Purling Oaks

An Office

Oh yeah, I used to blog, once upon a time.  

 

An Office.  With a Door.

So, it turns out I enjoy having a desk and a chair and my computer attached to a large monitor.  It motivates me to write.  Who knew?  Not me, certainly.  I'm still discovering new things about myself, even in my fifth decade on this earth.  That is a good thing, it keeps me interested.  Sort of like dating myself, as in the "let's go get a coffee" kind of date.    

I'm in the midst of perfecting my office set up.  (Probably a cyclical task.)  New big-ish monitor, a nice clackety mechanical keyboard that my hands enjoy, and a second smaller screen (my little MacBook Pro) to use for research or whatever.  There is still the issue of using a tabletop that is several inches too high for comfortable long-term typing.  The lighting is nicer--warm light from the tapestry loom side of the room.  Maybe a floor lamp is needed?  I need to hang pictures.  Perhaps, I will share photos when I'm done fussing with the arrangement.

One of the things I liked about working in DC was my little office.  It was tucked on the backside of a building, a big city block away from the White House.  Goodness, I don't even remember what floor of the building it was on (4th?), but I can remember my office.  

An interior office, the room enjoyed a moment or two of natural sunshine every day from the atrium window and it had a door I could close, allowing me to focus on a project or eat lunch at my desk.  There was room for a chair for visitors.  A plant or two perched on the top of a filing cabinet.  A stash of tea, instant coffee, and snacks had their own desk drawer.  I had a spare outfit hanging, in the event of a clothing disaster. It was a small sanctuary, yet a productive environment. When I left DC and went back into the field, as before DC I shared basement tables with mismatched chairs or handsome conference rooms with my fellow examiners, whatever space we were allowed at each assignment.  Far from an ideal environment, it takes some fortitude to train yourself to work without distraction.  I guess I had enough fortitude to deal with it for over twenty years.  Then I retired, waving goodbye to all that, thinking I would not miss any of it.  

Odd revelation, missing an office with a door.  Crazy, I know. And yet, there is a little part of me that is humming with happiness as I sit in my "updated" home office. This particular room has almost always been "my office" so I think the humming must be due to a change in my attitude.  I'm still musing about that. 

Five Years

I have been retired from my previous career for five years plus a month and a half.  I couldn't continue to work with all its required travel and be there for Mom, so retirement it was.  And that was okay. It's what a person does if circumstances allow.  

The first two years were years that I'm not too interested in remembering in detail, the continuation of a rollercoaster ride that I'm sure many other caregivers may relate to.  Three years ago, Mom moved to a very nice assisted living home located about ten minutes away from my house.  She's doing great there.  Ten minutes means it is so easy to visit and collect her for shopping or medical care or getting an ice cream cone.  We are both happier.  

I am so thankful for the recommendation from a friend regarding Mom's current home.  To my bones thankful.  Down to the marrow in my bones thankful.  Yes, really.

Typepad Stuff

There are still a lot of cobwebs here at the blog that will need to be dealt with.  I have forgotten how to find and change parts of the blog.  I remember thinking way back when there were tricky bits and there still are ... as that knowledge is eluding me.  There is a bunch of other stuff that I bet I'm clueless about.  I'm open to resource recommendations if anyone happens by to read this post.  I'm sure I'll stumble about and eventually get things tidy here.  That said, there was an iron trivet with this saying hanging in the back entryway to my parents' home and Mom always smiled as she recited it: 

Come in, sit down, relax, converse.  Our house doesn't always look like this, sometimes it's even worse.

 

The adventure of a kefir-seeking woman continues

What's in that pretty jar?

Milk kefir, from a local source. It has been the object of my search of several months, almost under my nose. Craigslist to the rescue!

Now to see if my grocer still carries organic whole milk.

Of course, I'm adventuring when the high temperature is forecast to be 8 degrees F with nasty wind chills.

Stay tuned!

 

 

Saturday news bits

I have no organized thoughts for you all this morning so here's some random this Saturday morning.

