Our Alley

 Wednesday, March 24, 2026

A view of our alley from the alley of the block north of us. 

Sitting on the Porch with Dale

 Tuesday, June 23, 2026

We got a lot of rain this afternoon. 

Dale and I sat on the porch during the storm and it was quite pleasant. Overall June's been lovely.

Spring Cleaning

 Monday, May 11, 2026

I've been working pretty consistently lately at getting the upstairs cleaned out of all my school stuff. Dale's current project is to clean the windows inside and out. 

He's off to a good start. 

Signs of Spring

 Tuesday, March 10, 2026

March is an interesting month. You really start to see signs of the changing seasons from winter to spring. 

                                    

A couple of day ago, Sunday, the temperature got up to 60 degrees. An anomoly for this time of year for sure but it's a sign of things to come. I actually sat outside with a cigar the whole time it took to smoke it for the first time this calendar year. 

Collecting - Santas

Thursday, December 18, 2025

I've been collecting American Santas for a while. I set them out recently. 

It felt like I was missing some. 

I don't usually set them out on this shelf so maybe that's what looked different. 

Anyway, not too long after setting them out I found another box in the coal room where I store most of my Christmas stuff. That's where they had been hiding. 

I added them to the display. 

Mom never promoted the Santa with us when we were kids. When I asked her why she said it had something to do with Dr. Benjamin Spock in the 60s and that you shouldn't have kids focus on fairy tales. Anyway I think that the fact I still ended up believing shows the power of how prevelent the Santa Claus myth is in the culture. 

Decorating with Books

 Friday, Deember 5, 2025

Books look great on a shelf but as I've said before I also think they look very nice stacked and displayed. They help reflect themes and interests, like in this case, Christmas. I also think they add warmth and personality to a space or even a whole room. 

Dining Room In the Dark

 Sunday, November 30, 2025

The darkness of the late afternoon and early evening is definitley upon us. 

It's perfect for candlelight.