This is all I’ve got for you today, though I do like the light shining on the desk from the window. When I’m not ready to start in on whatever it is I have to do next, I play around with furniture and take pictures. It helps me to sort out what I might do with each room. I printed out some wallpaper pictures from Itsy Bitsy Minis and taped them on the living room walls. I’m trying to get an idea if it will work well there before I place an order.
Well. It takes me a long time to wake up in the morning and when I got up this morning I was hit by a coffeed-up Don stating that he woke up too early with the thought that he had to get some bottled water. We’re due to be hit by the tropical storm later today (we’re already getting a lot of rain) and if the power goes out, we have no water as we have a well and a pump that is powered by electricity. He’d already made a list. I pleaded my I-need-a-cup-of-coffee-first case. After I finished, we made a list for the store as Don wanted to get there close to the 7 am opening. We’ve already disinfected the stuff he bought, washed the vegetables, and there are several gallons of water in the trunk of my car.
We’ve both taken showers, as we always do after shopping and disinfecting. And now I’m sitting here with my second cup of coffee writing this post. Too much activity too soon for this girl!
We’re due for lots of rain and high winds later this afternoon and into this evening. You know how I feel about winds. Right now, it looks like we have a slight lull, but by this afternoon, we’ll be dealing with WEATHER. I’m a bit nervous, but there’s nothing we can do but be prepared and we are as prepared as we can be without a generator.
If for some reason I don’t post tomorrow, it will be because we don’t have electricity. You never know with these storms, it could be worse than predicted, it could be much less than predicted. But this area is definitely going to feel its impact. Wish us well (I know you do.)
I’m reading Melmoth by Sarah Perry. Just started it, but I loved The Essex Serpent and I love her writing style. Yesterday’s mail brought Hamnet (all the way from England; I like the British cover better and it’s available in paperback there) by Maggie O’Farrell, and I can’t wait to read it. And soon I should receive the new Michael Connelly from The Mysterious Bookshop. By the way, you are the greatest! Several of you ordered books from the bookshop and while I didn’t ask you to order something from them, you did anyway. Thank you, thank you! You’ve made a difference. A lot of small orders add up to a good day for The Mysterious Bookshop.
And heavens, don’t we all want and need a good day?
Alright, my friends. I’m off. Send some prayers our way. I always worry about our very old trees.
Stay safe.
Happy Tuesday.
We’re having plenty of rain right now, but I also worry about losing power. Without it we have no water or toilets! If it stays out for very long, then I worry about the frozen food, too. Oh, sometimes it’s a joy to live in the woods. Sometimes, not so much.
I commend you all for ordering books to help independent bookstores. I do a lot of reading, but physical books, though I love them, are not something I can collect anymore. Neither house is a safe place to keep them. So, I’ll get back to reading now, while I have power.
Both places are uninhabited for half the year, so I can see how it might be difficult!
Hope all is safe for you during the storm, Shanna!
🤞🏻 Fingers crossed and 🙏🏻prayers coming your way.
Stay safe!
Thank you, Cathy!
Stay safe!
I’ve been thinking about all my East Coast friends these days, up the coast. Hang tight. You sound prepared with the water and such and hopefully you won’t lose power, trees or anything damaging. Take care and keep cozy. Playing in the dollhouse sounds like a grand idea!
We’re hanging out. Don is looking at an old camera he bought. I’m looking at Instagram and reading my book. We’re still waiting for the brunt of it, which will be this afternoon, I think.
Stay safe, Jeanie.
Hoping this a just a nice rain storm, no rain her in RI in weeks. I was telling someone that it hurts my feet to walk on the grass barefooted ( my preference). Even the cats don’t like walking on the grass, ouch! I finally watched this two episode of Frazier where Don appeared.. He was so young! Speaking of getting up early we have Whole foods deliver here and by mistake I picked delivery for this morning 6-8 am. Which meant I was up at 4:11( when text came in ) to check on substitutions, there were none. Glad of that but I could have slept a bit more, so all day long out of sorts. Take care
He did those episodes not long after we moved in together – so, about 25 years ago!
