Musings

I went down memory lane today and came up with this sunrise from October back when we were up in northern Michigan. What I was actually spending time delving into was the excavations in Cova del Toll and Cova del Teixoneres…although the caves are right next to each other, the excavated remains date to very different periods…early no-humans, then Neanderthal, then some human stuff. Cave deposits can be terribly complicated to figure out, and I’m only superficially delving into these (apologies)…anyway, pondering a sunrise is far easier.

Posted at 9:56 PM | Comments Off on Looking about

We set out in overcast…which became very light mist…

…yet we decided to go with…ta-dah…the Swedish option, and drag it home ourselves, and figure out assembly…ourselves.

And now we have a new couch, somewhat similar to the last one, and also somewhat different. We’re so glad to have a TV couch again. Or is it a sofa?

Posted at 7:00 PM | 1 Comment »

Happy Boxing Day Boxing Day, if you admit that’s a thing. Perhaps I should have lit these candles before camera-izing.

Posted at 8:17 PM | Comments Off on Winter-izing

I’ve heard of tea towels now and then, and now I have one. I still don’t know the role they play in tea-time—to coddle the pot, perhaps? Speaking of time (or herbal thyme, here in French on this tea towel of “Paree”), isn’t that the essence of life?

Thanks for this thoughtful gift; you know who you are!

Posted at 8:02 PM | Comments Off on French time/thym

Sometime early in our marriage, we bought this canoe ornament (across bottom of photo), and it’s one of the few decorating our living room. Truth: it’s been there continuously for several years (with the lights)—it’s a canoe, after all.

Posted at 9:32 PM | Comments Off on Local lighting

The morning routine began as normal: measure water into the electric drip coffee maker, measure ground coffee, assemble machine, poke on-button, watch the blue light illuminate, return to morning fog—wince and check a few headlines.

Cock ear toward pot…hmm. No gurgling. Glance. Yup, there’s the blue light. Wha?

Despite off-on restarting, gentle shaking, etc., still no heat.

Hmm. Plan B.

I dug out our souvenir Moka Pot, and remembered that it always takes a long time (to me) to heat and brew. Still, it did so, and I sipped fine hot coffee. Whew.

I invaded the Guru’s fog with the news…and he sipped the substitute coffee, and surfaced…. By noon we had researched electric coffee makers in our preferred price range, (no, not paying $400 plus tax—or more), and fetched the chosen model home. By one, we’d unboxed, done the two water-only brews to clean the new machine, and had actual coffee brewing.

Serendipity followed by mission accomplished.

Posted at 7:28 PM | 1 Comment »

This morning was all fog…and I somehow thought obscurity matched my mood.

This evening we had a flare of orange-pink, and I somehow thought things were looking up.

Posted at 8:01 PM | Comments Off on Day bracketing

At BookClub, we always talk about more than The Book. This time, we also went out to check our hostess’s new patio upgrade (already had the waterfall; the fireplace is new), and furthermore did a bit of star-gazing (not shown—heh).

Posted at 10:01 PM | Comments Off on Extras

Isn’t this a fab wreath! [It’s the neighbor’s, along with many other wonderful decorations, some even real and smelling…wonderfully evergreen.]

This makes a fine still-life, no?

Posted at 8:16 PM | Comments Off on Mantel, wreath, candlesticks

We had rain off and on all day, and I looked out into the gloom at one point, and a sprig of a 5 foot tree in the understory sported bright yellow leaves, such survivors.

I found out today that coral and jade are the 35th wedding anniversary materials.

Posted at 9:55 PM | Comments Off on Survivors = troopers ?