It’s gray out there, it’s cold, there’s still more snow to clear. My sinuses are a big problem at the moment, as well as my back, though it is finally getting better.
In the big scheme of things, all of this is nothing. I know that. But I have to guard against falling into a mild depression, especially at this time of year. I know the signs and it’s something I battle at this time of year. I practice gratitude each and every day – both of us do – and I know I am blessed. But January and February really kick my butt. And it seems to be more intense as I grow older. I also have to remember that just over a month ago, I was working on the film and every day was full to the brim. Being back here in the throes of winter is a huge change. Huge. So I’m reminding myself to just be. Perspective is so important.
I suppose that’s why I don’t have much to write about that’s interesting. I work on the puzzle and I read my book, which is very engrossing. We’re laying low here because of the weather, of course, but mostly because of Covid. I’m not about to travel right now, even though a trip to a sunny and warm place sounds so inviting. But to take that chance? Nope. I put on my big girl pants and do what is indicated: stay home.
Something sunny for you today – an outfit from Miema Dollhouse in Germany, which arrived yesterday. I love, love her use of color and her whimsical designs.
Maeve gets to be the first this time:
The outfit comes in three pieces: the dress, the tights, and a cute scarf. How can you not smile when you see this ensemble? I have another dress made by the same woman – you’ve seen it lately on Pippa.
How are you coping with this wintry weather?
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.
I would love to dress like Maeve and her sisters! I love their clothes. So fun , colorful and they look comfortable!
Janet
Me too!
Thanks, Janet.
Stay safe!
Well, as to how I’m coping (not!), my January Slump continues and, of all things, we have to have a mandatory power outtage today starting in a half hour (pole work) that can last to mid-afternoon, and it’s cold (for us anyway; we’re thin-skinned Californians) at 49 degrees and very dark and gloomy and overcast with deep fog; so, I hope the sun comes out today (it’s been elusive lately). I feel like there’s nothing I can do but just go back to bed with the house inside being without lights in this ‘darkness’ (no television, etc., can’t read without a lamp) but I won’t. Minor inconvenience of course.
Gosh I hope you feel better soon. In all ways.
Her barrettes are the cutest; it’s a darling look. Don’t know if I spelled “barrettes” correctly!
I realize if I had an internet phone, I’d have some entertainment!
Having the power go out is very hard on me too!
RIP, one of my fave film actresses from the early 1960s. Yvette Mimieux. She was so pretty. I was reminded today from the news bits of her interesting heritage; part Mexican, part Frenchwoman. Maybe my favorite role of hers was in an old movie with Charleston Heston called “Diamond Head” but I was also enamored with a TV movie she wrote in the early 70s called “Hit Lady”, partly too because I fell in love with her character’s wardrobe at the time (very stylish; boho-sophisticated; I was just out of my teens and beginning to really notice ‘clothes’ other than my usual tee shirts and hippie jeans, bandana scarf over my long-long hair parted in the middle, beat-up brown leather sandals, which was my ‘uniform’ in those years of school [I know I looked sloppy at the time; sunny and warm Southern Calif just got ‘way uber-casual in terms of what women wore in public, which I date for myself from about 1971; unfortunately, it’s a trend which has persisted {I probably will never get accustomed to seeing pajamas outside of the house}]). Anyway, Ms. Mimieux lived to age 80, which is a good length of life and she seemed to live it her way, so I say with peace, ‘vaya con dios’.
And it’s time to wrap because they’re turning my power off again for the next 90 minutes; had a nice hour in between, from the first four hours ‘in the dark’. And the sun has finally come out! (Claudia, hope you get sun somehow in all that COLD! Sun for me, like a lot of people, is a mood elevator.)
I’m having trouble with spelling today. I don’t think that’s how you spell Heston’s first name.
xo
Interestingly, we just watched her two nights ago in The Time Machine. She was very young at that time. That sparked a discussion with Don in which I told him I remembered her playing a surfer on Dr. Kildare – a surfer who had epilepsy. He was treating her and fell in love with her and he warned her not to surf anymore because it would be dangerous if she had an attack. Well, of course, she couldn’t stop and she died. It really affected me at the time. I think it was a two or three episode run. I also remember her in Where the Boys Are. I always thought she was so beautiful and delicate.
Rest in Peace.
Oh, I didn’t see your comment and also just wrote about that Dr. Kildare episode! Yes, that 2-part episode (or 3-part) was A Big Deal at the time. It was some good acting for sure. Interesting story.
It was a two parter that aired in the mid-Sixties when I was in college. We didn’t watch much television, but most of the student body at my women’s school was crowded around the two TV sets available to us to watch it.
I loved it and remember being absolutely heartbroken when she died.
