Not to keep going on and on about the dining room window, but I thought you might like to see how it looks without those awful drapes. A distinct improvement! I was in there again yesterday cleaning beneath the buffet, where I store all my photo books. I pulled out the books and dusted them, then moved the buffet and vacuumed beneath and behind it. Spiders be gone!
So how was your Easter? I would have completely forgotten it was Easter except when I went to Waitrose to get some milk and dog food I found a package of "St. Clements hot cross buns," which I bought on a whim. They're good sliced, toasted and eaten with butter -- a lot like raisin bread.
Apparently hot cross buns can come in multiple varieties, and I tried to figure out why these are specifically called "St. Clements" buns. (As are the ones sold by Tesco.) I'm still not sure, but Jamie Oliver seems to suggest it's because of the presence of lemon and orange in the dough. Do any of you know?
Dave got home about 9:30 a.m., and as I was showing him around the garden we checked on the tree fern. It's showing new growth -- you can see the curve of new fiddleheads coming up from the middle. Those weren't there just two days ago. Talk about rising from the dead! Hallelujah -- an Easter miracle!
Dave spent most of the day sleeping, and in fact he's still asleep as I write this. He and his sister Dawn and his niece and nephew went through tons of stuff from his parents' house, arranged to have their deck repaired and to clear unwanted possessions through an estate sale, and to put the house on the market. I'm sure it was an exhausting process. They kept his parents apprised -- they're both now in assisted living in Florida.
I spent the afternoon going through paperwork in our files. I've set aside a big stack of it to shred. Is there any point in keeping bank statements or investment records from 2017? Or ten-year-old leases or utility bills? Ten-year-old passport photos? It feels good to get rid of all that stuff. If I ever need an old bank statement I can go online to get it, and in fact we get everything electronically now. Most of this paperwork is a decade old because that's about when we stopped getting stuff in the mail.
Here's what Dave brought me from Michigan. They were in his parents' house. What's funny is, they're made by a London company, so we've repatriated them. They have names on their bums -- Mitch, Brad and Josh are the three we can see. The identity of the others is still a mystery, but my money is on Chad, Biff and Zack.
"Oranges and Lemons sing the bells of St.Clements"..a song about the churches of London and their bells.
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful window..and as you are above the level of the pavement at the front of the house you can see passers by more than they can see you!
Ah! That must be the connection! I had no idea and don't know that song.
DeleteFirst recorded in a songbook in 1744..that is the woodcut print in this YouTube clip...enjoy the song...it's only the first verse...
Deletehttps://youtu.be/4bc63sqKYZ4?si=0lvq6Y9ARr2LP51J
I remember it as an old "skipping rope" song in the school playground. And of course the orange and lemon in the buns would be the reason for the name.
DeleteIt sounds like you’ve had a productive and refreshing Easter weekend, from brightening up the dining room and enjoying citrusy St. Clements hot cross buns to tackling long-overdue paperwork, while Dave and his family handled the emotional and exhausting task of preparing his parents’ house for sale
ReplyDeleteThat pretty much sums it up!
DeleteThe bay window with all the plants and no drapes really looks good.
ReplyDeleteGetting rid of old paperwork is so satisfying!
I can imagine how exhausted Dave must be from both the emotional impact of clearing out his parents‘ house and the physical impact of a long flight.
It IS satisfying. I am really having the "urge to purge" old stuff at the moment. Something about springtime and renewal and opening up the house and letting in light. Just makes me want to make space.
DeleteSt Clements is definitely referring to the rhyme that gz mentioned.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oranges_and_Lemons
Those drink markers are quite ... unusual. Will you use them?
That is a fascinating Wikipedia page. I've never heard of this song so this is all new to me!
DeleteI love the Oranges and Lemons song, which we sang as kids. I like doing different voices for the various bells. Yes, easily amused!
ReplyDeleteDave must be worn to a thread. That was heavy physical and emotional work on top of travel. Please pass on my admiration to him.
