Random 5 for September 30 – Wrap-up, carpet update, deer, sunshine, bloggers

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New bedroom carpet

I was blown away – Your comments on my “me too” post were astounding. Your stories hit my heart. You were articulate and clear. I was humbled. Thank you.

Carpet update – All has been installed and we are happy. The carpet in the office is a neutral tweed that doesn’t photograph well. However, the area rug we had bound for our bedroom is smashing. It exceeded my expectations. Three days and no hairballs on either one yet. I’m still trying to get used to new carpet smell. Phew.

Deer in neighborhood. Source: Siusanne Nichols

A bumper crop of deer – Our local deer population has exploded. Or else they have moved into our neighborhood. There are two groups of three that roam from house to house looking for tasty flowers and bushes. Sometimes they dawdle all day instead of going back to the wildlife preserve that is a half mile away. Yes it’s adorable but all that activity also means that we see more deer killed on the roads. I know it’s the circle of life. I still don’t like to see it.

It’s just gorgeous – After whining all year about the weather we are in the middle of a five-day run of really great weather. There are clouds but they move and allow the sun to shine. The temperature hovers in the very low seventies with low humidity. All good except that there is so much outdoor work to catch up on, it’s hard to squeeze in fun time!

Bacon update – If you follow Bacon the pig at the Hotel Thompson, all is well. There hasn’t been a post in a month but June said that she will soon be back as will Bacon dispensing advice and Rocky the Squirrel who keeps his paws on the nuts of the world.

So how was your week?

89 thoughts on “Random 5 for September 30 – Wrap-up, carpet update, deer, sunshine, bloggers”

  3. We’ve had fewer deer this year which surprises me. I want to love them, but they are nothing but trouble. I dislike that new carpet odor and am hoping that it has dissipated by now so that you are grooving on your new carpeting without wearing a clothespin on your nose. 😉

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  4. Kate – good color coordination – the carpet and cover exactly match. I know that new carpet smell is the worst isn’t it? And when they install wall-to-wall carpet and seam it together with that iron-like machine and steam it down … it reminds me of that smell when you burn your bangs with the curling iron, that slightly charred hair smell when you aren’t that handy with the hair appliances. 🙂

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    • The bedroom carpet color is a variegated blue which blends well with both the bedspread and the textured wallpaper. The dust ruffle fabric is on the windows and there is blue in the print. It all worked. Miracle! I’ve never burned my hair but I don’t use appliances too much.

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      • It looked great! When I had layered hair, I’d do my bangs at home before I left and pin my hair up as I took the bus and the humidity killed the curl (in my bangs too – half the time they stuck out at a strange angle). I burned my hair and my forehead quite a few times. I have not used electric appliances in a few years – now I use those pink spongy curlers to perk up the layers … better for your hair. When I got braces on my teeth I was older – I had two sets of headgear – one to pull my teeth up, one to pull them back as I had a small overbite. So, I had a perm and had those curlers the size of concentrated juice cans in my hair and two sets of headgear. Many nights I slept with my head over the side of the bed. Ahh – youth.

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          • The spongy ones are okay and “squishable” but I had those huge plastic ones back in the day. I have always had long hair, (still do, but not always layered like it is now) and I’d get a body perm then wash and set it in the big plastic curlers so it didn’t look like I had a perm. My mother, with her naturally curly hair, would tell me I was crazy and she’d never go to bed looking like that. I did burn my forehead when I had bangs several times – I’ve never been too handy with a curling iron, nor a blow dryer. When I was young, my mom set my hair on pincurls – did you ever suffer through that Kate? All those criss-crossed bobby pins on your head so you looked nice for church or holidays. Yes, the price of looking good.

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              • Yes what we endured Kate. I had a whole “conversation” on Facebook one time with some high school friends as we recalled how our parents cut our bangs so short and uneven. They kept trimming with scissors and scotch tape on our foreheads as a guide. Then they made us wear those big cotton stretchy headbands. Why … the bangs were almost up to our scalp? From bangs, the conversation migrated to crinolines and the wooden hoops you put in your slip to make your dress stand out. I have no clue how I sat down and in my parents’ VW bug at that time. I grew up in Canada and as a young girl, learned how to curtsy. Was the curtsy done while wearing the hooped contraption which felt like being inside an embroidery hoop?

