Happy Spring!

Spring is officially here. Thank goodness. The sun is higher, warmer and shines longer each day. There is hope, and a promise. Yes, there are many in mourning for many reasons, but a new book, Enlightenment Now, asks...

Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: In seventy-five jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. This progress is not the result of some cosmic force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction that reason and science can enhance human flourishing.

Well, the sunshine was welcome yesterday. Today it's a bit brisk, but warmer than it has been. Slowly the solstice moves the sun around.

I went off to sit with my client, Tuesday. Hubby played outside with the cats. Annabelle roared up the tree. Hooper looked up and couldn't believe his eyes.


The robins seem to have left this past winter. Sometimes they stay. We had about a dozen one year, only a pair another. We've had none until this week.


The deer hang about. They sit in the sun, under the trees, chewing their cud.


The eagles are flying.


 We settled on a new TV stand for the old TV – in Smiths Falls. [Shopping for a new TV stand] The TV was on sale in March, 2010. It has held up well.
It looks like we are grown ups living in a grown up house, now! We bought the TV stand from a local Smiths Falls store, with free delivery.

They brought it in and plunked it down. My goodness, I'm glad I work out and lift weights! Out with the old, in with the new. The old one we bought with the house – it is missing a slat at the bottom.

I hooked it all up, and we are good to go. All the cords are hidden, and we have more storage space.

Then, as I previously mentioned, the great debate in Smiths Falls. It has hit the streets.
It is, as they say, a 'heated debate.'

Wow, talk about a passionate community. This is the scene in Smiths Falls where residents are protesting changing diagonal parking to parallel parking. Originally the plan was rejected, but reversed the decision earlier this year. @ctvottawa #ottnews #ottawa pic.twitter.com/cRGaoNTyxx

— Christina Succi (@CTVChristina) March 18, 2019

Shopping for a new TV stand

The second hand TV and stand.
A gift from the kids' house.

The old TVs are gone to recycle. Time to move into the new millennium. We watch a lot of TV, I confess. We watch a lot of DVDs, mostly mysteries. We just finished the US series: House of Cards. Wowsers. Art imitating life, methinks.

TV stands sure have changed. But, then, TVs are so light. 

We are going to move the old TV stand to the basement, and get something new for upstairs. The cats like TV, too. They had a bit of a bad time. The last two films we watched had barking dogs in it. Annabelle, especially, didn't like it. I'm wondering if there were dogs or coyotes after her when she was homeless.

The upstairs TV stand,
built by the previous home owner,
we've had it 9 years.

We didn't know what we wanted. JB went around Smiths Falls, after his walk, and I suggested he take photos, which he did! He did a fine job. You can use anything as a TV stand. New TVs are so light.
Trick is, there aren't a lot of stores around. Hubby hit all the second hand stores, as well as the local furniture stores.

When the snow has thawed and frozen again, horrid walking conditions: shopping! You can see a lot of different styles, especially after looking them up online, they pop up in all sorts of for-profit webpages. You can order them online for about $200. I looked for a nesting box, it popped up on the ad page.

$698

$25, but missing shelves, and wobbly
We were ready to buy it, but did not once we inspected it.

$800, originally $1700
It's solid wood in an interior design store.

$25 – heavy metal

The front door slides, one person bought it to use as a dresser,
not a bad idea!

They have cardboard TVs on them!
With all the peripherals, you need open shelves, and most have holes in the back.


Some have an electric fireplace built in.


The new ones, made of real wood, range from $500+ CDN. I like the look and feel of wood.


What's with the raised tops for coffee tables??!!

a coffee table... $398

We have a decision to make. We'll get some money back from our taxes, once I do them up.

It was a nice drive home.

 Diana has done up her cow! I love it...

My back is really sore. Time for a workout and stretches. Meantime, cat watching! OK, cat discipline. He found it. I had such high hopes.