27 January - Indoor Pursuits on a Rainy Day

 

An atmospheric river, also known as a pineapple express, is flowing over our island today and tomorrow, bringing lots of rain and warmer than normal temperatures. I hear it outside now, trickling in the eavestroughs and falling softly on the roof. It's very cozy indoors with the two of us reading and the fire glowing merrily. I'm sure you're envisioning a pretty scene.

I have to be honest. Although it is very cozy, the house is in very much of an uproar. The time has come to put in the hardwood flooring in the living room and entrance hall. Tim completed the staircase, replacing the carpet with wood stairs and building a new railing with a more modern look. Now for the remainder of the flooring on the main floor. The carpet was removed yesterday. Now our cozy couch is sitting on a plywood sub-floor, one that was opened up in multiple places to update plumbing today. The piano is in the entrance hall and the other furniture piled up in the dining room. Not so pretty a scene, but still dry and warm, with perhaps a sense of rustic coziness. 

I spent yesterday and part of this morning painting the walls in the foyer. That done I retreated to the kitchen, still beautifully intact, and did some baking - a date loaf and a lemon loaf. When I asked Tim which we should eat now and which one should go into the freezer, he suggested the lemon loaf, my unspoken choice, too. Tender, with a hint of lemon in the loaf itself and then a sharp lemon glaze poured over when just taken out of the oven. A burst of citrus sunshine is particularly delicious on a grey monotone January day. 

In a half-hour or so we'll halt our reading to watch Foyle's War, which we've seen before. We're enjoying the re-runs just as much now, several years later. I think a cup of herbal tea would be the perfect accompaniment. 

I hope you are all warm and cozy, too.