Category Archives: 2011

2011

Clutter Queens

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Attila and I discussed a trip to the village this morning, a trip I would take.  It snowed all night and it is still snowing.  I can hear snow blowers in the distance, as people clear their drives.  Soon the plows will be clearing the roads.  Perhaps tomorrow would be a better day for a trip.  The errands can wait a day or two or three.  Attila has returned to work and the days of being cocooned in a snowy wonderland have begun in earnest.

January this morning.

January this morning.

WordPress has a new security upgrade that needed installing.  The task was tackled this morning, and completed.  For some reason the automatic update does not work for on this system, it stalls and it fails, every time.  After trying the automatic update once again, this morning, I reverted to a manual install.  All went well and it took less than half an hour, start to finish.

Reflecting on style, I’ve been a minimalist all my life.  Growing up on a farm gave me an acute sense of function.  In addition, my Grandfather had no admiration, and much contempt, for “doo-dads”.  Little wonder my focus is function.

However, I sometimes envy what I regard as the “clutter queens”.  Clutter queens are people who, with a sense for appeal, create very busy objects and spaces that largely serve no purpose at all except that they are fun to look at.  I’ve tried this approach, and the upshot is truly unnerving, for myself or anyone else who has to expose themselves to the resulting object or space.  This is on my mind because I’ve been reading blogs, some of them are full of appealing, visual fluff.  If I don’t stop to look at the fluff in detail, I enjoy the web page and the content of the actual entry.  Once I begin to pay attention to content of the fluff, the joy withers on the vine.

I’ve plans for my Kobo this morning!  Helena sent me an eGift of Kobo credits, just because she says, so I can select a few more books to read!  What a treat.  It seems too, that it might be possible to download library books to the Kobo through my local library services.  Well, I have my reservations about that, services are limited here, the Township does not have Inter-library Loan services, even within the Township!  I’m game to give the digital download a try though, I’ve nothing to lose except a bit of patience and a little of my time.

Worldly Distractions

Weather

-3 °C
Condition: Snow
Pressure: 100.8 kPa
Visibility: 5 km
Temperature: -3.0°C
Dewpoint: -3.3°C
Humidity: 98 %
Wind: SSW 11 km/h
Wind Chill: -7

Quote

“Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath.”
Solon
638 BC – 559 BC

Are we there yet?

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Last night when we went to bed it was raining.  This morning everything out there is frozen solid and snow flakes are dancing out of the sky, eventually resting lightly to form a gauzy blanket over hard, hard world.

Yesterday, the first day of 2011, Attila and I did a lot of puttering about.  As we puttered we watched movies, off and on, as we passed the set.  Let’s see, we watched Gunga Din (1939), Music and Lyrics (2007) and Mamma Mia! (2008) (great fun for Abba fans!).  It was with sad relief that I ate the last of my stash of cookies and salted nuts!  Holiday food is one of our greatest joys, and we indulged ourselves thoroughly this year.  I’ve gained some weight, enjoyed every minute of it, and now it is time to get back to normal.  So, last night for dinner we ate a very healthy meal, Attila’s Turkey Soup, made with our Christmas Day turkey.  Attila’s Turkey Soup is healthy, low sodium, low fat, lots of vegetables.  The absolute best thing about it though, is that it tastes great!

One of the tasks Attila took on yesterday was to shovel the snow off the deck.  There was quite a bit there, it had slid off the roof onto the deck in a great rain-sodden mass.  The deck was clear when we went to bed last night.

Since the weather has turned colder today, Attila is busy splitting firewood for the third firing of the masonry heater that we will need today.

In my fantasy life, our deck protrudes from the peak side of the building, where no snow from the roof will ever fall on it, and Attila will never have to shovel it off.  In my fantasy life we have a central heating system that runs on a thermostat, so that the temperature is set and then heat just happens.  This would add hours to Attila’s days, and provide us with a lot more freedom of movement.  These are expensive fantasies!  Perhaps this year the house will sell and we will move into a home where these luxuries already exist!

Having enjoyed Mamma Mia! yesterday on the television, we watched it again tonight.  Actually, I enjoyed it in a different way on second viewing; we watched the film with closed captioning!  Although I didn’t miss much during the first viewing, a few points of plot became much clearer with the second viewing.

Attila has lit the third fire of the day, Mist is settling into her basket for yet another nap and I am about to snuggle up on the easy chair with my Kobo and see what is happening in pre-Rome Italy, via Lavinia by Ursula LeGuin.

It seems that we are indeed here.