Don — Page 33

Day One Hundred Forty-Three

August 3, 2020 at 9:43 am by Claudia

We got quite a bit of rain yesterday afternoon but the thunder that came in the late evening didn’t bring any rain. However, that tropical storm is headed our way and we’re supposed to get a LOT of rain tonight and tomorrow.

Careful what you wish for…

I had to yank on Don’s leash yesterday (obviously not literally.) He took a walk in the morning and pulled some weeds in the rock garden right after that. His medication has a warning about sun exposure, but he had a hat on and it was cloudy.

Late in the day, I saw him going back out there, carrying a weeding tool and when I shouted “What are you doing?” he gestured to the rock garden. I was just about to water the porch plants and as I went outside to get the watering can, humidity that was so high that it felt like we lived in a tropical rain forest smacked me in the face. And it was very sunny. Back in the house. Knocked on the kitchen window. He looked up. I raised the window and said, “Get in the house. Now.” “Just 5 more minutes.” “Don…” “Just two more minutes.” “Now.”

He came in.

Later in the day, he complained that he didn’t feel good, so we had a talk. I told him I was taking charge and that he was allowed to take a short walk every other morning if it wasn’t sunny. No pulling weeds. No mowing. He’s still sick and he’s on heavy antibiotics. To his credit, he realized that he couldn’t do anything and everything, that it wasn’t quite as easy as he thought, and that he had to rest for the next week and a half. He agreed.

He would do the same if our positions were reversed.

I won this little framed painting on eBay. It’s for the English Cottage:

I’m not sure which room it will adorn, but I really love it. It was made in 1979 by a well-known married couple who were miniaturists. There’s a signature on the back.

I played around with furniture placement yesterday as I was waiting for the last of the stonework to dry.

I’ve always envisioned an island dividing the open space on the first floor. I was going to try to build one but I found this piece in an Etsy shop based in Milan, Italy. It has a farmhouse sink, a faucet, drawers and cupboards and the tallest cupboard could be the refrigerator, as I had always envisioned a smaller refrigerator in this space, rather like the one in Don’s studio.

Aga toward the rear (or actual front of the house), large cupboard next to it. Somehow a bit of the paint on the AGA chipped off – how, I don’t know as I had it stashed safely in a cupboard – so I did a little patch, but eventually, I’ll have to look for a paint that better matches that color.

I have a piece coming for the far wall near the sofa. And I want a chair and maybe a coffee table. And lots of books. We’ll see.

There’s so much to be done before I can even think of decorating: the windows, the floors, trim, some beams on the ceiling, the door – which doesn’t fit the frame, so I have to keep adding wood putty to try to make it fit better – then the wallpaper and wall treatments. And that’s just for this room!

That wicker table will most likely go upstairs in the bedroom. But I love seeing it, so it’s in the shot.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Day One Hundred Thirty-Five

July 26, 2020 at 9:14 am by Claudia

The first zinnia. Always a cheerful sight!

Well. I mowed yesterday morning. I started early – at 10 am – and much to my surprise it was unbelievably hot and humid already, though our heat warnings were for today and tomorrow, not yesterday. I did all of the larger part of the front lawn, up around the side of the house, and into the Secret Garden. But I don’t mind telling you that I was completely fried by the time I finished. It was just too humid, but once I had mowed about 2/3 of it, I wanted to finish. I didn’t touch the other side of the lawn or the corral or any other part of the property. I’m glad I did it because the grass was very high due to the heavy rains we had this week. But I’m taking the day off today. I’d already planned to, as we are getting what some of you got yesterday, extremely high temps and humidity.

All I planned on doing outside today was some watering, but Don is bugging me to take a quick head shot for a casting website. To be honest, it’s the last thing I want to do this morning but he’s got a bee in his bonnet about the whole thing. He wants it taken outdoors. He tried to tempt me by saying “Don’t you have to go outside to take a picture for your blog post?” (I did that yesterday, thank you very much!)

I’m well versed in his wiles, which are pretty effective, I must say. He’s a charmer.

So of course, I succumbed.

Once the photo is taken (let’s hope it turns out okay) I am staying in for the rest of the day. I’m already sweating and it’s 9 am. Time to turn on the a/c.

I think it’s a day to read a good book and stay cool, don’t you?

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Day One Hundred Thirty-Three

July 24, 2020 at 9:46 am by Claudia

We got a lot of rain yesterday that lasted most of the day. I’m so happy about that, though it means that I can’t mow today and will have to wait until tomorrow. Our plants are happy, our trees and grass and birds and critters are happy – and we’re happy. It’s still quite muggy and we have two days coming up of temps in the nineties, so tomorrow has to be my day to get out there and mow what I can before I run out of energy. I’m not letting Don do it yet.

He took another walk on the property this morning. He’s sleeping better and I moved back upstairs last night. I counted up the nights I spent down here on the sofa – nine. Oh boy, did our mattress feel good last night! We’re slowly getting back into our daily routines and we realize more than ever how important a routine is, especially during these days of staying home and self-isolating. We’re used to the need to create structure/a routine each day as we’ve been freelancers for years. When I was teaching and coaching full-time, my days and evenings were so full that I craved the one day I got during the week with no structure. But it’s been flipped these past 19 years, so now we create and need our daily routines.

I finished both the Diane Keaton book and Weather by Jenny Offill this morning. Both were excellent. Jenny’s book, written in a ‘pointillist style’ as one of the blurbs stated, was fascinating, compelling and incredibly timely. However, that very style kept me from totally engaging with the main character. It created a distance that had me observing the words, rather than living in the pages. But I liked it and I’m glad I read it. Next up is Furious Hours – Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep. It concerns the trial of a serial killer in Alabama and the book that Harper Lee was writing about it. I’ve wanted to read this since it was first published and this is a signed copy that I got at Shakespeare and Company in Paris. It’s finally time.

What else? I’m constantly, or so it seems, thinking about the interior of the dollhouse and what I’m going to do with it – right now, the open living space on the first floor. I’ll leave the bathroom until last because it’s the room that interests me the least. (Just as our bathrooms interest me the least!) I’ve ordered a pretty substantial piece from an Etsy seller – she makes the most wonderful furniture. She is making it especially for me because the piece that was listed was a bit too tall for the rooms in my dollhouse. She lives in Italy. I’m narrowing down my choice for wallpaper in that room. I’m trying to figure out the window situation. This is what’s going on in my head at any given moment during the day.

Thanks for being there for us during this worrisome time. Don is getting stronger by the day and we are so grateful.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Day One Hundred Forty-Three

Day One Hundred Thirty-Five

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