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.

A quick peek into the china cabinet: Roseville pottery, a china dog from Germany that was my paternal grandmother’s, a hat pin, the Eiffel Tower, a Blythe mug from reader Elaine (who is also a Blythe lover,)  silver and glass candle holders, and some paperweights. I had to move the paperweights from the sideboard when I set up the putz houses for Christmas. I was getting a little tired of them there – they took up too much space – so I may add some to the shelves of my other china cabinets, as well.

The fires. One of the students I worked with at Boston University lost her house. She lived in Altadena. Her entire neighborhood is gone. I can’t even begin to imagine losing everything so quickly, so horrifically. So many of my friends and former students (there are many of them living in Los Angeles) have had to evacuate and the photos they have been sharing are absolutely chilling. I’m praying for them, for beautiful Los Angeles, for the beaches, for wildlife, for the beautiful hills, for the safety of everyone. It’s an unimaginable tragedy.

Not even close in comparison, but we’ve just come off of three days of high winds that never stopped. Relentless. And the wind chill took the temps down to the single digits. We’ll get a break today.

We watched the funeral service for Jimmy Carter yesterday morning. What a incredible human being he was. It was beautiful and moving and funny. Rest in Peace, President Carter. A truly honorable and good man who lived his truth every day.

Last night, Jan was moved from the hospital to assisted living/hospice care. As I haven’t been able to talk to her directly this week, only through voice mails, Joe has been keeping me informed. She has now entered the next stage of her journey.

It feels as if I am continuously praying these days. I suppose I should always be continuously praying. I’m raising my energies/vibrations, sending love and light, praying, affirming, and visualizing.

Maybe life is one long prayer.

I wonder.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.