• Yesterday was a lovely day in Wisconsin.  The sky was blue with few clouds and the high temperature was in the low 50s.  Perfect.  I had an early (7:30 AM early) hair appointment for a trim so there was no sleeping in.  My body clock thinks of time based on eastern zone, at least at the beginning of the weekend, so I was wide awake anyway.
• I still have the cough.  It isn't so wracking but I will be very pleased when it disappears.  Soon, I hope.  Today, yes?
• I need to look up Kansas on iTunes.  Charlie FM was playing one of their tunes yesterday and I had a pleasant flashback.  
• I saw this article this morning.  Parallel universe theories fascinate me.  Yes, I am also a fan of Quantum Leap.
• The rest of the weekend looks like the weather will be great.  I'm ready!  There is only a small chance of rain later today.  I want to open all the windows and give the house an airing out.  
• I'm also getting the itch to work on doing some organizing and drawer-cleaning, so to speak.  I better take advantage of the itch while I have it!
• No, I haven't purchased an iPad.  Yet.  I'm waiting for the 3G version to come out.  :D
• Although I am still waiting for official paperwork, I'll share that I received and accepted the job offer.  So, the job I've been working on/at/in(?) will continue with me.  (insert happy dance)  There has been a lot of discussion at Chez Purlingoaks about the pluses and minuses of accepting the position.  Ultimately, we decided it is best to be happy and this job contributes greatly to my happiness.  So when I am home, I won't be the grumpy and irritable person I had been a year ago.  That is good for everybody.   I'll soon be looking for a home away from home base in DC and continuing to add to my frequent flyer account.
• My number two nephew will start college at Harvard this fall, which is so very cool and we are all proud of him.  I'm glad I'll be on the east coast, too.  :D

That's it for the random today.  Happy Saturday!

Saturday's Bits

Here's another post of various and odd topics.

• Something has been raiding our bird-feeders lately and last night I saw the culprit(s)!  Three humongous raccoons!  Humongous!  Maybe the raccoons should go on the South Beach Diet and not eat quite so much whole grain birdseed and suet.....
• I must say that the black raspberries gracing my oatmeal this morning are delicious and were sourced not more than a quarter-mile from my kitchen.
• We had a nice birthday celebration and dinner for my mom, about two weeks ago.  The top favorite foods from the meal were the cherry with almond crust tart and a wheat berry with walnuts and dates salad.  The recipes for the tart crust and wheat berry salad were both from Martha Stewart's Living magazine.
• Yeah, Living started mysteriously showing up after DH ordered a gift for me from Gardeners' Supply.   I used to take the magazine about four or five years ago.  I had found it a bit tiresome then but it seems a bit refreshed.  The recipes were always good....and still are.  
• There's been a bit of knitting lately but no finished objects.  I have given Icarus another go, the socks are still growing, and a scarf in progress that I re-found have all had some hands-on the past two weeks.
• I have been spinning, but again.......
• Spinning group was this past Monday.  I really enjoy it and hope it is still going when I stop traveling all over for my job.  Someday.
• I must say that I really enjoy my current job and I'm very, very thankful to have it.
• Last weekend, we left the house about 10 AM to visit with my DMIL and family in Watertown.  We came back to a cold and dark house at 6 PM.  o.O  None of the neighbors' houses were dark.  Apparently some fuse or such had blown on the line to the house......at about 10:45 AM.  
• I need more candles.  Really.  This test of our disaster recovery plan showed a few holes in my supplies.
• I also could use one of those battery-powered book-lights.  
• And a generator.
• We received some light snow last night and there is still a bit falling this morning.
• The daytime varmints, squirrels, are raiding what remains in the feeders right now, all six of them.  Six squirrels, that is......

The remains of the cherry tart with my DU's hand ready to reach in and save another crumb.

 

Happy Saturday!
 

