AllanThinks

Hidden Treasure

Clicking the image will take you to its Flickr page. You can see a larger version there.

While Ali is in France, I have been trying to finish up some chores around the house. One of them is to move an old Globe-Wernicke office desk from C's room upstairs down to the new rec room in the basement.

It is just taking up space up there, and we feel sure she would rather fix the room up to her liking. And, putting the desk in the basement, both Ali and I will have a workspace. She to do her writing, editing, translating, and proofreading, and me to pay household bills, taxes, and things like that.

I bought the old desk over 20 years ago. I paid $25 for it. With the exception of the top surface, the desk is painted black. There are quite a few chips in the paint, and we will probably give it a new paint job in the future.

For a few recent years, the desktop was home to my amateur radio gear. The drawers are filled with all sorts of stuff. Yesterday, I began the task of cleaning the desk out. I spent most of the afternoon, going through a single drawer, the file drawer. It contained old tax returns, professional documents, owner's manuals and warranty information, and bits and pieces of assorted junk. I discarded perhaps 90% of what was in there, and I imagine I will do the same with the remaining drawers today.

As I dug into the back of the drawer to remove the last few remaining items, I discovered this old glass doorknob. I remember finding it in the same drawer when I dismantled the desk to get it into the house. I just left it in there. I have no idea why.

But it was cool to discover it once again. And of course, I just had to take a photo of it. It won't be placed back into that drawer this time. It has earned a place on the mantle or the bookshelf here in our living room.

And in other news...

Alison and I removed the carpet in the master bedroom this weekend.

Despite the room being full of furniture, including a very heavy bed, the job went smoothly and was completed in less than a day. I guess the experience of doing the same in the dining room and living room taught us a few things.

And now it is time for us to begin packing. More about that later.

Retail therapy is the best kind of all.

When Alison started working at Curves a few weeks ago, I would drop her off there each day and return home where I would try to amuse myself until it was time to go pick her up at the end of her shift.

One day I got a bug up my butt and decided to rearrange the living room furniture. The weather was turning cold and we had discussed having a fire in the fireplace that night. When I got back to the house, I got the Shop-Vac out and gave the fireplace a good cleaning, then brought in a load of firewood and stacked it in the fireplace.

When I was done with that, I took a look at the new sofa across the room, and decided it was too far away from the fireplace. So I moved it, and the coffee table, into the middle of the room, so that we would sit closer to the fireplace.

This was the result.

It was instantly more intimate. Alison was pleased with the result when I brought her home from work that evening.

Here It Is

Remember the IKEA table that we were going to have delivered?

Well, those of you who also read Alison's blog (and who among us doesn't?), have heard the story of our acquisition of said coffee table.

She told you that I had taken a photograph of it. I took two, actually.

You can see the new coffee table in the extended post. Just click the link.

The Empty Nest

It's quiet around here. Too quiet.

The kids returned to France last night. We drove them to the Cincinnati airport yesterday afternoon, and checked them in at the Delta/Air France unaccompanied children counter. Alison was allowed to accompany them through security and wait with them until they boarded the plane.

We were on the road back to Lexington before they left the ground. Ali talked to them this morning. They were with their dad on their way to spend the week with their grandmother. They will start the new school year soon.

They were with us for only a month. We did a lot while they were here, but it didn't seem like enough time.

And the house seems so empty now that they are gone.

Hotter'n a Firecracker

Yep, it's really hot here in Kentucky. It was 90º on Saturday and 92º Sunday [That's 32.2º and 33.3º Celsius for our foreign viewers playing along at home - Ed.]. Withering heat, it is.

So what did I do Sunday morning? I went for a two mile walk. Stupid, you say? Yeah, it probably wasn't the brightest thing I have ever done, but I really needed to get out in the sun. My weekend has been filled with chores; getting the house ready for the return of Ali and the kids on Wednesday. And one can only hide from the heat for so long before cabin fever sets in.

Saturday morning, my sister and a couple of friends delivered a set of bedroom furniture she is donating to the cause. It is now in what will be C's room. The furniture that had been in that room is now in T's room.  I washed the new duvet covers for their beds, and made a trip to Home Depot to purchase some boards to convert the new bed to a platform to hold the inflatable mattress that C will be using until we can get her a real mattress and foundation.

In addition, I did other laundry, washed dishes, did some general cleaning up, started a new batch of sprouts, and made seven jars of fresh yogurt.

After my Sunday morning walk, I collapsed for a while to cool off in the air conditioned comfort of the house, then I wrestled the duvets into their freshly laundered covers, inflated C's mattress, made the beds, emptied the car of its accumulated junk, and removed some worn out bumper stickers from its rear end. I then took the car out for a bath. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a full-service car wash open anywhere in town. So, I will get the car washed later today.

In addition to everything else, I managed to find a bit of time to take some pictures.

There are numerous other chores on my mental to-do list. Staying busy is how I keep myself sane when Alison is away. I haven't been this productive in forever.

I miss her so much. Wednesday can't arrive soon enough.

Finally!

Click image for a much better view.

Ali and I finally got our new sectional sofa. We received a call on Thursday from the store where we ordered it to let us know it had arrived.