Friday, September 10, 2010

Made Me Smile

Here lately I have been a bit glum.
Okay, more than a bit.
So this week I organized my life around this concept,
 " What would make me feel good?"

One of the things I did was do some home love. You know that saying about the cobblers children have no shoes? Well this designer's home was showing some designery neglect.. But the weather changed, we stopped the canned air and threw open the windows. On the first morning after the opening I came down the stairs thinking , " this feels different". It certainly did , the  air felt different the house smelled different and suddenly all I wanted to do was love my home again.


Even my beloved bailing wire horse sculpture needed to be de-spidered. Sometimes those arachnids like to nest smack in the horses belly.
They can be hard to spot until one day a web falls into your cup of tea.

I am not one who can make things look good on the surface while ignoring what lies beneath. So what ensued was furniture hauling, detailed vacuuming of shelves full of memorabilia from our lives, ( think slow and tedious) plenty of scrubbing and polishing. I set up a fairly interesting mix on one of the online radio sites and occasionally took a break to shake my assets and sing off key.



another spider hiding place is in the rush seats
Y'all should  be grateful you could neither hear or witness these spontaneous interludes. I also took this  opportunity to rant aloud my perspective on the issues causing the glums.
It's best y'all couldn't hear that too. I expect it sounded even worse than Moi's rant about the injudicious elimination of Cassanova. ( I agree with her totally).

 I was on such a satisfying rip I carried on until I'd shouted out my wrath about the Mosques and the Quran burnings and the coming home from Iraq speech and National Parks getting signed over to the UN and the BLM land grabs and the horrors of the NJ eminent domain travesties making its way to the Supreme Court.  I  ended up spilling my opinions on the "difficulties" our Constitution poses to the UN  when it comes to "rights" of individual ownerships which interfere with the proposed UN takeover of our grasslands and moving of the "populous" to"designated urban centers".  Lets just say  ' shoot to kill' was heard more than once. I might even have been foaming at the mouth like some rabid beast by the time I got around to the idea it could be legal anywhere, for any reason, to sponsor a public death by stoning.

On Labor Day I went to a  civic festival which started with
5,000 people saying the Lord's Prayer followed by us all reciting the Pledge of Alligence. Standing, with  hands over hearts. I did not hear one voice protest either one of these traditions.  Our amazing county band/orchestra then played an ensemble of the theme songs of each branch of military service  having asked those attendees who had served to please stand for recognition while their branch was honored. Watching some of the elderly rise with pride and struggle to  stand straight during the honor was a clutch moment for me. I so don't want respect , honor, might  and love of  our nation to perish. Integrity and decency should always prevail.



Following the concert there was a wonderful fireworks display. Lots of red, white and BOOM!
I liked it, I went home mostly relaxed and slept for 4 straight hours for the first time in weeks. Ok, months.


Somewhere along the way  the multiple issues with the new high speed wireless modem,  and the new laptop mostly got resolved. The modem was replaced as was the new laptop. The laptop manufacturer, would NOT replace their equipment which was found by their tech to have a defective wireless adapter B as well as a dysfunctional mother board. Would Not. I on the other hand, took the print outs of the findings and the recommendations of their own tech to 'replace'  and the company 'decline to replace' to the point of purchase and asked them to recognize it was not good business. They replaced the laptop.  I will return this exchanged laptop if there is a single issue since I know  " customer support" is actually " corporate protectionism".


Later in the week  I took a senior friend/client on a day trip to one of my favorite mountain retreat towns.
It was spectacular day, really beautiful and  enjoyable.  Except for the  anxious moments when the leisurely stroll became an issue because Constance forgot to use her prescription inhalers before leaving home.  I did ask her what the inhalers were for and was shocked at the response," chronic bronchitits, emphysema, COPD"  She was gasping for air on a deserted hillside while I was trying to get a cell phone signal  when I asked
 " Why on Earth did we take this walk if you having breathing issues?"
 Her answer,
" Because I wanted to see this". We were  on the grounds of a beautiful Inn but there were not others around  this particular hillside. NO signal and no one in shouting distance.  Eventually her breathing returned to normal and we took a half hour to finish a five minute walk to the Dining Room. Other than that scare it was all beautiful and then we went exploring at some of my favorite designer haunts.




I love this place













very bullish
These cattle looked very friendy and very  big

Does this English hare look like $400 to you?







just add flowers
I didn't get these fishys, clay was too gray

these chickie chickies were 50% off







I might have bought these at the Paris fleamarket myself if I had francs to go with the wants.

This little Frenchy did come home with me because one of my earliest childhood memories is permanently etched into my face. Compliments of one of these  little pups who missed the cookie and got me instead. All is forgiven and what fun continetal folk art! Cripes, looks like I need to revise the date setting on the camera.

















Maybe I'll have another week of therapy, it seems to be working. I think I smiled today.