Stay safe, Margaret.
Ah, I just remembered too, when Yvette Mimieux was in that two-parter episode of the Dr. Kildare TV show in 1964 called “Tyger, Tyger” with Richard Chamberlain; she was this beach girl, a surfer, who had epilepsy. I remember my mom being glued to the TV for those two nights whereas I was quite young to even understand the story, although I remember it in pieces today. I used to watch a lot of TV with my mom.
I was riveted and I did understand it. Heartbreaking! My mom and I watched TV together, too. It’s one of my fondest memories of life with her.
We had the sun for a brief amount of time and the temp hit 40, but that’s the warmest it will be for a long while.
Stay safe, Vicki.
Claudia I am right there with you. I feel like I am being super careful now and haven’t left the house in three days. The infection is the highest in the state in the county I live in. Now is not the time to have to go to the hospital. So….I am doing what I can to keep going. One bright spot….the orchid plant that I was giving up on…..bloomed this morning. Yeah. It must like the constant mist from the humidifier . Now if only I could rebloom.
Stay safe. By the way….ever thought of making a little story book out of the photos of “the girls”?
Hang in there Maria!! Spring is just around the corner.
Seeing your orchid bloom must really be a boost, Maria.
I may make a little book of their photos…we’ll see. Thanks for the idea, Maria.
Stay safe.
Fall and Winter are my best seasons for feeling good. And you sound like you have your moods well in hand. Keep up the good work! I am at my sewing machine right now and will start smocking soon. Also trying to keep up with the laundry. Ugh. No snow on the ground so I will make a run to the drugstore and grocery. I love sausages for breakfast and they haven’t had any in the last two weeks. So today might be my lucky day! You and Don take care of yourselves and stay healthy and safe.
Tana, aren’t these shortages something ELSE?! I have had a dickens of a time trying to get CAT FOOD. I was just notified by another store that they can’t supply me til the end of February.
Oh, they are not always well in hand, Tana. I just try to do what I can to stave them off.
Thank you!
Stay safe.
I’m with you on the winter blahs. It’s just a notch off depression but could go there if I don’t keep engaged in something, whether it’s a book, puzzle or creative project. The Covid isolation doesn’t help, either. I’m hoping by the end of the month that it will ease and I at least feel OK going to the store again.
Lay low and dream of a trip somewhere, someday!
I did a lot of work on the puzzle today and I got some dolly clothes in the mail so it was time to play dress up!
Trips might be non-existent for a long while. We have repairs to do here! That’s the un-fun part of being a homeowner.
Stay safe, Jeanie.
I have a hard time in the winter too. I try to go outside everyday…walk to the mailbox, feed the birds, shovel off the deck, or just breathe. It doesn’t have to be sunny. It’s the exposure to daylight that helps. Sometimes I go for a drive past lake michigan or into town to see what’s happening there (not much). I pop into the little book store/cafe, or the yarn shop, or the library occasionally. All of these places have been careful through the pandemic and masks are the norm. I am vaccinated and boosted and willing to accept some risk. I am an introvert and can happily stay home for days, but I need to connect with others from time to time for my mental health.
Take care
Only 60 days til spring!
I usually walk outside to the mailbox, or do something out there, even briefly. Today, I took down the Christmas lights on the porch.
Thanks, Marilyn.
Stay safe!
I, as well as others seem to falling in line with you. It is cold here in the midwest and will be especially so in the next week. I have been reading, doing needlepoint, cooking and baking. I stay close to home and only quickly run to the grocery for things I can’t order for pick up and Dr appts. We have a trip to see grandchildren in March but will decide then wether it is safe. I agree it is the right thing to do, but am feeling the effects of self-isolation. Again. Hoping and praying this comes to a close soon. Stay safe.
I think we all are – it took so long to get to the point where we could move around somewhat freely and now…sigh. It’s a lot to deal with over the course of two years, Sherry.
Thanks so much.
Stay safe.
I think gratitude is the ticket. My husband retired this year and I so so so thankful for his pension,
Even though our house is paid living on social security would be very very lean. I love to read so a library trip every two weeks to get out of the house.
I stop by the ocean also lifts my spirits. We look forward to spring so I am looking through flower catalogs. Would like to get some new rose brushes.
Yup before you know it the clam shacks will be open!
How I wish I was near the ocean! Walking on the beach really helps both Don and me.
Thanks, Linda.
Stay safe.
I love winter. It’s summer I don’t like. It gets so hot here that you can’t go outside without feeling like you’re going to melt. It’s very mild here right now. We’ve had 65 degree days lately. I enjoy the new clothes for the girls. Gotta love those hair clips!
Spring and summer are my favorite seasons. It used to be fall. It NEVER has been winter!
