Reel Women at my house

The Reel Women is my foreign film group.  We have had a long lapse over the summer what with vacations, illnesses, and so on, but we are finally getting back in our monthly groove.  Most of the time we go out to a restaurant and to a movie theater.  But once in awhile we go to a member's home as is the case this month.  Since I bought a big new television, I felt like the viewing experience would be good, so I ventured an invitation to my friends.  It's not a big thing since there are only five in our group and this month one cannot attend.

I made a big batch of homemade vegetable beef soup yesterday and will heat it up today and add the vegetables that always disintegrate - potatoes and carrots - just an hour before serving.  I was planning on serving in bread bowls, but the soup came out so tasty, I am opting for regular soup bowls with bread on the side.  Have to run to the bakery this morning.  Simple salads complete the luncheon with sorbet for dessert followed by our movie.

I previewed three foreign films this week in order to choose one the group would surely enjoy.  Netflicks makes that easy to do.  Norwegian film: snoozer.  Hungarian film: humorous and thoughtful.  Canadian film: humorous but a little too light.  I'll go with the Hungarian film, I believe it was called Autumn and Spring.  I will try to review all three films at my Reel Women blog, though I make no promises.

This will be the last party I have before the kitchen remodel.  I'm going to start packing up things I don't need every day and moving them downstairs.  I dread the day they tear everything out.  But things have to get bad before they get better.  I'll do some before and after shots.  It's going to be a major change.

Off to start my day now.  Just a few things still to prepare.  The girls arrive around 12:30.

It's snowing

 

 

First some light snow, then heavier and colder around noon. Cleared up later, but see that storm in the distance?  That's "lake effect" heading our way.  As I write, more lake effect is coming down outside.  More waves of storms all night and tomorrow.

I must be getting old.  I find I care less and less about going out when the snow hits.  I have my snow tires on the car,  The snow shovels and ice melter are ready in the garage.  There's food in the refrigerator.  I'll be working in my home office until Friday.  I don't have to go out.  So I won't.  But I'll sit here and worry about my family members who do have to go out -- the kids and grandkids -- hoping everyone on the roads remembers to slow down.

Worry.  A complete waste of time.  If something is going to happen, it will.  Worrying in advance only drains me of much needed energy.  I'd like to know how to turn off that particular activity.

I made many stops yesterday.  Had my hair cut after work and since it was nearby, I stopped by the flooring shop and borrowed some samples of flooring to look at in my home.  Picked up a couple of bottles of wine for my luncheon on Saturday.  I'm hosting the Reel Women with a little luncheon and movie.  We'll give the old kitchen a good sendoff.

Thinking positively there, that the old kitchen is actually going to be gone.  However, I'm completely changing my mind on the design and I'm no closer to making a decision.  I won't be rushed.

Enjoy the snow, Rocky Mountain friends.  I'll try and add photos later after the snow starts sticking.

Snow is predicted

Next week.  A couple of days of snow.  So today or tomorrow I'll get the snow tires put on the car.  October is winding down and winter weather is to be expected from now through March.  May as well get mentally ready for it - and physically.

I have finished everything on the October To Do list except making decisions on the kitchen remodel.  Still taking backward steps.  I have three bids now and I seem to have just introduced more questions, more possibilities.  And now everyone I talk to is questioning my floor decision.  So I'm rethinking and will shop some more this weekend.  At this rate my kitchen is going to be torn up all through the holidays.  Oh well, I guess it doesn't make that much difference to me.

My November and December To Do lists will be just one thing:  Get the kitchen remodel done.  No other projects.  Of course, there will be some Christmas shopping in there somewhere.  But not much as I've cut way back on gift giving.  And the kids always get money from me. 

So that's it.  Remodel the kitchen.  Before the new year.

Poetry Wednesday: Things that go bump in the night

LITANY FOR HALLOWEEN

From ghoulies and ghosties,

Long-leggety beasties,

And things that go bump in the night,

Good Lord, deliver us.

-Anonymous

Familiar to all of us, I posted this and then wondered where it originated. Here's what Googling found for me:

The earliest known example of the phrase in print is in the 1918 in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies:

"To a people ... who ... believe in genii, ghosts, goblins, and those terrific things that 'go bump in the night', protective charms are eagerly sought for."

That usage suggests that the author expected his readers to be familiar with the phrase. Around the same time the phrase was incorporated into a prayer:

From goulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night
Good Lord, deliver us!

This was recorded in The Cornish and West Country Litany, 1926, but is quite likely to be [from] much earlier.

