Light and Shadow

Sunny days have been rare around here recently, but even when the sky is gray, I'm still struck by the light and shadows that are produced. Since I'm spending so much time at home, I'm developing a new appreciation for what I can see (but rarely take the time to notice) in my sheltering home. 

I hope you are getting some opportunities to enjoy the light and shadow in your home. Stay home and stay well. 

Piles o' Progress

As I look around the house, I see various piles o' stuff, all of which represent progress.

I'm taking this pile of boxes to the post office this morning. My goal is to get them all sent on their way and to make the clerk smile. Our post office is not known for their friendliness, especially during busy times, but I'm determined.

This bunch of bags is wrapped gifts, sorted by family, and ready to be delivered. That will probably happen by Saturday.

While not exactly a pile, this is the ribbon I wrap the porch columns in. It might happen today, or I might wait until Friday when it's supposed to be ten degrees warmer.

This is the start of the pile for cookie day. My SiL made me this apron that says "a true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows you are slightly cracked". I love it and wear it every cookie day. This pile will eventually have four types of dough added to it, along with several crock pots and lots of chili so we don't make ourselves sick on cookies.

I like seeing these piles, especially because they show that I'm getting things done. The post office pile will be dealt with shortly, and I can soon get back to where I'd really like to be, working on this pile o' knitting.

Time to go see if I can make the post office clerk smile!

Sometimes Monday ...

... is a day of rest, mainly because you are so sore that you struggle to move. This weekend we insulated the attic in the MD house.

There was some insulation up there, but in the 66 years since it had been installed, it was very smushed down (technical insulator's term) and it had been placed upside-down.

John calculated, ordered 36 rolls, and since it wasn't doing anything just sitting in the garage, we had to suck it up (not without a face mask!) and put it in place.

I measured and cut sections and John laid them in place. It was hot, dark, and difficult, working on catwalk sections that we had placed on top of the rafters.

We worked on Saturday until we couldn't work any more, then got up on Sunday and worked until the job was done. I call it a success because nobody fell through the ceiling.

I honestly think it's some of the hardest work I've ever done and my knees, back, legs, and arms (and oddly, my thumbs, too) are more sore than I remember. But, hey, the house feels warmer already!

On (Not In)

Last week Vicki told us about the exciting delivery of her new refrigerator, and shared what she had chosen to display on the refrigerator. Along with checking out friends' bookshelves, I'm always interested to see what people have on their refrigerator doors. Our refrigerator is the no-frills, basic type, but it's the only one that would fit between a supporting beam and an existing cabinet. It still provides plenty of space for all the stuff of life that I like to see on a daily basis.

This is the side I see most often, so it has the calendar for what's going on, my Romney Ridge calendar for sheep, fortunes, appointment cards, and magnetic boxes to file things for each of the boys. This started as a way to keep all those school papers straight, but they're still useful even though they no longer live here.

 Also a magnet from Kym, and a quote I liked so much that I had to cut it out of a catalog.

The front is full of photos and some other things that make me smile, laugh, and remember.

Here's a closer look at my favorite card from my sister-in-law, magnetic poetry composed by Justin, and note paper from the Studley hotel. John stayed here when he was in North Yorkshire, UK for business and I thought it was a hilarious name. Also, November has been declared Bonny Becker Month!

Justin did experience a little confusion between Santa and Gandalf when he was around six, so my other sister-in-law cut this out for me.

A closeup of photos (and people) I love.

The bottom section has loads of photos from all stages of the kids' lives. It used to be filled with drawings from the boys, but neither one of them has drawn anything in years. I miss that artwork (but of course I've saved most of it). 

I don't look at the far side quite as often, but it's also got some favorite photos and a 16-year-old newspaper clipping. Eleven students in our school district lost a parent in the World Trade Center on 9/11, and "Patriots for Peace" is a student drawing that was part of a fundraiser for a scholarship fund for those students. I can't bear to throw it away. 

Thanks for visiting my kitchen, and Happy Bonny Becker Month!

Peer Pressure

If the mowing playlist and weed whacker are making appearances after a winter off that can only mean one thing ...

it's time to start mowing.

I might have let it go for another few days, but our lawn did look fairly overgrown after the neighbors on both sides mowed last weekend, so I had to give in to peer pressure.

