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Peanut Battle HD

Remember my photographs of the famous Rosings Park Peanut Battle? This is actually an ongoing war, one which has been waged almost daily for the past four years. Thanks to new technology, I’m pleased to be able to bring you close-up footage of the action: I realize that some of you may find this video …

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The Man with the Meaty Claw

I borrowed the neighbor’s pressure-washer on Friday. After five years at Rosings Park, I decided it was time to clean the gunk and the moss off the sidewalks. It was fun, actually, and strangely satisfying. I encountered a problem, however, while working next to the house. As I sprayed the sidewalk, the mud and grime …

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Hello, Autumn

Autumn is here. The days and nights are getting colder. My usual strategy for coping with the chill is to bundle up. This morning, though, I couldn’t shake the cold. I turned on the heat for the first time since April, and sat at the kitchen table drinking a mug of cocoa. As I ran …

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Complaints from Rosings Park

It’s come to my attention that I haven’t written enough about our cats lately. I apologize. Here, then, is a revealing look at the psychology of the beasts with whom we share Rosings Park. These are the top complaints from each animal. Max “Not enough birds.” “This family is boring.” “Simon plays too rough.” Nemo …

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More from the J.D. and Kris show. I’m upstairs, eating my dinner and answering e-mail. Kris is downstairs making a taco salad. She stops moving around, comes to the bottom of the stairs, and in a whiney/sad/bewildered voice, says, “Jay Deeeeee…..” I know I’ve done something wrong, and I wrack my brain to think of …

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The Idea of Having

“You know our house isn’t really cluttered, right?” Kris said last night. “What do you mean?” I asked. “When you write about your battle with clutter, it makes it sound like we live in a house filled with junk. We don’t. Our house is pretty clean. You’ve just got a lot of stuff you’re holding …

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The Curse of Clutter

While Mom was in the hospital, Kris and I spent several hours at her house cleaning. I’ve noticed before that it’s easy to see the clutter in another person’s house, and this time was no different. The trouble is that it’s difficult to see the clutter in your own house. Coming home from our cleaning …

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From Bread to Cherries

Ah, friends, so many things to tell you in order to relate a simple story. I should write at this blog more often. I’ll do my best to be succinct. In March, I wrote a post at my fitness blog asking which whole wheat bread is best? I picked up one of every loaf from …

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A Lovely Secluded Spot

Last summer on our drive across England, we stopped at Jane Austen’s house. The inside was okay, but mostly I found it a little boring. A house is not a house when there’s nobody living there. It’s an empty shell of a thing — a museum. But I found I loved the gardens. In the …

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The Thunder Rolls

Ah, the Fourth of July. Such a pleasant time in our neighborhood: lots of loud explosions. The early evening is filled with pops and cracks. It sounds like small arms fire, like we’re in some sort of war zone. Of course this is especially pronounced on the Independence Day itself (when the snap, crackle, pop …

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