Ah, well.
Stay safe, April.
All I can say is “me, too”. This year is soooo awful.
It is!
Good morning! Winter blaas. They are difficult. Claudia, You just spent time in a fresh place being around lovely people and having an adventure. And then home. Just like coming from a vacation, that high slowly dissipates and you’re left in a funk, but usually we get back to our normal doings and avoid too much down. However, there is no normal to return to at the moment. Makes it even harder.
Two days ago it was snowing here and I sat in our sunroom and worked a puzzle while I watched birds at the birdbath. I was quite happy. Then Yesterday was cloudy, no snow and too breezy for a walk and I was depressed and out of sorts. I realize, no matter what, if there is snow to be seen, I’m happy. Same type of day with no snow….unhappy. Stepping outside is important as well, even for 5 minutes. I also realize, when it’s horrid outside I’m more lenient with myself being “lazy”, and doing crafty things all day. it’s too dark to do any serious cleaning so the pressure is off, but the guilt of not cleaning nags at me. We, too, are in a bad place for covid. Not seeing friends is really tough. So we just keep reading, stitching pretty things, playing guitar, emailing family and friends, and hope for a better tomorrow. From my mom….Each day at a time….and this too shall pass.
Everyone hang in there! I can tell by all the comments, we are not alone! We have empathy for those having worse days than ourselves. And it seems we all turn to books and crafty things to help our moods. This is a nice little community. It helps me stay centered during these dreary times.
What an adorable new outfit for the girls. Those little lions! So cute. Verna
Thanks so much, Verna. Yes, it’s clear that many of us are feeling the winter blahs and doing our best to overcome them. As someone said earlier in the comments – it’s 60 days until spring!
Thanks so much!
Stay safe.
Hi Claudia,
I hate winter too. I find November thru March miserable. I wonder if you would benefit from a light therapy lamp? I enjoy seeing your dolls and Im intrigued about your idea of creating a miniature house for them.
I’ve thought about a lamp, but I used to have an OTT light/lamp, which is much the same, and it didn’t really make a difference.
Thank you, Jan.
Stay safe.
glad your back is healing. glad, too, that you recognize the signs of depression and fight against them.
i have depression no matter the weather. some days i feel like i am forcing myself to do necessary things, but i do them and then try to enjoy the fun stuff without falling asleep. :) getting sunlight, doing some kind of movement (walking, taking a drive) and sometimes using a sunlight lamp are helpful to me. medication has not, but maybe i don’t need them either. i know that better days are ahead for us all.
the new outfit is appropriately adorable for maeve and her sisters.
lunch break is almost over.
hope you all are warm and having an easy day.
stay safe, everyone!
kathy
kathy, how is your new job going ..?.. and, by the way, I know I’m flirting on the edge of winter depression because I, too, just want to sleep!
We’ve had a few sunny days recently and that certainly helps and I almost always go outside for a bit each day.
Thanks, Kathy.
Stay safe.
January and February are hard months here in Alaska. Right now it is snowing out. What does help is good. My husband Keith does the majority of the cooking and he has been trying complicated new recipes, like duck. Last night he made a wonderful Mexican soup with different peppers, avocados, and zucchini. Just what we needed. Sometimes I help prep but usually my role is eating and enjoying. Tough role but someone has to do it! The other thing that gets me through is music. Our chorus is planning a spring concert (we sang the holiday one in masks!) and our small Chorale will be singing the first half. So on Monday, I get to sing with other people, see friends in a very controlled environment and hear new music. It’s looking forward that keeps me going.
Stay well my friend.
Same here. Don is the cook, I am the appreciative eater and I thank him by doing the dishes. Music always helps, doesn’t it? Don plays and sings and writes songs and I get to hear them. I’m glad you get to sing, Becky. That makes all the difference in the world.
Thank you, dear friend.
Stay safe.
Good food. Left out an entire word!
xo
I don’t seem to be coping very well…at least not like in past years. With Covid lurking around every corner, we don’t go very many places. And we are both very antsy…we want to get out, but every place we think of will probably have too many people. And since it’s been so cold here, too…no long walks either.
Yesterday’s entertainment involved watching a construction crew orchestrate taking ready made panels of a house, off a flatbed using a crane, and erecting them…so by the end of the day, we had a house across the street for the first time in 38 years. While I will truly miss our view of the marsh, it will be nice to have new neighbors in a couple of months…they are really nice people. Today…it’s trying to find things to do. Nothing seems to hold my attention for long.