We don't have one of those picture-perfect lawns, but it provides some semblance of grass, plenty of moss, and some colorful flowers that I enjoy, like creeping Charlie and dandelions.

It was a beautiful day and I welcomed the chance to get some useful exercise, appreciate the glowing green of the newly-leafing maple tree, along with the stunning red bud against blue sky.

The only slight negative happened when I was mowing along the sidewalk and the middle-schoolers were walking home past our house. I heard one exclaim, "Hey, look at that old lady mowing!" Not seeing any other old ladies mowing, I can only presume he meant me.

Too bad for you, kid. Old ladies get rewards for mowing that middle-schoolers only dream about.

The Key Things

The key things here are actual keys. I have a love for keys, especially interesting ones. I think this might have started when we closed on this house almost 27 years ago and they handed us our house keys.

John and I just looked at each other, laughed and put them on our key rings. They are more than four inches long and have quite a bit of heft, but we actually used them for a while until we got around to installing different locks.

We were also the recipients of two slightly smaller keys, one to the root cellar and one for the barn. 

Now these keys have a home on the kitchen wall.

My everyday keys are a bit boring with a routine Subaru key and a regular old Kwikset house key, but I also carry a tiny key that I found inside the wall when we were redoing the kitchen and the key to happiness.

Ryan inherited my fascination with keys and when he was four, he wanted some of his own. Santa was thrilled to find these rings of antique keys to start Ryan's collection.

Once people knew that Ryan was collecting keys it seemed that friends and family were happy to gift him with lots of unique keys and locks.

There are keys within keys,

beautiful engraved locks,

and this tiny one with its own self-referential keyhole.

Ryan's obsession grew to include 26 pounds of keys, locks, and key chains.

Keys lock doors, keep valuables safe, and can maybe even open hearts and minds. Originating from the Old English word meaning "serving to open, explain, or resolve", keys really are a key thing.

Clutter or ...

just the stuff of life? Last week, I was impressed by how pristine and uncluttered  Kym's bedroom and bathroom photos were. I know that whenever I take photos I always have to move stuff, sometimes lots of stuff. So, I decided to be a little bit brave and take some realistic and honest photos without removing anything to try and view things as they might appear to others.

The kitchen table is a handy repository for lots of things. Plants are on the table because it gets too cold at night for them on the windowsill; there are smoke alarms sitting there because I can't figure out why they won't stop chirping despite multiple new battery changes, and of course I need to keep a book and my to-do list close at hand.

This corner of the kitchen might be a little cluttered, but it seems like a good place for chargers. There are multiple phone chargers, ipod chargers, and the rechargeable flashlight for electricity outages and taking walks in the dark. The dictionary on the microwave is also a necessity because we often get into discussions about words and their nuanced meanings at dinner, and what better way to resolve them than by having a dictionary at hand?

The mud porch is where we take off shoes and jackets, and it also houses my plants in the winter.

Justin has size 14 feet so his shoes and boots take up a lot of room. The refrigerator is usually too full of clementines in the winter, so the unheated mud porch is a good place to store the extras, along with the "winter crate" full of hats and gloves. Where do you keep your turtle shells and interesting sticks that you've found in the woods? We keep ours on the mud porch!

 

John thinks my knitting area has too much junk, but I'm betting you'll agree with me
 that he's just plain wrong.

Here is some of his "junk", the many shed deer antlers that take up the coffee table. A professor gave Justin that microscope and we can neither bring ourselves to get rid of it nor think of a good use or better place for it.

I saved the best for last. Here is the real site of most of the clutter, the dining room table.

I've got presents all ready for three February birthdays, cards ready to play euchre, empty toner cartridges to take to Staples, folders to work on taxes, and a tuner that Justin is selling on ebay. Anybody need a tuner for their diesel truck? He'll give you a good deal!

Down at this end of the table we've got seeds ready for spring planting, AAA guide books for travel planning, and an electronic coyote call. (Don't ask, it's not mine.)

It's impossible for me to look at my house with unbiased eyes, so clutter or not, it's ours. It's all important (well, maybe not the deer antlers and coyote call :-) ; we use most of it, and some of it even brings me joy, so it's not clutter to me. House Beautiful and Country Living will just have to call ahead.