Author: thecapeblog

I believe I’ve written about the shade in the second bedroom South-facing window.

Ron had no problem operating it, but it seemed to never stay put for me.

So, I got fed up and bought a mini-blind to replace it.

Ron installed the blind today, and it looks great, but it was a two-day ordeal.

The window dimensions on the box were not especially helpful, and once I got the blind unloaded, I was sure it was too small.

I bought the blind at Rocky’s Ace Hardware in Fairhaven, and they seem to be the only retailer in about a 15 mile radius that sells this particular brand. No other Ace in the Upper Cape carries mini-blinds as far as I can tell; you have to special order them.

Ron convinced me that the blind would be wide enough. It took him a while to figure out how to place the holders and how to mount them. We then brilliantly concluded that there was something wrong with the release mechanism and made it fall apart.

It’s finally up now and working as it’s supposed to. In fact, it looks great. I said that already, but it bears repeating.

Now to do the same thing for the other window, ha ha ha.

We might get snow tonight, but it was in the low 40’s today, so I was motivated to do some premature spring cleaning in the yard, particularly in the small corner garden and behind the shed.

There were piles of weeding debris, and I was hoping that by sifting and consolidating, the material could be used for compost. Too many pine needles and other junk, though, so I used it to fill in holes. Maybe over time it’ll decompose enough for the garden.

I did find a pair of clippers which are still usable; they are soaking in vinegar now to help loosen the rust.

We tried to install new windshield washer blades on the truck but gave up. I managed to get the old ones back on at least.

I grilled burgers, too, first time all winter in daylight, and was horrified at how messy the grill is. Cooking by moonlight hasn’t provided the best conditions for cleaning.

I spent a chunk of time yesterday at Cambridge Eye while an optician laboriously calculated several permutations of frames, lenses and costs. I finally gave up and ordered a pair online last night. I messed up the prescription, but straightened it out with them on the phone this morning.

He figured it’s been about a year and a half since the last one. He was tired of fussing with long hair, and I was inclined to agree: we were starting to get “Can I help you ladies?” comments. This cut is very similar to one he had in some old photos, and I think it’s quite flattering.

I had good intentions of coding for most of today but got sidetracked.

I did a fair amount of catch-up of O-F stuff in preparation for tonight’s meeting, finished the back yard cleanup, did a couple of errands including a quick trip to the transfer station, emptied the dishwasher, made soup for lunch. I also did some post-holiday updates of my Cape Cod Progressives site.

The reality is that I’m tired of income-producing activities and would like to stop.

Cut down most of the grasses at Edgewater and brought them for composting to the transfer station. Fed the indoor plants, including the jasmine. Made some two-serving chicken/pork pies from leftovers, frozen vegetables and mushroom soup.

Had a good weather day today, so we (mostly Ron) cleaned the gutters at both houses. It feels good to be done. Cleaning the gutters isn’t difficult, just inconvenient and time-consuming. The gutters weren’t bad here but a mess at Edgewater, since it’s been a year or more since they’ve been done.

A pod of killer whales that had been trapped in ice in Hudson Bay, Quebec, are free, thanks to Mother Nature and a channel to the open ocean.

I may have been fighting off a norovirus these past couple of weeks. I felt pretty good today. Fingers crossed.

From Diary of a Creep comments:

P. Stuart
Albany

It’s your attitude, not your condition. One of the most beautiful women I ever met had burns over 60% of her body. Everyone thought she was gorgeous. Her “scars” did not diminish her beauty. I’m sure if she acted less beautiful, people would have thought her less beautiful. Beauty really does radiate from within. Such is human psychology. Quit focusing on your physical self and start believing in your own inner beauty. The rest will take care of itself.
Jan. 7, 2013 at 5:38 p.m.

Peg
California

No, please, I’m sorry, but you’re saying that if you’re in any way “ugly,” you have a constant added job of performance art to function in the real world at all.

You have no idea how wearing that is for anyone. For someone whose income and life depends on being internally focused, or focused on information not social performance, it’s screaming h*ll: like insisting someone simultaneously listen to heavy metal while singing light opera. Or like trying to do complex math while talking to teenagers about pizza and movies.

Worse, it’s another way of blaming the victim: If he were only good enough, performed well enough, faked beauty convincingly enough, why no one would have any problem with him!

DanglingMan
MA

It’s NOT his attitude, it’s his condition. You blame the writer for not having the exceptional strength of a single person you met. Where’s your empathy? Oh, it’s lost in blaming the writer for his bad attitude.

The snow’s been melting, from the right to the left side of the back yard. Could be the January thaw before winter takes a step back and wallops us again.

Last Sunday’s NY Times ran their annual temperature/precipitation chart. We picked up a tide calendar at the Mid Cape Home Center in Dennis. So, we are all set for keeping track of days in 2013.

Emme came over for a visit last Sunday. We made some far too-sweet banana/white chocolate bread pudding. I tried another recipe for mushroom/barley soup that was a disaster until I added chicken broth and the ham bone. The result was very good, and I brought the bone to Remy.

I looked into volunteer opportunities and decided that I don’t have the heart. I bailed out of Falmouth Eats Together as well. For one thing, I need to get caught up with work, and for another, I just don’t think it would be much fun now that Paul is no longer involved.

Uncle Frank’s funeral was today. His two eldest grandsons, Bill Allen (Jr.) and David Valzania, gave the eulogy.

Bill Allen recounted how his grandfather told him that he needed three bones to be successful: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funnybone. In fact, this is a quote from Kobi Yamada, President/CEO of the Seattle-based company Compendium, a producer of books, cards and gifts with “inspirational” messages.

I don’t know if Frank really said that, but it sounds like pretty good advice to share with a young person. Then again, it depends on the person: I can see Emme taking it to heart but our grandsons shrugging it off.

Bill also mentioned a fourth item, a heart. There was more than one reference to Frank’s generosity to his family, for which he was legendary.

David told my favorite Frank story about the time he cut his neighbor’s lawn when he lived in Milton.

Uncle Frank was the consummate family man and a good fellow all the way around. And so is Ron, who patiently looked at all the photos at the funeral home and has been listening appreciatively to my Uncle Frank memories for the past two days.