I have spent nearly my entire day (well, from 9:00 this morning until just now 6:30 p.m.) cleaning! We steam cleaned the kitchen carpet (not my idea to have carpeting in the kitchen!!--it was new when we bought it--but the house was built post Civil War era and the entire kitchen seriously needs to be gutted, so we have not "just" replaced carpeting...or any of the myriad things that need to be done...), we washed down walls, I washed and ironed three sets of curtains (the windows are probaby six feet in length and this is always an undertaking as there are five separate pieces of curtains for each window...), and then everything had to be put back in place, and we had to clean up after cleaning up, if that makes sense! And I swear I am not a lazy person, but this endeavor has completely wore me out. I usually walk on my treadmill, but I may have to pass today. I will very shortly be taking an Aleve, however!
On the more interesting side of life, I received two book catalogs in the mail today. I love Bas Bleu. I always find books in there that are "off the beaten path" that I have never heard of before, and are really interesting! For example, here are a few titles that sound intriguing: The Mapmaker's Wife, Object of Virtue, and The Well-Worn Interior (this describes my house very well--my house is certainly well worn). All the book descriptions are like mini book reviews as readers are able to submit suggestions. It is like having a good friend recommend a book.
I forgot to mention this catalog yesterday. I get these every so often, Edward R. Hamilton Bargain Books. They are also online. They have been around for a good while and I used to order loads of books from them. Now they also carry discounted new books. If you really search through you can find some good reads. This folds out into a nice sized newspaper with brief book descriptions. I guess after dinner I may just take a nice long hot shower and be a bit of a couch potato and look at my new catalogs!