This morning as I was walking down to the other end of the four-plex to take my trash to the dumpster, I noticed that my three neighbors have clear windows.
All my windows, except for the French doors that were put in a year ago this month, are always covered in condensation and I can’t see out of them.
I’ve complained about this and they said they’d see what they can do. Well, send the maintenance man around to look at them. Replace them. Do something.
I’ve even offered to possibly pay for my living room window to be replaced if they will agree to take it out of my rent. It would certainly cost more than a month’s rent because I got an estimate several years ago.
Aggravating. What good are windows if you can’t even see out them?
Okay, my rant of the day is over.
I think I’ve watched Vera so much I’m starting to sound like her. If I forget myself and call someone “pet” or “love” I’ll know there needs to be an intervention of some variety.
I’m almost through the second series now. Last night I watched the one where the man is knifed and tossed over the bridge and falls onto a big semi. Then ends up freezing to death up there as the driver continues another 300 miles.
I allow myself one episode per night to stretch them out longer because I’m very fond of Vera. I know some of you find her irritating. But some people are just plain irritating. If I had to be around people much I’d sound worse than Vera.
Twice this morning already I’ve had to fish one of Ivy’s swirly toys out from under a file cabinet in the closet I call Ivy’s closet, because her litter box and various things are in there.
She’s tried to lure me there a third time and I’m putting her off. She has lots of swirly toys and she can wait a bit.
I’m beginning to wonder if she isn’t putting them under there on purpose. But why would she do that? There’s just no figuring Ivy out. The things she does is often just incomprehensible.
I’ve found myself missing Marley the last few days; thought so much about things we can do together.
She lives with her dad in his little town outside Tulsa Saturday through Wednesday, because she and her big brother go to school there. People who live in Tulsa tend to put their children in private school. This is the alternative and where her dad is from.
So that doesn’t leave me a lot of time since she’s in school during the week and on weekends at her dad’s. So I’m very much looking forward to summer. They seem to go on quite a few vacations with their dad’s parents, so I’ll have to work around that.
Maybe spring break, if they aren’t traveling, I can pay her to help me clean up the patio. I’m getting to the point, with all my old injuries and subsequent arthritis, to not be able to do what I could when I first moved to this place.
Before I could rush through cutting off dead stems and putting all the debris into lawn bags and to tote off to the trash in just an hour or so. I could have my patio clean and ready for planting in one afternoon.
I’ve slowed down in my sixties. Or rather my body has forced me to slow down.
At lunch Friday my daughters talked about how much coffee it takes them to get going in the mornings. I tend to drink a cup, but I don’t need it for the caffeine intake. I don’t need it to wake me up and get me going.
When I was young I was a whirling dervish running instead of walking and getting a lot of things done in a short amount of time. My brain still wants to do that but my body is throwing a cog in the wheels.
I didn’t even start drinking coffee until my fifties, and only then because I liked the way it tasted. And when I do drink it it’s mostly decaf or I’d be spinning like a top.
It’s sad when our brains are raring to go, chugging right along down the railroad tracks, and our bodies are stuck at the crossing with the automated arm down to stop cars.
Then you end up going to doctors more because your parts don’t want to work. And sit in waiting rooms with other aging bodies looking slyly out the corner of your eye to see how you hold up to the others in your midst.
“Oh come on now, pet, you know you do,” says my doppelganger Vera Stanhope.
Laughter keeps you young because it relieves tension. Did you know that when it comes to keeping you healthy, laughter is right up there with a nutritious diet and exercise?
Maybe it gives you laugh lines but who cares about that? They’re the best kind of lines.
You don’t stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing. – George Bernard Shaw
Thanks for sharing, really informative blog
This is a long shot..probably the original windows in the apartments, but… Most of the double pane windows were sold and purchased with a “Lifetime Transferable Warranty” , (a great selling point), which would cover the cost of materials for repair or replacement but not the labor to install/repair. With that said, possibly there would be paperwork in the apartment office to support this warranty claim for the windows…..and thus, if the window co. is still around could make a claim, and they may send someone out..and then the apartment would be billed for the labor only. I am aware of this because of the type of work I did for years..with that said.. Those broken seals would be another big reason you are losing heat in the winter and not cooling well in the summer. I sure hope they help you..you deserve to have this type of repair at no cost to you. But I know you are well-educated and are aware already. So sorry. It shouldn’t be that hard for the tenants since they expect their rent timely, quite sure. Your decor looks very nice. Have a great week and stay cozy.
