Also, I had had a little retail therapy. There are upsides and downside to making friends with antique dealers. The upside is, they are usually happy to see you, fun to talk to, and, if you are lucky, they often have something really yummy you might need. Mr. Blandings might question the definition of “need,” but I think you know what I mean. The downside is, sometimes you drop in just to say “hi” and things happen. Perhaps you want to put something on the wish list for the next buying trip, and it turns out you are on a buying trip yourself. This happened to me at Suzanne Cooper’s on Saturday. I’d been eyeing these vintage jars for a while and she finally “gave” them to me. Sort of. But they are quite big, very heavy, and will be fabulous filled with holly or sunflowers, and absolutely glorious when the peonies bloom. Which may be never as it is a ridiculous 17 degrees here.

My subscription for domino finally arrived. I not sure my pregnancies lasted longer, or ended with at much relief, as this process. I danced a jig at the mailbox.

And, the rug came. I have a wonderful receiving company that I use, and one of the nice things about them is they don’t balk when you say, “Um, I do have a couple of things that need to be moved.” and the things are a 200 pound desk and a 500 pound chest that you didn’t get around to emptying. Well, you saw the living room, it’s not like I didn’t do anything. And I Swiffered. And picked up no fewer than fifty Legos.

I have to say, I love it. I wanted to do wall-to-wall, but Mr. Blandings furrowed his brow, which means he’s highly concerned and I conceded. I still think I was right, because that is how I am, but I’m very happy with the results.