Glory be! We got a lot of rain yesterday. So, so happy about that. Today there’s a heat advisory so we have to stay indoors, but tomorrow should be much better. I have a lot of work to do outside and haven’t been able to do anything.
I got almost half of stonework done on the remaining wall of the dollhouse yesterday afternoon. I’m going to do more today. Then I’ll move on to the interior. There’s only so much I can do without buying supplies and we’re on a very, very strict budget right now as we can’t work, and won’t be able to work for many more months, and Don is unable to take pictures at the Farmer’s Market this year. It’s running, but it’s in a very, very narrow street with no social distancing possible – frankly, I can’t imagine why they opened at all. Don can’t take pictures without positioning people and he can’t maintain a distance of 6 feet. So: no go this year. This is our reality right now. We realize, of course, that we are blessed in countless ways so I’m not complaining. I’m just acknowledging that some of my dollhouse renovation options are limited and have to be stretched out over time.
If I have to stop work on Dove Cottage, I’ll get back to my efforts to assemble the half-scale dollhouse I started a few years back. And I’ll assemble more kits.
I need projects! This jigsaw puzzle is the hardest one yet and I have to be in a certain kind of mood to even think of tackling it.
Yesterday afternoon found me upstairs in the office working on the dollhouse and Don downstairs in the living room working on a piece of music he is writing. Creativity in the Hill-Sparks household always makes me happy.
I am loving Faith Fox, the book by Jane Gardam that I am currently reading. She is a brilliant writer. I can’t say enough about her. I’m so looking forward to reading more of her work someday, especially her trilogy.
We’ve now watched Rachel Maddow for three nights running. We haven’t done that in a long, long time. We are in that kind of mood.
Okay. Have to go water plants.
Stay safe.
Happy Thursday.
I need to get back outside and start weeding again but it has been just too hot. I think we may get a bit cooler weather coming up and so I will have no excuse then. Have to get back to being more active so I feel healthier and not so tired all of the time. This weather, depressing news, and the long stay-at-home does wear a person down. BUT I have been reading a lot and coloring greeting cards and I have to remember to focus on the positive. You and Don keep finding new projects to keep yourselves busy and challenged and that is a good inspiration for me! Thanks!
Same here. It’s so bad today that I feel groggy! I only went out to water and get the mail.
Stay safe, Ellen!
glad you had lots of rain yesterday! we need it here. i need it here ( my recordings of thunderstorms and ocean waves are on repeat).
creativity is a wonderful thing, a gift. your comment about creativity in your home makes you happy brought to mind times growing up with everyone in my family doing something creative and relaxing at home … love that, love them. thanks for prompting lots of happy memories!
hope you both stay safe and cool today. too hot and humid!
kathy in iowa
hey … would don or you accept a commission of some nature portraits … flowers, the river across the way, henry …? i’d like that and would certainly pay for shipping and handling, too. still interested in his cds, too (no pressure).
I don’t know. You mean photos we’ve already taken?
Thanks for thinking of us, Kathy, but it sounds – at least today – like too much of a hassle!
You are very sweet. Stay safe.
i was just thinking if don’s “instant” camera is the type to take a photo or two of the river nearby or some patch of wildflowers and he could print and send the polaroids for a fee (paid upfront, of course). or one of henry in front of the shed, like when you just saw him again after a long time. or the shed in winter (as barbara w. mentioned).
i enjoy both your and don’s photos so much, have been thinking of ways to add a bit more nature in my little home and wondered if it was possible to get copies … but i mean no pressure and sure don’t want to create a hassle for you so forget i mentioned it, okay? but if don still has cds for sale, please count me in!
thanks, claudia.
have a good, safe, cool night!
kathy in iowa
No, it’s very sweet of you. I don’t think either of us would be comfortable selling our photos. And Don’s are really about portraits – that camera doesn’t work well for distance shots. But thank you, dear friend. I’m very touched.
