Search Results for: how the light gets in

Hibernating

January 15, 2019 at 11:01 am by Claudia

Just because I like looking at this cabinet. I pass it countless times a day because it’s at the bottom of the stairs, with the bathroom just to the right. Can’t miss it. It never fails to make me smile.

Now I just need that Sleepy egg cup. Still looking. Still slightly obsessing over it. Regular egg cups are pretty and I like them, but figural egg cups are whimsical and happy-making. They are still my first love, they’re just harder to find nowadays. I think I got into collecting figural egg cups in the nick of time. I managed to scoop them up before they disappeared. I still see them occasionally, but not nearly as much as I did in 2002 – 2005.

It’s friggin’ cold here! The kind of cold that makes you want to hibernate inside the house all day. I didn’t get around to my closet yesterday, as I was washing sheets, cleaning the house and the bathroom, watering all the plants, and doing some research. I think I’ll start on it today.

The weather forecast is saying there’s potential for a big winter storm on Saturday and Sunday, with lots of snow and ice. Let’s hope that ‘potential’ fizzles out. I wouldn’t mind a bit of snow, but snow and ice? No and no and no. Other than that freak snowfall in October, we’ve been pretty lucky so far. Can we just keep it that way, Mother Nature?

We watched part of Bruce Springsteen on Broadway last night. We’re going to finish it tonight. I cannot say enough about this show. It’s just Bruce, telling us about his life and career in his poetic words and images, both spoken and sung (accompanied by acoustic guitar.) It’s amazing. I’m not a big Springsteen fan, by the way – I mean, I like and respect him, I just never listened to a lot of his music. But you don’t have to be a fan to enjoy this filmed version of his recently closed Broadway show. I have friends who saw it live and raved about it and now I know why. It’s on Netflix and I recommend it highly. It’s honest and touching and funny and powerful.

I’m reading the newest James Lee Burke – The New Iberia Blues. It was published last week. Excellent, as always. There’s none better.

That’s it, my friends. Winter brings too much time indoors, a sense of hibernation, no flowers in the garden, no critters running around outside. It gets a bit harder for me every year, though I try very hard to find beauty in the stark landscape.

Happy Tuesday.

Edinburgh, Part One

November 7, 2018 at 10:47 am by Claudia

Moving slowly this morning after being up too late watching election results. Though the results in the Senate and in some gubernatorial races are disappointing, and Beto O’Rourke came SO close to upending the reptilian Ted Cruz, the results in the House are cheer-worthy and boy, did we cheer last night! Record numbers of women elected. The first two Muslim women to be elected. Openly gay candidates elected. And Democrats control the House.

Change is coming. Actually, it’s here. This is the beginning of a change that reflects what our country really is. And it’s ultimately unstoppable. It won’t change overnight, but it will change. This is what the old white guys in the House and the Senate are trying to stop, but, in the end, it will prove fruitless.

Most importantly, we have a check on Trump. He will no longer be able to do whatever he wants with no oversight from the members of the House, who have been ignoring their duties as elected representatives for all the people for the past two years. Though Trump will predictably try to paint it as a win, it isn’t. And it certainly will give Mueller a House that will protect his investigation and who will be ready to move to impeach, if that’s what is indicated.

In our district, much to our delight, the candidate who was running against the Republican, who is funded by the NRA and who has held that office for several years, won! We are thrilled. We had deliberately tried to temper our hopes on that race. When the results were announced, cheers were ringing throughout the cottage.

And to my readers in Wisconsin: Scott Walker is kaput!!! Hallelujah!

Let yourself enjoy the results. Feel hope again. And go Mueller!

_____________________________________________

Okay. On to Edinburgh.

We took the train to Edinburgh, a four and a half hour journey that was quite lovely. It was a sunny day and we sat on the side of the train that would show us the countryside and, when we got to the border, the water.

I think we got these on the train and we are now Nuts for Ginger Nuts. Much more of a taste sensation than ginger snaps. (We actually ordered some from World Market and they arrived the other day. We’re hooked.)