Well, Vera sounds fascinating. I think I will have to get the books since I don’t have a TV or a broadcast service right now. I used to watch Doc Martin on PBS when I did have a TV and really liked him. He’s a funny character–quite clueless sometimes.
My main problems getting older relate to my knees which are arthritic and make stair-climbing hard. I still insist on going up and down, carefully, to my basement as I don’t want to get so I have no muscle strength at all. Plus my laundry is in the basement. Sometimes I wish it wasn’t but then I remind myself that it’s good for me to exercise those leg muscles. I also lately have had a couple sinus infections that have just sapped my energy. That is a big frustration, not having the energy to do the things I’d like to do. I’ve never been a ball of fire so I don’t mind slowing down some, but my lack of energy these days is really frustrating. Lots of days I have to lie down for a while to keep going. And I can sleep for twelve hours lots of nights which seems like a real waste of time to me!
Oh, well, it could be worse!
Brenda, it sounds like your windows let in a lot of cold air. Have you tho’t of covering them with plastic in the Winter? They make kits for it that aren’t too hard to put up. Maybe maitennance would even do it for you. Especially if they won’t replace the windows. Just a tho’t.
Guess I better sign off for today. Hugs to you and pats for the fourleggeds.
I talked to the new manager today and he’s seeing about the windows, he told me.
Tho’t is not a word ?
Well, if folks can say “gobsmacked,” what harm could a little “tho’t” be lol – I see Your smiley and “raise” You one!! 🙂 b
I’m watching season eight on my local weta PBS UK station here in MD.
The Ann Cleeves books are great. She started writing while her Ornithologist
husband was out doing research. Hence so many instances of birds in the stories. Veras dad was a bird watcher, egg stealing guy. Bits about the dad come out bit by bit thru the books and series.
Maybe that’s one reason I like Vera. So much talk about birds.
I love Vera. Can’t wait for the new season. I am finding that I slow down a little each year. It’s aggravating because i like to be busy. I guess it is just as well that I no longer have a patio. I might not feel like taking care of it. xo Laura
Definitely try glucosamine. It’s worth a try. My cousin just recommended a supplement to me called Complete Tissue & Bone. It’s made my Christopher’s Original Formulas. I got it on Amazon. I still have a ton of energy at my age (57) but I have a lot of aches and pain in my lower back and hips due to arthritis, herniated discs, etc. Another thing that helps is movement. The more you can move and stay active, the better. The more you sit, the worse it is for your bones and joints, and the more pain ensues.
My mom is 79 years old and keeps extremely active. She rarely sits down – she doesn’t even own a TV. She owns her home home and does all her own work in it and yard work, too. She takes daily walks and does squats. Cooks and eats very healthy organic foods and meals. Works two part-time jobs! Needless to say, she is super healthy, not on any medications, never ill.
“Another thing that helps is movement.” Indeed!! I’ve done some physical jobs in the past and my lower back let me know it abut 10 years ago. I have found the more I move around (I do a lot of “dashing through the house” – I bet I could write lyrics for that one) the less it hurts, sure, it hurts, but not as bad. I quit taking glucosamine – I had the same pain with or without it so and I quite taking overthecounter pain meds (ibuprofen is my friend) because I’ve learned to just “take the pain.” Now, there are plenty of people out there with tremendous back pain and whatever works to even lessen the pain some, have at it I say. The pain med was like the glucos – the pain was still the same, so I just keep moving for as long as I will be able to. There is a lot I can’t do, but what I can do, I do, slowly, but it gets done, eventually!!! 🙂 b
My mom is 87 and very active. My cousin is 103. Yes 103 . And walks on her own. No walker no wheelchair. Her son my cousin is a a Doctor. So he keeps her healthy.