What a lovely photo of your kitchen! The yellow just makes me smile.
I have been assembling the Grimm Gables build-along designed by L. Delaney (Etsy). Every week she provides a new chapter in the mystery together with a new room to assemble from printouts and items you have on hand. The scale is somewhere between 1:24 and 1:48 which is about all I’m up to at present (work has gone mad since the courts reopened). It’s supposed to be an old mansion near the Mississippi, so when I’m done I’ll try to take some photos down by our river and post them on Instagram. Who knew you could have so much fun with a recycled cardboard box and a bottle of wood glue?
I ditto Kathy’s suggestion about your and Don’s photographs – I would love to acquire a photo of the red shed in winter.
I didn’t know this build along was going on, Barbara! I’ll have to look for it. Is the information just available on her site or is it on Instagram? Sounds like a lot of fun!
Stay safe!
Hi Claudia,
The weekly chapters are available through her Etsy shop. You can also check out #grimmgables on Instagram. It’s meant as a ‘stay home and use up the recyclables’ project for all ages and skill levels. My obsessive ‘I like it just so’ self is delighted with the amount of detail and time I can put into it – very therapeutic.
I’ll up that hashtag, Barbara! Thanks.
So glad you got some rain. We are hoping for a chance to get some here tonight. We, too, do need it.
We have had days and days of 90* plus horrible dew point temps, so lots of staying inside going on here. I am not feeling very creative at all. But I am reading, so that is a good thing.
News this morning has been sort of mixed, but with a good tilt, at least. We are watching Rachel, too. So far I am able to handle it. That can be shattered pretty quickly, so I am on guard.
Hubs just left to pick up the grocery order, so I need to get things ready for the “incoming” and all the wiping, etc to take place. We are still doing so. Makes me feel better, and it isn’t like we are pressed for time or going anywhere! Take care!!
I‘be actually come to look forward to “wiping” as it gives me something to do! Storms are forecasted for this afternoon…..fingers crossed for rain, no damage! ;)
I don’t know about you but this kind of weather makes me feel very tired – almost like I’ve been drugged.
I think the news this morning is good. It may not be addressed until after the election, but he will be prosecuted. You know there’s a whole lot of damning information there otherwise he would have never challenged it. It put me in a very good mood!
Stay safe!
Yay! Glad to hear you got lots of rain! Too hot here, too, to work outside. By Sunday, it’s supposed to be cooler (83) and less humid. So, I’ll be able to get out then.
I am also running out of things to do. I can only clean so much. Guess, I’ll just have to come up with something new.
Stay cool, and safe! ;)
I vacuumed and dusted yesterday and that’s about all the cleaning that was done!
Stay safe, Donna!
Stella!!
I’d be happy to participate in encouraging the photo and/or CD production – I’d love it, too.
I feel like such a wimp here in NorCal – anything over 75 and I’m melting.
Does anyone have a suggestion for my daughter who is stuck living in a studio apt. in CT with no more than a ceiling fan? I’ve been looking online for some sort of cooling device/appliance to ship to her. Her windows aren’t structured to allow a window AC – large sliding window. Perhaps the wrong place to pose this question.
Thanks anyway.
hej, martha …
i agree with you about the temperature … 40 to 70, maybe 75 is best for me: no ice (though i do like snow) and no sweating! hope you’re staying comfortable.
as someone living in an apartment and who for years didn’t install a window air conditioner (bat problem, thankfully now gone), i can offer a few suggestions. these aren’t big new ideas, just things that helped me get by in extra-hot weather. i hope they can help your daughter.
check to make sure the ceiling fan blades are turning counter-clockwise in the summer to send cooler air down. can usually feel that standing directly under the ceiling fan in summer. often ceiling fans have a little toggle switch on their base that will change the direction of the blades; if she has a landlord, that person should be able to set it for the seasons (can also use ceiling fans in winter to spread the warmth by switching the blades back to clockwise).
