Friday, March 21, 2025

Five For Friday, Edition #18

Yesterday after work, the skies were a clear blue and the dog and I walked for an hour up and down the streets. The day before we got HAILED ON after work and that walk was only about ten minutes, so we both felt like we should stretch our legs when the weather was okay.

I saw a house on the side of Main Street I rarely go down that is EXACTLY LIKE OURS, complete with what looks like a shoddy addition on the back. Crazy. I mean, maybe not. There were probably only like two house builders in our town in the 1910s, right?


Hannah basically never goes into her kennel anymore. The cat has basically taken possession of it. Here she is laying on top of the kennel, specifically, curled up in Hannah's winter coat. I should probably launder it and put in storage for the winter, but I honestly don't know if we'll need it again. Maybe I'll wait a couple more weeks until I'm really sure the coldest part of winter is behind us. 


Across the street from my house is a pre-school. I adore the chalk art on the sidewalk. This masterpiece makes me wonder if all of us just innately know what the space aliens look like.


Our Tuesday night walk took us by a lovely little church near the library. It has a red door. I always wanted a home with a red door, but we have screen doors on both our doors, so it doesn't make sense to get a red door. Anyway. I stopped to get a photo of the door and Hannah bounded up the stairs as if she had been invited in. She refused to leave the stoop - she just stood there watching everything go around. I think she liked the higher ground. Anyway, I just plopped down on the steps and let her people watch. 


On Tuesday I had a periodontist appointment. I am the perio's best patient. I do all the things and my gum pockets stay stable and they clean my teeth, tell me I have great hygiene, and I leave feeling like everything is going well. But my general dentist is shocked by my mouth every damn time because I am their WORST patient. Oh, well. This was a good appointment and I enjoyed Gina the Hygienist telling me stories about her dog, an English Springer Spaniel named Mabel who is scared of her own shadow. I think she and Hannah could get together and tell horror stories.


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What's a snapshot from your neighborhood from the last week or two?

37 comments:

  1. Engie! I had a red door in our house in Calgary! I thought it gave our little bungalow a little zazu! Our neighbourhood in Calgary was built in the 1960s and most of the houses look like one of three models; it's like the builder then was "do you want this bungalow, or this one that's slightly different or..."
    Poor Mabel and Hannah! The world is a spooky place!

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    1. I ADORE a red door. I just think it looks so welcoming - bright and cheerful and happy.

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  2. That sky is REALLY blue! After growing up in the midwest with the incessant gray skies of winter, I can see why you felt the need to get outside on this day. I don't think my neighborhood is as interesting as yours. First of all, like Nicole, there are pretty much three models of houses. I don't really think about it much, but it's pretty boring compared to the town where I grew up- every house was unique. I can see how in that context it would be weird to see a house exactly like yours! I'm envisioning a house exactly like the house I grew up in- it would never happen.
    Ha ha, Zelda. I love the places cats choose to sleep.

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    1. I live in the historic district, so there are lots of interesting houses. Ours is a pretty vanilla American foursquare, but it was crazy to see the exact same house with the same front porch and everything! That's unusual for my part of town since it wasn't created as a development.

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  3. I love the red door, but of course, I tend to love anything red. Politically, I am even red in Canada (liberal colours here opposite of there).

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    1. Well, I like a pop of red in my decoration, so I heartily approve of this red.

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  4. Come walk down my street, and I'll show you the three house configurations that were offered when our neighborhood was built.

    Doggo loves other dogs and doesn't mind when our friends bring their dogs over to our house at all. EXCEPT for the one time that my SILs dog tried to go into her kennel. Doggo was NOT HAVING IT.

    Yes, do not be fooled by the "first day of spring" thing - leave Hannah's coat out until at least May 1st. Then and only then you can think about washing it and putting it away.

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    1. Yeah, most of my town doesn't have purposefully built neighborhoods. (There is an area on the far side of town with giant unnecessary houses with no sidewalks that my husband and I call the "suburbs" in a snotty, derogative tone, but we pretend the suburbs don't exist.) For that reason, I was surprised by the exact replica! It was fun to see. I'd love to go inside.

      I think we'll be well above 20 degrees after this weekend, right? Surely it won't get that cold again...

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  5. I'm giggling, picturing Mabel and Hannah tell the horrors of their daily life with other animals, people, things.
    How sweet to find a Twin House.
    How are you the best patient for one doctor, and not the other. I think your Dentist is just hard to please. :)

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    1. Ugh. The family dentist just doesn't see a lot of patients with severe periodontal disease. While I'm pretty mild for the periodontist, it's pretty extreme for the family dentist. That being said, while this dentist is "new," he's been around for a few years now and he's seen my mouth! I hate that he acts surprised every time he sees it. *sigh* Oh, well. I only have to deal with the family dentist every six months, right?

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  6. Such a blue sky. And that beautiful red door. Mabel and Hannah could become close friends, if they could get over the stress of meeting each other.

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    1. I'm just imagining these two stressed out dogs trying to be friends. LOL. Poor things.

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  7. I love churches with red doors! There’s one in Lake Geneva if you’re ever in that area.
    I took a picture of our yard covered in snow—on the first day of spring, no less. But it’s all gone now because... 55 degrees. I wish the weather would make up its mind!

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    1. I am over this ever changing weather myself. It's why spring is my least favorite season. I got sort of acclimatized to the warmer weather and then it was super cold again. My body can't take it!

