The heatpump inspection is done yay, and passed, yay again, Handsome Son being there to see the two inspectors in. One electrical, one plumbing.
The plumbing one gave him a good tip about some ac part or other that might save a service call. So we're all done, for now, and he has reliable heat in time for cold weather.
I'm currently rereading Mrs Pargeter, for these tired times, and started a Julian Barnes.
I love Barnes, since his first novel, which made me feel so seen. Anyway, this is
This one promises to be as good as all the others I've read. He makes other writers seem trivial and pretentious, he's so incisive and direct and subtle at the same time. The only story being the love that shapes a life.
I winterized the living room. This amounts to finding the remote for the fireplace insert, changing the sofa throw from white cotton quilt to fuzzy kitty themed blanket, and turning over the loveseat cover to the busy friendly patterned side. Done. Then to have a cosy read. No need to get carried away with cleaning or anything. I did launder the white quilt.
After a day of not walking, so much going on competing for the energy, I really had a good sunny windy walk. A lot of nuts this year, crunching underfoot, and you have to watch your step around black walnuts, big enough to sprain your ankle if you step wrong.
Lovely time visiting the trees
and ivy growing up the wild cherry, a duck and drake on the pond. There was activity under the water, maybe frogs.
I cut short my pond visit when a golfer hit a ball far out of bounds, bouncing off a tree near me and into the water. He was with a group, so I decided I'd better put more trees between us, in case his friends were at his level of golfery.
Home again with a nice spray of I think beech leaves.
It is interesting that you are having a mast year too..I wonder if it is worldwide or just the Northern Hemisphere
ReplyDeleteI don't know how widespread it is. One year we had nothing and a friend a few miles north had masses.
DeleteGolfers can be a menace anda golf ball can be lethal.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see that everything is going in the right direction for you and yours.
The golf course is the reason there's a belt of trees there, good thing.
DeleteI agree with you about the leaves and the pot. Beautiful together. Smart move to leave the pond. Errant golf balls can be deadly. SG was once stuck among trees and kept trying to hit his golf ball back onto the green, watching it bounce from tree to tree each time. His sister finally picked up the ball, threw it out to the grass, and said “I have kids.”
ReplyDeleteThese golfers never try to retrieve the golf ball from the trees -- poison ivy. I expect it saves a lot of time and exasperation.
DeleteI like the bouquet of leaves. And the trees by the pond. Gracious! Golfers who hit near you should be outlawed! Ha ha, these days the law is stretched so thin.
ReplyDeleteIf it happened to the feller in the White House he'd deport all golfers.
DeleteWe just gave in on the furnace game and flipped the switch.
ReplyDeleteI haven't needed to yet, daytimes still in the 70s.
DeleteIt's forty something here this morning. WHAT? And our heater isn't working. We're heading south but our house sitter is heading here. Damn.
ReplyDeleteI like Julian Barnes, too.
It's warmer here in NJ than Florida? Something weird there.
DeleteYou had a close call.The trees are pretty sight. I think I'll put some leaves in a vase.
ReplyDeleteThe leaves last only briefly but they're lovely anyway. I also put a few under a glass sheet on the coffee table, at least I did till someone sort of leaned on the thin picture glass and broke it, oops.
DeleteThat book looks to be a good one. I just ordered it from Better World Books. Winterizing this living room will consist of putting up heavy draft proof curtains to pull across the sliding glass doors at night. Done and dusted.
ReplyDeleteThat's good winterizing. Also simple. I hope you like the book.
DeleteHave you always been this way? Paying attention to small details, enjoying those small details, or has it come with age? Asking for a friend:)
ReplyDeleteI am envious of the enjoyment you get our of life, but I am trying. I also never thought to put leaves in a vase. An excellent idea. I collected oak leaves the other day and used them to impress on clay I was using to make a mug. They turned out better than expected.
I think all little kids start out noticing and liking details. Some of us never outgrew it!
DeleteOnce you start putting leaves and branches in vases you'd be amazed at the other things that go with them.
Trenton Potteries! I remember a school field trip to related to the pottery industry in Trenton. The only fact I can retrieve at the moment is that a Trenton pottery business made the first White House bathtub, which was quite large because it was for Taft. Switching topics, have you ever read author Andrea Levy? I'm not sure she's in a genre you like, based on the books you mention on your blog. Her writing does seem, however, to lie at the intersection of what I perceive to be some of your general interests -- race, class, immigration, and England. She wrote 5 novels, plus one of short stories, before she died at only 62. I really like her work and have read all 6 books. The Long Song (set in the early 1800's) is her most magnificent, in my opinion. Every Light in the House Burnin' was my next favorite and her most autobiographical (set in council housing in the 1960's). Small Island (set in the late 1940's) was my other favorite.
ReplyDeleteTrenton Potteries was a company formed from several smaller ones making art pottery for florists. That's why flowers and leaves look so good -- friendly design. Eventually they were bought out by bigger companies making more plumbing ware than art pottery. I wonder if Crane built Gary's bathtub. That was a big order..
DeleteI'll check out Andrea Levy, thank you. That's a terrific comment.
I wrote Taft and stupid auto bully changed it to Gary, ffs.
DeleteI've now requested Small Island, the original novel, the BBC TV series on DVD, same title.
DeleteWhew about that auto-correct. Gary doesn't look particularly huge, so I was scratching my head for a moment.
DeleteAuto correct is a bully? I like that, ha! You're not wrong. I hope you enjoy Andrea Levy's stories! I went back and had another look at the pottery, and the paper pulp art on the wall really caught my attention this time. You said "handmade", but I don't know whether the maker's hands are yours!
DeleteYes, I made the paper piece using paper I processed from second cut cotton linter raw material.
DeleteYour living room looks so cozy and welcoming! Julian Barnes is one of those writers who I've always intended on reading, but never got around to it. His last novel "Elizabeth Finch" is sitting in my Kindle right now and has been ever since it was published. I really need to get off my duff and read it.
ReplyDeleteThat one is wonderful! Try it.
DeleteYou've captured autumn's gradual arrival.
ReplyDeleteThank you. It's taking its time this year.
DeleteIt sounds like a great walk until the golf ball drifted by. Wise to get out of there, Boud!
ReplyDeleteI found several golf balls near the houses. Those guys were strong but erratic.
DeleteGolfery! Loved that term--lol!
ReplyDeleteThe leaves in the vase are perfect together.
Enjoy your cozy looking winter sofa. :)
I'm sure you know what word it was replacing! I really like the leaves in that container. Sitting on the sofa now as I type.
DeleteLove the new sofa covering, and the leaves in the vase. Good taste, Boud.
ReplyDeleteThank you, that's nice.
DeleteThose beech leaves look particularly elegant in that vase. The colors play off each other.
ReplyDeleteGlad HS will be toasty this winter with his passed-inspection heat pump.
Glad you weren't brained by any golf balls. The walnuts underfoot are enough of a hazard. But glad you're out taking advantage of all walkable days.
What a great recommendation for Julian Barnes. I haven't run into his books, but you haven't led me astray yet. Will check him out.
Chris from Boise
I hope you read Barnes and let us know how it goes. I'm very pleased with the beech leaves. I love that tree in all seasons, especially how the leaves hang in through the winter, pale gold and lovely against the winter sky.
DeleteThe sofa cover is lovely.
ReplyDeleteIt's cosy ready for cold weather.
DeleteYou've reminded me that I need to flip the quilt on my sewing room couch to the cold-season side. Don't know what kind of leaves those are but they look ever so artsy displayed in that vase.
ReplyDeleteThey're beech. Aren't they good in that pot?
Delete