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| Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life Every Thursday at Like Mother, Like Daughter |
The dog is regressing in ways that don't bear repeating. Let's just say she is now spending her days in doggy prison, tied to a tree, and there's a large metal crate coming that is going to change her life and ours. She seems to have forgotten all of the house training she's ever learned and is blissful in her belief that the entire house is her lavatory.
I guess it does bear repeating. Sorry. Just be glad you're not here.
Also, we discovered last night that we have bats. Actually, I discovered it when one fluttered PAST MY HEAD while I was playing Lego Lord of the Rings on the Wii in the basement last night. I am not afraid of bats but I did scream like the girl I am when I saw it flying past me. I thought it was a moth with glandular problem at first. And, weirdly enough, that thought scared me more than it being a bat!
But enough complaining! This is a post about contentment! Let's be content!
Pretty
And Happy! After a recent conversation with a friend concerning the wonders of soft boiled eggs (due in part to the necessitous use of egg cups, which, let's face it, are inherently adorable) I nearly tripped over these in HomeGoods. A set of six for $3! Tell me that wasn't Providential! Aren't they adorable?
It made me even more happy when Calvin saw them and said, "Oh, cool! Egg cups! Just like Poirot!" Did I tell you that Hercule Poirot is one of his heroes? He was tied with Sherlock Holmes for a while but then Calvin found out about Mr. Holmes' drug problem and he dropped him flat in favor of M. Poirot and his aperitifs and tisanes.
Now this, this is the perfect soft-boiled egg, n'est-ce pas? Is it not pretty? But of course!
Coincidentally (or, rather, also Providentially), I wandered into TJ Maxx this week looking for a shower curtain when I stumbled across a small display of Le Creuset, my latest fixation. This visit was a revelation to me as 1) I had never actually been in a TJ Maxx before (I thought they only sold clothing) 2) I did not know they sold Le Creuset at discounted prices. I snapped up this little darling at 50% off! I've already made cottage pie and roast asparagus in her (not at the same time--ew)!
She joins the Dutch oven I got for my birthday last year and the kettle I got for Christmas. For some reason, we've begun naming the Le Creuset. I don't really know why. Redheaded Snippet started it when she spontaneously christened the Dutch Oven, "Leslie." Then the kettle became, "Leticia." We haven't named the casserole because I think we've realized we're reaching levels of crazy that make even us think twice.
Happy
This is a (poor) photo of our new library. It's a hard room to photograph. Especially when you're trying to avoid the considerable pile of boxes in the corner and the bad dog lounging on the carpet.
It's taken us a little while to figure out what to call this room. We tried "office," and "spare room," but neither stuck and since it has the built in shelves and we're used to having a room we call "the library" as that's what we called the tiny, glorified landing in the old house that we used as a classroom and inadequate study room, The Library it is. What makes me happy about it, aside from the fact that it's an additional room in which to keep the computer, desk, all of our household files, books, games, photo albums, AND a daybed for guests, is that the bottom shelves hold my Grandfather's entire record collection.
Grandaddy was a classical music buff. He gave me my first introduction to good music and in addition to taking me to Philly to hear symphonies, operettas and recitals, he would play his records for me. He would tell me about each piece and its composer and, as a younger child, I didn't really listen. But as I got older and began my musical training and developing a love for it myself, we would discuss music a bit.
He died when I was fifteen. Before I entered college as a music student and before I began my operatic vocal training. He never got to hear me sing the soprano aria in The Messiah or the part of Yum-Yum in The Mikado (two of his favourites). But I was thinking of him the entire time I sang them. In fact, almost every time I sing, I think of him.
He was meticulous about his records. No one was allowed to be walking around when the record player was in use. He wouldn't even take a record off of the shelf until everyone was seated and still. No one was allowed to touch them. He never even touched them, at least not bare-handed! He had a special cloth that he used and wiped each record down before and after he played it. And he handled them like they were made of glass. It was rather funny and irritating when I was a kid but now those records are in excellent condition and I was so excited when I acquired them almost 15 years ago.
Sadly, I never had room to display them so they ignominiously stashed in plastic bins in our basement. I hated them being down there. A few years ago, The Vicar got a record player for Christmas (a fancy one that not only plays your records but also converts them to some kind of computer file--he knows, I don't). He began bringing the bins up, one at a time, and playing them while converting the files so we did get to enjoy some of them, but I wanted them to be on display.
And now they are! I was so excited when I discovered that there was just enough room for all of the records! There's actually a little room leftover! Once I get things a lot more settled around here I intend to categorize and organize them so they're easier to use but that is indeed a project for another day. For now, it's enough that they're out in the open once again. I think Grandaddy would be so pleased.
Funny
This is the new faucet I chose for the new kitchen. I figured if I couldn't go retro, I may as well go commercial. I actually love it. I'm not sure that bar is intended as a dish-towel rack, but that's how I use it! But that's not what's funny about this photo. Look a little closer...here, I'll help...
Yes, that is the disembodied head of Dwight Shrute. This was in a box of "stuff" The Vicar brought home when he cleaned out his desk at his old job. I don't know the office hijinks surrounding it, but Calvin found that it fits perfectly on the faucet handle. And there it remains. We may leave it there forever, I don't know. It amuses the menfolk and I do like to have little jolts of unexpected whimsy here and there.
Real
And, finally, a shot of Real. We've made rather good progress on every other room in the house except for the living room, the most formal room in the house and the first one you see when you walk in the door! And it still looks a mess! BUT...in my defense...we are waiting for new furniture and a rug. We have a set coming from The Vicar's parents and I can't go and pick out a rug until I see the colors and decide on window treatments and figure out end tables and on and on and on. We are slowly unpacking or moving boxes out of this room, but many of them are full of things that are supposed to go in this room so there's only so much we can do.
*Sigh* Oh well, I guess it's to be expected two weeks after a move. I just wish we had some way to hide it or could speed the process up a bit. But all in all, I'd say we are very happy in the new house and are more than contented.
Have you found contentment this week? Why don't you link up and join us?
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