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                • I remember crinolines but not the wooden hoops. I think bridesmaids wore some sort of hoop contraption so their long gowns flowed. Fortunately, I never had to do that. My mom cut hair for people so she never cut my bangs too short. I’m glad for that. I remember kids with those and the bowl cuts too.

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                  • Maybe it was a “Canadian thing” for little girls. I have some pictures scanned in from my photo albums – I don’t think I’ve used them in blog posts yet or I’d link one here. I can picture one of me standing holding onto the car door handle (a standard picture it seemed every year for Easter). You were lucky Kate – I have some strange-looking bangs pictures growing up.

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  7. Your bedroom carpet is cheery and beautiful! I am happy you are having beautiful fall weather, I miss it. It rains every ding dang day here and it is steamy. Florida is overrated. The so called “season months” better make up for the heat, humidity, ghost ants, gecko in the kitchen, love bugs, tropical waves/storms, Red Tide stink, and did I mention HUMIDITY? We don’t see any deer but we do have Allie Gator in the glorified pond. Sorry I have been absent but I had a cracked infected tooth that finally had to be pulled and I wasn’t feeling my usual happy self. I have secretly been scouting Realtor dot com for homes in Missouri… Ha! Well, this was suppose to be our winter digs!

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  8. I have always been a little envious of neighborhoods with deer, but this summer while up in the hills not far from home we almost hit one and it occurred to me that I’m not very realistic about what it would really be like to have them so close. They’re such amazing animals, though. And I’m so happy to know that your weather is so exceptional right now…envious, but happy for you. LOL! Have a wonderful week, Kate.

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  11. I love the new carpet; it looks really nice. We bought our place partly because the seller had installed brand new carpet in the master and guest bedrooms. But now after a year we realize it is cheap and the installation was shoddily done. So it’s replacement is on our big list after kitchen and bathroom renovations. And so it goes. No matter how awful it is to see the deer on the road, to look out a window and see them around the house is still pretty amazing. – Marty

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    • Reminds me of when I was house hunting 20 years ago. I looked at a house that was part of an estate. The “kids” did some work to get a better price (and help it sell faster). Unfortunately, their taste was awful. They painted everything a very dingy off white. The whole house would have had to be repainted. They did paste down squares in the kitchen. I could go on. Their improvements would have to all be replaced. It would have been better to lower the price and sell as is.

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  15. Wow, lots of deer. Do you live in the country? We live in a busy suburb and there is a forested area nearby where a deer ore two come out into our neighborhood sometimes. Not often though. Sounds like gorgeous weather there. It’s been nice here, too, but this weekend it got rainy.

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  16. Your carpet looks great… very bold of you (says me with the beige wall-to-wall in my master bedroom). I also loved your Me Too post. I didn’t comment, wanting to leave that for those who have been personally impacted, but I was moved by your words and your readers who shared their stories. I’m not sure if this feels like a turning point, or more of the same. I read that the next Women’s March will be held on January 19… let’s work for the largest turnout worldwide.

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    • At a minimum I’m hoping that people get out and vote. We’ll see. I have a neutral (mostly beige) tweed in my office. It looks great but there is no photo impact. Our old carpet was 15 years old. I didn’t realize how flat and worn it was. Although this new one is a berber, it feels like walking on cushions!

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  19. That carpet really makes a statement but also blends in perfectly.

    We’ve had freeze warnings at night for a couple of days. Not much of a fall. We went from 93 to 48 (highs) literally overnight a while back. It’s 38 degrees as I am typing this at almost 10:30am. Could be a long cold winter.

    The hearing testimonies has stirred up a lot of memories for a lot of women. I had hoped things would have changed more over the last 50 years. Maybe some, but definitely not enough. The FBI has a week. Fingers crossed.

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    • Wow! Your weather change was more severe than ours. We went from 93 to 63 and I thought that was extreme. It’s bouncing around high 60s to low 70s. Perfect to start the yard cleanup. Maybe warmer next week but it cools down at night so it’s not as hot as in the summer.

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  20. I read your Me Too piece. Thank you for sharing your experience. I was sexually assaulted while on a date when I was 19. You’re right that little has changed. And if we consider all the women around the world who have to live in societies where they are little more than objects, we have a long way to go.

    My week was very busy at work. Your bedroom looks great btw. 🙂

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    • Yes, we have a long way to go. I can only be hopeful. Thanks for your bedroom comment. I am over the moon with the look. You just never know how a large piece will look and it’s not exactly subtle! Surprisingly since it replaced an oriental the room looks less busy than it did. I am moving to a minimalist style in my old age.