Views from the train:

A castle in Durham. There’s also a gorgeous cathedral but I couldn’t get a good shot from the moving train.

We arrived in Edinburgh, took a cab to our hotel (more on that fabulous place tomorrow) and settled in. It was in the area of Edinburgh called New Town, which is quite old – just a bit less old than Old Town, where I stayed when I spent two weeks there in 1991.

We walked toward Prince Street Gardens and the street that would take us to the Royal Mile in Old Town. It was unbelievably windy. And it stayed windy throughout our visit. It was rather shocking after Paris and London, and since Edinburgh is much hillier than London, trudging up and down cobblestoned roads in the wind was rather exhausting.

Knowing we had less than 36 hours there kept us going, despite the winds.

That’s the castle in the distance from the gardens.

My memories of Edinburgh from my other visit were of beautiful old buildings, the castle in the middle of town, the color of the stones used in the buildings and the light. And it proved true again. Don was completely entranced. There is no other city like it. That is St. Giles Cathedral. We’re headed uphill at this point working our way to Edinburgh Castle.

It was late in the day and yours truly kept running into every shop looking for a hat.

It took a while, but I found one.

The view from just outside the castle. The wind and weather made for a spectacular sky.

That’s Arthur’s Seat off in the background.

The light.

Don in front of the castle entrance. I kept encouraging him to buy a hat.

He fought it for a while.

The changing sky over the Castle.

James Boswell and Samuel Johnson met at this pub. I took a course in Boswell and Johnson when I was (briefly) pursuing a Master’s Degree in English Literature.

I found a hat for Don that he initially resisted, but now wears every day. He gets compliments.

Harris Tweed. And it keeps his head warm!

Heading back down toward St. Giles and the hotel, where we had the best dinner of our trip.

Tomorrow, our full day in Edinburgh.

Happy Wednesday.

Frogs, Moths, Flowers, Mowing and Zelig

August 6, 2018 at 9:37 am by Claudia

I won’t tell you exactly how much I mowed yesterday. But it was a lot. I knew rain was supposed to come on Tuesday and I also knew how hot and humid the rest of Sunday would be. (Heat Warnings – also for today and tomorrow.) Don was off scouting locations for his polaroid photography, so he wasn’t here to yell at me to “Come in!”

It’s been so wet from all the rain, but even more, it’s so humid that the grass never gets dry. That means the lawnmower gets clogged with wet grass, which means I have to stop and clear it out approximately 1000 times, so the process was longer than expected. I also took several breaks. But I started early.

Then I weed whacked.

I know. Maybe too much, but a big part of me is happy that I can do all of that in hot and humid weather, that I can push mow most of the property in one session, that I can outwork my neighbor, who is 20 years younger than me, has far less lawn, and is on his rider lawnmower while I’m walking and pushing and getting it done.

Strong women unite!

This adorable little guy was hopping away from the path of the lawnmower. Of course, I stopped to make sure he was safe and took a picture of him.

Flowers:

As if lit by a spotlight.

Don was scouting a location nearby, which is an old railway trestle bridge that spans the Hudson. It’s called The Walkway Over the Hudson. (I shared a walk we took there on the blog a couple of years ago.) Anyway, while he was there, the camera attracted all sorts of attention as it always does and he ended up speaking to, and taking a picture of, a young couple visiting our neck of the woods from London. Questions about the camera ensued and Don told them he was studying with a guy and that they should google his name – Louis Mendes.

They responded with “Oh, we know him! We just met him the other day at the train station!”

What are the odds that this young couple would be visiting and have already met Louis?

I told Don that Louis is the “Zelig” of modern day Manhattan.

Don’s going into the city today to have a session with Louis. I was going to go with him but I do not cope well with this heat, and the thought of being in the city and trying to avoid it is not pleasant. And I don’t have to be there for anything specific. So I’m staying here, running some errands, and waiting for a package to be delivered. I’ll share the contents with you tomorrow.

Happy Monday.

Hibernating

Edinburgh, Part One

Frogs, Moths, Flowers, Mowing and Zelig

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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