For me...

We went from 84 degrees to 34 in just two days.  Maybe three, but I think it is two.  With the Indian summer, I've had to run the air-conditioner up until yesterday.  So, that means that my utilities budget is blown.  Both in the spring and now in the fall, we went straight from one mechanical to the other, heat to AC, AC to heat.  Right now, I am trying really hard not to turn on the heat, but right now the house is 56 degrees.  I am cold.  Really cold.

The other problem is that this drop to 34 degrees was rather unexpected by me.  I have not been paying attention to the weather.  So, the migration of the succulents from the front porch up to the solarium for the winter had to take place rather hurriedly as darkness fell and the temperature was dropping instead of a leisurely pace over several days as I did in the spring migrating them out to the porch.

I brought the Boston ferns inside, even though I do not believe they will survive the winter indoor.  They have quadrupled in size and are rather glorious to me.  So, I thought that I would enjoy them for a while indoors.

I also brought in the giant spotted begonias, but they grew so very leggy on the porch.  It struck me that I should have put them in the back yard, perhaps in the haven.  They could have gotten a bit more sun without being burned back there.  So, I plan to cut off pieces, root them, and re-plant both pots.

I got all the succulents inside, but not upstairs.  I brought the two plant stands down from the attic and  and put them in the solarium.  And I filled them with the plants that usually go on them.  I also brought my most lovely of string of pearls upstairs and set it on the mahogany plant stand.  But the rest of the pots, all small that go on the window sills, I have left downstairs, even though they are greatly messing with my visual rest.

Today had just too many trips up and down the stairs.

Being Friday, I started the laundry after showering after my treadmill torture.  That means extra trips up and down the basement stairs.  The migration meant extra trips up and down the main stairs.  And I had already worn myself out completely before realizing the plants were at risk.

Why?  Well, I've been thinking about working on the solarium for a long while.  I've been scouring Craigslist for a writing desk and a night stand for a long time.  I want to be able to work on the notes I sent to my family and friends every two months up in the solarium.  I want to make the room more inviting to me.  But I also would like to make it more user friendly for guests, hence the night stand.

I've not given up searching for a writing desk, but I decided to move this table I have in the parlor.  It is an antique card table, with a top that rotates and folds in half and a drawer, so it can double as a writing desk.  I will not admit what it took for me to get it upstairs.  I oft am willing to sacrifice myself physically when I want something that I am not really capable of doing and have not help.  That I got it upstairs is all that really matters to me.

The side table that I had in the solarium, I moved to the parlor, but it does not really look right there.  I would like another writing desk.  If I found one, then I would put the side table into the guest suite and probably try to sell the antique end table in there.

The other thing that I have been thinking about is to change the chair in there.  My mother encouraged me to get a bentwood rocking chair because it fits with the nature of the room.  However, it is such a large presence in the room.  I would like a chair that is smaller or has a lower back profile or both.  I spotted an antique armless chair that is upholstered with a gentle floral pattern.  I like it, but I think it might not quite go with the botanical rug.  It is only $30, and I am confident that I could get that much for the rocking chair.

I also found a lovely vintage oak rocking chair with its original fabric in GREEN that would match with the bed and the rug and the writing desk that I moved into the solarium.  However, it is not economical at all.  So, I do not see how I could swing it at all.

What would be lovely would be the chair I got for the living room.  It is GREEN and comfortable and  looks just like a smallish club chair, but is actually a recliner.  However, another of those is far, far out of any price range.  I have looked at recliners on Craigslist, but they are all pouffy and oversized.

In any case, I am happy that the writing desk is up there, now.  I am looking forward to being able to write and work up there.  Perhaps if I did some of my number crunching up there, I might be a tad less despairing about it.  Or maybe it would be a tiny bit easier to write here on my online rememberer were I to work on it up there.

I'm coming up on eight years of living here and it is has taken me so very long to find the courage to claim that lovely room as mine ... as a place that could be for me instead of just for guests.  I mean, I never even think of using the basement living space or any of the spare rooms.  But when it is really hot in the summer, it would make sense for me to sleep down there if I wanted.

It is like sleeping on a sliver of my bed all these years after switching from a twin to a full bed.  I try to squeeze myself into the smallest space possible ... all the time.  As if I do not deserve more.  Or as if I should be as small and un-bothersome as possible.  Even in my own home.