FISHBOWL

           

living is not for me. I’m so glad I ordered the new sheer curtain panels. My front living room window seems hugely HUGE. The new curtains should arrive later this week and I can go back to living incognito this weekend. 

SHEER PRIVACY???

           It’s amazing how sheer white curtain panels made me feel much more private than I probably was. I don’t know how old the curtains were, but Kuma managed to shred one of the panels trying to look outside without the sheer curtain screen. I’m sure from the outside it looked as though a poor old person lives here…true, but it doesn’t have to look that way.

          This morning I managed to pull down the rod that held all four curtain panels. I tossed the shredded one and prepared the others for the Goodwill box I seem to have going all the time. Then, I ordered four new panels from Jaque Penne’ and they’ll arrive later this week. I could have picked them up at the Tukwila store but am sure I would have used up the $8.95 delivery fee in wear and tear and gas for the car plus I’m worth far mor than $8.95 an hour…or at least I was.

          So, my front living room window is sans sheer curtains. It’s wide open except for the drapes that are on either side. I don’t ever draw those drapes but maybe I’ll think about it depending on how visible I am to the neighbors. It’s amazing how big that window now appears and how close the outside now appears.

          I think I’ll need assistance to get the rod with the new panels aboard back on its holders. I hate to ask but I’m afraid one of my sons or my granddaughter will need to pay me a visit. Perhaps I can entice whichever one with yummy food or a promise not to call for help again for at least a month. I know they don’t mind coming to help me, but I just hate to have to ask.

          Now that I’ve done my post for today, I’m going to go get on my couch with Kuma and determine just how much of a fishbowl I’m living in without those sheer curtains.

SOME DAYS ARE HARDER...

         

than others. I have no idea why. I can’t point to one single thing that makes a particular day harder than another day. Today, Saturday, was a harder day than any I’ve had so far in 2023. Again, I don’t know why. I just know that I didn’t feel a lot of joy no matter what I was doing. Walking Kuma, chucking the ball up the street for him in sunshine that fell on my back and actually made me hot…nope, didn’t feel particularly joyful.

          None of the other accomplishments of today brought joy either, i.e., getting two weeks-worth of laundry done, making myself a nice dinner, transferring over a thousand pictures to the frame the kids bought me for Christmas, and attempting to figure out the PhotoStick Omni that came in the mail yesterday. Maybe it was the frustration engendered by the PhotoStick Omni. Yep, I’m going to go with that. It came with hardly any instructions, the link to the online help wasn’t very helpful and just made me more frustrated.

          According to all the hoopla I read about the PhotoStick Omni, all I had to do as plug it in and it would sort through all my photographs, eliminate any duplicates and organize them perfectly for me. What this thing actually is and does is backup everything you have on your computer…even the files in the recycle bin. I do have the option of returning it for a full refund minus the shipping costs…I may do that unless the shipping costs are HUGE.

          Maybe tomorrow will hold more joy. I’ll go to bed tonight with that thought at the forefront of my brain. When I get up in the morning, I’ll just CHOOSE to have a much more joyful day. 

A TALE OF TWO TEAKETTLES

          My eldest son likes me to blog about the past. This post is the story of two teakettles and how amazing it was the fire department didn’t visit.

          December 1965. My parents had moved out of town, so I’d had to get an apartment. It was just a couple of blocks from where I worked. Of course, being young and horny  all the time, John spent the majority of his nights with me in my apartment.

          When John got to the apartment, I was still at work. The firm consisted of all men except for me. That particular day was just before Christmas, so the firm was having the office Christmas party.

          Oh, did I mention it was cold and snowy outside? Well, it was. So, John very thoughtfully drove the couple of blocks so I wouldn't have to walk home. The men in the firm welcomed him with open arms and full glasses. We had a lot of fun before we finally got in the car and returned to the apartment.

          It’s true about John being a thoughtful man. Before he left to get me, he put the teakettle on the stove so we could have tea when we got back.  Well, it hadn’t been a quick trip and that teakettle melted onto the burner. It was ruined, but thankfully, nothing caught fire.

          The second teakettle loss happened several decades later. It had nothing to do with being thoughtful. John was home with Thor who was either in his late teens or early twenties. John put the teakettle on the stove but raised the lid so it wouldn’t whistle…not the smartest idea.

          John and Thor were watching something on TV…probably that crazy guy who had all kinds of weirdos on his show. I don’t remember who or what they were watching, but it was hugely entertaining. By the time John remembered the teakettle, it too had begun to melt onto the burner. They rushed out and bought a new teakettle and tried to make me think it was a gift they simply wanted me to have; however, neither of them could keep from laughing and smirking, so they had to tell on themselves.

          It was all fine. The new teakettle was better than the melted one and I'm still using it.

MORE LIGHT IN THE DARK

          Monday of this week I went to Ace Hardware to pick up a couple of items. There were signs saying all the Christmas lights were 90% off. I took a box up and asked how much it would be…$1.50. Each box held one hundred lights and the cords were white which is the color of my fence.

