Don — Page 108

Impressions, Pie, Bunnies of the Knitted Variety & Sleeplessness

April 14, 2017 at 7:59 am by Claudia

I can’t be the only person who is having trouble sleeping, right? Amidst the joys of spring, we have the threat of nuclear winter, with two unstable leaders rattling their sabres. I woke up at 4 am today and got up to use the bathroom. That did it. I couldn’t turn my thoughts off and I finally gave up and got up around 4:45.

Insanity. With billions of lives in the balance. The FBI is coming for you and your henchmen no matter what you do, so why don’t you spare us this ongoing fear and resign? That will give you time to prep for prison. Orange is the new black and all that sort of thing.

Okay. Enough of that and on to happier things.

Some shots of the house because Spring brings out my nester instincts and I look at the house with fresh eyes. All done with the iPhone because I was lazy at that moment. We’ll call the photos “Impressions.”

Those of you who follow along on Instagram already know this story, but for those of you who don’t, here it is. Yesterday morning, Fed Ex pulled up in our driveway. Since I wasn’t expecting anything, I was surprised. The Fed Ex guy was carrying a largish box and handed it to me. It was from the Julian Pie Company in Julian, CA. Oh my goodness. Julian apple pies are the best apple pies I have ever tasted and I knew immediately who was behind this surprise.

Sure enough, the message inside said “Sweets for the Sweet, love Don.” That stinker stopped by Julian on his way home from the desert last Monday and arranged to have a pie shipped to me. We used to treat ourselves to a Julian Pie quite often when we lived in San Diego.

Isn’t he the best?

I managed to wait until late afternoon until I cut a slice and then I happily indulged in the taste sensation of a Julian apple pie.

Best crust ever.

Sigh of happiness.

And, though I haven’t knitted in years, I started in on this little project:

We’ll see if it looks remotely presentable once I have finished. If you don’t see a picture, well, you’ll know.

Pie for breakfast.

Happy Friday.

Chatty on a Tuesday

April 11, 2017 at 9:29 am by Claudia

Greetings from the land of abnormally warm temperatures! 77° yesterday, over 80° today. I’ve been cleaning out the garden beds (I’ll be glad when I’m through with all the raking!) I ran to Lowe’s yesterday for new garden gloves and also picked up a paver. Why? Because I’m tired of the bird bath being on a slant (the ground at the top of the drive slants downward) and thought I might be able to get it a bit more level if it was placed on a paver rather than the ground. Mission accomplished, with the help of two stone ‘shims.’

Later in the day, I stopped and visited some friends:

Hello, Emby! The sweetest horse in the world. I fed him lots of carrots, told him that his Uncle Don missed him very much and that I would be visiting him at least once a week. He gave me two kisses. I’m very honored.

That’s Sissy in the shed eating her hay. When she has fresh hay, she has absolutely no interest in carrots. She lifted her head and gave me a look when I called out to her and then went right back to her supper. I messaged these photos to Don and, as I suspected, they made him very happy.

Hello, new Nancy Drew! This (#19 in the series) arrived in the mail yesterday (I have two more on the way.) Nancy is rocking a 40’s hairdo. Love the map, the piano, the globe, the fireplace…all of it.

More egg cups. Walking ware, some California Pottery with the original sticker, Harlequin by Homer Laughlin, a bunny, lustre ware, a chick emerging from an egg and your basic green and white egg cup. The ceramic egg was a gift from my mom. The painted egg may have been, too – I’m not sure.

I have some more that are scattered throughout the house. I’ll gather them together today and take a picture.

My Peet’s is tasting especially good this morning.

Don drove to the desert yesterday on his day off to see the tail end of the wildflower bloom there. But he’s very tired. These are long days in rehearsal and 6 long days a week with only one day off takes its toll. I find I always have to get back ‘in shape’ when I start rehearsals again after a period of time away from them. Don hasn’t done a play in a long time, so it’s a big change for him. And this is a new musical, to boot, with songs, dances, re-writes…everything.

We’re both suffering from a big old case of the ‘misses’, as in “I miss you so much.” It really hit him yesterday. It’s lonely being on the road, even if you’re in the midst of rehearsals with a lot of people. At the end of the day, you go back to your apartment and you’re all alone. I understand, believe me. I’m going to try and get out there in May. We need some time together.

The Anastasia cast album has been recorded and will be available in June. Huzzah!

Happy Tuesday.

Bird Song, Quilting & Egg Cups

April 2, 2017 at 9:19 am by Claudia

Slow and steady wins the race, though I am far from the finish line. Each of these squares measures 12 x 12, so hand quilting one of them takes some time. Since I find that after about an hour and a half or two hours max, I start making mistakes, that’s about all I do a day. Yesterday, I hand quilted while watching figure skating in the evening. But I often do it in the late afternoon while listening to Randi Rhodes’ daily show on YouTube. I was a big fan in the Air America days, though that radio station is long gone. I recently rediscovered her and 4 – 6 pm in the afternoon is now my listening/hand quilting time. She’s whip smart and tough as nails.

It’s still very cold at night around here and I wake up in the morning to frost on the car windows and ice in the birdbath. Spring is taking its sweet time. But as I look at the trees, I see the beginning of buds. And I hear lovely bird song in the morning, along with the beautiful cries of the mourning doves. It’s coming.

This morning I walked outside in my flannel PJs and a winter coat to retrieve the New York Times from its place on the driveway. Cold, but lovely. I decided to substitute for Don, who cries out “Good Morning!” to our trees and animal life every morning. He’s not here, so I took over. I think I’ll do that every morning until he returns. He’ll be happy to hear that. And I just might visit our horse friends this afternoon with some carrots. We’ll see.

When the heck is Easter? I never know from year to year. Okay. I looked it up. It’s April 16th. I’m not into doing a whole egg cup series this year. There are plenty of post in the archives about my egg cup collection. But I’ll throw in a photo or two or three in upcoming posts.

Like this one:

Happy Sunday.

Impressions, Pie, Bunnies of the Knitted Variety & Sleeplessness

Chatty on a Tuesday

Bird Song, Quilting & Egg Cups

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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