Domestic bliss

Monday, 5:59 pm

By Kate

Aug

06

2007

After the last coupla posts, I should be ashamed to complain about being cold today. Nevertheless.... It’s been a struggle getting the temps up to 70° today. I finally had to go put on jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. But no fuzzy socks yet, so that’s something.

It’s no wonder that I don’t acclimate. Today is cold and damp (99% humidity), tomorrow we’re supposed to be back to near 90°.

Have to say, though, it’s easier adding clothing layers to find warmth than shedding layers to get cool. There are only so many layers one can shed.

And it finally rained! Whoo! My yard is so happy.

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Yesterday I rearranged my living room. I don’t like it quite yet. The arrangement’s utility suits me just fine, but there’s a table now located in a prominent position that doesn’t fit. Well no. It fits quite well where I put it, but now it’s the first thing that draws the eye when coming through the front door. In its current state, that’s not a good thing.

I bought this little table several years ago at a country auction (for a whopping $5). Even then, I saw the potential in it. It’s a square oak table, mission style, more or less. It was never meant to be a high art type of piece, but I loved it for its clean lines and simplicity. Probably more of a standard tavern table in its day. It’s good old heavy oak and, I think, virtually indestructible. It had been badly abused in its former life, but nothing a good application of sandpaper couldn’t fix. The table top bore cigarette burns which I did gently sand out. Cleaned it up a bit and it served as a utility table until I got around to refinishing it.

One day I dragged it up out of the basement and lopped a few inches off the legs to turn it into a coffee table and I liked it. The table still needed refinishing, but with a cloth thrown over the top, it worked fine. Until I got around to refinishing it.

Now it’s serving as an end table and I don’t want a cloth on it. I still see a pretty table lurking (though it strains everyone else’s imagination), but it needs some coaxing with some sand paper and a new finish to turn an ugly duckling into a swan. I think I’ll take it out on the deck tomorrow and get busy. Its time has arrived to shine.

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And, last evening, I also resurrected my television and DVD player. Since I am now a genuine Netflix customer with a quickly expanding DVD list, the time was at hand. Now that I don’t have the television cable plugged into the back of the TV, it’s a free agent and I can put it anywhere I please. While I’m using it, the TV sits on my ugly duckling table. When not in use, I can stow it out of sight beneath the table. Since the LCD TV is about the size of a laptop, it’s light and easily moved. I love it.

Even better...when I plugged in the TV and DVD player, I attached them to my kill-a-watt meter. Between the two of them, they use a very modest 47 watts. The DVD player alone uses a mere 12 watts. Astonishing. I’m so pleased.

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Last week I scored a real find on Freecycle. Just picked it up this weekend. It is a Freeplay weatherband radio. It also does AM and FM. And it has a nifty little LED flashlight built in. What I particularly love about this radio (which has been on my Want List for several months) is that it’s run off a Ni-MH battery pack. It can be recharged using an AC adapter, but it can also be recharged via a built-in solar panel or by winding the crank. I don’t plan on using the AC adapter very often. An afternoon in the sun gives nearly a full charge and a 60 second wind of the crank provides an hour of play.

The individual, who didn’t want hers anymore, said it was because winding the crank was just too hard. That disappointed her. It wasn’t what she expected and, because of that, she rarely used it. My gain. I don’t mind winding the thing up...in fact, I get a huge kick out of providing my own energy. Even better, the radio reception is excellent and I can finally pull in my favorite Boston NPR news station.

I can foresee some pleasant winter evenings spent listening to my adorable little (no-electricity-sucking) radio while sitting in my favorite chair doing some needlework.

And it was free!!! That gives me bundles of joy. It’s not an inexpensive little radio, but as part of the 90% Project rules, I’m supposed to curb my unbridled enthusiasm for consumerism and limit my annual dollars spent. But free used stuff or yard sale stuff or rummage sale stuff is A-OK. Whoda thunk I’d find this on freecycle?!

I so love Freecycle!