keeps on running! Our machines are older also, but when I look at the monsters being offered now I know they wouldn’t fit in this little cottage, and the huge price tags are frightening. We don’t have a laundry room – just a closet in the kitchen.
Yes, Christmas is thrown at us much too early – the almighty $ is all the retailers think about. I will not be stringing lights or looking for a little tree until after T-giving. I am starting on cards though, I always leave them too late and get stressed.
Stay warm and cozy up with Don and Ms. Scout.
Hugs – Mary
It’s awful when your washing machine isn’t working. Where I live there is nowhere to go to wash laundry. You just have to hope you can get a quick repair or go and buy a new machine. Meanwhile, unless you hand wash, the laundry is piling up. I remember making myself a doll’s house when I was a child. I absolutely loved it. It’s great that children are still doing this sort of crafting or similar.