3rd House Journal

Spring at Home

[Front yard; 4/26/11]

I got out for a walk today at lunchtime, which I've been unable to do for it seems weeks due to either workload or weather constraints or mid-day appointments or any combination of the aforementioned. The forecasted cool wet weather was briefly blown open today by the sun at just the right time of day and it was glorious. And so hard to come back indoors to sit wretchedly at my desk, my back still aching from the previous weeks' tensions. Hopefully some sun-like energy will blow open a nice window of leisurely work schedule for a few weeks to come. Meanwhile, I did get a nice rest over the weekend as we had no major plans and could enjoy the break in the weather we had on Sunday as well.

Meanwhile, I've been playing around with a side-blog of just one photo per page and a bit of random text. See what you think.

Twas the week before Christmas...

...and so much yet to do. I managed to wrap a few presents tonight after a busy day at work (which included a potluck holiday lunch I spent part of last night preparing a dish for), but then I sat down to indulge myself in the last couple of chapters of the book I've been reading. I've not written half my Christmas cards, nor figured out what I'm going to pack for my trip out to see my dad next week and I'm working just about up until the time I have to leave. We have a party to go to this Saturday night. But I think we may stay at my place this entire weekend so I can get some things done. Besides, the tree we put up last weekend is so lovely, now with a handful of gifts under it, too. I'd like to have some time to enjoy it.

Home Alone

Since D was out of town this weekend, I took the opportunity to tackle various backlogged household chores and run errands. The branch wreath on my door still had silk spring flowers in it, made keenly out of season by my upstairs neighbor's door (we have side-by-side doors in a duplex) sporting a fall-leaf motif wreath. Happily, I stumbled across a crafts store while lost among the suburban strip malls on Saturday and picked up a few more fitting sprigs to grace the wreath.

I've been spoiled being in the city on most weekends, far from the weekend-errand gridlock that grips the suburbs. Economic downturn or not, families need stuff and weekends are when most people are off from work and kids off from school, and cars are the only way to get to where the stuff is. I suppose people may be shopping even more, comparison shopping for the best deals, coupons in hand. I was discount shopping myself, buying less than I had on my list because I didn't want to waste precious dollars on anything that wasn't just what I wanted.

One key item on my list was an area rug for under my dining room table to replace the ugly industrial asphalt-gray rug my landlords left for me since I didn't have enough rugs to cover all the hardwood floors. I should have replaced it a long time ago, but I was pinched when I first moved here, no longer sharing housing costs with a roommate, and then ungodly squeezed the first half of this year paying both rent here and the mortgage on my condo while it was up for sale and then for rent. Anyway, I spotted one at Building 19 (local chain of drastic discounters) on Saturday, went home to think about it, and drove up early Sunday before the traffic onslaught and bought it -- $95 including tax for an 8x10' that works perfectly.

 

Meanwhile, it was a gray weekend and I only got one quick walk in late on Saturday. My normal stash of weekend adventure photos is empty. I did have fun seeing friends after work on Friday night, but otherwise it's been home alone, cleaning and cooking, and I got a lot done. But I feel deprived of my vitamin D.

Dabbling in Tulips

[Tulips, my front yard; 4/15/100]

It's hard not to get caught up in tulip mania this time of year.

Paperwhite

[Paperwhite bloom; 8am, 2/5/2010]

Home-cooked

Nothing makes a place feel like home more than puttering in the kitchen fixing lunch, dinner, or even a cuppa tea and toast. Just as the accumulation of small shared joys builds a happy relationship, the daily pleasures of tastes and smells conjured in one's own kitchen make it feel like home. Now that I can actually open my refrigerator door without piles of boxes in the way, I stood with the frig open considering what to eat for lunch given the odds and ends available. So I threw together an omelette of sorts (no omellette pan, and little experience making omellettes, although some with frittatas and Spanish tortillas) with onions, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, asparagus and a bit of cheddar. Not bad, and very colorful!

I also threw some brown rice in the steamer to cook and cool for later use, and started a grocery list. I'm going to try out #37 (brown rice salad with broccoli florets, pecans,and parsley) on The Minimalist's 101 20-Minute Dishes for Inspired Picnics (thanks to TK for the link) to bring for lunch tomorrow. There are several other dishes on the list that sound like inspired bag-lunch dishes to me. I'm also planning to stay in tonight (after numerous recent stress-free excursions to the pub and other eateries), so I'm contemplating something easy but comforting for supper...

Last night, on our way out to José's (yum!), Lorianne brought me several goodies from my home state of New Hampshire as nourishment for countering various levels of new-apartment stress. I'll wait for cooler weather than today to make the cranberry orange bread, but the marmelade is ready for toast and I've already nibbled the chocolates. Better living through comfort food.

