It’s 9:20 am and I just remembered I’m supposed to blog today.

Yikes.

We are in a long stretch of subzero crappy weather and we’ve lost all sense of dates and time. It’s frigging cold and we’re sick of it. We feel extremely housebound and restless. Our heads are congested, we don’t feel well, the air is extremely dry, and we’re ready to scream. (Yes, I do have a humidifier running. Not a big help at the moment.)

It will start to warm up ever so slightly tomorrow. Ever so slightly.

Don is currently completely covered with an afghan, wearing one of his wool caps. I am in my pajamas, with a hooded sweatshirt on, also covered by an afghan.

The only plus is that every day this week has been sunny and the combination of sunny skies and snow brings bright sunlight into the house. Grateful for that, for sure.

Don has a gig tonight, which, given the temps, he’s not looking forward to. But he’ll do it.

I’m trying to keep myself occupied. I’ve been trying not to spend any money so I haven’t ordered a new puzzle. I may cave today. I can only read so much and, frankly, it’s been hard to concentrate lately. A $20 puzzle to preserve my sanity? Hmmm.

I think I’ve talked myself into it.

I’m reading The Cold Cold Ground  by Adrian McKinty. It’s about a detective in Ireland during “The Troubles.” I need to dedicate a bigger chunk of time to it today so I can get a rhythm going.

What are you reading?

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

It’s 8 degrees below zero as I write this.

It’s frigging cold! I’ve been up for 2 hours and the house is still cold.

We had snow starting Sunday afternoon and this is what it looked like on Monday morning.. I’d say we got about 4 or 5 inches. It was light and fluffy, so Don was able to shovel the long driveway. My back was bothering me – too much bending over repeatedly as I removed all the ornaments and lights and packed them away in the bins on Saturday morning. We were moving fast so as to beat out the storm.

Did I say it was cold out? We are in a subzero stretch here which should improve by Friday. “Ice Station Zebra,” – a reference to an old movie that takes place near the North Pole.

(I just got up from my chair to add another layer of clothing.)

Oh and I went outside late in the day on Monday to start my car (because it was so cold) and the battery was dead. Somehow Don had turned the lights on without knowing when he moved the car the day before. So, there we were outside in the frigid weather jumping the battery. I ran it again yesterday and I’ll do it again today. We don’t have a garage, unfortunately.

So that’s what has been happening. COLD, batteries, COLD, shoveling, COLD, wearing extra layers, and some cuddles thrown in.

I spoke to my friend Jan yesterday – it’s been hard to make contact, lots of voice mail messages. She’s still in rehab, but she’ll move into hospice care next week. Her voice is weaker than it was and Joe tells me she’s not eating very much. It’s so hard to know what to say. I could hear some guy shouting continuously from across the hall. Jan said that he should be “voted off the island,” which made me laugh. It was good to hear some of Jan’s particular brand of sarcasm. When I asked her about her state of mind given her prognosis, she said she mostly felt numb. She wants to know more about what to expect going forward and hopes to get more information when she moves into hospice care.

It’s so heartbreaking.

I did another tour of the studio because I was unhappy that YouTube cut off the top of the first video. The Gene Marshall dolls were missing their faces, Don’s Japanese print was cut off, as well as the Putz sheep. I’ll post it here and you can watch it if you want to. Or ignore it, if you want to do that! It’s all part of the process of learning how to do videos via YouTube.

Visit YouTube – my account: claudiathechroniccollector

A Longer Tour of the Studio

Okay. Don just made my second cup of coffee and I’m going to try to warm up.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Monday’s full moon. It actually looked much bigger than this. It was cloudy and mysterious and wonderful. I only happened to see it because I went outside to start my car. I’m so glad I made that spur-of-the-moment choice!

There’s not a whole lot to talk about. We’re staying inside and avoiding the cold. We finished watching the two seasons of Shrinking. It’s so darned excellent – truly one of the best things we’ve seen in ages. Now, since we’ve already paid for a month of Apple+, we’re watching Ted Lasso. So far, so good!

Breaking News: Don finally cleaned off the top of his desk! With such a small shared space, things have to stay organized and clean. I’ve had to do the same thing: be in a ruthless mood and dive in. I usually end up with a big bag full of trash. It’s always going to look slightly cluttered because we have separate work spaces and Don stores a lot of instruments up there, but we do our best to make it work.

If you missed Monday’s post, I have a link there for Don’s new album. You can listen to it for free. I listened to it yesterday and I was blown away by the clarity of his voice and his acoustic guitar. It’s Don Unplugged. I’m so proud of him.

Another little video is on my site.

Visit YouTube – my account: claudiathechroniccollector

Fashion Dolls

I like adding some music to these mini videos.  I may do more for other collections. And the dollhouses, I think.

Would you be interested in a little tour of the office/studio with some narration? If so, let me know. I’d have to wait for a sunny day when Don is out of the house for a while.

The tree is still up and Don has made it clear that he still needs the sparkle, so we might keep it up until the end of the week. I’m fine with that.

Why not, right?

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.