          I’ve always wanted to wrap the top rail in lights but never got around to it, mainly because the lights were so expensive when the lighting season came along. I bought all the boxes they had which was seven. I called AJ to see if I needed something to protect the cords as they joined. He didn’t answer but a very nice, and handsome, young man offered his advice. So, I purchased these thingies that you put the connections in. They were more expensive than the lights…$4.99.

          I spent time running an extension cord from the deck out to the end of the fence closest to the house. Then I wound the lights around the fence rails. I’m one of those people who are unable to figure out feet and inches…and yes, I’ve heard the joke about “THIS MUCH” being six inches. Anyway, I figured I had enough to do the entire fence…wrong. When finished, the fence beside the driveway remains unlit, but the rest of the fence is very bright. I think if I’d stretched the initial strings, I might have had enough. Ah well.

          Now, all I have to do is figure out the timer so the lights come on when it gets dark and go off at the witching hour. These dark and dreary days require a lot more light, at least in my opinion.

KUMA GETS A SHOWER

          On Tuesday, after I finished putting lights on the fence, it was time for a shower. On the spur of the moment, I decided I’d put Kuma in the shower too.

          I thought I could kneel on a towel on the floor, wet him down, apply shampoo, scrub and then rinse. Wrong. There was no way he was going to stay in the shower with the door open. Good thing I’d already disrobed.

          In the shower with the door closed, I was able to get him all squeaky clean. I got out of the shower first to get the towel ready to toss over him before he could shake water all over the bathroom. Goodness, but Kuma’s a fast little bugger. I finally got a towel over him at the exit from the bathroom…good thing I’d closed that door. I dried him as much as possible and put down a dry towel for him to lay on while I took my shower.

          While I was cleaning myself, the noise Kuma was making was unbelievable. You would have thought he was being tortured in some fashion. When I got out of the shower, he was laying on the bathroom rug and the three towels I’d provided were in three separate piles around the room. All in all, it took four huge beach towels to dry my puppy.

          Then I tried to use the hair dryer on Kuma. He wouldn’t hold still for that, even on the low setting. He’s seen me use it, but he didn’t like the idea of that hot air blowing on him. I persisted and managed to get parts of him dryer than they had been.

          This was followed in a bit by some brushing. I had to laugh because Kuma has waves on the top of his back. Those waves became stand up curls and looked so very cute. I did brush him for a bit and filled the brush twice with this soft downy hair. I think it was the undercoat he’s supposed to have. There certainly weren’t any longer stiffer hairs in the mix.

          We were both exhausted by the time the brushing was finished. We curled up on the couch together, both of us smelling very clean.

I WANT...

           

NEW STUFF!!! Remember being young and thinking about all the “stuff” you’d one day have? And how about that old saying about how the one with the most toys at death wins? I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.

          When I got married at the age of 20, I started married life off with most of the “stuff” my parents had. True, I didn’t own, but rented a little house. I had a washer and dryer, but no dishwasher. When we eventually bought a house, it was a house that was better in many ways from the one in which I grew up.

          Today, I’m still living in the house we bought in 1969. I still have a washer and dryer as well as a dishwasher and a wide variety of other appliances which, with the exception of the toaster, microwave and Nespresso machines are rarely used. They take up counter and cupboard space, but I do use them every now and then.

          I’ve had the same furniture for probably fifty years. True, the cushions have been replaced several times, but the furniture fits the space and continues to be comfortable. Still, I see the TV ads and wish I could have a new set of furniture. True, it probably wouldn’t be as well made as the pieces I currently own, but it would be NEW.

          The same thought process applies to the dishes and pots and pans in the cupboard. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with any of it except I’ve had it forever. The pots and pans are Belgique or cast iron. The dishes are Fiesta ware and, knock wood, not a single piece is broken or chipped. I just don’t like the colors any longer…the new neon-colored collections are gorgeous.

          I remember the excitement of gathering up all my possessions. We didn’t buy the furniture all at once. We had to buy what we could afford when we could afford it. The same applies to the cookware…a piece at a time as a birthday or Christmas present. The Fiesta ware I did buy all at once…the place settings anyway, but the add on pieces like the butter dish, salt and pepper shakers, etc., were gifted or purchased on the as I can afford it plan.

          Then there’s the stuff in the closet. I really shouldn’t have to buy another piece of clothing in my life…okay maybe some new underwear at some point. All the other clothing is perfectly and fits, more or less. There’s even garments in there I haven’t put on in several years, but I keep them because I might go on another cruise or some fun vacation. Probably won’t happen and if it did, surely I could afford to buy some new items for whatever the trip might be. Still, I miss those shopping trips I used to take a couple of times a month before I retired. I’d shop the sales and the marked down sections and was elated every single time I found something I really liked that was cheap, cheap, cheap. I don’t even do that any more.

The fact of the matter is I have absolutely everything I need to last me the remainder of my life. I’d just like to have new “stuff,” but it’s not a necessity. The opinions of me, myself and I are that we don’t need anything. All we really want is the elation that would be brought on by getting the NEW.  How about you, dear reader. Do you want new stuff too?