Weekend Update: Sandy Edition

Basically, all everyone and anyone I know did over the weekend is get ready for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy!As I write this at nearly midnight, the storm has not yet arrived in all its fury. It’s raining lightly and is so still outside, but I know it’s coming, having just watched the news for hours!

On Saturday, it was eerily quiet, and the sky will filled with high pale clouds, as well as some fast-moving puffier clouds, being spun off the storm.

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This week, I was visited in the back garden by a number of blue jays! Although they are terribly squawky birds, and not at all friendly, they are great to look at.

They were chasing the squirrels and the other birds in order to gather the most acorns.

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I had a chance to look at a historic house the other day. It was sad because it had been used as a home for wayward girls for the past 50 years, and so had gone through a lot of rack and ruin by people who had no appreciation for it. However, enough of the original details remained that it was still interesting.

There were fireplaces in each of the rooms, including the TEN bedrooms.

Some were rather simple,

while others retained their classical motifs.

Several of the original pier mirrors remained, but they weren’t in perfect condition.

These two are at opposite ends of two adjoining parlours.

One of the fascinating things about the house was the system of skylights on the second and third floors. This hallway is lit by a skylight above bringing in a lot of natural light, and in the floors, at regular intervals, there are huge pieces of heavy glass that allow the light to pass through to the hallway below.

There were still many of the original “below the stairs” features, including this old pantry,

this old-fashioned porch,

with its haint-blue ceiling,

and almost all of the original shutters in each of the dozens of windows.The house is for sale for $495,000, but it needs some work to make it gorgeous again!

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My friend Ella just left for South Georgia Island, ANTARTICA! For 14 months! Ella’s going to be the boating officer for the British Antarctic Survey. She’s started a blog so that friends in warmer climes (and that would be pretty much everyone!) can follow along on her adventures. Check out Ella’s blog at Ella Down South and give the gal some words of encouragement. It will take a few days for her to get there, so maybe look later this week!

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My pumpkins have been stowed away safely, lest they blow away during the storm.

If you’re in the path of the storm, I hope that you make it through undamaged in every way.