Don — Page 32

Day Three Hundred Forty-Four

February 20, 2021 at 10:19 am by Claudia

I’ve named this “Sun on Endless Snow.”

We’re getting a bit more on Monday and then the warm-up should begin. I hear a bird singing right now. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but hearing a bird sing in the dead of winter is always a comfort to me – a sign of hope. I always stop and listen and thank Mother Nature.

Don has decided that we should frame the puzzle I finished yesterday – The Piano Lesson. I think he’s right. So I carefully moved it off the table and onto a piece of foam board. At some point in the future, we’ll use puzzle glue and frame it.

I started the new puzzle, but I sort of ran out of steam, so I didn’t do much. I’ve been working so intensely on them that I needed a break. This morning, I read a big chunk of Mrs. Tim Carries On, and it felt good. It’s such a lovely book and it describes wartime England beautifully. Anyway, more reading is on the docket for today, plus a little laundry and cleaning. It’s not supposed to stay sunny all day long, but the sun is shining brightly at the moment and that sure helps.

Don and Dan have released a new song, “Lust in the Dust.” It hearkens back to Marty Robbins and Old Westerns and I love it. (I contributed some background vocals.) Here’s the link.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Day Three Hundred Forty-Three

February 19, 2021 at 10:22 am by Claudia

It snowed most of the day and night and it was snowing when we got up this morning. But surprisingly, I think we got about 3 inches at most. Don is out there shoveling right now, so I’ll have a better idea when he comes back in. We’re supposed to have more snow on Monday, but after that, temperatures will be in the forties with some rain and a lot of snow melt.

It ended up being a lovely cozy-day-inside with Don recording a song and lots of puzzle work from yours truly. I know how lucky we are. We have power and heat and shelter and food. My heart breaks for the citizens of Texas who are suffering during this crisis. It didn’t have to be so devastating.

And Ted Cruz continues to be an ass. Not only is he an inciter of insurrection, but he’s also a guy who takes off with his family for Cancun in the middle of this crisis, leaving his dog behind in his ‘freezing’ house. And then he lies about it and blames it on his kids. I vowed not to write about politics for a while, but this isn’t politics. This is dereliction of duty, plain and simple.

On to something else:

Almost done. This puzzle, The Piano Lesson, is one of my all-time favorites. I took piano lessons for eight years and I well remember sitting in my teacher’s living room waiting for my turn. I also remember several of us crammed into that same room for our recitals.

It’s perfect. She obviously lives in NYC, perhaps in a brownstone. She has a loft upstairs where she sleeps. Lots of bookcases, a birdcage, cactus plants on top of a radiator cover, framed photos of musicians, tchotchkes, including miniature pianos, a statue of a composer (perhaps Beethoven?), a miniature Eiffel Tower. A poster of a Glenn Gould concert. One child is playing the piano. Three are waiting; two with arms crossed, one studying her music. There are mugs and hot chocolate(?) and some sort of cake waiting on the table. A comfy sofa, flowers everywhere, an umbrella stand near the entrance.

I loved working on this one because there was so much detail – little objects and hidden gems that were unveiled over time. Speaking of flowers everywhere, that unworked area is filled by a hanging ivy plant.

I’ll miss this one.

Next up:

From 1964, Art Shop.

And I’m going to order more.

Don is still shoveling, but it’s obviously easy to clear because he’s not using the snowblower. Good!

Stay safe.

Happy Friday (which I keep thinking is Saturday.)

Day Three Hundred Thirty-Three

February 9, 2021 at 10:24 am by Claudia

You can’t see it very well, but it’s snowing. Lots of snow has been falling all night long and by the end of the day, we should have at least 6 more inches of snow on the ground. More likely 8. That will result in more than 30 inches on the ground at the moment. It’s very cold and snow isn’t melting. It’s accumulating.

I started in on The New Yorker puzzle – The Opera House. These are notoriously difficult because they’re based on art work, with all the brush strokes and squiggles and slashes of paint. Plus, this company – as I well remember from last year – doesn’t use traditionally shaped puzzle pieces. There are all sorts of weird shapes. I managed to finish the top of the puzzle and believe me, though it was quite difficult, it’s the easiest part of the puzzle.

And the other puzzle arrived in yesterday’s mail:

Appropriately, given my years of piano lessons, it’s entitled The Piano Lesson. Love this cover, with class clearly taking place in a New York City studio.

In the Sixties, as you can see, The New Yorker was 25 cents an issue. It’s now $8.99 per issue. Yikes.

Two things:

1. Don released a new single, one I really love. Here is the link. They’re all available for download – free of charge. It’s called Red to Red. Don plays his electric guitar in this one. It’s a nod to Don’s beginnings in his godfather’s Polynesian band, with (in my humble opinion) another nod to Les Paul and Mary Ford.

2. I’m just about to finish Winter Solstice. Love, love it. I read some Rosamunde Pilcher decades ago, some of her earliest novels. What would you Pilcher lovers recommend that I read next? I’d love your advice.

Thank you for all the lovely comments about our girl. We miss her terribly. We were her parents for 16 years, but she was actually 17 when she passed away. We rescued her at the age of 11 months. All of our dogs were rescues. We wouldn’t do it any other way.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Day Three Hundred Forty-Four

Day Three Hundred Forty-Three

Day Three Hundred Thirty-Three

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives