Green bananas

Mom says she likes her bananas green; I cannot imagine why. I usually buy a bunch of green bananas every few days and they ripen quickly to brown on the outside and sweet and creamy on the inside. The bananas I bought last week are still green and they are not sweet at all. In fact, they don't taste very good but I have soldiered on and used them in my morning soy protein smoothie all the same. I don't dare leave it for any length of time because it becomes a thick, gelatinous glob and I end up adding more water just to thin it out so I can drink it before it solidifies again. Might be great for Lynn since she hates the smell and taste of bananas since both smell and taste are completely absent.

As promised, I took some more pictures this morning since Beanie said she likes seeing what I'm talking about. I quickly vacuumed the sage that fell on the floor from my smudge stick first, so the floor would look clean. Anyway, we'll start with the sofa where you can see my laptop open on the pillow I borrowed from the love seat that used to be here in the living room as the only piece of furniture, and the camera case that protects my new digital camera. The door in the background is supposed to be bare because the landlady didn't want the beautiful solid oak door covered in paint. Yes, in the background through the doorway you can see the clothes I haven't hung up lying all over the love seat in the bedroom. The chaise is my favorite piece of furniture in the living room because it makes me feel like a courtesan or demi-mondaine waiting for her lover reading a book and looking seductive. I usually lounge there with a book and cover my legs with a lap robe when I'm cold or feeling chilly and I'm usually dressed in less than seductive clothes, but it's the thought that counts.

The south wall is where you'll find the windows that look onto the mountains that look so misty this morning, the TV (yes, it is a little tilted because the floor is a little uneven there) and the relationship corner. On the west wall I hung the three framed drawings the landlady loaned me a month after I moved in so it looked a little more like I was planning to stay instead of leave in the middle of the night. This place was very bare until this year because money was scarce. The other picture is one of my mother standing next to a Lucky Dog hot dog cart like I used to push when I lived in New Orleans about 23 years ago. And that ends our pictorial tour for today.

I was talking with a friend this weekend who was complaining his wife had just spent a huge amount of money just before going on a rather expensive vacation next week. His predicament made me think of what I spend, which is more than I spent when I lived up at the cabin, but still less than most people spend. Part of the reason why I buy green bananas and waited so long to buy any furniture is because I didn't have the money and because I decided that I wanted nice things this time around. The living room painting would be done and I would have my built in book shelves with a sturdier place for my television, new carpeting and a console table behind the sofa instead of the hutch that goes to my desk in the office if I had more money or were willing to go further into debt. I'm not. The only things I owe on right now are the sofa and chaise, laptop and digital camera, but like everything else here they will be paid off before the end of the year, and will have to be paid off before I get the built in bookcase in the living room and bedroom and the modular L-shaped desk I want to put in the sunroom/office. They will have to wait because I need to fix the wonky wiper blade on the car and have the brakes checked out soon.

I live on a budget and I don't have credit cards or accounts all over town. In fact, I just bought my first set of dishes and silverware a couple weeks ago. Bill and Bear gave me a partial set of dishes, saucers and bowls for Yule and I bought four cheap place settings at the dollar store that looked cute but fell apart, leaving me with one fork, two spoons and four knives. The two tablespoons I bought for a dollar lasted longer because they didn't have those cute plastic handles or the fake silver that washed and rusted off of the handles just before the cute plastic handles fell off. I guess the glue couldn't take being washed. I bought four glasses at Goodwill and the boys gave me a bunch of mismatched cups and glasses that I put into the cabinet next to the beautiful Pikes Peak mug Chuck and Lynn bought me when we drove up to the top of Pikes peak last year.

I want nice things but I don't need them right now. I can wait. I have lived out of a suitcase and in furnished places for the past seven years, owning nothing I couldn't pack into the trunk of my car within 15 minutes before getting back onto the road. I have acquired a thing or two but I left them behind me for people who needed them more, selling off or donating to the library books I couldn't fit into the car and didn't really need, always traveling light. I have beautiful glass and metal tables now but until a few months ago my tables were empty boxes and the only places to sit were my office chair, the love seat, the bed or the floor. There is lots of floor space to sit on. I'm not faulting my friend or his wife for spending money. If I had more money I would spend more. I'd buy some land and have a cabin built in a secluded grove of trees with rich land for an herb and kitchen garden where I would be lulled to sleep by the wind whispering through the trees and a nearby lake, river or stream tripping and gurgling over the rocks. I might even buy a jeep or a kayak or canoe to travel paddle in the water for fun or to fish. I don't have the money and I have learned not to spend more than I make or go too far into debt because climbing out is a lot harder than getting in and I have seen the strain debt places on relationships.

So I'll keep buying green bananas and soldiering on despite the lack of taste and sweetness and my apartment will stay largely unfurnished until I can pay off what I have and afford to buy more a little at a time. I'm not going anywhere. This is home and I want my home to be comfortable and furnished with a few nice pieces that will last. I don't need much because I'd like to leave a little room for visitors and one other person to share the space and help put their mark on our home.