It finally feels like fall here. Temperatures in the 40's, the heat going on in the house, the plants going to sleep for the winter. I normally get a little sad in fall, because we are heading towards winter, such a dead time of the year. But there is an element of coziness in being able to come inside and be warm, or curl up under a quilt and take a nap. (See above photos of our adorable kitty cats - they curled up together in our piano cover, their current favorite spot for napping. If you look closely, Solomon is hugging Zeusy - so cute!).
Yesterday was errands and yard work day. First thing after getting up, we went to Cape Cod Lumber to order a replacement window to finish off our living room. For those who know our house, you'll remember that we had a window in our living room that was covered over with dry wall for probably 40-50 years. The story (according to the neighbors) was that the prior owners got into a feud with the neighbors over something stupid. This window looked out over the neighbors' house, and the story is that they put the dry wall up so they wouldn't have to look at the neighbors any more. Ha.
(As a side note, these prior owners believed that if they couldn't see something, it didn't need attention. That is why they only painted and roofed two sides of our garage).
We discovered this window only after moving into the house. JK^2 had removed the old, dusty Venetian blinds from all the other windows in the living room. One day, he was out cutting the grass, and he saw a window that still had blinds in it. And he started thinking, "How could I have missed taking the blinds down from one of the windows?" Then he realized that we had a hidden window. About the same time, our neighbor was standing on his porch, laughing at us. He had witnessed the whole revelation.
Anyway, when we did our "home improvement project of the year" this spring, we took down the dry wall in our living room (along with the messy horsehair plaster underneath the plaster and on the other walls) and opened up the window. It really makes a big difference in our living room.
In classic fashion, the prior owners (I am leaving them anonymous because they really should be ashamed of the things they did to our house) decided that instead of taking out the window, they would just close the skanky Venetian blinds and cover it up with the dry wall. So we got rid of the blinds, and somewhere along the way, one of the panes of glass got cracked. So it is time to replace this 90-year-old, single-paned window.
We haven't ordered replacement windows in a while. I think it could be close to 2 years, actually. Of course, the price has gone up quite a bit, and they now charge for delivery. Since we don't have a large car or truck, we had to have the window delivered. It should be ready in 4-5 weeks. I'm looking forward to the extra insulation value.
We got drapes for our windows. Or rather, JK^2's mom made them for us. They are blue and cream striped. She also made us sheers, which are a cream color with a design. I'm still getting used to them, but they're nice.
After ordering the window, getting some groceries, and having lunch at Baja Fresh (I love it), we came back home and did some gardening. We are trying to transplant our hydrangea. It is my favorite plant at our house, but it is very overgrown for the spot where we had planted it. JK^2 thought that if we pulled it out about 3-4 feet from the house, it wouldn't look so crowded. Plus, we really, really need to redo the landscaping in front of the house in general. So JK^2 worked on that, and I worked on pulling the tomato plants out from behind the garage. Pulling these plants out has never been easier, since I haven't had a taste for tomatoes in 5 weeks. There were a few tomatoes left, and we're going to bring them over to our friends' house tonight. It's much easier to pull things out when you're not so attached.
JK^2 managed to pull the hydrangea out with a good part of its roots, and replant it. We're very hopeful that it'll survive the winter. If it doesn't, then we'll just plant another (and I'll be sad). We also planted all the bulbs that A.Fuss gave me for my birthday (except for the paper whites, of course). Hopefully that will guarantee us some cheerful flowers in the spring. She gave me a bag of crocuses (I love them) and something called "Giant Snow Drops," which I've never grown before. I put the snow drops in under the lilac bush and next to some irises. The crocuses went in next to our front stairs.
Today is homework day for JK^2. He's gotten a lot of it this semester. We did get to go out to lunch again, though. We went to Webster's, which is this little diner-like place in Quincy that has some pretty good Mediterranean food. We like going out to lunch on the weekends. :)
Tonight we get together with friends for dinner, and then we'd probably watch the Red Sox game, if they were broadcasting it on normal television. Unfortunately, only TBS is broadcasting it and we don't get a cable. Oh well. Let's hope they kick some butt. It would be cool if they made it to the World Series again, especially if they're playing the Dodgers (where they traded Manny Ramirez to this summer).
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