10 comments:

moi said...

You know, it's a very delicate balance, remaining aware of and righteously indignant about (and in some instances, working to solve) the ills and evils of the world and at the same time, enjoying one's life, regardless.

That being said: I LOVE that bulldog!

Peace be with you, this day and always.

fishy said...

Thanks Moi!
I agree balance is tricky. Complacency allows evil to prevail so we MUST pay attention. I think my greatest concern comes not from the individual issues but the emerging picture they collectively compose.

That being said, I'm so glad you love my little French pup. Hopefully he will be my daily reminder of a fine balance.

Peace be with you too.

Jenny said...

I think reclaiming our homes from the spiders and glumness is a good thing to do. Moi is right when she says "it's a very delicate balance, remaining aware of and righteously indignant about (and in some instances, working to solve) the ills and evils of the world and at the same time, enjoying one's life, regardless."

My struggle is find the time to balance all of the parts of my life that need attention; spritually, physically and financially. I'm glad you're reclaiming your home from the spiders and anything else that has taken your energy recently.

Keep it up!

Aunty Belle said...

Wait. one. minute.

No waaaay!! Fishy, I know exactly whar' that mountain Inn is!! Iffin' ya look in the Porch archives, youse gonna see that same mountain an' its lake in mah pictures--we go thar some times in the fall --really. Hah! this is a howl.

Of course it made ya smile--lovely place. An them dear shops of lovely old thangs--someday I'se gonna show up on yore doorstep an' we'll go treasure huntin'.

fishy said...

Boxer, thanks for the encouragement
I agree maintaining the balance is the challenge. It is actually, getting harder for me as Blowfish and I are in the middle group which has been most threatened by America's changing reality. It smarts on every front.

But .... there is something quite satisfying about transfering wrath to a spider while shouting our a good rant.

Aunty,
there actually are lots of charming small towns with beautiful mountain lakeside inns in this part of the world. This particular one is in North Carolina. In a location where NC, SC,GA,TN are all visible from that big granite rock.

I 'spect this is one ya know cause once you been there the images is permanently etched in your haid.
And too it is a favorite wif the Gator folks.

Iffen you come this way for the fall colors I'd love the opportunity to sit a spell in them red porch rockers and have a visit wif ya.
It would be a fine location for a bloggers meet and greet.

Pam said...

Fishy Fishy, I sure hope you are feeling well and going on about the business of beautiful. Doing a good "fall cleaning" sounds like good therapy indeed. I like to take the things I have and move them around to somewhere in the house they have never lived before. But wait, I have an idea. I could go be your "buyer of English collectibles" on our next trip over the Big Pond. Oh, boy howdy, would I love a task like that! We should discuss. LOL

Meanwhile, I would like to visit sometime about the thy-issues because I feel a fight coming on with my dr.

Karl said...

Excuse me ma'am I'm here from the GOAE (Government Office of Arachnid Empowerment) and I'm here to investigate claims that party or parties at this address are violating the civil rights of spiders. And that said person or persons are performing these deeds simply for self gratification. You must cease these activities immediately. We have already started to assess the fines. Our offices are also talking to other agencies to investigate allegations of ranting against the government's system and possible charges of PPP (posting puppies without a permit)

fishy said...

Pam,
No! No! No! Together we shall cross the big Pond for the great acquisitions trip 2011. No way would I stay home to get pictures from your phone.

Definitely we need to have a chat about throid and/or adrenal fatigue. Just use the e-mail with this blog, fishy2me@gmail.com
God knows we all need to information share these days. It is likely my issues with bone are side effects of long term thyroid replacement with zero advice for countermeasures over the years.

Karl!
LOL! Which do you think will arrive first the GOAE or the PPP ?
There actualy are government agencies I have called worse than the Pee-pee permitters! I suppose I could be at risk her for failing to permit. The consequence might be the multiplication of paperwork to substantiate the selection of a French folk art icon for reasons other than the possible subversion of American iconic canines.
Of course they might have to get here before the UN arrives to take control of my folk art for the good of the world repsonse to
canine imagery.

So far today Karl, YOU are my hero.

sparringK9 said...

nice roadtrip! did you buy me that bull? cause i really like that. too bad i dont have much surface to display knickknackery. im not complacent, but i have to say i had to let a bunch of it go. i think being outside a lot has helped. just as your trip did. enjoyed this post very much.

fishy said...

Rotty,
Well sanity DOES need to come first. A bit of getting away mentally as well as in the Fizz was therapeutic.

What fall veggies did you plant and how is the Farmer's Market? In your area have you switched yet to autumn colors or is it still too early? We are getting coolish in the evenings here but still pretty warm during the afternoons.

I am going to an open air art market/show with 75 participating artists this weekend.
I'll take the camera in hopes of having a good post report :-)
Hope your weekend is a fine one and
I might just mention I love the pics of your truck bed displays.