Quote of the Week

 

It has honestly taken me a long time to learn this lesson, but it is well worth it!

Going antiquing

 

This past weekend, I took a day trip to my hometown of Monroe, NC.  It brought back a lot of good memories, and I had a wonderful day.  Of course, I thought a lot about Grandmother and all of the good times we had together.  If I had been in town for more than just the day, I believe that I would have traveled town to Waxhaw to see if any of the antiques shops were still there.  Back in the day, the 80s and 90s that is, Waxhaw was a major hub for antiques shoppers.  There were so many great stores and I spent many weekends there, especially with Grandmother.

That got me to thinking about other trips we took where antiques were involved.  Mostly day trips but sometimes not.  I remember one trip we took to an antiques mall in Locust with Mom and Alice Williams. I remember that because I bought a milk glass plate with cats on it and a beautiful green glass bowl.  I still have both.  Then there was the time on the way home from Raleigh that we stopped off in a little town whose name escapes me right now, but it was filled with antiques stores, and we stopped there several times.  That one is going to drive me nuts until I remember the name.  It's funny because an antiques dealer from Monroe, Robert Deese, had a shop there.  Oh well.  It will come to me!  Cameron!  It was Cameron, NC.  I wonder if there are still shops there.  I'll have to check it out soon. 

Anyway, what made those trips so much fun was not just the antiques but having people with me.  Spending time together doing something we all enjoyed. Stopping somewhere for lunch and doing a day's worth of antiquing. That was quality time in my world.  And I want that again.  I want to find some other antiques lovers to peruse the shops with.  Maybe take some day trips to shops in other cities and towns.  I think that would be fun.  As much fun as I have when I go antiques shopping by myself, I have much more fun with other antiques lovers.  I do have some friends that we try to get together and hit up some estate sales and shops, but we haven't been able to in a while. We need to change that!

If you're interested, just let me know!  It is not only about finding that special treasure or that incredibly good deal.  It is also about quality time with people I care about.  I want that.  

Peter Pan records

 As you know, I love records.  I have a pretty extensive collection of vintage vinyl that I have amassed over the last 15 years.  I think that I have somewhere between 500 and 600 records. It could be more, but I have not updated my inventory in a while.  That is including my collection of Christmas records, which is almost half of my overall collection.  There is just something about listening to vinyl that is like nothing else.  You hear all of the scratches and background noise.  Some of the records are still in mono which is kind of fun.  It may not be as clear as what you hear when you listen to a cd or hear something streaming, but I find it magical. It is another way I get in touch with my old soul, so to speak.  

Many years ago, at Christmas, Pam and Stephen, my in-laws at the time, gave me a stack of children's records as a gift.  They knew that I would love it and I absolutely did. They were the old Peter Pan records.  They are 45s. Each one came with a book that you would follow along with as the record read you the story.  And a bell would ring when it was time to turn the page.  

This week, I finally got those records off of the shelf and started listening to them.  It was just fun.  And it took me back decades to my childhood. Sitting in our den in my pre-kindergarten days, sitting in front of our record player listening to a wonderful story.  And it was such a wonderful gift to receive from someone or from Santa.  It made me feel so grown up.  How ironic that, as a grown up, I am listening to these records to remember my childhood and feel those feelings again.  And yes, I have been sitting and listening and following along with the books while the record plays. A fun pastime for a 51-year-old man LOL

I had a few of these records myself.  Some of mine were the regular size as well with large picture books.  I still have some of them. I have really enjoyed listening to these and I know I will revisit them later on.  Who knows, I may just start looking for more of these to add to my collection!

10 Favorite Best Actress Oscar Wins

 Looking at the list of Best Actress Oscar winners, I realized that there are so many of them that I have not seen.  That's kind of embarrassing for someone who loves good films.  I need to work on that!  But there are so many good ones that I have seen so this was a tough list to put together.  I chose these ten based on the roles that I enjoy watching over and over, not necessarily the best acting these actresses have done.  In some cases, that's true, but in others I simply love them in the role they won for. What are some of your favorites?

