Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Day Forty-Seven

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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.

 

Day Forty-Six

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Having been through a period of anxiety several years ago, Don understands the enormity of it. He went through a particularly tough time several years ago. One of the tips he has passed on to me is to live in each moment. Now that sounds like something in a meme, but he doesn’t mean it quite that way. No, he means it specifically. He literally would say in each moment things like “I’m pouring the coffee now.” Or, “I’m cleaning my glasses.” He’d identify the activity and stay focused on reality. He did that with everything for a long time. It helped to keep him in the NOW rather than in a non-existent and frightening other kind of world. This small (or large) task is what I am doing now.

I think that’s what working a jigsaw puzzle (or a crossword puzzle) does for me. I am totally in the now. I’m examining the photo of the puzzle. I’m looking at the words on the puzzle pieces. I’m observing color  and shape and trying to match it. I’m incredibly focused and that focus is entirely on the process. It’s also something I find to be true with working on my dollhouses. And I imagine knitting, crochet – well, actually, I don’t imagine, I know – painting, crafting; anything with a task and an activity helps with that as well. I know that knitting and crocheting do that for my sister. When I was engaging in those two activities, along with quilting, I called them my Zen. Gardening does that for me as well.

We all know this, but it’s important at any time, especially now, to have something that keeps you smack-dab in the moment and not in a place of worry or fear or what if or just plain general anxiety. Something that takes you away from those realms and grounds and centers you.

Right now, for me, it’s jigsaw puzzles. I feel my anxiety leave, my shoulders drop, and a feeling of peace comes over me. For Don, at the moment, it’s playing the guitar and writing songs and practicing his technique, as well as walking.

You all know this. I’m just putting it into words as I wrestle with my own anxiety. If I don’t have something around like a puzzle, I give myself a task. I clean the counters, for example, and stay focused on the actual activity. I don’t let my mind wander. I identify what I’m doing now.

Today, thank goodness, it’s sunny! It’s going to be in the sixties. So I’m going to engage in another anxiety reducer: gardening. Today that includes cleaning the potting table, cleaning the picnic table, working in one of the garden beds and weeding. Heaven.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Day Forty-Five

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Cold. Rainy. Over it.

I had to bring the hanging plants in last night as the temps went down into the mid-thirties. I’ll have to do it again tonight and tomorrow night. And then – fingers crossed – it looks like we’ll be out of this unseasonably cold phase.

Please?

Hello to the Hardy Boys! I’ve just started and I can’t wait to get back to it later today. Don and I were chatting while I was working on it yesterday afternoon and I asked him about any memories of reading the Hardy Boys. He remembers loving the books and eating a lemon popsicle while reading them. Such a specific and wonderful memory! It was about the time, he thinks, that his parents were splitting up, so I’m sure they provided a wonderful escape during a tough time. Then we launched into our memories of the Hardy Boys on the Mickey Mouse Club, which was presented in 15 minute episodes and starred my childhood crushes, Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk. I loved watching it and Spin and Marty and I loved anything Annette Funicello. I thought she had the coolest job in the world!

In keeping with our daily confusion as to the day of the week, Don thought it was Friday today. And I suddenly realized that bills need to be paid. I have no sense of date or day. It’s just one long day melding into another day melding into another day.

We FaceTimed with my sister and Little Z yesterday, which was lovely. But I was alarmed that Florida is  so lax about self-isolating. Mere – who continues to work – tells me that she routinely sees people without masks on and ignoring social distance guidelines. The beaches are open and the governor, who should be leading responsibly, is a fool. Yes we live in NY and it’s been hit hard, but mark my words, the same thing will happen to those states run by governors who seem to think they are exempt from this virus or that the rules are too stringent.

Some day soon I’ll write a post about our challenges as people who work in the theater and the bleak outlook facing us. I often say we are semi-retired, but the fact is we still work, we still need to work, and we still want to work. But that may not happen for a very long time.

Bare bones, but that’s all I can do for now. Time to prune the old hydrangea blooms. Time for a lot of chores, none of which I’ve been able to do. Soon.

Some of you have shared that you’ve ordered jigsaw puzzles from Galaxy Puzzles. Wonderful news! It’s good to support small businesses during this time and I’m all for supporting women-owned businesses. And you get to do a jigsaw puzzle! Enjoy.

Okay. I have to go and write some checks. Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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