i’ve seen ads online for portable air conditioners and only briefly looked at a couple. the reason i didn’t consider them further is that the two i read about each had a long tube that must be put in a sink/bathtub or out a window to drain the water the a-c pulled out of the air. wasn’t possible where i was living at the time. that was about three years ago so maybe portable a-cs have improved …?
is there a window that she can safely keep open at night? cross-ventilation can help create air movement. if not … add a box fan to help move the air. i’d put it on a straight chair to bring to bed-level. if there was room, i’d add a bowl of ice cubes in front of the fan so some of the ice’s coolness would blow in my direction. and maybe this is just me, but i found that if my feet and/or my head are cooler, the rest of me feels cooler so i’d point a fan at either end. :)
use a de-humidifier. they need to be watched for the drainage pan to get emptied on a regular basis.
on very hot nights, i’d take a shower right before i went to bed. i mean right before and i wouldn’t dry my skin or my hair (only the bottom of my feet so i wouldn’t fall), just jumped directly into bed soaking wet and let the fan blow cool air my way. if that doesn’t fit in her schedule, maybe your daughter can get some of those freezable cold-packs (the kind to use on a sprain or for a headache) to use when trying to get cooler and fall asleep. or use a pack of frozen peas (their round shape helps conform to the body) or any other frozen veggies will do in a pinch.
keep blinds/curtains closed all the time. i have those cheap, plastic horizontal blinds on my windows and i turn them so the back side of the blinds shows to me; that keeps a bit more sunlight out.
my sister had sun/streetlight-blocking shades installed, said they help a lot.
i learned a better sleep routine helps me all year long and especially when i am hot (summertime or when sick) so i try to go to bed/get up at the same time every night/day, avoid caffeine and use of electronics (tv, cellphone, etc.) long before i go to bed, start turning lights off earlier, etc. … all to try to teach my brain “now it’s bedtime” no matter the temperature and humidity level. i absolutely love water and in the summertime (especially when it’s dry here, like it is now), i play a time-limited recording of ocean waves or a thunder- and rain-storm to psychologically distract myself (stop myself from whining about the heat) and imagine feeling cooled by the water. those recordings can be bought in cd-format, but i get them on youtube.
and only cotton sheets.
drink water. eat cold things like ice cream. :)
hope they help your girl and that you all stay safe and well.
kathy in iowa
Thank you, Kathy!! Some excellent ideas, the overhead fan one was unknown to us. I was raised in Iowa so quite familiar, but I haven’t known what to tell daughter to do. XO
Thanks, Martha! Stay safe!
When I lived in an old apartment in Philadelphia (during grad school) and couldn’t afford an air conditioner, I got three box fans; one faced me on one side, another on the other side, and one came at me head on. I would shower and sit on the bed and that’s the only thing that worked. And Philadelphia is extremely humid in the summer. Unbearably so.
Oh dear me, yes, Philly can be quite miserable. Daughter spent 4 years of undergrad at Bryn Mawr. At least she was out of there each year by mid-May.
I love the idea of 3 devoted fans! Thanks, Claudia. XO
xoxo
Even though we now have central air conditioning in my home, we get some awfully-hot days and also hot summers in SoCalif and we supplement the a/c with standing fans (fan on a pedestal mount; you can set them to rotate and sweep a space; they’re on and doing that right now as I write this) which I like better than box fans. The movement of air helps me in the house, besides which the fans also help with cooling such that we don’t have to spend a fortune each month on the cost of the central air conditioning (we can run it less). When I lived in a house in this area with no a/c and it was also a rental with poor insulation (and skylights with no covers), I thought I’d expire in the heat although I was younger and healthier! I would wet towels and drape them across my back like a cape, let the fans blow on the wet fabric, then try to sit and watch TV or just listen to soft music with my feet in a basin of cold water. You can also take towels, your nightgown, etc. and put them briefly in the freezer of the frig and it feels good to put on cooled clothing. Of course opening up any window at night helps although I was often in apartments/condo/houses where it was hard to get a cross-breeze, besides which I too often lived where I didn’t, as a single young woman living alone, feel it was safe to sleep with open windows at night (although I’d finally resort to just sleeping on the floor right beneath the window; cat-napping more or less, one ear ‘open’). Even now, I watch the outdoor light changing in a day, so I’m continually drawing blinds and drapes against sun coming in to the interior of the home.
