A rainy Sunday in the mountains

a good book (read about it here)

 

some good music

a perfect golden view from our window

and a very good dog

Life is Good

Come November

Twenty-Four days until the election.



In a show of positivity and support and belief in an upcoming Blue Wave in 24 days I have put a bottle of champagne in the fridge.

On election day in 2016 we were at Topsail Island.

There was a bottle of champagne in the fridge, and several sparklers we were going to light as we danced on the beach in front of our rental house.

Instead.

Our hearts were broken.

Over the next four years those broken hearts have become more broken.

I  have, over the last four years, talked endlessly here about all the things I'm unhappy about.

But, I have also tried to do some things to keep myself sane and on an even keel.

And to hold onto my joy.

It's become harder now that we're living in a pandemic.

A global pandemic our "leader" has made worse by downplaying and lying.

Yesterday Donald and Annabelle and I went into town to pick up our mail.

Our normal outings to shop, have our hair cut, keep our dental appointments, meet up with friends for lunch or dinner, go out of town for a concert, spend a week at the beach, get on a plane to travel, or celebrate a personal occasion with dinner out, have all come to a total standstill and yesterday it hit me fairly hard.

The town we live in is not a terrific place to be living right now in terms of COVID

And all I want is to put on some make-up, fluff up my hair, put on a cute outfit, some pretty jewelry and go out for a nice dinner with my husband.

Would I actually feel comfortable eating in a restaurant these days?

Absolutely not.

So.

We're at home and continuing doing small things that make us happy and keep us sane.

Today I streaked my hair with Overtone Rose Gold coloring conditioner.

Some days it's just the little things.

Like rose gold streaks in my hair.

and stepping onto the back deck to see the pretty red and gold leaves.

and hoping to enjoy that bottle of champagne come November.

Revisiting the mysterious locked Paris apartment "discovered" in 2010

Remember?  

The article that started it all:   https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8042281/Parisian-flat-containing-2.1-million-painting-lay-untouched-for-70-years.html

The exact location has since been challenged, but was originally said to be located at 2 square La Bruyère in the 9th arrondissement. 

An apartment that had been locked and forgotten, and when entered was every child's dream.

Magical.

Rooms full of dusty treasures.

Unseen for many years.

Who did the apartment belong to?

Why was it abandoned?

Why was it suddenly discovered and unlocked?

Since then we've learned a lot.

There is a lot of information available, but, unsurprisingly, much of it is incorrect, or conjecture.

And - there are some who still believe the entire story is a hoax.

The aparttment was owned originally by a French demimondaine and socialite by the name of Marthe de Florian.  

Research reveals her original name to be Mathilde Heloise Beaugiron, 9 September 1864 – 29 August 1939.

Marthe's son,  Henri Beaugiron, died in the apartment in 1966.

Henri's daughter, Solange Beaugiron, inherited the apartment.  The rent and expenses were paid regularly until her death in June 2010 at the age of 91. As a result, everything the apartment contained, including many paintings, furniture and all the usual elements of early 20th-century life remained intact for several decades.

Some reports say the contents of the apartment were auctioned off in 2010.

Some reports say the only thing auctioned off was a portrait of Marthe de Florian painted by Giovanni Boldini which sold for $2.5 million, although some say $3.5 million.

Further reports state that the apartment belongs in the de Florian/Beaugiron estate and still exists, sealed, somewhere in Paris, left exactly as it was found when it was opened for the first time in 2010. 

