Claudia — Page 573

Day Fifty-Four

May 6, 2020 at 9:34 am by Claudia

Yesterday was a beautifully sunny day. We mowed the front of the property, tag-teaming some of it. I love mowing so I was in my element. Later in the day, when I realized we had a frost advisory (!!) Don helped me haul in some of the porch plants. We also moved the secret garden pots (with coleus and vines) back on the porch until this week of nighttime lows in the thirties ends. Honestly, we’ve lived out here for 19 years and I’ve never seen temperatures this low in May. Kudos to my husband for moving the heavy antique pots after mowing and moving tarps full of debris and leaves in the morning. We were sore at the end of the day, but all in all, it was a satisfying day. Today, we’ll take it easy. Tomorrow, we’ll mow the rest of the property

I didn’t have much spare time, but I did do this:

I truly loved doing this one because I adore these original book jackets.

The period clothing and hats, the beautifully rendered work of Russell H. Tandy, are right up my alley. And I own every one of these after collecting them over the course of a few years.

Then I pondered how I was going to save this since I’d assembled it on the breadboard. I went upstairs to the office and found a piece of foam board that I used to use as a backdrop when I shot photos for my Etsy shop. With some trepidation I aligned it with the breadboard and gently pushed the puzzle off the wooden surface and onto the foam board. It worked! I guess I’ll put it on my desk upstairs until I glue it and have it framed – or make a frame, which would better suit my budget.

Next up:

This beautiful work by Kano Yoshinobu – Peonies. I’m wondering if it will be more of a challenge. Having the book titles to assemble on all the previous puzzles helped enormously in finding the structure.

It’s all good. I’m up for it. I have two more puzzles on the way that should be arriving toward the end of the week.

Today is cloudy and cool. It sure doesn’t look like we’ll see the sun today.

Happy Birthday to my brother Dave who died in 1991. He would have been 73 years old today. It is also the birthday of his son Eric.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Day Fifty-Two

May 4, 2020 at 9:38 am by Claudia

Today’s flowers from Don, presented to me as he came in the door from his morning walk. He is the sweetest man in the world. (Of course, I’m biased.)

A few weeks back, Don mentioned that he was concerned about a pair of Canada Geese he’d seen down by the river on his morning walk. After several days of seeing them together, suddenly there was only one. I thought that since the goose was in the same general area, he may have been guarding his mate while she was sitting on a nest. Today he, saw this:

Five little babies, protected by Mama and Papa. Isn’t this adorable? So now we know. He was protecting the nest. That should bring a smile to your face this morning.

We worked outside yesterday – a lot – Don was out there even longer than I was. We were pretty tired and achy at the end of the day, so today is a day of rest. The temperature hit 80 degrees yesterday and it was beautiful out there. Of course, 80 is too hot for this time of year and today’s temperature will only reach 60 degrees. But it’s sunny! And gorgeous. And the porch is coming together, though I have to buy more potting soil and a couple more plants. I’ll probably do that tomorrow. I’m going to wait to plant seeds until next week. Usually, around here, we can sow them the first week of May, but it’s been so cold, I’m holding off.

Don’s been clearing a part of the property that we’ve sort of ignored over the years. He likes a project and it gives him something to do. I must say, he’s doing a good job of cleaning it up. More and more tiny leaves are appearing on the trees, more and more green surrounds us.

Very grateful for green things and buds and pretty potted flowers always, but especially at this time of year. We’re still watching Cheers every night. Situation comedy doesn’t get much better than that show and we’re really enjoying it. Last night, as we started a new episode, we realized it was the one Don was in. It’s called The Last Angry Mailman – a name I’m well familiar with as it appears on residual checks – and Don has a scene with Cliff Clavin, played by John Ratzenberger, and his mother, played by the fabulous Frances Sternhagen. I’d seen it long ago, but it was fun watching it with Don. You know I saw Don on several series, Hill Street Blues, LA Law, Cheers and more, before I met him. I specifically remember him on LA Law because he had a recurring role as an attorney and one of the most memorable episodes was one he did with the late, great Ralph Bellamy. I remember watching it. Who knew I’d end up married to the guy many years later?

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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