Poetry Wednesday: A Scrabble poem about a Gox

Some of you know I love to play Scrabble on Facebook (some of you play with me).  I have a couple of fiendishly good partners in Ron and Will and I find I'm discovering a great many strange new words as a result.  Yesterday when I used "GOX" as a word in a game with Will, I was surprised to find it was a real word.  And then, a little spontaneous and whimsical poetry writing ensued in which we each added a line or two along with our turn.  It was rather fun, so I'll share the entire conversation here as my poetry Wednesday offering, complete with our errors and asides.

 

 

 

 

Visit Jacqui's Poetic Journey.

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My little corner of the world

This is my little TV room, former kid's bedroom. Empty TV stand as the new TV will be delivered today. As I said, I like color. This is a room of whimsy with the stripes on the wall and artwork that only suggests reality but allows some fantasy. The tall case is new and stacked full of my ex-late-husband's CD collection. I don't mind it as it adds color to the room. When I'm finished with remodeling projects, I'll tackle the cataloging of those CDs and see about getting rid of some.

My house is a series of very different and colorful rooms, each that expresses something of me. My office is calm and pretty, a nice place to work. My bedroom is a sanctuary. My living room is lively and musical. I know my new remodel is going to be rather neutral in tone, but I am keeping my brightly patterned living room furniture, and my most overwhelming grand piano. There will be bits that show I'm the person who lives here.

I won't mention the basement. It's more of a dungeon these days. That'll be next. But next year sometime.

By the way, those stipes are painted on -- not wallpaper.  I spent 8 hours just in masking for those stripes.  It was fun and I'll never do it again!

Poetry Wednesday: The Sniffle

To celebrate cold and flu season and all of you who are trying to give me your germs!

The Sniffle

Ogden Nash

In spite of her sniffle,

Isabel’s chiffle.

Some girls with a sniffle

Would be weepy and tiffle;

They would look awful,

Like a rained-on waffle,

But Isabel’s chiffle

In spite of her sniffle.

Her nose is more red

With a cold in her head,

But then, to be sure

Her eyes are bluer.

Some girls with a snuffle,

Their tempers are uffle,

But when Isabel’s snivelly

She’s snivelly civilly,

And when she is snuffly

She’s perfectly luffly.

Nash takes liberties in making this poem rhyme while offering humor in the spellings and pronunciations. Can you tell what the words are intended to be (see the answers below). Try reading aloud and the meanings just seem to come to you. The poem has sort of a Dr. Seuss tempo. Don’t trip over rhymes of “sure” with “bluer”; just pronounce sure as if it were two syllables “shu-er” and you’ll just sail right on.

Chiffle = cheerful
Tiffle = tearful
Uffle = awful
Luffly = lovely

Kitchen Notes

It's a boring post, but mostly to help me take stock. I am making progress. I knew it would take a lot of running around and I'm finally getting into it. Put some miles on the car Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The cabinetmaker is on the third layout and this should be the final. I've been pricing appliances, flooring, backsplash tile and starting to think about lighting. If I go with this cabinetmaker, the granite countertop is included. I'll get at least one or two competitive bids to be sure I'm paying the right amount. Of course, if I get an exceptional bid from another cabinetmaker, I'll need to price countertops. It's sounds simple and there seem not that many choices. But there are an astounding number of possibilities, and everyone you talk to has a place you absolutely MUST check out before you buy. I do think at some point you need to juat say "no more" and choose from what you've already seen.

By day's end yesterday I was exhausted and my body hurt from walking on concrete floors in big box stores. But I'm getting close to decisions on a number of things. And decisions need to be made fairly soon due to lead times for almost everything.

I still struggle with the colors. I'm a big color person as evidenced from all the other rooms in my house. But my daughter pointed out I'm going terribly neutral in my color choices with this. And to be sure I'm thinking about what it will take to sell the house in a few years, so trying not to go wild as I am wont to do. Pale walnut cabinets, darker walnut floors, white appliances, and medium-light granite. For the backsplash I am looking at a mosaic tile that has greens and blues and rust colors throughout, so that will spice it up a bit. I'm taking up all the old teal carpet throughout the upstairs rooms and replacing with wood floors, so there will be a big expanse of the wood. The carpet is still in great condition, and my son has said he would like part of it for his house. That's great with me, I love to recycle rather than add to the landfill.

BTW, do you know that white appliances often must be special ordered? People want stainless steel or black and those are in stock. But everyone I know who has those complains about fingerprints and waterspots. It may not be trendy, but I want white.

Dream

Just for me.


"Dream" by the Pied Pipers
That five-part harmony so distinctive to the 1950's.

Things never are as bad as they seem.