NOTE:   These two articles are the best of the stories I found about Marthe de Florian, her family and the apartment.  Fascinating!! - 

https://monagiza.com/stories/research-team-found-a-secret-inside-an-abandoned-apartment-in-paris-that-had-been-hidden-for-70-years/

and

https://randybigham.wixsite.com/pastfashion/single-post/2014/05/01/The-story-behind-the-indigenous-towns-of-Guatemala

There are a few novels inspired by Marthe de Florian's apartment.  Here are the ones I know about and have read:

Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey

A Paris Apartment by Michelle Gable

The Velvet Hours by Alyson Richman

Additional Sources:  I encourage you to take a look at these.  They are interesting, mysterious and fun!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marthe_de_Florian

http://www.astoriedstyle.com/a-look-into-the-past-an-untouched-1942-paris-apartment/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2323297/Inside-Paris-apartment-untouched-70-years-Treasure-trove-finally-revealed-owner-locked-fled-outbreak-WWII.html

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/untouched-1940s-paris-apartment-inspires-thrilling-new-novel

http://www.citizenbrooklyn.com/topics/pov/a-rich-woman-abandoned-this-apartment-in-1942-what-they-just-found-inside-is-incredible/#:~:text=Share%20this%3A&text=Madame%20de%20Florian%20was%20a,to%20it%20after%20the%20war.

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/05/26/madame-de-florians-1942-apartment-found-untouched-with-a-painting-worth-nearly-25-million-2/

https://beautifulbuildings.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/time-capsule-apartment-in-paris-found-untouched-for-70-years/

http://lolosfrenchbloguette.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-tale-of-two-madames.html

Happy Reading!!!

Hell Yes I'm Mad

Donald and I, like all of you, have had a very different year than expected.

We, like many of you, have self-isolated, washed our hands continually, curtailed our social activities and travel.

We're still not eating in restaurants.

We're still not keeping appointments we would normally keep.  (We both desperately need haircuts, but that is not going to happen for awhile).

And we wear a mask when we leave the house.

All while this president, his family and his administration have carelessly tossed aside and  ridiculed all the facts offered by medical professionals who actually believe in science.

This photo is a perfect example of wilfull stupidity.  Now being referred to on social media platforms as "the Massacre in the Rose Garden."

 

This photo is a perfect example of wilfull and negligent arrogance.  

The trump family arrived at the debate venue too late to be tested, then refused to wear masks in  violation of the Commission on Presidential Debates’ rules.

Trump then attended a fundraiser in New Jersey on Thursday evening, knowing full well that his aide, Hope Hicks, had tested positive.

Yep.

I'm angry.

Damn right I am.

Because THIS is who this man is 

Cruel.  Ignorant.  Uncaring.

He, his administration, his family and his supporters have embraced and delighted in cruelty.

I've been angry for four years for a number of reasons; the cruelty dealt by this president leads the list of reasons.

So yeah - reading the timeline leading up to the announcement of the president's diagnosis has made me angry.

Madder than hell, actually.

While I don't wish the man dead, here's what I say to his supporters who are demanding we show him some respect, some kindness and some compassion.


Fuck you.

I think it's fair to say, many of the broken-hearted families of 200,000 + people who might still be alive today if we were "led" by an administration who actually put people ahead of party politics feel the same way.

Those people make me sick.  And if I become literally sick with this virus I'm pointing a finger at the president of my country.

In the meantime, although Joe & Jill Biden tested negative, they are not in the clear yet.  We can't know for sure for another week or more.  

I'm putting this list from CBS News here and will be updating it as I'm sure some of these "negatives" will be changing to "positives" over the next several days.

Trump's family:

• Melania Trump: Tested positive on Friday, October 2.
• Ivanka Trump: Tested negative on Friday, October 2.
• Jared Kushner: Tested negative on Friday, October 2.
• Barron Trump: Tested negative on Friday, October 2.
• Donald Trump, Jr.: Tested negative on Friday, October 2.
• Eric Trump: Tested negative on Friday, October 2.
• Lara Trump: Tested negative on Friday, October 2.

White House: 

• Counselor to the president Hope Hicks: Tested positive on Thursday, October 1.
• Vice President Mike Pence: Tested negative on Friday, October 2.
• Chief of staff Mark Meadows: Tested negative Friday, October 2.
• Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar: Tested negative on Friday, October 2.
• National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow: Tested negative on Friday, October 2.
  
• White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany: Tested negative on Friday, October 2.

