Wednesday, September 7

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

Not overly warm. Just nice for this time of year.

The contractor did spray insulation in the basement today, so I put all the cats in the sun room, which is not connected in any way to the air movement from the basement. I opened the windows and got a fan going, so that any fumes would not be as bad in there.

I sat on the deck outside with Roxy, keeping an eye on the cats.

I briefly talked with my Mom, and she had all kinds of people visiting, so I didn't talk for very long. I'm glad she gets lots of visitors.

I did a bit of laundry, some dishes, sweeping up cat litter in the sun room (half of it ends up on the floor, it seems. Even with those tracking mats.).

I didn't notice any kind of smell after the first hour after the spraying was finished. It sets quickly, so hopefully airing the basement thoroughly means the worst is past.

I went to see River, and we had a lesson. While none of this is R's fault (her instruction is good), I felt very discouraged today. Nothing bad happened, but we are supposed to be preparing for a lead line class. I felt like for whatever reason, River and I were failing to do things that should be fairly simple at this point.

There is a movement where I have him make a circle around me, and I draw him back and he does a circle in the opposite direction on the other side. In the middle, he kind of has to shift his direction to move past me and do the other circle. We are having the same problem as last year, when we were also trying to master this movement for a class.

He stops or slows down in the middle part, because I am either a little in the wrong place and I'm blocking his shoulder, or I'm a little too sharp in my drawing back angle.

Overall, I am starting to feel like we are "training for a class", but not necessarily towards a greater level in horsemanship. We did this movement last year, and never did it again until this year. So, once again, I have a short time to master it again for a class, but in between it apparently holds no relevance.

A few weeks ago, I worked really hard to get to a certain point with riding with just the neck rope, and suddenly it is no longer mentioned in our lessons because we are perfecting whatever we need to do for the next class R has in mind for us.

So, if I were now to go back and work on riding with just the neck rope, I haven't done it in three weeks.

What exactly was our goal with that?

Then, there is collection. We were working on that with the bitless bridle earlier, and that has just been abandoned. I haven't worked on that in lessons for quite some time.

I feel like the lessons are kind of...disjointed, and I'm not sure if there is some connection anywhere.

So, I was not really happy with my own inability to perform the relatively simple elements needed for this leadline class, not really happy to be feeling like I was starting from nearly the beginning on some of it because we haven't done it in a year, and kind of feeling like I'm not sure where we are going with it, if we're just going to abandon that work for something else in two weeks.


Today I learned that the Carmen Sandiego Show (1991-1995; 295 episodes) was created partially in response to the results of a National Geographic survey that indicated Americans had alarmingly little knowledge of geography, with one in four being unable to locate the Soviet Union or the Pacific Ocean.

I wonder if it helped?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_in_the_World_Is_Carmen_Sandiego%3F_(game_show)

Comments

[ratunderpaper]

What are the next steps in your hometime plan? It seems that things are going very smoothly and quickly.

[gottawonder]

It will be a few weeks before we are mostly done with the guest room and bathroom down stairs. At some point I will paint them.

Today the contractors were putting up drywall in the bedroom. There is some electrical work yet to be done, and we need to get linoleum for the floors.

So, I suppose for US, it will be painting those rooms and linoleum.

At the end of September, the windows should arrive, or soon after that. Then the contractors will be installing those, and somewhere in that time my husband and his friends, and likely myself will be putting up the siding right after the windows are installed.

That's about as far ahead as we have planned.

[ratunderpaper]

Well, that's huge progress. Looks like you'll have a lot done before the cold weather comes.

My plan was to paint the kitchen before Labour Day, and we got as far as the paint shop. Unfortunately, the safe and familiar tints of white paint dazzled the denizens, and we returned home "to think about it".

It's a 1914-ish kitchen with smoky green cabinetry and old oak floors. I would really prefer to eschew white. We've lived with white primer for the last twenty years.

[gottawonder]

I am going to go with a fairly neutral but warm white (more like cream) for the mud room. I've had that color before, and it looks very nice in the daylight, without being obnoxious.

What color do you think would look good with smoky green, or would you paint the cupboards as well?

I think it is a man thing to just want white. My husband's default response to 'what color" is blue. Always. Sometimes green.

[ratunderpaper]

The cabinets will stay smoky green. I wanted to keep the colour Cord running throughout the house, as it looks different in each room.

Two of the bawths are different shades of white.

I do not like pure colours, like pure yellow or pure blue. I like colours that have complexity and shift throughout the day.

I'm choosing between Farrow and Ball's Off-White and String.
Both look good against the green. Off-White is really a pale, greyed green, and String has more warmth to it, sort of a mellow ivory with a drop of toffee in it.

[gottawonder]

Um, your husband has an issue with off-white or ivory? Good lord. It's not like you were going for fuchsia or chartreuse.

I think the colors you describe would be perfect, perhaps the ONLY thing that would be nice with smoky green cupboards.

Pure white can look harsh with the old wood work.

[ratunderpaper]

If it were my choice, I'd pick something like Salon Drab with part of the trim picked out in Green Smoke, Cord and... what's the name of that Indian pink? Rangwali? I like interesting drabs and colour mixtures, not white or beige.

I hear beige is making a comeback. It is a very "safe" colour.

If I could find a Pinterest example of what I think is a smashing vintage kitchen, maybe that will be the thing that convinces. But I mixed the trim colours by looking at paint chips, not Pinterest.

I've decided that taking time for the denizens to "think about it" is good enough for now.

[ratunderpaper]

The whole house was white and yellow when we moved here. It was like being in a milk carton.

[gottawonder]

Part of me would find that appealing if it were done right, but maybe not the whole house. Ok for the kitchen.

[ratunderpaper]

Everything in that kitchen was white except the wooden floors.

I have seen modern homes that have that Studio McGee look, which is ubiquitous, but tasteful.

[gottawonder]

I'm really fond of this palette of green, cream, and muted reds. Pretty simple.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e4/2a/d2/e42ad2e4a0541eddecf4774650bccd3b.png

[ratunderpaper]

It's nice, isn't it? The cabinets here are similar, if smokier, in colour. I'm keeping the red to a seasonal experience - its almost autumn, though, and red will thread itself through the house.