Saturday show and tell

Hey!  I'm back from Upper Michigan and still have two days before I have to go to work!  How cool is that?  We had a nice relaxing break, caught up with sleep, and generally feel pretty darn good.  I'm catching up with blogs today, well some, since I have 1000+ new posts showing in my Google Reader.  Busy bloggers!  I'm also conquering the laundry, packing my work suitcase, and throwing a pork roast in the oven for some yummy pulled pork for dinner.

No good sky photos for Saturday Sky but I do have a little show and tell.  The skies this past week were generally overcast and wet in my part of the world, but here's a photo that Wilson snapped this week. 

Yup, bear tracks.  He said he didn't see the bears, probably a mama and her cub, but they had walked the trail he was on before he got there on his way to tickle some trout. 

While on vacation, I auditioned some spindles to prepare for Tour de Fleece as part of Team Crankypants.    
I think the two on the right are in the running for my travel hand spindle and the pink stuff is some roving from Susan's Fiber Shop that I don't know the wool specifics of, outside of it being wool and relatively inexpensive.  It has been in the stash for a while but it is pleasing to the eye.  I'll be spinning some other natural gray wool from Woolgatherers in Fond du Lac when I'm home on Margaret, my wheel, now that we are on good terms.  I'm going to have to pay more attention to my wool, aren't I?

My relaxing included some sock knitting on the man-sock, err, socks for Wilson with my first short-row heel completed.  Love it!  Thanks for the instructions, Cookie!  I also worked on Icarus --- I've recovered reknit past my ripping and then some but I'm still on chart 1.

 There was also some reading of the latest J.D. Robb paperback, Salvation in Death.  (Still a good read but I think something was missing, perhaps the personality conflicts?) and I started Tanya Huff's Valor's Trial which is definitely calling me.  This in book four of a series.....I know I read book three in this series but I'll have to look up the other two.

Happy Saturday!

Pretty pink

My geraniums bloomed while I was away this week!  I love the petals and the pink.  I purchased this during our cold and damp spring when I visited a greenhouse in nearby Portage.  I love greenhouses in the winter and spring for their warmth and the wonderful smell of earth.  Anyway.  My mother's parents always had a geranium "tree" that lived near Grandpa's chair and, walking through the greenhouse, I was struck with an idea.  I could start my own geranium tree.  So, home it came.  It started out living in my studio because it is sunny there in the late afternoon.  However, it wasn't thriving there.  Finally, the sun room warmed up and I moved it and my poor hoya out there.  (The hoya's story is a whole other post.)  It is still in a small pot and I haven't given any thought to "training" it up, rather than out.    
But, I do like the thought of having a geranium tree in my home.  Even if it is going to have to move back to my studio for the cold months.

Travel was good this week.  Work was very busy and is challenging me enough to be interesting and a stretch but not enough to turn me into a turnip.

Wilson and I are vacationing as of today!  Woooo whoooo!  Today we attend our youngest nephew's birthday party for pizza and cake.  Then tomorrow we head up to Grand Marais, Michigan.  The house/cat(s) sitter is all lined up for what will be a short time away but it will be relaxing and a way to decompress.  More later but now I have to jump in the shower!

Happy Saturday!

Long weekend!!!!!

Here's to the beginning of a nice four-day, relaxing weekend   The relaxing theme was foreshadowed earlier this week when I met with Vicki at Kaukauna Coffee and Tea.   I'm glad we were both available Tuesday since it was a bit of a last minute call to let Vicki know I was in her part of the state.  We enjoyed coffee and then dinner and a lot of conversation.....but no knitting.  What is this, three in a row for me? 

Vicki's daughter, Ali, manages the coffee shop.  The shop has a relaxing atmosphere with excellent coffee and a very yummy turkey and havarti panini.   There's interesting artwork on the walls and a nice balcony at the back of the shop where you can sit and enjoy the river view.  Go there if you are in the area, you'll enjoy it.   I stopped in for a cappuccino Thursday morning and there was a good group of what looked like regulars at the front tables.  Yes, I may be slightly biased because I had an enjoyable visit there with Vicki but I travel alot and this is a genuine find.