 
Others: 

• Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett: The White House said in a statement that she tested negative on Friday, October 2. 
• Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: Christie, who helped Mr. Trump with debate preparation and spent hours with him and Hicks over several days, tweeted on October 3 that he tested positive.
• Former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway: Tweeted on Friday, October 2, that she has COVID-19.
• Attorney General Bill Barr: The Justice Department said he tested negative on Friday, October 2.
• Reverend John Jenkins: The president of the University of Notre Dame, who attended Barrett's nomination at the White House has tested positive, according to the university.
• Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien: Tested positive for coronavirus Friday, October 2.
• Senior Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller: Miller, who was involved in President Trump's debate prep, tested negative.
  
• Rudy Giuliani: Tested negative on Friday, October 2.
  
• Chris Wallace: The first debate moderator was tested on Friday and is awaiting results.
  

 
Congress:

• Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn (R): Attended debate and flew on Air Force One; Tested negative on Friday, October 2.
• Minnesota Representative Jim Hagedorn (R): Flew on Air Force One; tested negative Friday, October 2.
• Ohio Representative Jim Jordan (R): Attended debate and flew on Air Force One; tested negative on Friday, October 2 
• Utah Senator Mike Lee (R): Judiciary Committee member who attended Barrett's nomination announcement and met with her this week. Tested positive Thursday, October 1.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D): Tested negative on Friday, October 2.
• South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham: The Judiciary Committee chair tested negative on Friday, October 2.
• North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis (R): Judiciary Committee member who attended Barrett's nomination announcement. Tested positive on Friday, October 2. 
• Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (R): Tested positive for the virus on Friday, October 2.

Not in recent contact with Trump, but tested protectively:

• Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel: Tested positive on Wednesday, September 29.
  
• Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin: Tested negative on Friday, October 2.
• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: He said in Croatia that he tested negative on Friday, October 2. 
• Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe: Tested negative on Friday, October 2.

Remember - even with all this constant drama - we need to keep our eyes on the election and VOTE!

The first presidential debate

So.

Wow.

If this was anyone's first experience watching a presidential "debate" they have seen the most egregious example of what a debate is supposed to be. 

And the most egregious example of "presidential." 

It was, at best, painful.

At worst - a shit show.

My feeling from this point is that additional debates between Biden and trump are pointless. 

Especially if future moderators are going to be bullied as Chris Wallace was tonight. Some of which could have been easily stopped by a simple flick of an on/off button on the microphones.  

Chris Wallace should have been prepared for trump's arrogance and childishness.

trump pitched one childish temper tantrum after another, and refused to follow rules he had agreed to prior to the debate.

Rules he had no intention of following if they didn't suit the moment.

Anyone who is interested in knowing if what was said tonight was truthful, I would encourage you to do some fact checking.

Check both men.

Check their statements for yourself and for the good of this country.

And in case anyone might have missed this - the president of THIS COUNTRY refused to condemn white supremacy.

So. 

Anyone celebrating a "win" for tonight? 

Anyone other than the KKK and The Proud Boys? 

Doubtful.

Debates don't usually change a voter's mind, but I think tonight's unhinged performance by a man who is scared to death he might be in jail this time next year might be the exception.

One of our rare days out

We're still sticking pretty close to home, but there are occassional errands to be run.

Today was one of those days to get out and do them.


And it was a good one.

We dropped off our ballots (Vote! Vote! Vote!), 

enjoyed our mountain scenery - including a little bit of fall color, 

And fun to see one of our sweet neighbors driving his horse drawn carriage down our road.

I love our 'hood.

Being surrounded by so much beauty reminds us of what is good in our lives.  And we are thankful.

We picked up lunch (drive-thru), and picked up mail, and picked up our grocery order (curb side).

A wonderful mail day! 

Used books, new books, ARCs, bought books, gifted books, stickers and notes from friends.

AND a really really really nice check from Antiques on Howard (thank YOU to whoever is wearing a lot of pretty new-to-you jewelry!).  