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  25. The news caused me to relive my date-rape from 1982 and while I never felt it ruined my life… it made for a sad and upsetting week. Mostly I think because nothing has changed. Men can drink and act like jerks… if they’re rich and white, nothing happens to them. Women get blamed though (“she was drinking,” “she was dressed skimpily,” “she shouldn’t have been there,” etc.). Men don’t get blamed like that. They’re expected to have fun, get drunk, and do some dumb things when young. We haven’t grown as a society since Anita Hill testified.

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    • I am sorry that happened to you. Men don’t get it unless it’s their daughter or sister. Two steps forward one step back. I don’t know why the Republicans have “dug their heels in.” There are other qualified candidates that would fit their agenda. Maybe that’s part of the “in your face” to women.

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  26. I have won a competition. The prize is a cruise on a paddle steamer down the Thames from Gravesend to Tower Bridge. They are even opening the bridge for us! The best bit is that it includes a night at the Croydon Hilton which is round the corner from where my best friend from school lives. I first met her sixty years ago but now we mainly communicate through Christmasome cards so it will be good to meet up again at last.

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  27. I wrote once before but it didn’t print…I love the bedroom too, that Matisse blue is my favorite shade.

    I’m afraid somehow my last entry will appear so, I won’t write it again.

    So it goes…the cyber life.

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  28. Beautiful carpet and lovely deer. Although, as you say, it would be better if they kept to the preserve so they wouldn’t become roadkill. I just read your “me too” post. Thank you so much for sharing your experience, not only what you suffered but what you saw and heard over your years in HR. Women don’t come forward because they don’t want to be victimized all over again. Even if justice is served, women are still left feeling afraid and “tainted.” Of course we must pursue justice, but even a result such as Bill Cosby’s guilty verdict is cold comfort. What we need is respect for women and children and their bodies. Our society is based on patriarchy, on women and children being nothing more than chattel. I do believe that foundation is crumbling, but it’s going to a long time and a lot of women and men coming forward and telling their stories. Thanks again ❤️

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    • Thanks for your comments. What happened to me was nothing compared to what happened to others. The only thing that made it “special” was my age and long-term reaction. When a parent came to me and said their child’s behavior changed abruptly I always asked them to check for abuse. Even kids don’t come forward. If nothing else, I hope this brings out the vote.

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      • A family friend groped me when I was about five or six. The thing is, I had a crush on him and craved any attention he would pay to me. It was years before I told my mother. I think she believed me but nothing was ever done or said about it. Before I told her there had been a falling out between him and my family so we hadn’t seen him for years. Still, when he did visit and I was having a temper tantrum, he would always say, “Big girls don’t cry.” You know, that was a popular song by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. For years I couldn’t bare to hear that song when it came on the radio. It took me a long time to make the connection. Children have a natural tendency to suppress anything that makes them uncomfortable and unsure of themselves. Yes, we must vote in November! A young African-American man (Andrew Gillum) won the Democratic primary for the Governor’s race here in Florida. His win took everyone by surprise. It was African-American voters that helped him win. I hope that has renewed their faith in voting because his win proves that their votes do count 😀

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  30. Love your bedroom. That Matisse blue is my favorite shade.

    I read all the comments on Metoo and was very moved. One’s personal honesty allows another the permission to give testimony. You did a great service opening up that way.

    Deer, my favorite animal feeling a kinship with their undesired fragility. You’re right about the accidents. I remember living in Connecticut traveling on the Merritt Parkway seeing them, weeping as a kid. My mother slamming me because she said, I was just so stupid and silly.

    Bambi lives in my heart, what can I say.

    Here’s to nice weather.

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    • Ah Susannah, we have the same heart! I can weep when I see a squirrel smashed and the acorn of it’s dinner a few inches away. I’ve been looking for a geometric patterned carpet for that room for a few years. I had an oriental in there and it was very difficult to vacuum. When I saw this I wanted to put in all over my house but reason prevailed.

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      • I’m glad I’m not cyberly blocked from coffeekat…was worried there for a second. I LOVE THAT COLOR. French blue, heard it called, ocean blue and Diebenkorn blue, from his Ocean Park series.

        Yes, all animals under siege grip my heart like a vice. sigh

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