What I did in my former ‘abodes’ too was change my hours. I’d be awake by 4am to ‘open up’ and try to catch any cooler air from outside (the best was around 5am), then close up when I had to get on to my job, trying to trap whatever cooler air I could; you’ve gotta try to cool down EARLY in the day before the sun starts ramping up its oppressive heat. And maybe this is when your daughter can turn to crockpot and microwave cooking; just don’t turn on that kitchen oven or stovetop because it’ll heat up a small place fast. And make sure she hydrates, hydrates, hydrates; drink a lot of water.
You can also take the therapeutic wraps (they have them at the drug store) which you can heat up for sore muscles or just as well put in the freezer for same (therapy of choice, cold packs or heat packs/some have a gel-like material and are very pliable/form-shifting to whatever you want). The physical therapist would use them for treatment but I’d use them as cooling packs in a hot house, just take them out of the freezer, wrap them in a light cloth, sling ’em around my neck, over my forehead, on top of my head, you name it; anything to try to cool down! A couple of years ago, my husband and I were out in the car for a day trip and we had engine trouble and had nowhere to pull over except on a hot, dusty (and I mean BLAZING hot) stretch of highway, no trees, just melting asphalt road. He tried to rig up a sort of shelter with the car door and a big beach towel to keep the sun off of me and the dog, but what saved me was the picnic packs you can put in the freezer at home, then pad your picnic hamper with them to keep the food cool, so those are good to have around, too.
I feel for your daughter! I’ve been there! I never lived in a place with central air conditioning til I was in my 40s and living on the Gulf Coast/Texas for a time. In THOSE places, you cannot survive easily without air conditioning in a home (although, of course, in the old days, people did; my grandma, as told to me by my father, would hang wet dishtowels in the open windows of their small house out on the hot prairie, so that at least the hot air blowing in could be temporarily/momentarily cooled thru the dripping fabric).
I always enjoy when an old photo shows up on the web of how in New York City, like back decades ago, they’d turn on the fire hydrants for the kids who were so hot in small apartments in big buildings with of course no a/c. What a relief that must have felt like to them!
adding a couple more thoughts …
wear light-colored, lightweight clothing.
do the hardest things in the coolest part of the day (often early morning).
soak feet in cold water in the bathtub and frequently run cold water over wrists (especially the inner sides).
keep drinking water. avoid coffee and alcohol (dehydrating). eat cold meals to avoid using the oven/stove and heating up the place. use microwave instead, if need to heat something.
hope you and your daughter, all your family are well and safe and keeping cool!
kathy in iowa
Glad you got rain! Send some my way on the opposite coast!
You’ve got a good plan for a lot of projects to take your mind of the nightly-news programs. I ebb & flow on the news-watching, trying to limit the amount, yet I’m also in that trap with the ‘catching up’ at the end of the day; can’t seem to quite get out of it; but there’s a lot coming down very fast in terms of virus info (politics of course as well!) and this is when I feel like I can’t turn off too much; rather, stay informed. My SoCalif is a real virus mess and I’ve recorded a lot of TV daytime news today, too, which I’ll filter/fast-forward thru; it’s just that I don’t want to miss any dayside news conferences by Mayor Garcetti of L.A. or our Governor Newsom (I don’t see how we won’t be going into another lockdown although probably not to the degree of March/April; call it a pause, whatever, just do it; we need less people out & about in SoCalif!). Newsom’s getting some flack for reopening too much too early after Calif was doing SO well when other states weren’t but, like my husband says, Newsom didn’t have much choice on reopening because people here were going out anyway and doing their thing; so, I dunno; it’s all very disappointing and scary. Civil disobedience (although that catch-phrase of course has a broad meaning/definition).
