Toilet detente, Misfits, cute winter boots

Finally the house plumbing is working again, not without some struggle with the plumber, a good old boy who doesn't take instructions too well.

He did arrive as arranged, with the correct toilet, fixed the one which needed the mechanism, installed the new one. He managed to crack a few tiles removing the old one, which I will get my contractor friend to look at.

And there was an interesting dialogue 

Boud: please reuse the wooden seat from the old toilet 

Lyndon the Plumber: can't be done. It's welded tight, can't remove it. Also the new one comes with a seat.

Boud: I installed the wooden seat by hand, no tools, but never mind, just go with the new one 

L the P: oh

Later, checking the installation, there's the wooden seat all in place. Not the plastic one that comes with.  Probably on his truck.

So I emptied my wallet into the Plumbers Benevolent Fund, and today's another day.

While awaiting Misfits box today I did today's cute winter boots 

Called ICE tipline to report illegal immigrant Musk. 1-866-347-2423.  They've been flooded and have stopped accepting phone calls. But they gave the online address to file a report. 

So I went to www.ice.gov.tip and filed my complaint there, removing all my personal information. They've accepted the report. 

I had a great time describing him as an illegal immigrant of South African origin,a cyber criminal currently defrauding US taxpayers. Addresses White House and Maralago.  

Here's the thing: while they're flooded it stops them from getting tips on other immigrants. And you can file from outside the US, as well as inside.

On to lovely food.

Jeff arriving with the box

And here be user error. I checked my order when I noticed two bags each of potatoes and apples. I appear to be operating in distracted mode, clicking on two when I meant one. 

So I had planned on potato carrot spicy soup this afternoon anyway. I'll have to check out potato recipes.  And maybe apple ones, too. Pie, pasty, crumble, hm.  Too much of a good thing might be wonderful.

But oh well, it's all lovely food and it comes right to my front step, not much to moan about.

About Helen Hip, I had an appointment with an orthopedist tomorrow but feel too stressed with cleaners coming tomorrow too, doesn't fit well.  Too much going on this week.  

So I now have an appointment in early March instead. I notice that since I've resumed my qi gong, Helen's doing better. I even started the hip exercises again.  I'm hopeful.

Happy day everyone, do your bit to resist! And remember it's not about making ourselves feel better. It's about trying to make good trouble. I feel terrible, afraid and weak and old. But I am not going down without a fight! 

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day which I think is about friendship, and here's someone who certainly deserves loving greetings 

 Meanwhile for the more traditional 

Prompt plumber, AMA and Leonardo

Promptly at eight am, the plumber got back to me, and by nine am the downstairs toilet was fixed so it doesn't run all the time. The upstairs one was looked at and they're ordering a new one, same type and color --bone, if you wondered -- so far so good. The guy who came was the one who installed the current ones, so he knows his stuff.

He thinks he can get and install the new one today or tomorrow. 

Edit: update, Wednesday. 

This is important because it's the one off my bedroom, and it's much safer to use during the night than going, while half asleep, down the hall into the other bathroom which is laid out differently. That's asking for a fall.

Then I started the car, wheee, it started right up after several cold days, this is great. One tiny drawback was the patch of black ice on the driver's side. 

I was not eager to fall, so I navigated with great care. Then while the engine ran, I took out the garbage, then found the snow shovel and managed to break up and toss the ice. Much safer now.  It's so good to be able to fix my own ice! I feel quite capable again. 

See chunk of ice propped up against the curb to melt.

And I checked into the AMA YouTube channel for the latest virus and heart news.

Because art will save us all, I thought I'd share this 

This is unfortunately in the royal collection, available only for viewing and study by well connected academics.  The peasants don't get to see this and hundreds of other drawings. I strongly doubt that any of the royals ever browse there, in between dress and hat fittings and intra-family feuds.

Leonardo is a gift to the world, and my egalitarian little artist heart thinks everyone should be able to see and experience his work.  Meanwhile, I remember all the times I copied this and other master drawings as well as Leonardos,  as a student while learning to see a particular view of the turned head.  

It's all about the mechanics of anatomy and perception,  and you can get a whole education from studying and copying this one drawing. Then, after copying,  when you look again, you see it with a more educated eye.

Like this, I learned so much about the shape of the eye and the relationship of the eyelid, and used the knowledge in  doing this ink and wash, much later.

And here you can see the influences in this charcoal, ink and monotype mixed media piece.

Hard to see because of reflections, but you can get the gist.

Happy day everyone, and I hope your gist today is good.

Underfoot and overhead

After a day of total deloogin' rain yesterday, the sun is back. Not even much mud, which means we needed that rain.

So a nice local walk ensued.

There are whole worlds underfoot

And I'm told trees communicate with each other. I wonder if they talk across species and varieties? These beeches seem very confidential, wonder if their neighbors are included in the decades-long convo?

Back home to find panic next door. Refrigerator broke down, no service can be done during the lockdown. Sooooo, frantic moving of food.

 Their other freezer works and is full from recent big shop. Which is why I have a giant bag of ice stored for them in my freezer, not without some squashing in, mine pretty full too.

 So today we're all glad about that because I took the bag of ice back and they've set up the ice chest to help for now till they figure out what next. Never a dull moment.

 Yesterday was her mother's funeral, away from here, which is how they didn't find out until just now about the breakdown. Whereupon they both had breakdowns,too.

And I thought, having done what I could, I needed to go away and play a bit of music.

Editor's Note: if you are not a sight reader or find early music almost as exciting as watching paint dry, skip the next bit.

I played these three suites, composed by Anonymous, from a 1700s book for solo instrument. Probably, knowing the music world, composed by a woman, but moving right along.. I'm playing them on alto, but they're cleverly designed for soprano and tenor, so I might try that, too.

Then I played a bit of Michael East, Elizabethan feller, and I wanted to show you typical handwritten then printed music. Don't imagine I'm rippling away like Michala, though. Just a competent player. Mostly..

 I got most of my music from workshops run by great players who are often editors and arrangers too, and share what they've arranged, or their colleagues have.

  My interest is in medieval, Renaissance and Elizabethan music, and it's a lively world. And it's a small one, so print runs tend to be small, nowadays from the arranger's computer.

Last evening I rounded off my Alec Guinness Film Festival with The Man in the White Suit, and I don't know if there's ever been a better comedy ensemble than in the Ealing studios.

But now, chop wood, carry water, scrub bathrooms, since I cancelled my cleaning family and them toilets won't scrub themselves.

There's a wonderful word that explains everything is part of life, not an interruption to it. Shakuhachi.

 Always good to remember in frightening times. Everything that happens, welcome or feared, is a part of life. A lot of us are at home now. But our "real" lives are not suspended, they've just taken on a new form for us to explore and learn.

Likewise during my long caregiving years, my life wasn't on hold. It was very full, with happiness in there, too, if you looked for it among the stress.. Sometimes I needed stronger glasses to see it, but it was there.

 In fact it was during those years, that I attended a workshop conducted by a shakuhachi flute master and learned about the concept. Very timely learning.

When the student is ready, the teacher appears!