Greetings and Salutations to One and All!

I’m not really a betting person. That being said, I am glad that a casino isn’t within easy reach, either. So many shiny things in casinos, you know.

No, what I’m betting on today, though, is this: I’ll bet the majority of women reading this have been spending more than a usual time at the kitchen sink, running the warm to hot water over your hands while you look out the window at the below zero landscape. Am I right? Are you taking an inordinate time washing up  the items that don’t go in the dishwasher? Spending a few more minutes tidying up the sink as an excuse to have your hands all toasty warm?

Ha! I thought so. Me. too. There is something so satisfying, heart warming and hand warming about that practice when it’s so very cold outside. Plus, it’s a quick way to get warm!

I don’t know about your house, but mine has pockets of varying temperatures.  For instance, it’s chilly here in the sewing room, but it’s very warm at the top of the stairs just down the hall.  That pocket of warmth is caused by the gas fireplace in the living room, where the hubster sits and thinks over his first two cups of coffee in the early morning.

But this brings me to another point: why are fireplaces always close to the thermostats??? Because while the hubster is getting all toasty warm in the early morning, the upstairs bedroom is taking on a chill that guarantees that I  wake up on my way to brush my teeth. It reminds me a little of getting out of bed when I was growing up and placing my feet on the cold, cold wood floor in the house in Red Wing.   Brrrrrr. I remember thinking that when the upstairs was finally carpeted, we were living in luxury!

Ah, yes. We do have much to be thankful for.

FYI: being grateful was a step in a list that recently caught my eye.  The eight steps were to help a person be more intentional each day. Here it is, if you’re interested: https://inkandvolt.com/2017/12/8-things-to-do-before-800-am-for-a-more-productive-day/

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I just have to tell you about a new book I picked up yesterday. I saw the recordings of the BBC programs for sale in the public radio catalog— Signals, I think. Anyway, I had never heard of the books, the author, or the ” fabulously popular and beloved” series on the Beeb. I love BBC programs and thought I had at least heard of them all–evidently not!  So, I had to find the book/books and read them, especially since they were ” sparkling classic comedies of manners set against the petty snobberies and competitive  maneuverings of English village society in the 1920’s and 1930’s.”

Doesn’t that sound delicious??? A sort of Miss Marple Meets The Devil Wears Prada, without the murders.

I thought so, too. So, I opened the book and got comfy. Within a page and a half, I wanted to look up an historical time frame for a painter, and within another two pages, I needed a dictionary.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

I was going to need more than the regular three week term from the Hennepin County Library to tackle this. Looked it up on Amazon and, lo and behold, I could buy the Kindle version for $.99.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. A good book that was on sale!!!!!!!!

Now you see how excited I am about this book.

By the way, the artist was Sir Joshua Reynolds, one of the founders and first president of the Royal Academy of Arts. Main character Lucia,  the self appointed expert on culture in the village, “rejected as valueless all artistic efforts later than the death of Sir Joshua Reynolds.” Tells you a lot about her character since he died in 1792. Goodness know she probably still thought  of us as the colonies, ungrateful and upstart.

And the word I had to look up? Apophthem, pronounced ap uh thm’  , meaning a concise saying, maxim, aphorism.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!! Learning new things and having a laugh at the same time: pretty much heaven to me.

The author is E. F. Benson, and the books  are the Mapp and Lucia novels, starting with Queen Lucia and Miss Mapp.

And so, if you can’t reach me, I’ll be sewing( finishing up that tree skirt today and making cute bags), running warm water over my hands at the kitchen sink while staring at the backyard snow and ice, or taking notes on how to be a cultured English snob from the 20’s and 30’s.

Ta ta for now, I must be toddling on.

Love you all,

Janet

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://inkandvolt.com/2017/12/8-things-to-do-before-800-am-for-a-more-productive-day/