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Category: Quotidien

  • Anniversary

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    Today is our 25th Wedding Anniversary.  There are no big celebrations planned and yet it is a special day  and like a good marriage will be celebrated with a combination of the necessary, the mundane, the joyful and the decadent:

     

    Go to vet to pick up prescription for insulin for Sam the cat.

    Meet with investment advisor for retirement accounts

    Lunch at the American Bounty Room with Champagne

    Nap

    Light Dinner

    Sit on sofa and watch TV (Ringer tonight!)

     

    Have a lovely day and I will be back later in the week.

     

     

     

  • Small Joys

    Although living with someone with severe short term memory loss can at times be trying, there are also moments of pure joy as you watch this same person rediscover the world on a daily basis.

     

    This morning at breakfast, G took a bite of his eggs with smoked salmon, capers, and tomatoes and looked up, eyes sparkling with joy.  "This is wonderful" he said, his voice filled with awe at having made a fabulous new discovery.  No matter that he has had the same breakfast once a week for the past 36 weeks.

     

    These are the moments to treasure.

  • This and That Around the House

    Well, here I am back at the blog but I haven't really worked out a time yet for being back an therefore it seems that my mind, lacking the structure of the old, "if it is X AM it must be blog-time" routine, wants to dart hither and yon.  The hardest thing so far me about adjusting to having help is perhaps just that, adjusting, and my schedule seems to require constant adjustment.  I am not by nature amoeba-like in my ability to adjust to changes in circumstances, so at times it is a bit trying.

     

    IMG_4693 This week we are watching Ken Burns' series, The Civil War, on PBS.  My initial reaction was "seen that", many times over actually, but G wanted to watch it and I was drawn in as well.  Each night I am saddened, angered, and brought to tears at least once as I get wrapped up the the turmoils of men, history, stupidity, tragedy and the occasional kindnesses of strangers.

     

    But this steady diet of evening television time has been good for my knitting and I finished the first piece of my next sweater last night.    I'm just going to post this teaser for now and say that I am using a wool, linen, and baby alpaca blend which I hope will prove excellent as a transitional piece for layering.  I am determined to finish it by the end of next week.

     

    While I am on the subject of transitional garments, I also went shopping this week.  Actually I went shopping twice, once looking for some new things I saw in the JCrew and Talbots catalogs, but none of the items I sought were available in the local stores, or nearly local as J Crew is over an hour away.  If anything my trip to the J Crew store actually discouraged me from attempting to order anything from the current catalog as I was so strongly disappointed in the merchandise available in the store and frustrated by the experience in general that I had about decided to just live with what I have currently in the closet.

     

    IMG_4678 But then a friend was showing off a fabulous new coat she got at Kohls, a lovely soft sage-green, transitional piece, and I promptly ran over to Kohls and bought my own. The sage made me look rather bilious around the edges and the black, despite the fact that it is pretty shiny, was a much better choice.  I like the weight, I like the fact that it dips down at the side seams, and I like the fact that at less than $50 it is not a major commitment.  If it gets me through a season or two I will be happy, especially since my previous black trench, a lightweight little number by Drizzle is looking pathetically sad and dated and is ready for retirement.

     

    The truth is that I hadn't been in Kohls' in at least 4 years, and although I had heard good things about Vera Wang's Simply Vera line for Kohls, I have never been particularly attracted to Vera Wang's various explorations beyond the realm of wedding gowns.  I may have to reconsider.  I picked up a couple of pieces which I felt offered far better style, construction, and value for the money than the merchandise available at the Danbury J. Crew.  They are not pieces for the ages perhaps, but I have come to accept with age, that little that is cut from cloth truly is ageless.  I can accept that.

     

     

     

  • One Thing Leads to Another

    And another…..

    And so on.

     

    At least that is how it all seems right now.  I get started on X, and I get a certain amount done before I realize that I am stuck and can't go any further until I do Y and Z, which of course lead to A, B, and C, and before you know it I am back to X.

     

    January seemed to be an endless loop of projects and adjustments to a new life.  Just as we seemed to reach a new understanding, a comfortable place, we would find some other adjustment that needed to be accommodated.  In the same way I would start a project, then find that something else had to be done before the project at hand could be finished, and the projects would pile up without ever being fully completed.

    I would like to think that February will be an improvement.  There are two things I know:   

    1.    The floors will finally be installed.

    2.    The new bookcases will go up in the family room.  

     

    And a few things were accomplished in January, but not enough things.

