The Spooky Keurig Mini Coffee Maker

After the last Keurig coffee maker died we got a one cup model to replace it. That was over three years ago. We use it primarily to heat water for tea after dinner and occasionally for one cup of coffee when only one of us is here in the morning - a very rare thing indeed. Over the last several months the machine was getting out of sorts. It would start and stop. It wouldn’t start at all. It took several tries to get the thing to turn on and warm up after pouring in the water. Then all of a sudden it started to make brewing noises in the middle of the night and it wasn’t even turned on. It was like some ghostly phenomenon. So we started to unplug it after use. Because I knew it was only a matter of time before this one stopped working completely I ordered a replacement backup unit during the last Amazon prime sale a few months ago. It’s been sitting in the closet. Because of the plugging and unplugging and general deterioration, we decided it was finally time to swap it out yesterday. So we unpacked the new one and placed it in the same spot as the old one - next to the Mr Coffee pot in the kitchen on top of the Kcup sliding rack. I put the old one in the box from the new one and we brought it down to the dumpster area in the building. When I was reading the instructions for the new unit it actually says you should unplug it after every use. Maybe that was the problem after all - although that was just one of many. So rather than ruin the outlet by plugging and unplugging every day we need to get an adapter for this appliance. At least when we did the first run through it worked nicely and after dinner last night I didn’t have to fool around with it to get it going - and while it was brewing it wasn’t screeching at us. I guess most of these things have a shelf life. I hope this new one lasts a bit longer. Let’s see if unplugging it will make any difference. 

Hurricane Ian is Too Close to Home

Whenever there is a weather event in Florida I get concerned. I grew up in Florida and went to college in Florida. I moved away after college but went home at least once a year ever since to visit with my parents. Now that they are no longer with us and since the pandemic, we haven’t returned. But my sister just bought a small condo not far from where our parents lived. My mom gave our house to the neighbors who took such wonderful care of her and none of us were interested enough to want it. Additionally I know a lot of high school classmates who still live there, and know of colleagues from the Midwest who moved there and other people in my past that have homes there for six months out of the year. Many people in our building have homes there for winter. So when hurricane Ian was on the books I knew it wouldn’t be good. My dad located our family on the west coast in 1960 because he was well aware of where the hurricanes typically hit. He was in the coast guard for over twenty years and knew that the west side of Florida was safer. And we didn’t live on the water either - just in case. I was always biting my fingernails whenever hurricanes hit when my mom was still alive. The last two resulted in evacuations. One of them was to a rehab unit quite far inland - she was recovering from hip surgery and there was no choice. She was not happy but at least it would be safer. This terrible hurricane Ian at least made landfall south of where it was originally intended so I felt better for all of the people we know. I am hopeful that my sister’s new condo survived the episode, but I’m sure that the neighborhood was affected because it is on the water. I never wanted to live anywhere near the water and I’m really glad we don’t. But it seems that even living inland doesn’t help much with monster storms like this. 

A Morning Walk in Old Town Alexandria

We were recently in Old Town Alexandria to visit with my FSU friends for breakfast. We hadn’t seen them in six years. They were staying in Williamsburg but made the ride in to DC for an overnight visit. We oftentimes drive in to Alexandria for my weekly photo challenge. And that was the case last week. Aside from the specific subject matter there are always beautiful scenes to take in there. We always park next to the park by the Potomac River, then walk up the waterfront and then over in to the historic neighborhood. The homes are exquisite and so quaint, but we know from experience that they are difficult to actually live in and very inconvenient. We lived in an 1890’s condo building on Capitol Hill and know the realities of living in an historic building. It’s not for the faint of heart. Anyway, we passed through the tunnel, and admired the flowers and vines. The secret gardens are distinguished and welcoming. There was a dapper gentleman who passed us by wearing a big smile and a couple of golden retrievers taking in a nap. And of course the gas lighting takes you back in time. It’s always such a lovely promenade and we usually order food from our favorite Greek restaurant to pick up on our way home. We checked out a place that we considered moving to before we ended up in another northern Virginia town. But it’s nice to know that we can still visit Old Town and Capitol Hill whenever we feel like it. 

Facebook Gray Account

I got a threatening notice from Facebook the other day. It said that I own a gray account and it would be eliminated next month. I have had a Facebook business page for about ten years for LITDigitalart business. The first one - LIT Digitalart and Such - was set up using my personal account, but I didn’t like everything that was added to the business page showing up on my personal page. So I set up LIT Digital Paintings, using my art email address, to work around that and have updated it daily since that time. Well, that is now called a gray account. So I searched the internet trying to find out if I could save my art page and spent hours fooling around with it. I’m still not sure if I resolved the issue. After struggling with instructions and sheer determination I was able to add myself as the admin to my page. I even sent a message to Facebook to see if they could preserve the page I wanted and delete the other one. What I do know is that when I use my personal account I can search on the menu and go to pages. My art page is listed. When I look at roles I show up as the admin and also as an editor. I guess I will find out in October if it worked. At this point in time it hardly matters. But there is almost a ten year history on the page. And that’s something I would miss. 

52Frames One Light Source

Lately I haven’t been thrilled about the subject matter for the 52Frames photo challenge. This week was “one light source.” I wasn’t feeling very creative so we took a ride to Old Town Alexandria to maybe get some ideas. I think my problem was the light source rather than a subject being lit by the light source. The tunnel was interesting but probably didn’t do the trick. And I have used that location before. The spaces in between the houses didn’t work either. The light shining on the front doors and shutters was very pretty, but not quite right. I though the golden retrievers taking a nap was cute, but there was too much going on. The gas lights were great as a single source of light, but they weren’t shining on anything in the daylight. Then I tried a few things around the house - a plant, a vase, a pear brandy bottle. Nothing really looked very good. Then the sunlight was hitting the dining room mirror as it does at this time of the year and the cascading light created rainbows on the wall. So I stood in the shadows and the light hit my glasses and the rainbows could be seen further along the wall. If nothing else it was an interesting option. When I put all of the images on instagram this photo got the most attention. I actually preferred the pear brandy glass container and shadow but it was the least liked image! The self portrait probably isn’t the best photo I’ve taken, but it took a lot of effort! 

The Queen’s Funeral

It’s been almost a week since the Queen’s funeral. It feels like such a long time ago. That’s funny because the ceremonies lasted for such a long time. Although it was sad, it was also a great diversion from the routine news these days. And for people like us who love everything British the pomp and circumstances were extraordinary. Yes it was a bit overkill, but there was something else going on. It was the end of an era. I couldn’t help but think of my own mother who died almost three years ago at the same age as the queen. As people who lived for all of those years they had a lot of shared experiences. I was going to major in history before I switched over to nursing of all things! I also prefer non fiction books and biographies to fiction and mystery and other worldly subjects. Whenever special events occur I used to save the magazine covers and newspaper clippings. Now I take screen shots of extraordinary news. During the viewings of the proceedings I took a few photos of whatever was playing on tv. And there were times when I got teary eyed - any my husband did too. I’m glad we both “enjoy” pretty much the same types of shows and programs. That was one of those once in a lifetime events. And we didn’t want to miss it. I’m glad we had the opportunity to visit England three times. It makes these events all the more endearing.