Lazy Winter Sunday

Today I had one of my favorite winter Sundays. You probably are wondering what exciting thing I did. Did I go for a long walk enjoying the sunny day? Did I go to a movie with a friend? Did I go shopping and find some great buys? Did I go out to lunch? Did I spend the day doing crafts?

No to all of the above and any other ideas you might have. Liesel and I spent the day reading in my favorite place. Yup, we were between the blue fleece sheets. The sun was shinning in my room and I was snug under the covers with my furry hot water bottle snoozing next to me. Some of you are probably wondering how a dog would want to stay in bed but you don't know dachshunds. They love to be next to you under the covers and will stay like that as long you are there. They want to be right next to you and if you move an inch, they'll scoot right next to you.

I went to the library yesterday and read one of my books, "The Lucky Child". I couldn't put it down. It is a true autobiography of a child that lived to survive Auschwitz.

Hunger and thirst (and finishing my book) finally got me up. Liesel was not in a hurry to go out as dachshunds hate to get out of bed and be put outside in the cold.

I love to read and if I have a good book, I let everything else slide and spend hour upon hour reading.

Must Sees!

If you haven't seen "The Blind Side", go, go, go! What an uplifting movie. I went last week with a friend and we both absolutely loved it.

Just now I saw a new Hallmark movie on CBS. I'm going out this week to buy it for my daughter. "Front of the Class" is about a gifted teacher with Tourette's Syndrome, his life, what he dealt with, how he learned to not let his disability run his life, how he followed his dream to become a teacher and a very gifted one at that. It's a true story about Brad Cohen in GA (Atlanta). Another amazing movie and a MUST SEE.

Winter in CT

When one thinks of winter in Connecticut, what comes to mind?

* Cold, crisp days with temps dipping down to the single digits
* Bright blue clear skies
* Northeasters - blizzards with a foot or more of snow
* Sleet and ice

We've had some single digit weather and one morning I had zero on my outdoor thermometer. We've had snow but never a substantial amount.

Today the groundhog saw his shadow so we are in for another 6 weeks of winter. Wonder if we'll get a real Northeaster before spring is here and we see crocus bulbs popping their way through the ground.

I do love winter and snow but sure hate having to go out every few hours at night to shovel during one. Nothing is worse than that at 11:00 PM when I'm snug and warm in my flannels inside the house. Since I have a dachshund and they come with short little legs, I have to keep the front steps cleared and shovel a path for her to go out on.

My Weekend

Friday night I went to a scrapbook crop and my girlfriend came at the last minute so we had a great time working on small chipboard albums we both are making and talked non-stop. Both of us are real talkers so there was not a gap in conversation. I met Diane at the crop 5 1/2 years ago and we have become very good friends.

Saturday my day started very early with a haircut, grocery shopping and errands. I also did several loads of laundry and hung them out as it was a sunny day in the high 30's so they dried and had that nice clean smell. Nothing beats sheets dried outside on the line. I met friends for a late afternoon movie and then we went out for supper after that.

If you haven't seen "The Blind Side", I high recommend it. What an amazing movie and so uplifting.

I worked on my chipboard albums last night and was on a roll so stayed up until 2:00 AM. Liesel and I slept in very late this morning. I was out again in the later afternoon to the sale at Michael's and to print pictures at Walmart so I could start more chipboard albums (which I've been working on tonight).

Tomorrow morning it's back to work for the week.

Adventures of Two Antique Bureaus

Since the early 1900's the two bird's eye maple bureaus lived in their separate bedrooms in a Cape Cod summer house looking out on the ocean in Stonington, CT. They had a good life and enjoyed living through the years with five different generations of an old New England family. Each spring they looked forward to the return of the family, enjoyed them during the warm weather and saw them pack up and close up the house in the fall once it got too cold to be down there.

Their life by the ocean in the seaside community sadly came to an end in the late
1990's when the owner of the house sold it out from under them. They were shipped to Ann Arbor, MI, to live with the youngest generation for 3 years. They watched the husband study while attending law school while the wife was busy as a teacher. During their last year in MI, they were happy to see a little baby girl come into the family. She got a new IKEA bureau for her little pink clothes.

After law school graduation, they were packed up in the big Uhaul truck and moved to Park Slope in Brooklyn, NY. They settled into life in the Big City and were there for almost 3 years. Sadly their family moved to Moscow so they were moved back to CT but to stay with good friends.

Those friends are now selling their house and moving to England so the two antique bureaus came back to the family this past Sunday morning. Enroute to their destination, one of them had an accident as it toppled out of the back of the truck. The bureau's top came off and got pretty scratched up and the bottom of the bottom drawer came off. Fortunately all the pieces were recovered and put back in the truck. The injured bureau can be fixed by by a woodcrafter. Right now the bureaus are living in the cellar.

They think of all those years they lived at the beach and looked out on the big front yard, sandy beach and ocean. They hope they will go back to living with the Moscovites in a nice house when they return to the US in the future.

Weather in CT

In the late afternoon yesterday until early evening, we got about an inch of very wet slush. Then we had light rain in the evening and night. Today when I got to work, I thought I'd be blown away from the car to the building. In the early afternoon, the sun came out in full force and it was a beautiful day. What Mark Twain said about the weather was so true the past 24 hours here in the Constitution state.

Nothing really news worthy to blog about so this is brief.

Liesel the Watchdog

Liesel was at her weekly doggie daycare day today. She just loves going for her day with her two and four legged friends.

When I was waiting in the main room, there was a really nifty looking Wheaton Terrior there with his human mom and her son. The dog looked just perfect as he (or maybe it was a she) had just been groomed and they were picking him up. In comes Liesel on her leash with one of the doggie daycare trainers from another room. She sees me and is excited and I take her leash. She then spots the Wheaton Terrier and is barking like crazy and pulling on her leash to get over there. The trainer gave her a correction and told her to stop. The reason that she did this is that she'd never seen that dog before and was wondering why he was there. She knows all the "regulars" who come to doggie daycare and they all get along and play beautifully.

Isn't it odd how a new dog that is not in their regular routine can set off a dog?

Liesel the watchdog!

She came home, had her supper and followed me around a little before heading to the den couch and curling up there under the down throw. Doggie daycare is very tiring.

Both of us are calling it a night and heading up to bed early.