(soon to be retired)
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Moving at a snail's pace
Life has slowed way down for me these past 18 months that I've been retired. It's not been just what I'd expected, either, or planned on. Worsening arthritis to the point of debilitation has put the squash on any plans I had of getting out more, traveling more, gardening more, walking more, and generally moving more than I ever did while I was sitting and typing all those many years of my working life.
But whatever it has become, my life has slowed down to a crawl here at the cottage on the hill. My latest accomplishment, the new reading room made out of the old dining room, is getting a lived-in look now... here it was when I came down this morning:
and
Funny how the dogs are reacting to the new space. Em always used to love sitting underneath the dining room table, in amongst the chair-legs... like it was a secret hiding place maybe. In the warm/hot weather, I would find her over in front of the fireplace on the bare floor, soaking up the cooler surface. I'd take the carpet up in there in the really hot weather and she loved spreading out under the table on the bare floor.
Kip never did any of this. He likes to be in one of three places: 1) plopped in front of the front door looking out the storm door to the front yard and street beyond; or, 2) plopped on the floor in front of the rear hallway looking out into the kitchen/breakfast room where Paul would be sitting at the table and I'd be in my chair, and he could keep a close eye on both of us at the same time; or, 3) he's on the sofa, probably his favorite spot in the whole house, taking a snooze.
If Paul and I are both home, like today, and we are on different floor levels, the dogs will almost always be on MY floor level, but with an ear cocked to hear if Paul is moving around or intending to go out, maybe on walkies! We don't utter that word around here very often or lightly. Once it's been said out loud, both dogs will go into overdrive and start barking loudly, running back and forth around the house, until Paul can get his coat on and the leads pulled out and onto the necks of my two collie doggers. Happy dogs... is what they are then.
Now, the thing about the reading room, which I must say is also turning into a "music room" for me, is that so far, Paul has not spent any time sitting in his chair yet reading! He says the light is not right yet, so the other day I ordered two floor lamps that should be arriving today, I think, which are a tiny bit weird but I think will work for us. They have goose-necks that are adjustable. They have tiny LED lights underneath the main body and a big magnifying glass in the middle so you can put your book under the glass, if you've forgotten your glasses, and see better. I keep a set of reading glasses at all places I land in this house, but Paul only has two... so this should work well for him, see below:
I'm trying to keep the new room neat and orderly but I also want it to feel homey (or as the British say, "homely" - which means the same as our "homey"). So I put the radio/CD player in there and only put in a bunch of classical CD's - I want to create a peaceful ambiance in that room and not turn it into a loud, foot-tapping, rock-n-rolling type of place. A serenity room, more or less.
As you can see, my forsythia have bloomed and even have green leaves on them now:
I won't keep them indoors too long, and I'm thinking that these stems may develop roots while sitting in water in here, and I might plant them in two bunches out front along the wire fence and see if I can get a couple of forsythia bushes going out there... the more color in the yard the better, as I always say.
I still have work to do on things in here. The sheers that you see in the picture above need to be hemmed at the top. I have them pinned up because they were too long, and I've had Paul cut 11 inches off the 2 wooden curtain rods there, one for the off-white curtains and one for the sheers, so I want to hem those sheers up so they will slide easily on the wooden rod. Sewing is a big project for me as I will have to do it out in the breakfast room now on the table, whereas before I would use the dining room table.
So things are moving along - slowly...
See you another day and cheers,
Bex
It's in every one of us to be wise;
Find your heart, open up both your eyes.
We can all know every thing without ever knowing why.
It's in every one of us, by and bye.
~ John Denver & The Muppets ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
But whatever it has become, my life has slowed down to a crawl here at the cottage on the hill. My latest accomplishment, the new reading room made out of the old dining room, is getting a lived-in look now... here it was when I came down this morning:
and
Funny how the dogs are reacting to the new space. Em always used to love sitting underneath the dining room table, in amongst the chair-legs... like it was a secret hiding place maybe. In the warm/hot weather, I would find her over in front of the fireplace on the bare floor, soaking up the cooler surface. I'd take the carpet up in there in the really hot weather and she loved spreading out under the table on the bare floor.
Kip never did any of this. He likes to be in one of three places: 1) plopped in front of the front door looking out the storm door to the front yard and street beyond; or, 2) plopped on the floor in front of the rear hallway looking out into the kitchen/breakfast room where Paul would be sitting at the table and I'd be in my chair, and he could keep a close eye on both of us at the same time; or, 3) he's on the sofa, probably his favorite spot in the whole house, taking a snooze.
If Paul and I are both home, like today, and we are on different floor levels, the dogs will almost always be on MY floor level, but with an ear cocked to hear if Paul is moving around or intending to go out, maybe on walkies! We don't utter that word around here very often or lightly. Once it's been said out loud, both dogs will go into overdrive and start barking loudly, running back and forth around the house, until Paul can get his coat on and the leads pulled out and onto the necks of my two collie doggers. Happy dogs... is what they are then.
Now, the thing about the reading room, which I must say is also turning into a "music room" for me, is that so far, Paul has not spent any time sitting in his chair yet reading! He says the light is not right yet, so the other day I ordered two floor lamps that should be arriving today, I think, which are a tiny bit weird but I think will work for us. They have goose-necks that are adjustable. They have tiny LED lights underneath the main body and a big magnifying glass in the middle so you can put your book under the glass, if you've forgotten your glasses, and see better. I keep a set of reading glasses at all places I land in this house, but Paul only has two... so this should work well for him, see below:
I'm trying to keep the new room neat and orderly but I also want it to feel homey (or as the British say, "homely" - which means the same as our "homey"). So I put the radio/CD player in there and only put in a bunch of classical CD's - I want to create a peaceful ambiance in that room and not turn it into a loud, foot-tapping, rock-n-rolling type of place. A serenity room, more or less.
As you can see, my forsythia have bloomed and even have green leaves on them now:
I won't keep them indoors too long, and I'm thinking that these stems may develop roots while sitting in water in here, and I might plant them in two bunches out front along the wire fence and see if I can get a couple of forsythia bushes going out there... the more color in the yard the better, as I always say.
I still have work to do on things in here. The sheers that you see in the picture above need to be hemmed at the top. I have them pinned up because they were too long, and I've had Paul cut 11 inches off the 2 wooden curtain rods there, one for the off-white curtains and one for the sheers, so I want to hem those sheers up so they will slide easily on the wooden rod. Sewing is a big project for me as I will have to do it out in the breakfast room now on the table, whereas before I would use the dining room table.
So things are moving along - slowly...
See you another day and cheers,
Bex
Find your heart, open up both your eyes.
We can all know every thing without ever knowing why.
It's in every one of us, by and bye.
~ John Denver & The Muppets ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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