Different voices for the bells sounds like a fun way to get kids to engage with the song.
DeleteGood grief...not sure about those drink markers!! I had some once that were small shiny metal "charms " that clipped round the base of a wine glass....never used them and took them to a charity shop eventually.
ReplyDeleteHa! Yeah, I've seen that type too. I think these are strictly for novelty's sake. I'm not sure I'll ever actually use them. In fact I'm hesitant to even open the package to learn the other three names!
Delete(Actually, I just Googled it, and they appear to be Chad, Ryan and Cody.)
Ferns are resilient ancient plants, been there long before us, plant elders. That bay window looks lovely and bright.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for well-evolved species!
DeleteI must say, the drinking buddies are nicely shaped.
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised about the ferns. They are very resilient. Here they survive droughts, fires and floods.
I love your bay window area. I wonder about the effect of the radiators on the plants.
Ferns in general tend to be pretty hardy but I was really worried! Thank goodness they are tough.
DeleteWe actually don't run that radiator because we're not in that room much, but in other rooms they don't seem to harm the plants at all.
I, too, had been told St. Clemens hot cross buns have citrus in them. Oranges and lemons go the bells of St. Clemens. Wishing Dave a good rest and recovery from the trip. Yes, I remember posing for that drink marker!
ReplyDeleteDo you know that rhyme? I swear I have never heard it. Or if I did I've forgotten it entirely.
Delete(Oops, I left out the T in Clements.) Oddly, my mother used to sing it. Its origins go back to at least the mid-1700s, but the head chopping didn’t appear until about 100 years later. My mother had a song for every occasion. One thing I’m glad to have inherited from her.
DeleteOranges and Lemons brought back many school memories for me and I loved it in the school hall where we would sing and act it out and the chopper coming along to chop off our heads. You could do a walk and trace all the churches in the song.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like it's meant to send kids to bed -- although it might give some of them nightmares!
DeleteWe loved it at school, the game would get faster and faster and involved much laughter. It was nothing like nightmares, it was fun. I imagine it was played in many schools and involved singing and learning the bells name and movement.
DeleteOutstanding. Removing the drapes fills the dining room with natural light and the view to the street is great. I am also a no drapes person and prefer views to the outdoors.
ReplyDeleteI've never had a hot cross bun. The hints of orange and lemon in the bun sound good.
It always feels great after a house clean-out/cleanse.
Dave had a busy working trip. A day to recover is likely.
The dining room windows are enormous; so nice completely undraped!
ReplyDeleteThat room! So perfect for your plants with all that great light (and nice view!). Well done, Steve. That's a big job but so improved without the drapes. I'm with you on that one. I like the idea of orange and lemon in the bun. Those are less of a tradition here but maybe next year I'll make some and try to remember St. Clement's version!
ReplyDeleteDave must be whipped. That's a lot of work when it's local; add international travel to it and it's just a lot. Must have been nice to come home to such a clean house and nice garden!
That's a lot of work for Dave & his sister! Oof. Not looking forward to that process with either of our dads. And I love the drink buddies - you should open them up & use them regularly.
ReplyDeleteYour dining room looks so light and bright and attractive. I hope Dave was impressed - or will be, when he's slept long enough to think straight.
ReplyDeleteOranges and lemons: https://jabblog-jabblog.blogspot.com/search?q=oranges+and+lemons
Biff , What A Classic - The Dinning Room Is Chalk Full Of Life And Worthy Of Sharing Often - Have A Fabulous Week Ahead
ReplyDeleteStay Strong ,
Cheers
Do you actually dine in the dining room? It's a lovely room for all of your plants!
ReplyDeleteI had heard the song too and it came to my mind as soon as I read your words but I have no idea where I might have heard it. Nor will I ever remember, I am sure.