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  8. That bike sculpture is great. It looks exactly like my eldest son, Jared, when we took him to ride his two-wheeler down the hill at the elementary school.

    My back door is red. I wanted a red front door, but I didn't have the heart to paint the gorgeous natural oak original one. There are two pink front doors in our neighbourhood, both houses owned by single ladies.

    Zelda knows that you don't put away the winter coats until mid-April unless you want a big snowstorm. I still have our snow shovels on the back patio. They'll stay there until May 1st. I know the rules.

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    1. That bike sculpture is in front of an elementary school!! It's so cool that you knew it was a little kid!!!

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  9. I do not know what to do about the weather. I feel this false sense of security and I've put away winter boots, but I know I'll probably have to get them out again.
    We just made an appointment for mid-April to get the snow tires off our car. I always try to leave them on later than I think I need to because, inevitably, we get some late-season snow storm that makes driving a nightmare again.
    I love pretty doors. That said, we have a very plain white door on our house. So I appreciate them from a far but am scared of actually committing in real life.

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    1. Again, I am shocked by all the people with snow tires. We've never had snow tires. Should we? Is it a quality of life improvement during the winter?

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  10. Is it a space alien or Spiderman? Could go either way! (Our 6 year old grand would say Spidey for sure!) Wait on the coat. You're in WI, right? Yesterday in Michigan we had snow. Nothing to stick, 40s today, but they say temps are "plummeting" this weekend. I hope they're wrong. If I had a snapshot of my neighborhood it would be the return of geese to the ditch. I'm thinking they'll start nesting soon.

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    1. OH!! Maybe it IS Spiderman. I didn't even think of that, but you're absolutely right - it could be. Yeah. We've had snow on and off all week. Nothing sticks, but, yuck. I just want to know how to get dressed in the morning.

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  11. I also assumed Spiderman. I love the red door at the church! And the charming sculpture of the kid on the bike! Great walk.

    It rained and was cold the other day (cold is relative, but it was in the high 30s when I woke up) and then Monday and Tuesday it could hit 80. Then cool and rain on Wednesday. It's that time of year I guess. I love the green this time of year though, it's dry and arid for so much of the year here. The green hills are so lovely.

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    1. Spiderman never occurred to me, but now it's so clear!

      Ugh. I am over spring already and it just started. It's 43 and rainy here and that's disgusting. Most trees aren't even budding yet, so it's just raining and cold and grey and there are no spots of green. Oh, well. Spring leads to summer, right?

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  12. We have a red door! I love it so much. It was red when we bought the house. When we had to replace our door last year, we got a custom door made so that it looked exactly like the old one and we painted it red.
    Our first house had a black door, and our house was west facing and the door would get so dangerously hot in the summer.
    Our weather is so confusing here. It is blustery and cold, but then the sun is out in full force so if you're standing in the sun it's sweltering, but if you're in the shade it feels like you need to put your puffer coat back on.

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    1. Yes for your red door! You're clearly doing home decor right.

      The weather is confusing. Oh, well. Summer will be here before we know it!

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  13. Look at Zelda snuggling up to Hannah’s scent! Glad you and H were able to take advantage of the blue sky day; I hope hail is in your rearview and that Hannah’s sweater can be a cat rest only for the next long while.

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    1. I do think Zelda secretly loves Hannah. Hannah ADORES Zelda, but doesn't understand how to play. I think Zelda likes the attention, but doesn't like the dog clumsiness. LOL. Secret friends is what they are.

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  14. Anonymous3/22/2025

    I love that Hannah wanted to hang by the red door and you let her people watch. A snippet of our neighborhood last week is: one day it was balmy enough for me to catch actual rays (on my phone typing and thank heavens a caught the typo but almost just told you I was catching rats). Few days later we had 4 inches of snow!

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    1. I've just recently discovered that Hannah loves to be high up and watching the world. There a small hill by the water tower and this morning we just sat there for ten minutes and watched people go to church. She was content to just sit next to me and people watch. You learn new things about your loved ones all the time, don't you?

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    2. Yes, I agree that one can learn new things about loved ones and - Oops - that was me! While traveling. and, as an aside - I do not know many people who know what Mephistos are and YOU DO, and those are the BEST shoes EVER.

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  15. Blue skies are such an energy booster. we had some this week too.
    The red door is adorable. Makes everything more friendly, right?

    I visited a newly established farmers market this past week and chatted with the farmers about what is currently growing and i bought some purslane salad that i never had and liked a lot.

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    1. I've never even heard of purslane until this comment. Look at you trying something new!

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  16. I love colorful doors! We have a teal door and it was part of what sold me on our new home (no kidding! LOL) Red is awesome too. And yellow. Any bright color, really.

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    1. Right? I would love a colorful door. Oh, well. I do adore our house even without it.

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  17. I love any door that's an unusual colour. I've been meaning to repaint ours since we moved in here, lo these many moons ago. I love when dogs suddenly find a place they like and it's not quite apparent why.
    I think that kid just accidentally made Spiderman look like an alien, but that doesn't negate your assumption.
    Zelda looks like she's ready to guard that position with her life. Or possibly yours.

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    1. Zelda does not like being moved when she's cozy. If I had needed Hannah's coat, there would have been a standoff.

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  18. I have a sinking feeling my snapshot looks similar to yours! Minus the dog who likes to go for walks in the hail, of course. :)

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    1. Dogs do guarantee a lot of time outdoors. Even when the weather is atrocious!

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