Are both the plants, one is hanging and the other in a metal bucket, philodendrons? They look very pretty. My pothos is gaining speed – new growth, better than all summer. I’m having trouble “understandiing” the purple shamrock – “What do you want from me” I want to yell at it sometimes. lol Brenda, do You have any idea of where online to order “Ivy” drapes/curtains that really look like ivy? I have a lamp in bedroom with an ivy shade and two pillow shams (from a yard sale) with very pretty ivy on them, but I can’t find anything but op-art ivy drapes, if Ya know what I mean. Ivy is soooo funny in the box looking like “Are Ya impressed with me or not?” lol I don’t mind slowing down – I’ve worked since I was young and when we could make it on one salary, I quit working. It’s nice to stay home. I’ve had so many different jobs in my life – some good – some terrible – Staying home and keeping up with the dogs, my flowerbed & maters in spring & summer, keeping dogs and house clean and all the little extras there are to do, well as the song says, “That’s the life for me!” Really like Your quilts on the wall – I have one my mom made when I was small/young and I am gonna let a friend turn it into a wall hanging for me – some of it needs to be cut away and some repairs made. As I tell Hubby, I like Home!!! Enjoy Your pretty apt. and that Cutie Charlie and that Mischievous Ivy. I was just thinking (scary, I know, especially for me to be doing) maybe swirling the toys under stuff is Ivy initiating “play” – You should be very honored – I believe it’s a rare cat, indeed, that does that!!! 🙂 b
Yes, they are forms of philodendron. I Googled drapes with ivy and quite a few sites came up.
Yeah, but all I find is op-art ivy, especially for drapes or it’s funny looking “ivy” not like the English ivy on the shade and shams I have. I’ll keep looking, I thought maybe You with Your “sharp” decorator’s eye had seen something lately. Thank You, Brenda. Pleasant evening to You and those “Kids!” 🙂 b
I binge-watched all of the most recent Doc Martin series. No murders…just mindless, enjoyable watching….Acorn tv. If you haven’t ever seen it, start at the beginning!
It’s on my Watch List.
I don’t know that I have gobs of things wanting to do in my brain…but far more than the body wants me to do!! Sometimes in a day I can work hard all day, but those days are getting farther and farther apart…aging is not an easy thing!!
I give Kaia glucosamine everyday and seems to help. We got her 11 years ago on New Year’s Eve. This past spring she had 4 teeth pulled, thank goodness she hasn’t had any major dental issues since. I found a power called Teef to put in her water everyday to kill bacteria and help with tarter and plaque. It is made with only 4 ingredients. There is a human version also. It seems amazing so far!
It’s not easy when our bodies can’t do what we want them to do. I definitely don’t have the energy I did even 5 years ago…and my joints get sore. I’m taking Glucosamine now to help, and I am finding it definitely seems to help….I’m not as sore since I started taking it. It takes a couple of weeks to get into the system, but once it did I noticed some definite relief. I give it to Monkey for her joints also….a pet version, of course, baked into a cookie. She gets one every morning along with her dental chew and her multi vitamin. Molly gets the dental chew and vitamin, but not the glucosamine….soon, though. She’s 5 now.
Might have to try that. I give two kinds of those supplements to Charlie a day.
Glad you are enjoying Vera. I have seen it all and am waiting for the new season which will begin the 21st. Counting the days. I love the way her second in command very often treat her like a mother figure. They do respect her. And she is the boss! I love her Land Rover, I used to drive one and I really enjoyed it.
Is the condensation between the window panes or is it from running your humidifier? I think cleaning up the patio would be good relaxing exercise for you. Just break it up into smaller jobs. Exercise helps joints and arthritis.
Not from running the humidifier. It’s always been like this and I just got the humidifier a few weeks ago. Yes, when I do jobs indoors or out, I do feel better. Some things are just heavier than I can handle.