The ‘if-onlys’; if citizens had just exercised more care to follow the basics of not gathering, wearing the mask. This could have gone smoothly; it’s such a shame. To ‘accept’ that you can’t count on your fellow citizens to do the right things; sad. I’m glad for any new info that comes out, to maybe prompt the hold-outs to being more careful, like the latest about brain damage from the virus, and continual emphasis now on the fact that not just ‘old people’ get really sick and/or succumb to this virus. Maybe it’ll knock some sense into the violators; in the case of my county, those age 25-44s.
I don’t feel safe going out in stores and am ordering online or doing curbside pickup now although also trying to pull back on too much spending as I imagine most Americans are in such uncertain times. (Very interesting to read about what people are doing, like trying to concentrate on paying down a credit card more than ever; also, the percentage of people actually moving/relocating due to a variety of life circumstances in the epidemic [I have a 3rd cousin who’s currently moving house, on a 1000-mile ‘journey’ as I write this, transporting pets and kids by car ahead of the moving van and, wow, what a horrible time to have to be on the road; I do NOT envy her. I’ll be so relieved when they finally get to their destination, but they’re going from one virus hot-spot state to another, so they’re not exactly improving their safety profile]. Apparently some people who can do it, and are lucky to have another/second [vacation] home have opted to leave the cities and stay indefinitely in a less-populated area.)
My husband’s gone out for annoying stuff like plumbing parts this week but it’s only to two stores where he knows they have very-good mitigation in place and he just darts in/darts out, no browsing of course. (Knows exactly where he’s going in the store; quick trip. Hardware-type store that doesn’t get the foot traffic that, say, a grocery store does.) The strolling-browsing days in stores, for us, is over for now (and has been, for awhile [mid-February?]; I really miss it, the relaxation of being in a favorite shop, taking your time, admiring the inventory; retail therapy!). Anyway, if possible and within reason, continuing to stay safely at home. It’s just easier and less stressful. Lucky we can do it.
Mid-February seems a bit early – more likely March? That’s when we started sheltering in place.
With today’s SCOTUS news, I’m already determined to watch MSNBC tonight. Ah well! xo
Well, you’re prompting me to go back in my mind to remember, since so much of these past six months is becoming somewhat of a blur (the sameness, which shoe will drop next, etc.).
I got ‘panicked’ early because of my husband having the friend on the Diamond Princess ship off Japan; from end of January, this guy was face-timing and on Facebook (he’s very conditioned to podcasts and the like; is a media person; high-tech), so we knew some of what was happening on that ship in real time (my husband’s friend and wife were traveling with another couple and although his wife never went positive, the other guy’s wife did and they had to leave her behind in Japan, then this guy himself was sick on the plane back to the States and he remained unwell and in the biocontainment unit in Nebraska for weeks; in other words, we were tuned-in/dialed-in, on a personal basis [like to progression of disease, symptoms, soap brands and stuff they were using on him in the biocontainment unit, etc.], and my husband started researching the virus thoroughly, coming to me one evening [when I knew nothing but a passing headline about it] to tell me that our life was about to change big-time; I don’t know when I’ve ever seen him so serious, but he told me later that he was scared; terrified actually, because I have a lung disease and the virus likes the lungs).
I keep a loose diary and it looks like my last ‘normal’ day, when the virus wasn’t in the forefront of my mind, was Feb 6. I went back into your archive just now (isn’t it a good diary/journal, too!!) to see what I was blathering about in February and here was my comment about the virus on 2/27: “My husband and I have given all this a lot of thought; have been modestly preparing for a few weeks now…” Then, on 3/1, “I’m also now entering a period (totally self-imposed; we’ll see how long it lasts) where I’m probably going to stay ‘in’ for an unspecified amount of time because we’re concerned … we’ve been moderately prepping for this over the past few weeks (shelf-stable food/stocking the pantry; a good supply of our medicines on hand; etc.; just the stuff the CDC and our local public health [and my doctors] advise) … cleared the calendar … no need to be much outside the home turf.”
