Cat, Corvettes, and other red cars

Martin is just here to show off his mandolin case pose. He was a bit exhausted after helping Charlie and me in our chemistry lab (the kitchen) doing our creek water testing. Martin very much enjoyed chewing on the sulfuric acid bottle cap. Thankfully he was not able to remove it.

My closest neighbor, Don, passed away in January. His house on the hill overlooking the lake was our favorite place to visit with the dogs.

Because Don's relatives live hours away, his buddy Mike and I have been going through his mountains of stuff. We both heard the stories (more than once) about this red Corvette being stolen (more than once) in the Bronx, and him getting it back.

How funny to know 2 folks up here with the same sad story with a happy ending. Another friend, Terry, also had a little red Corvette that was stolen in the city (in Brooklyn). Feel free to read his book about the ordeal, Corvette Odyssey.

My little red Kia (actually it's Mars Orange) is crying because it is going away. I had the same problem with it that had me crying last year. I had to drive an hour and a half to the Kia dealer in Syracuse (twice!) to get it fixed, because I refuse to ever go back to the jokers in Utica.

And, because I do not enjoy driving such a distance to get my car repaired, I am trading it in on a different not-so-little red car—a Toyota RAV4. It's still being built. I will miss the fun little Kia Soul, but it stopped being fun last year.

Painting, reading, and sorting

Mother Nature was doing some wall painting for me the other day. She just missed painting over TW's landscape painting of one of Mother's own scenes.

The reading nook has been rearranged 3 times since its creation. The chair is the only bit that stayed in place. It works great, but the table wasn't working well for holding my big mug of tea. You may or may not get an updated photo if I ever get it to be exactly how I want it.

Then there is Martin, my biggest helper, sorting through lots of STUFF that has been in boxes in the basement since we moved. The View-Master reels (https://www.ebay.com/itm/327028974789) in the Round Hill box, are most likely worth more than the Noritake plates in the Smirnoff box. At least they will be cheaper to ship if anyone buys them on eBay.

Emerging

The flowerpots and firepit are emerging from the snow. We have had about a foot for at least a month, but I am finally seeing some spring-like weather in Siri's forecast. 

Those whiners in New Jersey who have been begging for snow the last few years are now whining that it won't go away. I personally am quite happy with our snowy landscape, especially now that I am an old retired lady who doesn't have to work till midnight on Ugly Tuesdays.

And now that I have all that time on my hands, I am finally getting around to rearranging the furniture, something I used to do all the time before we moved up here.

It is hard to believe we have been in this house for 15 years—and I still have a basement full of "stuff" I need to sort through.

So what do I do? I buy more stuff. I just bought this nice little wicker chair and a new rug from friends Tom and Roberta. Now I'm all set to start my new book "Trajectory", by one of my favorite authors, Richard Russo.