Saturday morning – a day when the temps will finally hit the forties. It looks pretty cloudy out there, but I promise not to complain about that. Warmth…warmth is what we need here and that will be much appreciated.

I started the afghan yesterday, but I somehow miscounted the chains in the foundation. As I headed to the finish of the second row, that miscount became obvious, so I frogged the whole thing and I’ll try again today.

Things noticed: My eyes become tired much more quickly these days – very different than when I was routinely doing handwork over 10 years ago. And my right hand hurt at the end of the session. You remember that I overdid the crochet years ago and my wrist and hand suffered. But for some reason, I was very tense as I was starting the afghan, so that may be why my hand was sore. I’ll definitely have to pace myself and crochet just one row a day. Nothing more.

Maybe I need to wear one of those magnifiers I see in catalogues? Has anyone used one?

I was up and drinking coffee before I realized that today is Valentine’s Day. We don’t really celebrate except to say “Happy Valentine’s Day.” We’ve done that. So we’re good.

The mini Victorian sideboard is finished.

Left side. (That’s a Christmas card from a fellow Blythe collector in the background.)

Right side.

Front.

Somehow I just couldn’t have a piece all in yellow with no aging, especially a big old sideboard. The yellow would have been too much.

Okay, my friends.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Tomorrow, we head into daytime temps in the 40s. I cannot wait. 37 degrees today and sunny.

Later today, I’m going to pick up a spare ball of yarn and relearn crochet. I expect it will come back to me pretty quickly. My muscles already remember using the hook. I need to practice making a chain and then do a few rows of the ripple stitch. I was going to do this yesterday, but I was too tired by the time I got to it.

Finished my library book, which was automatically renewed online right after I turned the last page. Since it was a new Michael Connelly, I didn’t think that was going to happen. Anyway, I’ll return it soon. Now I’m reading Robert Macfarlane’s Is a River Alive?  He writes about nature and he does it with simply gorgeous language. He’s a poet. Obviously, this one is about rivers and their importance. His book Underland, is one of my all-time favorites.

In progress. As always, yellow looks different all the time, depending on the light. I witness this every day because our kitchen walls are yellow. Sometimes I love them, and sometimes I dislike them intensely.

I’m slowly aging the cabinet. I did much of this late in the day yesterday and I’ll have better light today. Hey, it was free and I always like a little challenge, so what have I got to lose?

It will be placed in this third floor hallway. The key will be the wallpaper I use and how I accessorize it. Oh, and the floor. I can’t linger on that because the thought of all the popsicle sticks I’m going to have to stain and then fit in all of the rooms of this house is way too daunting.

One room at a time, Claudia.

I got up first today – I work up early and my brain was way too busy – so I made the first round of coffee. Just now, Don brought me my second cup.

Why does his always taste better than mine?

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Heavens! It might reach 36 degrees today! A regular heat wave. It will be nice to see some snow melt. Since we had that big storm over 2 weeks ago, nothing – and I mean nothing – has melted.

On Monday, I organized our vinyl collection. We used to just call it our record collection, didn’t we? But now, the word is vinyl. Anyway, most of the records were under the spinet desk next to the piano, which is where our turntable is. Don was sitting in his chair and I was sitting on the floor, occasionally showing him a record that we’d forgotten about.

Side note: I used to have over 1000 albums. If I ever had an exact count, at this point in my life I sure don’t remember what the number was. They moved with me everywhere I lived. But they had to be tossed because of the conditions in the shed. It was heartbreaking for me. I managed to save some of them, but not many. It seems like every other day I mention some album of mine that I miss.We’ve been slowly accumulating some favorites again, because we love them. I have a lot of CDs and some tapes, but to me, there’s nothing like the sound of vinyl and the sight of a record spinning on a turntable.

I would love to own another component system again – you know, the kind where you have a separate receiver, turntable, and CD player. Yes, I got rid of mine years ago and I regret it.

This sorting of the albums sent us to Barnes and Noble on Tuesday because we decided we’d each buy a new album. I’ll tell you one thing: B & N’s labeling and organization of their stock needs work. “Haphazard” is the word I’d use. We spent quite a bit of time there and when we finally went to the checkout, an older guy chatted with us but then started to trash LPs/Vinyl/records. He would “never” have them. He sold all of his. He hated the pops and sounds. On and on and on. We would politely counter with the fact that we love them. He wouldn’t listen. All of this while 3 people were waiting in line and we were just trying to get out of there. Don said, “You know we just spent money here on vinyl.” But the guy was clueless and kept it up. So we turned around to exit and Don muttered an expletive.

I wonder what his manager would say if he knew that this guy was trashing something they sell?

I miss record stores. I could write reams about them but I already did. Here’s the link to that post.

We also stopped at Michael’s because I’m going to crochet an afghan for Don and needed some yarn. He got to pick out the colors.

There’s also some red in there. He wanted a pop of red.

Since it’s been so long since I’ve crocheted anything I’m going to have to practice. I hope it comes back to me quickly. I’m looking forward to the meditative quality of stitching.

I have to finish a book today as it’s due at the library tomorrow. It’s a great book by Michael Connelly. But is anyone else out there having a hard time concentrating lately?

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.