Month: October 2019

a simple garden · Autumn · home · Monday · Tucker

Gathering the kitchen garden

A spirit of simplicity2 Comments

The good

Pork roast with fresh herbs from the garden

The fun

I sure do love this cat, Tucker. I was curled up on the couch reading on Thursday afternoon and he came curling up around my leg and held down my ankle with his paw, lest I should try to escape and ruin all the cozy warmth. The school where I work was cancelled because a storm in the night caused a widespread power outage.

The random

Sunday afternoon turned warm and rather sunny. I potted the Rosemary and brought it indoors to overwinter and I potted some of the parsley and gave it a sunny spot on the kitchen table.

The good, the random, the fun

Autumn · Friday · home · Hopie

Friday family and friends

A spirit of simplicity8 Comments

Saturday was my grandson, Verne’s, third birthday. My sister and her fiancé, my brother and his fiancé, my other daughter, Hannah, and my two step-sons were all able to attend the party. It was wonderful!

Hannah has just a started a new job after getting her masters in social work. She has recently moved into a new place with a roommate. We don’t get a chance to see one another very often and it was so nice to be able to be with her for the afternoon. She came dressed down and with no make up and that made it all the sweeter. I think she’s most beautiful when she looks most like herself.

Abbigail continues to improve after her cleft palate surgery last month. She is eating some solid foods now and less of the bottle. It was sweet to see them playing together with one of Verne’s new birthday toys.

It was nice to spend time with my brother and his fiancé on Sunday. My sister left mid-morning and my brother and his fiancé, Joe and I, and Joey all went for a walk to the old fort.

We got a new TV for the living room. The first movie I watched on it was The Bishop’s Wife with David Niven, Loretta Young, and Carey Grant. It was wonderful! After that I watched the first episode of the Country music documentary by Ken Burns. It was wonderful as well. I will watch the next episode next week. I don’t like to “binge watch” things on TV. I get bored.

Friday fave fives

Autumn · beloved

Nor-Easter

A spirit of simplicity5 Comments

My first school cancellation as a faculty member at my new job!! We are in the midst of a north east storm and there are trees down and power out for miles and miles. We are one of the few people with power but my school (which is a few towns away) and most of the town I live in lost power in the night.

So….school is cancelled! With all the trees down I’m not sure how I would have gotten there anyway.

Little things Thursday

Autumn · home · Monday

Staying home

A spirit of simplicity2 Comments

The clapboard is finally finished on our house! The windows have all been replaced and painted, the roof is done, and two of the storm doors have been installed!

On Tuesday they will install two more screen doors and begin the exterior painting!

The dark grey/green is called nocturnal grey and it’s for the clapboard, the white is for the trim, and the Navaho red is for the doors.

We live in a historical district of Marblehead, Massachusetts, so these historical looking colours are perfect.

The back story:

In mid-spring my brother was painting the interior of a three-story apartment house in old town Marblehead. The first floor was available to rent and he thought it would be a nice place for my mum to live. She had been thinking about selling her house and renting a first floor apartment. She’s 84 and the stairs and upkeep in her home were getting to be too much for her. After being told that the entire house, interior and exterior were being done over, she decided to make the move.

Meanwhile, the second floor was also opening up to rent. My brother mentioned it to Joe and I, and after thinking about it for a few days, we decided to make the move as well.

We moved into the second floor on 28 June and my mum moved into the first floor at the end of July. We all knew that the house would be a work zone for a few months in early fall.

They started work at the end of August. Wow!

They’ve removed the vinyl siding, repaired some rotting boards and some significant rot at the bottom of the house, installed clapboard siding, replaced all of the windows, replaced the four screen doors, had a new roof put on, and they will begin to paint tomorrow. In the interior they have redone the first and second floor bathrooms with new toilets, new tub/shower, and new flooring, they have redone the first and second floor kitchens with new dishwashers, new stoves, and new refrigerators. They have updated and added some electrical outlets and lighting. They have also repainted the entire house from top to bottom, all walls, all ceilings and all trim, including those in the front stairway and installed new carpet in the entire place. They have also replaced and painted all of the windows.

It’s been a long few months! We are beginning to see signs of the end of the tunnel though!

I think by just after Halloween we should be just about done. Hopefully, the painting will go smoothly and the nice weather will hold out till they are done!

Make it pretty Monday

Home and garden Thursday

Autumn · beloved · home · Monday · our house

It’s good to be three

A spirit of simplicity1 Comment

The fun ~ Verne turned three on Saturday!

The good ~My sister and her fiancé, my brother and his fiancé, my older daughter, Hannah, and my step-sons were all able to make it to Verne’s party!

My sister gave the birthday boy this wooden transporter truck and he loved it…so did his little sister.

The random ~ We think that these will be the colours on the house. The dark grey/green for the clapboard, the white for the trim, and the Navaho red for the doors. Originally, the owners had chosen more of a Florida type of blue/grey but the house is in a very historical district in New England and these colours will look much better!

The good, the random, the fun