miniatures — Page 32

Day One Hundred Thirty-Three

July 24, 2020 at 9:46 am by Claudia

We got a lot of rain yesterday that lasted most of the day. I’m so happy about that, though it means that I can’t mow today and will have to wait until tomorrow. Our plants are happy, our trees and grass and birds and critters are happy – and we’re happy. It’s still quite muggy and we have two days coming up of temps in the nineties, so tomorrow has to be my day to get out there and mow what I can before I run out of energy. I’m not letting Don do it yet.

He took another walk on the property this morning. He’s sleeping better and I moved back upstairs last night. I counted up the nights I spent down here on the sofa – nine. Oh boy, did our mattress feel good last night! We’re slowly getting back into our daily routines and we realize more than ever how important a routine is, especially during these days of staying home and self-isolating. We’re used to the need to create structure/a routine each day as we’ve been freelancers for years. When I was teaching and coaching full-time, my days and evenings were so full that I craved the one day I got during the week with no structure. But it’s been flipped these past 19 years, so now we create and need our daily routines.

I finished both the Diane Keaton book and Weather by Jenny Offill this morning. Both were excellent. Jenny’s book, written in a ‘pointillist style’ as one of the blurbs stated, was fascinating, compelling and incredibly timely. However, that very style kept me from totally engaging with the main character. It created a distance that had me observing the words, rather than living in the pages. But I liked it and I’m glad I read it. Next up is Furious Hours – Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep. It concerns the trial of a serial killer in Alabama and the book that Harper Lee was writing about it. I’ve wanted to read this since it was first published and this is a signed copy that I got at Shakespeare and Company in Paris. It’s finally time.

What else? I’m constantly, or so it seems, thinking about the interior of the dollhouse and what I’m going to do with it – right now, the open living space on the first floor. I’ll leave the bathroom until last because it’s the room that interests me the least. (Just as our bathrooms interest me the least!) I’ve ordered a pretty substantial piece from an Etsy seller – she makes the most wonderful furniture. She is making it especially for me because the piece that was listed was a bit too tall for the rooms in my dollhouse. She lives in Italy. I’m narrowing down my choice for wallpaper in that room. I’m trying to figure out the window situation. This is what’s going on in my head at any given moment during the day.

Thanks for being there for us during this worrisome time. Don is getting stronger by the day and we are so grateful.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Day One Hundred Thirty-Two

July 23, 2020 at 9:41 am by Claudia

We had a big old storm late in the afternoon yesterday; lots of rain, thunder, and lightning. There were severe thunderstorm warnings all over the Hudson Valley. When we were sitting in the den, I saw golden light coming through the closed blinds, so I quickly opened them and saw this. I was immediately out on the porch in my bare feet so I could capture this view.

Don is feeling much better today. He got a lot of sleep and he’s in a kind of “Hello, beautiful world!!” mood. He can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I, on the other hand, did not get enough sleep and it’s entirely my fault. I slept downstairs again and was scrolling through Twitter (something I never do before I go to bed) and the news was so upsetting and depressing that I couldn’t get to sleep for the longest time. I have no one to blame but myself. Lesson re-learned. We have decided that I’m moving back upstairs tonight. I can’t wait for my comfy bed! I’ve actually been sleeping well and pretty solidly during this time (probably because I can’t hear Don snore) but the narrowness of the sofa is so limiting that I feel sore when I get up. It’s as if my body knows it cannot stray from the confines of the sofa, so it tenses up.

Anyway, sheets will be washed today, pillows moved back into the bedroom, no more clothes stashed on top of the basket of throws in the den. No more having to turn on the light in the bathroom and leaving the door slightly cracked so I can navigate up the steps to the bathroom in the dark.

I filmed another short video for IGTV yesterday, this time focusing on the vintage dollhouse in the den – the Lake House. You can find it on my IG account. I had to use iMovie to stitch two different videos together and somehow the video looks smaller than usual. But if you click on the square at the lower right of the frame, the video will enlarge.

I’m always picky about how I sound, the hesitations and pauses I use when I speak. But that is the way I speak in real life, so why hide it? I pause and consider and move on and pause again. I also go off on tangents. Basically, I chat.

You’re getting the real me, my friends.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Day One Hundred Twenty-Nine

July 20, 2020 at 9:24 am by Claudia

I woke up with a sore back (sleeping on a 25 year old sofa will do that to you) and a foggy brain. This unbelievably humid and hot stretch we’re in is having its way with me, as well. Mostly, I just feel exhausted with absolutely no energy. I’m on my second cup of coffee now, so fingers crossed that it finally kicks in.

Don was out of bed for several hours yesterday, then he took a long nap in the afternoon. Slowly but surely, he’s doing better, but we have to remember that it takes a while to get back to normal.

Two sad sacks here at the cottage this morning!

We have one more day of this heat advisory. Last night we had thunderstorms and rain – we needed it. That also means I don’t have to hand water the gardens, just the porch plants.

We sat together on the sofa in the den last night and watched some episodes of Frasier. We were laughing out loud a lot (that almost never happens with most sitcoms) and boy, was that laughter good for the soul – especially for Don. Laughter is healing.

We stayed in during the day with the a/c on and I looked at miniatures on Etsy. By the way, I tried the grout on some test stones and it was messy and didn’t work. I may just leave it as is, because I certainly don’t want to ruin all the work I put in on that ‘stone.’ I’ll definitely seal it with a matte sealer and then, I think, I’ll move on to the windows (not sure what to do with them) and the door. Then, inside. I have more than few choices for wallpaper, which I will have to narrow down. One, in particular, keeps calling me for the big room downstairs. It’s a bit bold, so I’m hesitant. I think I’ll try two different patterns in the space and see which one works best. But first, I’ll have to do the downstairs floor.

Basically, I’m playing around with furniture, thinking through spacing, ordering what will be the kitchen island, which will separate the two spaces, thinking about how to make two beams for the ceiling, trying to come up with something for the windows that is different than the stuff that came with the kit, which I don’t like at all. And – ongoing – trying to make the door fit in the opening of this dollhouse I found at the dump.

There’s a lot to do. First up, seal the stones, but I think I’ll have to wait until it’s less humid so I can do it outside.

Okay. I was going to go the store this morning but I’m too out of it, so that will be delayed until tomorrow.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Day One Hundred Thirty-Two

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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