Glad to hear you are feeling slightly better….stay warm. It’s mighty cold outside! ;)
I definitely suffer from scattered concentration/attention. It’s hard to get motivated some days. Don has run into people in the store and inside the mini mart at the gas station without masks on and it’s maddening. We have a mask mandate right now in NY. So it keeps us from feeling comfortable enough to run errands or go to an antique store, something we were recently determined to do until Omicron came along.
Thanks, Donnamae.
Stay safe.
Winter has never been my friend. Living in Wi, I really should find a way around or over or under or through that, but nothing has ever worked. The extreme cold now hurts my joints so badly that it is beyond painful. Add in the Covid element and there are no words. Hubs is the choir director and organist at church, and they are back again to virtual services. Since the Packers are in the play-offs, there will be more indoor game watching parties so the numbers won’t be going down. It just doesn’t end. And the stupid people hold firm in their stupidity, so WILL it ever end??
I agree with your thoughts that the abrupt end to your extreme schedule is probably part of what is going on with you. It is like hitting that wall at 150 mph, stumbling to catch your breath, and trying to figure out what you are to do next. Probably a bit of what you felt on the other end going from about 25 mph to 150 when you started the film project.
Hope your back is better and Don is doing well. One day at a time is all we can do. Take care.
My husband was lined up for his Covid test yesterday (with about 60 other people; fortunately, this time, they honored his appointment so he was in and out of there in about 40 minutes; he has to go thru this every week now for his part-time/permanent employment; a condition of the job) and this particular testing site is on the parking lot of a middle school, and something he noticed was that all these 12-year-olds (I guess some are younger, some are older[?]; this school used to be called a ‘junior high’ and was just 7th and 8th grade) in the ‘playground’ on recess were maskLESS in their huddled groups, head close to another head, no distancing; so, unless they’re all vaccinated, no wonder they’re taking the virus home to other family members and contributing to ‘spread’. My husband’s friend who has Covid, now in the fourth week of heavy, heavy congestion and miserable (she’s I think age 61; all adults in the family were vaccinated and boosted), was infected by the 5-yr-old granddaughter who got the virus at kindergarten and brought it home to the multi-generational household. The child recovered well from the virus; not so the grandma. This has caused some of us, in our circle, to be arguing the case of kids being in school, but it’s such a controversial subject. And all anybody wants is the best thing for the children.
I can’t even go there. I know it is because they are outside that everyone thinks they are fine to be maskless. I also know everyone’s resolve to KEEP KIDS IN SCHOOL…. is sadly, in way too many cases, for the babysitting service provided to the parents (esp the essential workers who MUST work). So their noble cries of “It’s for the children” fall on these deaf ears. It is for the businesses. NOT the children. Of COURSE children should be in school. We learned that 2 years ago. BUT, when the teachers, janitors, admin, lunch workers, bus drivers are all getting sick and the schools can’t be staffed, doesn’t it make sense to close for 10-14 days and catch our breath?? Sanity doesn’t seem to have a say in anything anymore. The CDC kind of proves that day after day after day.
I hear EVERYthing you’re saying, Chris K!
Yes to everything you said! We live in a state of many fools!! ;)
Chris I agree with you
I don’t know if it will ever end. We’ve had ‘encounters’ with maskless shoppers in the store, even though there is a mandate in place. I usually say something snide because they piss me off!!
Back is better, though right now it’s bothering me. Maybe a bit too much time on the puzzle today.
Thanks Chris. I’m so sorry about the pain in your joints. I hope it eases a bit.
Stay safe.
Claudia I live in sunny Phoenix, but I also am having a hard time with depression. I am always battling it to some degree. I shouldn’t be because I can still garden. I would love to have a little bit of snow. We can drive north for a few hours and we can see snow. I should be very grateful because I came through my surgery on my appendix just fine. The mass was benign and not malignant…yay!! I kept looking to see if you posted today to see how you were feeling. I hope your back starts feeling better. For some reason hearing you are hunkered down sounds like your house is so cozy. Tell Don to be careful shoveling snow! That is why we left Chicago! Once
we were shoveling the roof, we said that is enough! I miss the city but not the weather! My older sister lives in San Diego and me and my younger sister live a block away from each other in
Phoenix, all in warmer weather. Love the new outfit! Stay warm!
So glad you’re going to heal and all is well, Deb.
I was raised in the Midwest and spent most of my life after that out East. Then San Diego for 8 years, but unlike you, we decided to ditch the West and get back the seasons.
Stay safe, Deb!
Are you not on Instagram anymore? I didn’t see you just now as I was looking through all the ones I have been following. Just checking! I love looking at all your photos. Deb
I’m there. You can see my posts on the sidebar of this blog. If I’m not appearing on your feed, it’s due to IG’s algorhythm. You have to engage with a post, at the very least, like it – or IG will start leaving if off your feed.