Monthly Archives: November 2020

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Let’s play.

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Because it beats actually doing something productive and I’m all about that.

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Damn.

The last show I watched was Secrets of the Dead… which doesn’t bode well for future scintillating conversations.

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Living in the lost city of Baiae is going to be challenging. Located on the northwest shore of the Gulf of Naples, it was basically the sin filled Las Vegas of Ancient Rome.

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I’m sure it was quite something in its day.

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Home to Nero and all his various perversions, sadly most of the ruins are now underwater.

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Fabulous statuary….

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Villas…

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And mosaics…

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All lost to the sea.

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Guess my love of history finally caught up with me. It’s said Julius Caesar visited Baiae… so maybe I can break bread with his ghost. That’s got to be worth a blog or two.

Let’s play!

Your life is now in the last tv show you watched.

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And if there are any other history geeks out there? A little more info on my new digs.

https://timelessitalytravels.com/2013/10/22/ancient-ruins-of-baia/amp/

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The transformation has begun.

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The pool table was uncovered, brushed and racked.

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A hat and coat rack was hung by the door.

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And a few vintage WWII propaganda posters from 1943 I’ve been meaning to frame were framed and displayed.

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It was during this time we decided the ugly bracing pole in the middle of the room… which was never supposed to be there but was deemed necessary when we noticed the top floor bounced when we walked on it during the original construction…. needed to be spruced up.

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The (now lovely) wood walls and trimmed windows demanded it.

I expected to blog about the normal nightmare of measuring and cutting and cursing but things went remarkably well.

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Maybe we’re finally getting the hang of it.

So…. the before.

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And the after.

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Please don’t ask why he put my porch barrels on the loveseat. I have no reasonable explanation for that.

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The circle of life.

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As you already know, my husband is the king of free. He can’t pass up anything, no matter how useless…. as long as he doesn’t have to pay for it.

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This has driven me nuts for years and I have never, ever! felt the need to join him in his obsession.

Until last week.

When I saw this on our local Facebook page:

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Pre-Covid our plan was to replace all the flooring in our home. (Post Covid? Holy crap, I don’t want strange people in my house!) Along with that plan would have come long overdue new furniture, to include coffee tables. So since the plan went out the window with the plague, I thought why not? This looks good… and it might be a nice interim fix.

I should have known.

When the husband lifted it out of the truck? It jiggled…. and never even made it into the house. What an utter piece of junk! Fake wood, loose glass and legs so unsteady dropping a napkin on it would probably cause it to collapse.

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Out it went, in front of our house.

How bad was it?

The damn thing was there for a week and though lots of people looked, no one wanted it.

Next stop?

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The recycle center.

Where I left it…. and my desire to ever pick up anything marked free again.

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Games to play with your mouth breathing friends.

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We all have them. That special group of friends you’ve known for years but don’t like to advertise. You can’t invite them out to dinner with your crew, and you won’t bring them to the cocktail party at work. But thanks to me? You could ask them to your house to play a game right up their alley.

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So they’re not the brightest bulbs in the pack?

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No problem.

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This is a game that won’t embarrass the less than erudite among us.

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And they get to hit people with a club!

You know they’re going to love it.

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Neanderthals.

Admit it, you know a few.

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Backyard wildlife, homicide division.

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Mother and Bambi are chowing down regularly and trying to lay on extra winter pounds.

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But sadly I was right about the blue eyes fading. Once this little one grows up we won’t be able to distinguish him/her so easily.

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But look who’s made our backyard his new hunting ground….

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A juvenile Coopers Hawk.

He perches on the bird feeder pole and waits patiently for lunch to drop in.

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I got excited when I saw this:

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And was seriously hoping mother red squirrel had met her doom…

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But unfortunately it was a dove.

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Better luck next time guy.

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Notebooks we all need.

25 Comments

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Just in time for Christmas … I bring you the perfect stocking stuffers.

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That one’s bound to fill up in no time.

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I am so buying this for my husband.

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Who in their right mind would want written proof of that?

Pass.

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I may need 3 or 4 of these.

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If you have an extra world take over plan kicking around, feel free to share. Mine are usually hatched after a pitcher of margaritas and tend to be less strategically sound when read sober.

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No comment.

Hard pass.

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Reason? When have I ever needed one of those…

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The end is in sight. I think…

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A few more windows needed trimming…

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Which meant a lot more measuring, cutting and cursing…

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Why the cursing?

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Because the last window was not what you… or any semi sober person… would call square.

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Oops.

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Cover the gap with quarter round, trim…. then call it good and move on to the porch door.

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Yes, the porch is my domain … so the porch door has a seasonally appropriate wreath. Man cave be damned.

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Trimming this slapped together frame for a door that came from the dump proved challenging.

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And yes, the language got as colorful as the wreath.

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But it was only when the husband looked down…

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And realized the floor moulding should meet the vertical door trim… not the other way around… that he knew he had some tinkering to do.

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But viola!

Adjustments were made and everything that needed to be trimmed was finally trimmed.

Is this the end of the Barn Mahal interior construction?

Only time will tell.

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The Photo Ark… Part Two.

13 Comments

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More amazing photographs from Joel Sartore.

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Mexican Hairy Dwarf Porcupine.

I’m thoroughly enjoying this book.

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Budgett’s Frog.

I mean look at that happy little frog…. how could I not?

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Adult Mandrill.

Joel gives these animals a voice.

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Side Striped Palm Pit Viper.

And dignity in their uniqueness.

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Malay Tapir.

Some are a bit bizarre.

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Red Bellied Lemur.

Some are cute and cuddly.

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White Bellied Pangolin and baby.

Some are cute and scaly.

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Common Striped Possum.

Common? Not around here..

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Bobtail Squid.

And who knew squids could look so melancholy?

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East African Crowned Crane.

Stunning.

Every single one.

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What the flock?

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Birds.

You never know who’ll show up.

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Turkeys on Thanksgiving Day? That takes balls.

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They’re even pushing the envelope by ripping up every scrap of weed block landscaping paper I laid under our tree.

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And blue jays.

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All of a sudden, a large flock of blue jays.

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There were blue jays everywhere.

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And the greedy little devils wiped out four feeders in no time flat.

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Birds.

Sometimes annoying, but always photo worthy.

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Even the pandemic doesn’t stop them…

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I went out the mailbox the other day, found a hand addressed letter and thought, how nice! Someone took the time to put pen to paper like we used to.

And then I read it.

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Damn.

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It seems Covid 19 has stopped those annoying Jehovah Witnesses from knocking on our door…

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But they’ve found an alternate way to try and spread their word.

Oh well, I’m sure the post office appreciates the added revenue.

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