Thursday, December 21, 2017

Brunetti and Hygge in Three Clicks

At this time of year, I'm far from celebratory, more like tired and a bit down.  And the political news is not helping. However, all is not lost.  It's the solstice, so the days lengthen a bit from now on.  And the Dollivers are about to have new silk dresses, thanks to a gift from Cynthia C, a stitcher friend, lovely fat quarters in several colors, and it won't take much to make Dolliver dresses for their Great Return.  I have not mentioned this to the Ds, for fear of nagging.

My self care is a lot about mysteries, where evil is found out and punished, and good lives happily ever after, more or less.  Clearly, as Oscar Wilde would say, a work of fiction.

And this week it's Brunetti, the police inspector working in Venice, from Donna Leon's novels.  Very good police procedurals, with humor and real characters and amazingly enough, the main character has a happy home life with teenage kids driving him nuts. 



Anyway, some time ago a German production came out, but only now can I get the series with subtitles, since my German goes as far as how are you, and Hansel and Gretel.  I really recommend this is a series which does live up to some good books, worth your while. The only thing is that unless your German is up to it, you have to watch the screen, no knitting or freecelling, or you'll miss vital bits.

And then I finally got some lights.  I never have lights on trees or on the house, but I now have a little string of white lights wound around the branches of my ficus.  They are light in weight, which is good, since ficus branches bend and snap if you hang anything like a regular ornament on them.



My favorite part is that: there's a remote!  With one click, the lights come on.  Another click, and my fireplace lights up.  Third click, and the dvd is ready to go.  Hygge, that fashionable word for cosy, in three clicks!  Makes me laugh every time.  And the white lights can stay on the tree indefinitely, good in winter.

4 comments:

  1. I've never seen a happier ficus. It's charming.

    I'm wondering now how much my monster Christmas cactus would benefit from a bit of seasonal lighting. Next year, perhaps.

    My only contact with the political news is drive-by: if I see a political face on the screen, I drive by. If I see no mushroom clouds out my east/west windows, I know we've made it through another day.


    Happy Solstice, by the way.

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  2. Happy Solstice, indeed! I think the white lights are charming and I join you in laughter about the remote ;-) I love our house here in Oregon, but wish it had come with a gas fireplace instead of a wood pellet stove. I know, one can change that, but this one would rather spend $$ on travel, yarn, fabric, wine... so many good options! But we may do it, or at least get a quote...

    Joining you in a quiet season - although my tree is more traditional ;-)

    Joyce P

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  3. I love your little festive ficus! And high-tech too!
    I don't think I'll be putting up a tree on Christmas Eve this year, as the house is in a state of absolute chaos except for the construction zone. (The end of the project is in sight - waiting for parts; hoping for mid-Jan). I had hoped to decorate the barn a bit, so I could enjoy the lights from inside the house - the opposite of what I usually do - but unless the weather improves dramatically from the ongoing sleet falling on top of last night's snow and creating a vast icy surface, I will not dally outdoors with my strings of tiny lights! It is quite dangerous out there today, and the goats are hunkered down. As am I. I'm hoping for a lull in the precip in the next 2 hours; otherwise I'll be doing rather uncomfortable evening chores tonight.

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  4. Wish I had room for something like a ficus - not only are they impressive in looks, but I think they do a great job of keeping the air clean. And now to know how they look with fairy lights - what's not to like? No, I wouldn't breathe a word about new dresses for the D's lest they nag you to death. Perhaps they need to discover them 'neath the ficus on Christmas morning? Happy Christmas wishes to you and HS (I'm with you on feeling a little down around this time of year - not sure if it's the commercialism of the whole thing or the lack of daylight - or both).

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