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You are here: Home / Archives for Claudia

Day Forty-Nine

May 1, 2020 at 9:36 am by Claudia

Finished.

I inserted the last piece in the early afternoon yesterday.

Then I let it sit for 24 hours so I can admire my handiwork! Actually, I keep it there to admire the design of the puzzle itself. These puzzles are so bright and wonderful with all the wonderful cover illustrations. Hard to take a picture of all the detail, especially on a dark and rainy day, but you get the idea.

A close-up of one of the book covers.

And another.

This one is my favorite:

Can you imagine all the young boys who wanted this Detective Handbook? Who wanted to learn about “Authentic detective methods for solving mysteries?” I wonder if I can scout out one of these on the Internet? I’d love to have it to add to Don’s collection. It’s sort of like sending in for decoder ring or a special prize on a cereal box. A special detective handbook!

Such a pleasure working on these puzzles (thank you again, Vicki!) I love doing them, I learn about the books, and I inevitably think I don’t have enough pieces (it happened again,) am faced with the empty space where the last piece should go but I’ve used them all and then…discover it on the floor. This happened to me with both puzzles.

It rained all night long – very, very heavy rain, so we have a river flood warning. Today? Rainy, thunderstorms in the afternoon. You can bet I’m pulling out the next puzzle. It will be the perfect thing to do on a rainy, thundery day.

But first, we’re going to the nursery/farm stand. We’re out of fresh vegetables. I’ll see if any of the plants I want/need have come in. We’ll wear masks. We’ll take disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer. And then we’ll come home and wash our hands and all the vegetables and then we’ll wash our hands again and take showers and put on hand sanitizer.

It takes twice as long to do anything these days.

Tomorrow, we pick up our order from the grocery store. We’ll disinfect everything. And then, hopefully, we can lay low for the next week.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Filed Under: jigsaw puzzles, social media 39 Comments

Day Forty-Eight

April 30, 2020 at 9:39 am by Claudia

Rain and more rain, including very heavy rainfall overnight tonight.

As Don said this morning, “I guess I won’t be doing any work outside.” Yep. We’re stuck indoors for the day.

Almost finished. Once again, I look at the number of the remaining pieces and the empty spaces on the puzzle and worry that something is missing. I did that last time. Don kept saying he was sure I had enough. We even had a $5 bet going on the subject, which I lost, as I did have all the pieces.

It’s a very dark day here today so getting a good photo is difficult.

Thank goodness for these puzzles and for this, which arrived a day early.

These are Nancy Drews with the original cover illustrations, designed by Russell H. Tandy. They’re the ones I collect and I have all of these on my shelves. Don thinks this is one I should frame as it could hang on the wall near my children’s bookcase in the upstairs hallway; the bookcase where I have all of these, along with some Hardy Boys and childhood favorites that were my mother’s. It would be neat, wouldn’t it? Don comes up with some pretty good ideas.

Honestly, there’s not much to report. It’s dismal out there, the garden is progressing but not to the point where I would take photos. We’re currently debating when to go get fresh produce. When we do that, I’ll check to see if there are any more flowers and plants in at the nursery. Saturday we drive to the grocery store to pick up an order. Pick up seems to be more readily available than delivery.

I know this is the new normal, but the combination of worry and planning and sanitizing along with the gray and rainy weather is a bit too much for me today. It all seems a bit grim at the moment. That will change, of course, so don’t worry about my state of mind. It’s just what it is this morning.

Thankfully, the weekend weather forecast looks positively pleasant!

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

 

Filed Under: jigsaw puzzles, social distancing 36 Comments

Day Forty-Seven

April 29, 2020 at 9:35 am by Claudia

I didn’t work on this until late in the afternoon yesterday, but I made a lot of progress. I guess it’s like solving a crossword puzzle, the more you do them, the sharper your skills become. I’m certainly putting this one together more quickly than the Nancy Drew. Maybe too quickly…

I do have another puzzle arriving in the mail tomorrow, but I’m worried that, since the second puzzle I ordered hasn’t even shipped yet and won’t ship until next week, I might be twiddling my thumbs for several days. I might have to order another one in the meantime – one that will ship quickly.

We worked outside yesterday. Don cleaned up an area near the shed, I worked on edging one of the garden beds, trimming brambles, cleaning up other beds, and weeding the peony beds. I was tuckered out afterward. My stamina needs improving and just like working a jigsaw puzzle, the more I do it, the stronger I’ll become. Ideally, I’d work out there several days in a row and that would help enormously, but unfortunately, we’re due for 3 or 4 more days of rain.

Enough already.

I finished A Gentleman in Moscow  this morning. Even better the second time around. I’m sad; I love the story and the characters and Amor Towles’ writing. What to read next is the question for the day. I have no idea! I keep staring at my TBR pile but nothing is calling out to me. I’ll give it time and eventually, something will.

I saw a pileated woodpecker this morning, a male cardinal, two deer, and some fat robins.

No Henry yet. No bunnies, either, though Don has seen one.

And that’s it from the cottage today.

Stay safe. Stay home.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: books, jigsaw puzzles, reading, social distancing 41 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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