Yes, you’re right, most of us were sheltering at home by early-to-mid March. Enough was known by then to do it; give credence to the advisements. I think we were all just trying to finish up last-minute errands and getting set up to be home (in what became quite a hurry and it was all so odd, like nothing most of us had been thru before, to have to prep like that, and then you’d keep remembering what you forgot to get, so it sure took more than a few trips back and forth to stores), and you could feel the shelter-in-place advice/warning closing in; was stressful! I distinctly remember being apprehensive at the ‘eye’ doctor on March 4 for a glaucoma check I’d tried to fit in before it was due, in anticipation of lockdown for an unknown period of time when I figured we couldn’t get out for anything other than an emergency, and my ‘eye’ doctor really not having any plan on that date I saw him as to what he’d be doing with his practice. And I went to the pharmacy before they opened on Mar 6 with a well-rehearsed plan on how to avoid people and get there first, early in the day; absolute last time I was in a store, to now; I remember being very nervous about that errand. I went into the post office before-hours (to avoid humans!) on Mar 12 to retrieve mail and was never in a public place again and since. My husband went to the grocery store at 6am against all my objections on March 18 but then we stayed in for weeks and weeks before venturing out again. I remember being edgy. Then shocked that a friend of mine (who has brains!) was at a large family gathering around that time, like March 21-22, out of the area and traveling, wanting to say to her, “What were you thinking?”
Wow, on the one hand, Feb-Mar seems like a lifetime ago, yet not. (But here, I fear, we go again.) It’s a curious thing to relive those earlier weeks (what a crunch time it was), but I know I was really trying to reduce exposure from about mid-February to mid-March and was only away from home a handful of times. I have to remember that LOTS of people really were trying to do the right things for themselves and others, even further back on the Covid timeline.
This timeline is very interesting…You’re right. It does seem like a lifetime ago. xo
Good news about the rain. Bad news about the market. Does Don have a blog? Could he post some of his photography that might be available for sale? I agree with the commenters above. And I’d include in that cards with some of the lovely photos of your home with beautiful lighting. I’m thinking of the pic at the top of this post — your pretty kitchen, a puzzle on the table. It’s cozy. The kind of card you would send a friend — especially these days.
What kind of supplies you need and where do you need them from?
And finally, I agree on creativity. I’ve been in a serious creative zone and boy, it’s a good feeling. Take care. I’m almost out of battery.
Thank you, you’re very sweet. I didn’t mean to imply we need help, just that we’re on a budget. We’ll be okay. As I said on an earlier comment, I don’t think either of us is comfortable selling our photos at this time. And Don’s camera is meant for in-person portraits. But I love you all for suggesting this. You’re terrific.
Stay safe, Jeanie!
Wow, that puzzle looks really hard. But I’d sure love to be able to sit and watch you do your magic with your miniature houses. Have to admit I hadn’t even thought about Don not being able to do his portrait photography. At least he still has his music. I know our youngest spent the last four months stuck at home working on an album. I can’t wait to hear it once it’s on a streaming service.
We have Rachel on right now. We were just talking at supper about all the crimes we hope will keep Trump busy fighting in court once he’s out of office. No pardons for this guy.
And there’s quite the thunderstorm going on. Boy, the humidity has been a killer the past few days. And it rains a bit each day, so that we feel like we’re living in the tropics.
Projects are what’s keeping me sane at this point.
Stay cool,
Kay
It is incredibly hard. But I won’t back down from the challenge. I just have to be in the right mood!
No pardons! I want this guy prosecuted and sent to prison. His crimes have been ongoing his entire life.
Thanks, Kay. Stay safe!