ReplyDeleteDid Dave love your drapeless dining room? Just thinking about what he and his sister did puts me into a deep funk. My kids are going to have to do this one day unless I do some major cleaning out. And that doesn't even involve Glen's stuff!
You know the new growth on your fern cheers me though.
I'd probably tape that unopened package of drinking buddies to a wall. Decor!
Leave the Drink Buddies in the original packaging and one day they will be worth something!
ReplyDeleteI love that bay window and your flower/plant display!
Sorry to learn first thing this morning that Pope Francis has passed at 88. That double pneumonia knocked him for a loop!
Those drink markers are great. I love them.
ReplyDeleteThe window looks very nice. It looks so bright and clean in there. It's quite the garden room.
A physician in geriatrics told me that pneumonia is known as the old man's friend -- causes a more rapid end than terminal illness. I suspect they sent him home to die there, rather than the hospital. I wonder if he requested it.
DeleteMy guess is that one of the little "drink buddies" will coincidentally be called Steve. I am glad to hear that Dave made it home safely after enjoying fun times in Michigan with his sister Dawn. Funny how we get to know Dave's sister's name but not your brother's name. Is that because he is called Donald?
ReplyDeleteBum cock tails, oh yes please...
ReplyDeletesleep is a healer, sleep makes people smarter when they are awake. Sleep is my church!
Your windows look SO much better without drapes! Well done.
OMG! Drinking buddies from Dave's parents.I'd really like to know how they happened to acquire those. My niece and I did a whirlwind of three days finally cleaning out my sister's stuff from the house. It was brutal. Fortunately we didn't have to deal with getting rid of the furniture or the house.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see the tree fern rejuvenating. They are pretty hardy things.
I've never eaten a hot cross bun. All I know about them is the nursery rhyme!
ReplyDeleteHot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One ha’ penny, two ha’ penny,
Hot cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons
One ha’ penny,
Two ha’ penny,
Hot Cross Buns!
Hot cross buns are divine, Steve! Lovely photos, as always.
ReplyDeleteI am catching up on blog reading this Monday. Your dining room window looks great. That must have been a real chore to clean them, but what an accomplishment!
ReplyDeleteEvery year, sometime shortly after the first of the year, I sort through my filing cabinet and cull out papers to shred. The only things I keep are receipts for things that have long term warranties or tax documents which by law, we must keep for three years. Everything else is shredded. This keeps all my important paperwork fitting in one drawer of a small two drawer filing cabinet.
ReplyDeleteI should get rid of lots of stuff. I did have many boxes of old taxes shredded because my late husband kept everything. I tend to hold on to too many cards and letters and ancient bank statements. Sometimes it's even a bank that went out of business like SeaFirst. Yikes. I've never had a hot cross bun; raisins aren't my thing so I don't know if I'd like them.
ReplyDeleteAt least one of those drink guys should be called Dick, or Phil, or Peter, or Willy. I could go on:)
ReplyDeleteIt always feels so good to give things a good clean and that window does look amazing, especially without those curtains.
The front window is a big improvement. We are almost entirely paperless, have been for quite some time. Can't remember the last time I wrote a check.
ReplyDeleteWe may be paperless, but I am still occupying two drawers of a filing cabinet. I think I've let the taxes get out of hand. I shall go through and purge relentlessly. Medicare requires that you be able to prove a continuous history of credible medical coverage. That has generated a lot of paper, I guess I could scan it all. I can't get over how good the windows look.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder Dave is exhausted - that's a lot of work, even when shared. Your alcove is beautiful with all the plants back in place. The little men are very buff :D
ReplyDeleteOur bank statements can only be accessed digitally on the bank website for seven years, so I download them to have a an electronic record and then I remember how my last computer died without warning and so I print them out as well. Yes, I am a bit obsessive about record-keeping.
My mum had drinks markers, but they were shapes in different colours, I like your men better. I knew the tree fern would be okay, I had some in one of my gardens back in the late 80s.
ReplyDelete