jigsaw puzzles

Stay Playful

July 12, 2024 at 8:48 am by Claudia

I mowed yesterday – all of the front lawn and up the hill to the secret garden. It felt great to get some exercise. But then I did some weed whacking (more of that this morning.) I probably should have stopped at the mowing. Anyway, long story short, I took a long nap in the afternoon, slept well last night, and feel great this morning. I’m going to do a bit more weed trimming this morning before the predicted rain comes this afternoon.

But it sure looks nice out there. With these hot and humid days (more predicted for Sunday though Wednesday) we have to grab whatever pockets of sane temperatures there are and do some work.

Meanwhile, in the midst of political insanity, I do what I always do; find moments to escape inside the covers of a book, or put together a puzzle, or play with my dolls. A troll who appeared on the blog the other day when I referenced he-who-shall-not-be named said something they hoped was disparaging: “an older woman who plays with dolls.”

Of course, it wasn’t at all disparaging! It was a compliment. I seek joy. I don’t always find it when I need it, but I usually do. I have never lost the playful, imaginative girl I was. She’s still here, always with me, always ready to create, always ready to play.

Here we have two playful things that delighted me this week:

This jigsaw puzzle from Shakespeare and Company in Paris. I follow the store on IG and the minute I saw it, I had to place an order. It’s so whimsical! Animals and birds are everywhere, perusing the books that are displayed inside and outside the shop. If you can zoom in on this, you should. It’s absolutely delightful. Note the little mice in the lower right hand corner with their own mini displays of books.

Shakespeare and Company in Paris and John Sandoe in London are my favorite bookstores. I wish I could teleport to them right now.

And then I pulled this girl off the shelf, where she’s usually sitting next to Pru.

She and Bertie are about to set off on a walk.

Lily is what is called a BJD (ball jointed doll) and there’s a whole world of them out there, small and large, realistic and fantastical. There are collectors who only collect BJDs. They’re usually made in resin and made in small quantities because they have to be hand assembled and strung. This is usually done by the designer. The designer in this case is Eat Zongzi, who lives in China. She does lovely work. Anyway, Lily is probably about 6 inches tall and she stands on her own and I sometimes forget what a great little doll she is to have by my side. She’s sturdy, as well.

She has little teeth!

Her sister, also made by Eat Zongzi, was Wren. Last year when we needed some money, I sold her to a doll collector friend, who told me if I ever wanted her back, she would sell her to me. She’s a lovely person. At the end of 2023, I was really missing her and asked Tania if I could buy her back. Of course, she said, but she had to be honest; her cat had just knocked some of the dolls from the shelf and one of Wren’s fingers broke off. Tania was going to order a new body from China and hoped it would be in the USA by February or March, but so far…nothing. If the delay goes on much longer, I may buy her, missing finger and all.

Just to remind you, here she is:

I really miss her.

Okay, my friends. See you tomorrow.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Flowers, a Dove, and a Puzzle

June 26, 2024 at 9:16 am by Claudia

Right after I took this picture, I yanked the invasive vine that was about wrap itself around my day lilies.

Thanks so much for all the wonderful birthday messages for Don. He had a great time on the set. In this scene he’s dressed in a Mummer’s costume and how I wish I could share the photos with you because it’s FABULOUS, but we are bound to secrecy. All I can say is Wow!!! He got home in time for dinner and he opened presents after dinner. All in all, a lovely day for my dearest husband. He deserves it.

The hydrangeas have survived the intense winds that came as the hot, hot weather exited our region. Rain, thunderstorms, wind and, so far, they’re okay. There are more blooms this year than I’ve ever seen. I expect that’s because of all the rain we had this winter and spring.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day and Don and I sat on the glider, drinking our coffee. We noticed a mourning dove flying to our big maple. A minute later, he would fly back across the street to our neighbor’s property. And on and on. From Don’s seat on the glider he could see the dove land, then walk up a branch, stop, and then turn around to walk a few steps down the branch – then back across the street. So, obviously, we thought there must be a nest there. After watching this sweet bird for about 45 minutes, I finally saw a worm hanging from his mouth as he headed back to the tree. Aha!

It was such a pleasure watching the dove and listening to all the bird calls. We didn’t want to leave, but we had to get ready to go vote in our primary.

By the way, I stood under that tree and, try as I might, I could not see a nest. Since it’s such an old tree and has lost several limbs over the years, I was sure I would spy the nest. Nope!

Today we assemble the new lawn mower. It’s pretty easy, but both of us are needed to get it out of the box.

This is the Klimt puzzle I finished the other day. This was a hard one! I spilled water on some of the edge pieces and had to cram them back together. And one brown piece is missing. To tell the truth, I was glad to see it finished. It was a bit of a pain in the tush.

I am not going to watch the debate. I cannot stand to see or listen to that man. His voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Don doesn’t want to watch either. We will retreat to the land of Northern Exposure instead.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Catalpa Blossoms and a Puzzle

June 7, 2024 at 8:09 am by Claudia

We had a huge storm yesterday afternoon, which sent some of these blooms down to the ground, but thankfully, there are still lots of flowers on the catalpa tree.

What a wild storm – rain and wind and a crazy intensity. It lasted about 30 minutes.

Here’s Maeve examining a catalpa blossom. She was quite taken by the size of the flowers.

I finished the puzzle:

It’s another Mucha and it’s called Reverie (Dream.)

I have run out of Mucha puzzles as I’ve done all of them, Sigh. So I ordered a Klimt and that should be arriving today.

We are now attempting to live without a microwave. I’ve never cared for the look of them and we were using the smallest and least instrusive one we could find, but it started to rust inside and then it misbehaved and smelled funny and we felt it was no longer safe. We really only use it rewarm coffee and make oatmeal, both of which we can do with Stella, so we added it to our pile of crap that needs to go to the bigger dump in the next town and we are now microwave-free. And we have more counter space, which we love.

I’m headed into the last section of The English Girl. by Daniel Silva. I’m not sure what I’ll read next. I have three books on hold in our library system that are being released this month but it usually takes a while to get them.

After so much groundhog activity last summer – remember all of the babies? – we have seen one groundhog a few times. Once, near the house, and once by the shed. And another time scampering across the back forty. That’s it. Maybe they had enough of life on this property and needed to move elsewhere. We do see bunnies and birds and chipmunks – and deer, of course. I loved those groundhog babies, but wrangling them all day long was a bit of a pain.

Okay.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Stay Playful

Flowers, a Dove, and a Puzzle

Catalpa Blossoms and a Puzzle

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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