I laugh at just about everything and anything. It’s good for the heart and I seem to have a funny bone that appreciates irony and slapstick equally. I remember reading a book yeas ago, it was written by a man who developed a serious illness and was hospitalized with a poor prognosis to survive. He is convinced that he laughed his way back to health and I believe him. Okay – just looked it up on the internet – it was Norman Cousins. He was diagnosed with a crippling illness in 1964 at the age of 49 but did not die until 1990 at the age of 75 from cardiovascular disease unrelated to his original diagnosis. He was convinced that laughter literally “is the best medicine” (I think Art Linkletter used to say that) and worked with his friend and treating physician to prove it. It’s not easy to deal with slowing down as we get older when our minds are still thinking we’re 18, but at the same time I’ve come to appreciate that slowing down has let me savor being outdoors a lot in the spring, summer and autumn (when we have autumn, that is – this year, we really didn’t) and actually enjoying the physicality of the tasks I am still able to do, albeit slower than I used to. I can still cut my own lawn; I can still trim my own trees and hedges; I can still plant and prune. This past year, I’ve made it a point to try and get outside and get at least some kind of little exercise in daily, even in the bitterest cold, even if it’s just 20 minutes of sweeping up the never-ending nut shells that accumulate from my furry friends that I feed. That, and a bit more attention to the kinds of foods I’m putting into my body, have allowed me to lose almost 20 pounds and I’m feeling physically better than I did a year ago, and the symptoms of my health issues have lessened as a result of less weight, reducing my stress, and in return I feel even better. What I don’t get done today will eventually get done – and what’s the hurry anyway? I remember how I used to laugh and tease my dad when he would sing a verse from a song – not sure of the name, I think it was just “Manana” (the “n” has a little squiggle over it, the word is Spanish) – it means, essentially, it can just wait until tomorrow 🙂
I haven’t watched Vera series but have read Ann Cleaves books about Vera. Ordered them used off Amazon and enjoyed the read and loved the character Vera Stanhope. Also, I’m a fan of Deborah Crombie series of Gemma James and Dunkin Kincaid. Almost catch myself saying ‘gobsmacked’.
Love that word!
Me too!!! lol 🙂 b
I love Brenda Blethyn and the Vera series, the supporting cast as well. Afraid I call everyone I love or am fond of and care about, “Love”. Some have now incorporated into their vernacular. I also parroted “Sweetheart” after watching British movie of hers years ago (re: illegitimate black child finding her). Where/how do you get to view all the episodes w/out purchasing? I’m at the mercy of PBS or NJTV, neither of which offer On Demand for this program. Also, re: aging, while I so appreciate being alive with loving family and friends, most difficult part of being senior citizen is thinking you can do what you’ve done all your life, and having your body tell you otherwise. I seem to have the hardest time retaining that fact and pay dearly for every lapse ?
The windows need the seals replaced,we had the same problem in a house from years ago.
It’s probably cheaper to replace but we rent so it’s not our decision.
I totally agree with you on my mind raring to go. I have bouts of not being able to fall asleep. Sometimes I look at the clock at 2:00,3:00, 4:00. I think of what projects and chores I will do in the morning. But of course, it is slow going in the morning and I have to pick and choose what to accomplish. We have to get used to the slower life with taking breaks in between the action. Charlie is so handsome and Ivy is so funny. Our pets have us trained, don’t they! So glad you are visiting with your family! Have a great day!
Sounds like you really are loving this series with Vera. I have not tried this one yet. I have watched Marcella and loved it. The first season I had a hard time getting into it but then it picked up and got really good. It is based on a pod cast of her detective work and her personal issues. It is british and on Netflix. I am now watching the Five and not sure if I am liking this one just yet. It is based on a little boy that is taken and the 5 that were with him the day this happened. It is a good thriller.
Have a good day. Love seeing cute Ivy in the box!!!
Kris
I watched The Five. It was so-so. But loved Marcella.
Hi, I love your cat and dog. They are so very precious. I agree with you what’s the use in having windows if you can’t see out. I like your ivy plants so pretty. Well talk to you soon. I enjoy your blogs. Hugs. Have a blessed day. Cynthia.