The last vintage beer crate we found had one issue…
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Wooden bottle separators that would have to be removed in order to house my vinyl. This was not simply a matter of pulling and popping them out. They were old, warped, and not in any hurry to go.
Ergo… it required tools.
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And since my husband turned his barn and workshop into a man cave …. this meant doing surgery in the living room.
Lord Dudley Mountcatten did not approve.
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After the first twenty minutes the husband was grumbling.
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After the second twenty minutes he was sputtering.
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But when the clock struck a solid hour of remodeling?
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One empty crate ready for part of my record collection.
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Although judging from the price of an old can of that beer … I think I’d rather have it filled with those.
The husband asked me to find an old picture from his Marine Corps days last week.
You know, the one from the Pleistocene Era before digital photography… when you bought film, loaded it into a camera, took 24 pictures, unloaded the film, drove the film to a processor, waited a week to find out if any of your pictures turned out well and put the ones that did in a photo album.
As you’ve probably realized from my photo heavy blogs, I take a lot of pictures. Granted I took less then than I do now thanks to that glorious little delete button… but even back in the day I took a lot. So when the husband asked me to find that one special photo?
It would not be an understatement to say I was less than thrilled.
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Our house is positively stuffed with photo albums. They’re in the cupboards….
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On the corner of desks..
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In the drawers….
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And yes, stacked on the floor.
I combed through 72 photo albums before I cried Uncle and told him if he needed it that badly he could search the rest himself.
Advice. Everyone seems to have it, but no one seems to want it.
My late father always used to tell me not to take any wooden nickels, which seems ridiculous these days… but I suppose you could substitute ‘cryptocurrency’ for ‘nickel’ and call it good.
While I make a habit of never offering unsolicited advice, being happily married for 38 years people often ask for our secret and want advice on staying together.
Love, respect, and understanding. All important, but I usually default back to compromise and choosing carefully. Chemical attraction and lust fade, trust me on this. If you don’t have anything deeper to hold you together you won’t be searching for the traditional 40th anniversary gift. ( Ruby! Let’s hear it for hanging in there.)
I constantly hear people say you have to have things in common with your spouse to cement a relationship, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth for us… we’re very different people. But we find common ground in the type of life we want to lead and where we want to live it. That trumps his preference for television over my love of reading any day, even if it means a John Wayne marathon now and then.
My husband and I met and were married 6 days later. Guess I chose correctly. ❣️
Because our first trip to Vermont was a quickie, the husband wanted to go back and spend a bit more time in the same area… so that meant booking another condo at Smugglers Notch Resort.
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Pro:
We’ve been there numerous times and enjoy the quiet, nestled in the mountains setting. When checking in this time around, we were going to luck out and occupy one of the newly remodeled units… which after our previous stay in the 1980’s horror sounded perfect.
Con:
My husband saw they booked us on the first floor. And since nothing upsets my husband more than people stomping above us, he immediately requested a top floor unit. Naturally there were no third floor remodeled condos available, so we were stuck in the Willows.
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Tired. Outdated….
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And very …. woody.
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Pro:
It was clean, quiet and had a comfortable king size bed.
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Con:
Would it kill them to add a bed skirt and a pretty spread?
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Pro:
There were 4 beds in the unit. A king, a queen and two twins… in case you like a variety of sleeping areas.
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And the master bath’s whirlpool bath was in the bathroom.
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It even had its own television if that’s your thing.
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Con:
There were two random cows overhead.
And Holy guacamole Batman! The wallpaper. How bad was it?
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Really, really bad.
I mean, WTH? This is Vermont… not the southwest.
The decor mattered not one iota to my spouse. It was clean, comfortable, and had working appliances with no one stomping above him, he was happy. But no matter how many times he told me to enjoy the sunrise off the balcony….
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I wasn’t forgiving him for turning down the remodeled unit.
When you take scenic drives around the White Mountains of New Hampshire you’re going to pass through a lot of notches. Roads that are cut straight through the hills make for some fantastic photos.
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Unless you’re riding with my husband who hates having anyone in front of him and is constantly jostling for position.
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I can’t tell you how many great shots I’ve lined up just to whizz past them in a blur.
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My husband may be well into the senior citizen age range but you’d never know it by the way he drives.
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Ever come up behind an elderly driver and have to slow to a turtle’s crawl?
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I can guarantee that’s not my spouse. He’s the one coming up in your rear view mirror who makes you move into the next lane to avoid him riding in your back seat.
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It may not look like it, but he was doing about 90 here, passing from the right, next to a big rock. Good times.
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After we exited Crawford Notch and I drew a deep breath?
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We finally visited a place that’s been on my bucket list for years….
This is the road you have to drive if you visit the White Mountains.
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The Notch was famous for The Old Man in the Mountain, a natural stone outcropping that resembled a face. Sadly, it crumbled years ago but there’s a museum devoted to it at the Canon Mountain gondola sight where you can grab a glimpse.
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Peak foliage was long past when we drove through and everything looked very grey.
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But it’s still an impressive sight.
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And a huge tourist destination.
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This was the road the day we drove it. Below was the road two weeks before…
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There’s something to be said for traveling off season. No traffic jams for us.
Heading back to the resort for the last time it looked like there was a hole in the sky…
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And before long we were approaching the Notch.
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These signs are on both entrance sides to the road and it took me a few minutes to figure out what they were talking about.
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TT’s won’t fit?
How odd.
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As we entered the Notch, rain. I swear the mountains make their own weather.
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Godzilla barfing?
No, just falling rocks.
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Not sure if you can tell from the photo, but the road is positively pink. Vermont has the oddest color tar in places. Perhaps it’s mixed with Ben and Jerry’s Strawberry Shortcake…?
Since our neighbor was caring for Lord Dudley Mountcatten… as well as feeding the fox and deer.. a thank you gift was required. This meant dragging my husband shopping and you know if it isn’t antiques he isn’t happy.
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A bottle of local Vermont wine…
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And some Vermont chocolates were perfect, but then I lost the husband in the store.
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You knew he’d find something vintage, right?
He actually collects these old gas station oil bottles and was thrilled to find a complete set with the holder. He was less than thrilled to find they were being used as decoration and not for sale.
He was so grumpy about that he wouldn’t let me go back and purchase this special maple syrup.
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Which in hindsight was probably a good thing…
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Because as soon as I saw they had various Dog liquor I wanted one of each.
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But at nearly $200 for the pair it’s a good thing they were under lock and key.
Another few days of sweat equity and my husband is still at it.
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His dedication to the rehab of the discarded free furniture is actually quite impressive. Shame he doesn’t show the same enthusiasm for my honey do list, but what can I say? Things you don’t have to do are always more rewarding.
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The six chairs turned out to be more of a job than he bargained for but the result was a definite improvement.
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But here’s where it got amusing… at least for me. My husband went to a craft store and purchased fabric to recover the cushions.
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Did he choose a nice quality, attractive fabric? Of course not, he’s a man. But it was fresh and clean…. and standing to the side watching him play seamstress was priceless.
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Look at that cute little Suzy Homemaker.
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Okay, there was a hammer for fine tuning… Martha Stewart he’s not. But even I had to admit the results made a difference.
Before –
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After –
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To be continued…..
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
