Tantivy

So much has happened, but June is nearly gone. We had ten lovely days in Italy, were home for a day and a half and then went to the beach for our yearly vacation with the family at Sanibel Island. We came home to find that due to rain, not much had been done on the house. Then I discovered that during the roofing work they came all the way through to the storage room. Lots of cleaning to do there now before they finish and insulate. Everything will have to be moved to another room and this room cleaned and the ceiling pulled down to be replaced by new sheetrock.It will be a chance to re-evaluate the importance of the things that are stored.   I have known about this mess for a while, but Vicki, Buddy Kay and I have been cleaning a house that was occupied by 4 college boys for a year. These were nice boys, but not big on cleaning and they left the place like a pig stye. Vicki, Buddy and Kay did much more than I but we all spent plenty of time on our knees and in oth...

When Jenny and Sara went to the grocery store they discovered that we now have a section devoted to English items. So they brought back a can of Spotted Dick. As you might imagine, this occasioned not a few giggles and some ribald comments. Spotted Dick must be something like Boston Brown Bread, a real treat in my childhood. Wikipedia helped with the origin of the name which no one knows quite surely, although it seems certain that the spots are the fruits (raisins and currants) and the dick might come from the last syllable of "pudding". One thing I know. The English have a very different idea of pudding than we do. Ours is more custardy and theirs is more cakey/bready. We haven't tried the SD yet, it requires being cooked in a pot of boiling water for about 45 minutes or so or a trip through the microwave. Report later. At the pool today. A little old man, thin arms and legs, very round belly, flat-billed baseball hat, gold flat neck chain, sitting at a table under n ...

Here is our "Routine" at the beach. Wake when you do naturally, have coffee, check e-mail, etc. put on swimsuit and go to pool. Tread water until your arms or legs just won't do more, then sit or hang onto a float. Today my water treading was about 20 minutes plus another 10 holding onto a "noodle" and just moving my legs. Talk to friends. Return to house for lunch, reading, nap or shopping. In this part of FL there is usually an afternoon storm about 4 PM or so.  Today the storm was fierce; wind blew the rain into the screen and wet the whole porch. There is still thunder and lightening even as I write. The sky is light grey all over but when the  storm started the sky was dark with thunder clouds and there were some startlingly loud crashes of thunder that had us jumping and squealing; I had to come in from the porch where I was reading. Tomorrow I might go to one of my favorite stores to see if they have a little cotton knit dress similar to one I already...

We are back from Italy and at the beach where we have the world's slowest internet connection. Trying to download pictures is an exercise in futility. On the other hand, we are here with our daughters and their families and having a good time, so I really can't complain. For some great pictures from Italy, check out Vicki's blog, Notes from the Bijou. (Click on it on the sidebar) She took some really interesting pictures while I forgot my camera two days. While you are at it, Chrissy has some lovely photos of England that you might enjoy. Work continues on the house while we are gone. I have no idea what we will go home to but I think it will be a mess. I look forward to having things finally complete and putting all our stuff back in place. What I would like to try is to have less to replace, so when I get home I am going to try to do some real "editing" of the stuff we have accumulated over the years and only keep those things that are useful or that we love. ...

Yesterday we had thunderstorms all afternoon. Sharp streaks of light followed by crashes or sometimes long rolls of thunder. All that storming brought on lots of rain. Out the front door In the back yard.  I love summer storms but Jackson surely does not. He trembled for hours and hid behind doors. I am sure that he would get under the bed if only he would fit.  This was taken Friday out my kitchen window. Two sets of legs as they worked on the area over the window. I thought it was interesting.  Today is beautiful. I hope that lots of work gets done! Maybe even some inside the house. Done by me. Called housecleaning .  All is well,  XOXOXO Caroline

Yikes! Termites! I think that it is an old colony, but when the guys started working on the side of the house to replace the vinyl siding on the gable ends, some of the boards underneath were barely still there. Gulp! The South is noted for termites and this house was built before termite treatments were common, so we probably could have expected it.  Doesn't the color of the Redbud (Cercis canadensis) look pretty against the wood? The green is a lovely counter point.  This picture shows the upstairs; the damage was on the wall of the kitchen, below and to the left. It is a bricked wall, so we will have to wait until they start working inside the house and then tear down that wall to be sure of the extent of the damage. Can you say "ChaChing?" Still not sorry we began, though. I love having the laundry upstairs, even in an unfinished room.   Here is some work I have been doing on a painting. I am working in green and orange, right now, seeing what all I ca...

When I walked out the door this morning I saw this truck parked in the grass of the front yard, a ladder going up to the roof, and other trucks everywhere.   Walking down the drive, I saw Drew conferring with someone on the roof.   There was a bucket truck in the back yard and this guy was connecting the just-moved electric service outside the new room.    Dean went up on the roof to check out what needs to be done. I left to walk to Vicki's house for a visit and a cup of coffee. Our power was off. And this scaffold goes up right beside both bathrooms. Vicki has a new bathroom. Very pretty.   Lots of pretty flowers on the way to V's house and some in her yard.   Later in the afternoon I found that the kitchen was brighter - possibly because of this opening to the outside! It is where the leaks have been.  When work on the roof started it was discovered that there is no ridge beam, and th...