Today will be filled with some shopping, a massage, a car wash, and going to the greenhouse in search of some vegetable plants.  There's some bread in the oven right now and the weather should be gorgeous.

Happy Friday!

A few random Thursday things

• There was a starling in the woodstove when we came home this evening.  Of course, we didn't know what was in there at first.  I was in the sunroom with my Wii Fit and heard a screaching/scratching coming from the woodstove's chimney.  Enter Wilson who looked inside the stove, saw nothing, then went to get the ladder.  So, one flashlight and screwdriver later, he scared the bird down into the stove.   Down the ladder, back to the sunroom, he assisted the starling back to open skies.  I played a mild supporting role by obtaining tools and verifying the existence of the bird in the stove.  Tomorrow will involve some screening for the chimney cap.  Why didn't the chimney guys put something up there last fall to keep birds out in the first place?  O.o
• The moon is almost full tonight.  With a clear sky, it really looks lovely.  (Yes, the camera batteries are dead.)
• The temporary job assignment I was hoping for materialized.  After Memorial Day, I'll be spending some weekdays in Washington, DC for the next year.  I'm definitely feeling the urge to update the wardrobe and travel bags.  I'll still be home on weekends and there should still be some teleworking happening.
• I'm looking forward to a package from a friend.
• Which reminds me that I need to send out a package.  (Now, germ-free.)
• Today's day trip to Milwaukee was productive and I had a very good meeting.
• Tomorrow is going to be a new hair color day.  Heh. 
• Yeah, the natural hair color resolution didn't last all that long, did it, Cookie?  Well, I certainly hope the new color looks natural.   It just won't be, um, unassisted natural color.  
• Why, yes, I *am* feeling much better, thanks!  :D

Wednesday Randoms

Some random thoughts as I sip the first cup of caffeine goodness this morning.....

1. I had my first dream about knitting early this morning.  In my dream I looked at a cream and pastel sweater, tunic-length, with a ribbing (lengthwise) and thought to myself in the dream "that certainly is an interesting knit pattern, I think I could make something like it."  Dreams being what they are, I was looking down at a sweater I was wearing.  The dream had a full cast:  my dad, my mom's mother (Nana), me, Blue the cat, Amtrak, and there was shopping w/Nana.  I remember coming into a room and having my dad tell me not to be too sad but Joy was dead.  Now, we had a family friend named Joy and I have an innernet friend Joy, but I really think he was telling me that joy, the emotion, was dead. 
2. Yeah, when I remember my dreams, there is something in them to remember.
3. Have you seen this?
4. I cooked corned beef brisket with boiled potatoes for dinner last night.  Yum.  I may make it once a year but I do enjoy it. 
5. And there are left overs.
6. No, I don't like cooked cabbage.
7. There are snowflakes in the air as I type.
8. Luckily, my office is in the basement so I won't have to watch them if they continue.
9. I spun for a nice 10 minutes yesterday.  Today, not much yet. 
10. Remember to flip your calendars to the next month.
11. My calendars are still clinging to March.
12. Have a lovely Wednesday!

T.G.I.F. (not original but so true)

Whew.  T.G.I.F!!!

Busy week.  Quality time in the Jeep.   Last minute presentation assignment materialized this week.  (insert crossed-eyes icon-thingy)  Restrained myself from harming my supervisor.  Took Mom to the airport in Milwaukee for a non-stop flight to California so she can enjoy the nice weather out there for two weeks.  The end of this day is looking mighty nice ---- as long as the presentation materials are finished. 

There was a lovely crescent moon this morning that greeted me as I was filling the coffee maker.  I guess the blogger in me isn't too comatose since I actually got the camera to try to document it but realized I needed a tripod.  Well, and the coffee that wasn't brewed yet.  So, imagine a lovely moon in a deep blue almost morning sky with fingers of the forest reaching up to tickle her.

Yes, I'm still working on my first cup.

Have a lovely Friday!