“Remoted” – Day 69 (Sunday)

It was another enjoyable morning where time was stretchy and gooey and the pace was slow. Coffee (of course), Prime video, and napping dogs, which is always preferable to their yapping. And finally, there was progress on the enclosed porch. The skis and boots, optimistically moved there for easy access last fall in anticipation of winter skiing (which never happened), were relocated to their summer cottage, also know as the backyard shed. Some shipping boxes that seem extra sturdy and a shame to dispose of were moved to the shed. And after three summers of deliberation, the porch windows were finally dealt with.

Since 2017, there has much online research, Pinterest board dreaming, and online and in-store shopping in the search for the perfect solution for the porch windows. The windows had plastic rollup shades that were functional, but didn’t match the window sizes providing a hodgepodge effect with some shades too narrow and wider shades spanning one window and part of another.

The ideal (and expensive) top choices are decorative laser cut panels or double hung shutters for each window. In both cases, the challenges included cost (starting at $30 per window), complicated by count – there are ten windows in three sizes, not all of which match the standard sizes for shades and blinds. If resources were unlimited, custom treatments would be installed and my porch window treatments and I would live happily ever after. Or, more realistically, happily until the novelty wore off.

Porch windows are dressed.

There was a false start with semi-affordable matchstick rollup shades in not quite the right sizes for some of the windows. One was installed as a test, which revealed they offered zero privacy and not much more sun shade/filtering, and they were immediately returned. A budget-friendly option was found at a thrift store when sheer panels were acquired for $1 each. They were laundered, then languished in a bag in the coat closet for over a year, possibly two, it's all a blur now. Today, every unused curtain rod in the house was assembled for an inventory. By some miracle there were enough of the right size matching rods on hand, and the panels were finally hung. The porch space was admired.  Maybe I’ll even start having my morning coffee out there again.

Delicious, but not fried. 

 Bouyant with success, a celebratory delivery supper seemed appropriate. Fried seafood had been on the brain for nearly two weeks. During that time, menus from two local restaurants with delivery were studied and compared several times before my frugal gene activated and the plan was nixed. But today would be the day for the long-awaited fried seafood dinner of fried clams, shrimp, scallops, and haddock with French fries and a side of onion rings. It was a splurge of both calories and budget. I could taste the tartar sauce and imagine tomorrow's leftover lunch as dinner was ordered. With excitement, I checked the order confirmation containing the countdown clock with the order’s progress. That’s when I saw the one word that deflated my supper joy. Baked seafood dinner. Ugh. I ordered the wrong dinner. There would still be no fried seafood on my plate. The baked dinner was delicious, but it wasn’t fried. Maybe next week.