    • I established an effective morning routine which seems to work for me and everyone else in the household.
    • I am knitting every day and am therefore making progress on at least one creative front.
    • I got one nightstand set up in my bedroom so that I no longer have to crawl across the room in the dark, but the second nightstand requires that I move a cabinet which requires that I dismantle a shelving system in one closet, which requires that I have a place to put the contents of the shelves, etc. 
    • I managed to sort, purge and store shoes, sweaters and boots and they are properly stored in their new locations.

    Most of importantly, G is doing fabulously well, and although his memory is still terrible and he has days of greater confusion, he is also able to carry out conversations and form conclusions based on the facts at hand in ways that he has not be able to for a long long time.  We are able to spend companionable time together, talking, reading, watching television.  This I treasure.

  • Happy New Year

    The new year is dawning shiny and bright with promise.  

     

    Although I do have goals for the new year, they do not, at this point, comprise a specific list of bullet-point items that I wish to share here.

     

    However it can be said that:

     

    * There will be sewing. (yes, it is true)

    * There will be knitting.

    * There will be thoughts/posts on fashion, style, outfits, etc.

    * There will be many changes and projects around the house and yard.

    * There will be reading.

    * There will be music.

    It sounds like a pretty fabulous year, doesn't it?  The year I stop putting all my dreams on hold.  The year of Mardel.

     

     

     

  • Monday Miscellany

    It is great to have G home and things seem to be working out well even though there were all kinds of things, mostly little things, about having someone else living with us that I had not thoroughly considered. Still I think it is a success even though I am now the only female in a house with four males (two feline). And to think I thought it was my house.

     

    The big 55" television was a good idea despite the fact that G's initial reaction, when he came home and the TV was not yet installed, was that he didn't need it or want it.  Since it has been installed he has been thrilled with the picture and the sound, and for once the younger people are asking him to turn the volume up rather than the other way around.

     

    I underestimated the full entertainment value of a television installation.  I thought having the installation after G came home would be a pain and I was disappointed that I couldn't schedule it sooner.  Instead, I couldn't lure him away and he was fascinated by everything even though he admitted he didn't understand most of it.  The Geek squad was also very accommodating and solicitous with him and took time to answer all his questions.

     

    Now that I have a big TV, getting time to watch my shows is proving difficult.  G and R have remarkably similar taste in television and can spend hours with CNN, BBC, HGTV or NatGeo.  I can tolerate any of these channels for an hour or two here and there, but after that I am start plucking the gray hairs out of my head and muttering to myself. Luckily I can walk away, or I might soon be completely hairless.  Tuesday night, the day the new set was installed I was crawling around in the dark in the back of the living room trying to hook up the older small tv to a cable outlet so I could watch The Good Wife in a corner in the dark. 

     

    I can't find the battery charger for my camera or the spare battery although I know exactly where I put them.  I know the box I put them in; I don't know where I put the box.  I can only assume it will turn up eventually.  

     

    I actually got all my Christmas shopping done.  Wrapping is a completely different story.

     

     

     

     

  • Weekend Reading

    Picture 16 The new WSJ magazine is out.  I intend to spend the evening shirking responsibility as I peruse the pages, reading about art, vintage jewelry, fashion, and food.  I am open to the possibility that I have underestimated camel.

     

    Have a lovely weekend.

     

     

  • Twenty Four

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    Today is our 24th wedding anniversary.  It is a quiet day, following a quiet weekend.  Celebrations don't tend to big things at the moment in our lives, but that makes them no less special. 

     

    Picture 9 Friday night we opened a case of Chateau Clerc Milon 1995 and drank a bottle curled up on the sofa, mostly reading, but often dozing on and off.  The wine was very smooth and mellow, with a mouth feel much like the delicate brush of silk charmeuse on the skin, not weak, but with a good balance of hard and soft.  There is still  bit of intensity on the finish and a touch of unresolved tannins.  

     

    It is a good wine for an anniversary weekend and the beginnings of our 25th year as it is smooth and balanced with a bit of sweetness, mostly harmonious and well-integrated, but still with a hint of graphite on the finish.  From brash youth to mellow age:  Good for a wine; good for a marriage.

     

    I'll remember to open a bottle early tonight.  It seems to be at its best about 3 to 4 hours after opening with a hint of currants and chocolate rounding out the flavors.