1. Kathy Bates - Misery

2. Katherine Hepburn - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

3. Sally Field - Places in the Heart

4. Jessica Tandy - Driving Miss Daisy

5. Olivia de Haviland - The Heiress

6. Emma Thompson - Howards End

7. Vivien Leigh - Gone with the Wind

8. Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

9. Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich

10. Julie Andrews - Mary Poppins

Reading progress

 

I am almost finished reading Vagabond by Tim Curry.  The fact that I started reading this a few weeks ago and am almost done with it is pretty good for me.  I am a slow reader, so this is really good progress. I have been able to read some each day, mostly, and now I only have a few chapters remaining.  Yesterday, I got a good chunk of it read because the power went out.  I had just finished putting my groceries away and was sitting listening to a church service when, all of a sudden, everything stopped working.  After confirming that it was not just my power that was out but the entire neighborhood's was out, I decided that I would take advantage of that time and read.  I got about 5 chapters in and that felt good.  I should be able to finish up this week.

I talked on my last blog about reading that I was figuring out which book to read next.  I have decided to go with the Teenage Outdoor Stories book that I had gotten from Grandmother's house at some point.  I think it is going to be a good read.  And I do enjoy a good short story, so this has the potential to be a very entertaining read.  I will keep you posted.  Now, onto the next chapter!

10 Favorite Best Supporting Actress Oscar Wins

This is another "the Oscars are coming up" posts.  Even though I don't watch them as much as I used to and have not seen any of this year's nominees, there is still something nostalgic about the Academy Awards to me.  And I do love a good movie and great performances.  These are my 10 favorites in the Best Supporting Actress category.  There are so many great ones to choose from. If you don't know any of these performances, I highly recommend you check them out. What are some of yours?

1. Josephine Hull - Harvey 

2. Catherine Zeta-Jones - Chicago

3. Whoopi Goldberg - Ghost

4. Beatrice Straight - Network

5. Hattie McDaniel - Gone With The Wind

6. Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls

7. Patricia Arquette - Boyhood

8. Dianne Wiest - Bullets Over Broadway

9. Rita Moreno - West Side Story

10. Cloris Leachman - The Last Picture Show

Tree removal

 I think it is a rite of passage into a different level of adulthood the moment you have your first tree removed.  Today is that day for me haha! I love the little house that I live in.  Yes, it's a rental but I still consider it very much my house.  After all, I have been here for 16 years and so much of life has happened to me in the Brice Street Manor, good and bad. So, when I need to have something done to the house that is definitely my responsibility, I feel obligated to step up and take care of it.

You might be thinking to yourself isn't it the landlord's responsibility to remove trees and such?  I think that would normally be yes depending on what your lease says.  And Lynn and Melissa, my landlords, did have the dead dogwood that was in the front yard removed.  But that tree was already there so I did not feel it was my duty to take care of it. The fig tree, however, was my duty.

Years ago, Michael and I decided to plant a fig tree.  It took several years to produce good figs but once it did, there was an ample supply. Usually, the birds and squirrels and other animals fed off of them, but we would occasionally be able to get a handful.  And I do not mind if the animals eat from whatever is in the yard. I feel like it is their right to. The tree was planted at the corner where the patio meets the garage.  It seemed like a nice spot for the tree.  It would get plenty of sun and still provide some shade for a part of the patio. 

However, once the tree began to really grow, it is almost like it did not stop.  It got bigger and bigger and practically took over the side yard.  There was a fence around that portion of the patio that the limbs absolutely destroyed.  It simply got to be too much.  And I did not want it to irritate the foundation of the garage or the patio if it kept growing at the rate it was.  So, it was time for it to go. A friend of Jason's who does landscaping and yard work gave us a great deal to get the tree gone.  I am thankful that it was easy and did not take incredibly long.

Now I can look at where the tree used to be and see all of the work that needs to be done over in that portion of the yard.  It is making me excited for spring.  Ah, another escapade in adulting is in the books!