Improving view

[Bedroom window view; 12:15pm, 7/5/08; click for larger views] 

Feeling better today about things, with reality checks from friends. I cleared out more boxes, bought a new step trash can (no room under the sink) that looks reasonably attractive in the kitchen, and lovely mats for in front of the stove and sink! I also put together an IKEA small table with shelves (they really are ingenious - it was completely idiot-proof) that K had picked up for me on her recent excursion and I stocked it with my cookbooks in the kitchen. It's coming together.

Last night a friend came by and we went out to the local pub. She pointed out what appear to be several peach trees outside my bedroom window. The neighbors have a lovely yard, visited frequently by a variety of birds (who don't seem to be eating the peaches, as yet). Tonight, another friend is coming to visit and we're going out for Mex and margs - woo hoo! I'm going to try to enjoy the rest of my vacation - back to work on Monday. (sigh)

...and, finally, cabled

It's really lovely, but I wonder if it can ever feel like home. I pass rather slovenly places near here with envy - porches peeling but abundant with flower pots, worn chairs, signs of life. Here the floors gleam but must be covered, felt pads must be attached to the bottom of chair legs to protect the kitchen linoleum, shower sprayed with cleaner after each use. The walls gleam without a single pin hole and, despite acknowledgment that pictures will need to be hung, I'm a bit terrified of the prospect. Last night I pulled a towel off the kitchen counter, caught the edge of one of the gas stove burners which tumbled off, nicking the paint on the stove and dinging the linoleum.

So... we'll see how I settle in. After the exhaustion of the move, not to mention a year's lease, I can't think of moving again anytime soon. We'll all have to adjust, and somehow I'll come to terms with it and enjoy the lovely space. The rooms are looking more livable with the furniture now in place, most of the boxes removed and, today, the green profusion of the rest of my house plants retrieved from the old apartment. The sunflower continues to peak through the front window rain or shine, and the shifting sunlight throughout the day casts fine shadows and coats the white walls in unexpected colorings. I've spotted a tiny rabbit nibbling the lawn, a sheep dog snuffles around in the fenced-in yard behind ours, people occasionally jog past out front, and down the street the dogs run free across the wide playing fields (despite all the "No Dogs" signs posted) which edge up to plenty of slovenly, homey back porches.

Connected again...

I'm in. It was exhausting. I hope not to move again anytime soon. The movers showed up yesterday promptly at 8am (I had very little sleep), and I was still finding things I needed to box up. Lots of running around ensued, among supervising what to take and what to leave (I missed it when they took Ingrid's basket of toys - ¡que desastre! - but K spotted it being put on the truck and saved Ingie's day by running down to retrieve it), and then nervously trying to supervise unloading on the other end without any wall dents or molding scratches. Ten minutes after I signed the paperwork and they left, around 12:30pm, a wild storm blew in, with hail the size of pennies bouncing off the windows, pelting the poor sunflowers out front, and flinging buckets of water down the street. Good timing.

I spent the afternoon unpacking, re-moving furniture with the assistance (insistence?) of my landlords (determined to cover as much of the shiny hardwood floors as possible, but they also helpfully installed my room air conditioner in my bedroom). Finally, around 5:00, I made plans to go to the pub with K, but first took a heavenly shower (this apartment has a most fabulous shower, with a window - a personal favorite). Sore all over, and with bruises like I'd been abused, a hot soak in the tub would be have been in order if it hadn't been so damn hot out. Anyway, after pizza and beer, I retrieved more stuff at the old apartment (including the bed railings the movers missed behind the door), and went back and reassembled my bed and recabled the tv-stereo system and the pc system so the Verizon guy arriving at 8 this morning could hook me up. I finally got to bed after 11 and sunk like a stone until 6 this morning.

Whenever I find the cable to my camera (sigh) I'll post more pix. There's thunder again, and now flashes. Signing off...

--

Must have caught just the edge of this storm as it seems to have passed already. More stuff to retrieve from the old place (mainly houseplants), and I have to go back and clean up there at some point during this "vacation." Much more to do here, too, but at least the basics are in place. Except, of course, the camera cable (grr). Maybe I need to take another shower...

Peeping sunflower

[Through the living room window, new apartment, 7:30pm, 6/30/08]

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The recycling truck is making a racket as it moves up the street this morning, still at the old apartment. They'll make that racket on Thursday mornings at the new place. Last night I walked here at dusk, among all the trash and recycling sitting out on the sidewalks. K and I have recently found salvageable stuff right next door, such as occasional tables, that people were throwing out. And K went yard sale shopping last weekend and scored an entire dining room set for $50, among other great finds. When I got back from my walk, an old Vietnamese man was going up and down our street loading up a huge cart with returnable bottles he was rifling from the recycle bins. I brought him a couple of empty six-packs we had in ours. Today I'll bring three bags of books to the drop-off book donation bin. We are awash in stuff. But there's an entire thriving economy running like a back alley parallel to the main shopping district. Who needs shopping malls and department stores? (Although - I won't find my clothes in the trash bins, so the stores do have a place.)

It's going to be a hot one today. Not so good for packing, but I don't have too much left. The movers arrive tomorrow mornng. One more day...