And here's my reminder to you.  If you haven't already, please VOTE!

One of the things I'm missing most

Concerts

Bruce Springsteen has a new album  coming out in October.  

His 20th.  

And the E Street Band is joining him on this one.

Earlier this week he released the title track, Letter to You, and  the new song, Ghosts.

I especially love the Ghosts video with its clips from past shows.

While watching  I couldn't help but smile and remember being in that crowd at a few of his concerts.  

Bruce Springsteen knows how to do a concert!

What a talent.

What an entertainer.

Donald and I love live shows.

Going to concerts is one of the things we love best, and we have seen some of the greats.

Many of them, more than once.  Some more than twice ...

Our latest show would have been last week; a Brooks & Dunn reunion.

We both love Brooks & Dunn and have seen them a few times.  And were looking forward to seeing them again.

Due to COVID, the show has been postponed a year.  

I'm not sure we'll be ready, even in a year, for large crowd get-togethers (regardless of what the guy in The White House and his supporters think.  I think they're being stupid and damned reckless).

Concerts.

Missing them.

Dishes with a lesson

Speaking of dishes,

and collections.

A collection that will still be around our house for as long as I'm around is our collection of Torquay Motto Ware.  There's quite a lot and it's placed along shelves among the books.

"Torquay is the generic name given to 20 potteries centered around the popular seaside resort of the same name in South Devon, England, that made red earthenware with slip decoration in the form of a picture. Many also sported brief sayings on them, thus the name Motto Ware."

One particular piece makes me happy 

One piece which seems especially  timely right now makes me sad with its truth

What to keep, what to sell . . .

 

When you spend your life collecting, sooner or later you're going to have to part with some things you've collected.

In our case, we're still getting rid of some things that had been boxed up and put in our storage building out back when we moved into this house in 1996.

Those things are still moving into our booth at Antiques on Howard, and sales continue to be good, despite the pandemic.  The store was closed for several weeks in March and April, but once they re-opened the tourists and famililes of Appalachian State University students were back and spending.  

I've only been in the store one time since March.

I went early in the day when they opened, masked, as was the owner.

I put out some new stock pretty quickly and left.

We mail our rent check and they mail us a check for sales along with a list of what sold.  The arrangement is a good one and it's always interesting to see what people bought.

When we were with Don's family over Christmas last year, they sent us home with boxes of stuff they no longer wanted; WONDERFUL stuff, including a lot of silver.  So, those boxes have been moved ahead of our own boxes.  

Now, we're certainly not entertaining like we once did.  But even back in those days of dinner parties, we weren't really "silver" people other than our flatwear which we do still use and still love.  It's not unusual for us to pull it out for pizza.

Our friend John gave us a place setting of our silver when we got married and said, "we use our good stuff every day.  You should too."

Well, we don't use it every day, but we use it pretty often.

I don't think newlyweds care a thing in the world about things like china and silver these days, do they?  Their gift registers seem to be more practical.

I like pretty things.

One of the things we've "over" collected is pretty dishes.

I've always loved setting a pretty table.

And while the dishes we have can attest to being well used and much appreciated, it might be time for some of them to find a new place to live.

We have fine china, every day china (is that still a "thing?"), nice dishes, expensive dishes, not so expensive dishes, inexpensive dishes, cheap dishes and bargain basement cheap dishes.  Old dishes.  Newer dishes.  Family dishes.  Pottery dishes.  Gifted dishes.  "Had to have" dishes.

<sigh>

So.

I've been thinking about these dishes.

This morning I did some baking.

Blueberry muffins.

Decided I wanted my muffin on a pretty plate.

And from there I got silly.

WHICH pretty plate?

And decided right then I'd take some "muffin on a pretty plate" pictures and post them to see if it would help me decide which dishes I want to keep and which I might decide to pack up to take to Antiques on Howard to sell.

These are "some" of the dishes - - -

And I had my muffin on this pretty dish.