That's Gneiss! #65 ~ It's already Sunday in Cambodia
I’m up early Sunday morning to head to the conference in Seattle, so sending this out the night before.
Friday was the big day - we got the keys to our new home!
We stuffed the car full of boxes and headed off to officially begin the move. We arrived at the house a little while before the rental agency technician who did our walk-through and orientation with us. After finding the keys, it was inside to have a good look around! We weren’t there very long the day we first looked at it, as we’re good at making decisions and decided it would work just fine. Now that we’ve spent more time there, we LOVE it.
Here’s the living room, dining room, and kitchen. After our quick first visit, we both remembered the living room as being smaller than it is. The mind plays funny tricks. Michael is inspecting the nice gas range.
We have a couple of skylights! The bedrooms and bathrooms are pretty standard, no need for pictures now. Same for the garage.
I’m quite pleased with the yard and garden beds. There are all sorts of interesting plants to tend, and it will be fun to see everything reveal itself this first year. For example - what color might that rhododendron be? There are a number of well-pruned bushes and trees. Other than the two apple trees out front, we’ll have to wait and see what everything else is. That’s a camellia by the corner of the house - there was already a couple of pink flowers peeking out.
The other thing of interest is the shed in the back yard - it’s big, and has a loft for extra storage. Plenty of room for both storage and workspace.
And finally, thing thing I know you’ve all been waiting for - the view from our house!
Ha! We are right next to I-5, and look east. The freeway noise isn’t too bad, and you don’t really notice it in the house. Nice afternoon light!
Dispatch from the intrepid travelers…
Not much this week! They’re in Cambodia, and didn’t have good cell signal for a while as they trekked through the jungle. They’re visiting Angkor Wat today, and will hopefully send more photos of their adventures. Here’s a couple from the jungle trek.
Until next week!
~Anne
Tidbits
U.S. Mexican Border: an interactive look - scroll down to explore the border from west to east
Clever stamp use to make real and imaginary creatures!
Some reading suggestions to help deal with news cycle burnout.
Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World - added to my “must read” list, as I stick with the theme of approaching life a little differently
Are you listening to computer generated tunes? Check some out on Spotify.
Reading: I finished the Eric Idle book, and am without an audiobook for the car for a few days. I started reading A Life Less Throwaway: the Lost Art of Buying for Life which fits nicely with my GET RID activities. As we set up the new house, we’ll need to buy a few things - thinking about quality over getting a bargain.
Making: missing my stamp carving! Packing must prevail.
Recently eaten: we ate at Totem Family Dining again - this time breakfast. Tasty!
Video of the Week
Saturday Night Live has always had a way with advertisements for products we wish really existed.
Question of the Week
Just hit reply to send your answer, and I’ll share it next week. Always anonymous!
If you could invite anyone to dinner (living or not), who would it be and what would you dine on?
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Last week I asked for fun and funky videos from the 80’s or earlier.
The song and video were originally released in 1985, so this kinda qualifies. The video portion is exactly as expected, but the audio track has been modified to tickle the finely-tuned funny bone.
Le Yé-Yé au gogo!
I’ve always wanted to learn clogging - the syncopated noise is highly appealing to me!
Here are a couple of videos for the next newsletter. The first one is the late great Kirsty MacColl with her singular take on the Billy Bragg cover of A New England. When you requested a video from the 80s or earlier I don't know why this one, out of hundreds of videos I love from that decade and before immediately came to mind. I was listening to some of my old Billy Bragg cds the other day, so maybe that's it. I was 20 or 21 when I first saw Billy Bragg perform this song it at a dive in NY - I loved him, still do - and when Kirsty's version popped up on MTV shortly afterwards, I fell in love with it and her.
And here's one from the 70s that's just bonkers and always makes me happy. Those puzzle-printed jumpsuits!
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