Sorry you had to get up so early, Mary.
Stay safe.
I hope you don’t lose power. That’s never any fun. We’ve lived with well water for over 40 years. We always fill the bathtub if we are expecting a storm. You can flush the toilet with a bucket of water and we also use that water for washing up. I keep several gallon containers that I fill with water and put in the kitchen for drinking.
We have a wood stove in the basement that we used to use to help heat our house. We only use it now if we lose power in the winter. I’ve cooked on it and melted snow on it for water during a few major blizzards. That’s when I pretend I am living the pioneer life, like Laura Ingalls Wilder, lol!
Don’t forget to charge your phones.
Stay safe.
Yes, we do the same thing. We’re now into the high winds. It’s been a surreal day.
Stay safe.
Sounds like you have everything you can control under control. Stay safe! Here’s hoping the trees Stay safe, too! ;)
It’s very windy now! Scarily so!
Stay safe.
Good to hunker down and be prepared, though I hope you will not be hit too badly. We finally bought a small generator a few years ago so we at least can have water especially to flush with! I remember the days with 3 kids at home I would fill up the bathtubs, laundry tub, whatever would hold enough water and bottled water to drink. Continue to stay safe and take care.
Yes, we fill up buckets and the tub.
In Yorktown, VA, we got a tornado warning at 4 am. It was near us but went over without touching down (I lived in Illinois for two years when I was a kid, terrifying). Overall, the storm wasn’t too bad. We didn’t get an enormous amount of rain, but we did get wind. Many people are without power. I am exhausted from the stress, but overall, we got through it. Between my school’s electrical fire (Feb), the pandemic (March and on), the hurricane/tropical storm (August), our idiot president (forever), I am ready for a nice, friendly group of locusts! Stay safe!
We have heavy winds right now. The rain has stopped but the winds are pretty intense.
Stay safe.
Turned on MSNBC as we ate lunch, and they showed a reporter in NJ who said it looked like it was dying down there. Hope it is manageable for you! The trees are always a worry as is the power and esp the refrigerator/ freezer. Sounds like you are as prepared as you can be for whatever is to come your way. Know we are all thinking of you.
We might hit 71* today!! It is a pretty and sunny day. Looks like a lovely early Autumn day, but the flowers are still so pretty, and no chances of frost ahead. My kind of day! Take care and stay safe!
The rain has stopped by the winds are now crazy as the storm leaves the area. I hope the trees stay strong.
Stay safe.
Hi Claudia , I hope the storm is just enough to be interesting and nothing more! We have family in Bayside, NY. They sent us a video this morning of the storm right off their balcony, the heavy winds looked very tropical! I am glad you and Don went out and are prepared with plenty of water just in case.
I appreciated your post about The Mysterious Bookshop. I envy those that have small bookshops nearby. We do have a wonderful children’s bookstore, A Whale of a Tale, but seem to only have Barnes and Noble to purchase other books locally. There maybe a few stores in the region that I haven’t heard of, although I did do a google search and only came up with some used stores that I’ve been to before. I will make it a point to order books from independent stores when possible as there are many available online.
I am off to celebrate my birthday here at home…so proud to share my special day with President Obama! :)
xo, Christy
Happy Birthday, Christy!!! Enjoy your celebration!
Stay safe.
Thank you, Claudia! :)
hej, christy …
happy birthday! hope it’s been a good day and you had some of your favorite kind of cake!
kathy in iowa
Thank you, Kathy! It was a lovely day and the cake was wonderful…lemon with raspberry cream cheese frosting :)
good; i am glad for you … because everyone deserves a happy birthday (and every day)!
also, that cake sounds delicious! in my family, we love lemon cake. if you have links to the cake and frosting recipes, we would sure appreciate them, please and thanks! and if it’s a secret recipe that you cannot share, i understand.
hope you and your loves are safe and well.
kathy in iowa
Been thinking of you both since I saw the reports of the storm’s path. Hope you come out the other side of this in good shape and with your power on!
Take care.
Kay
glad you are prepared, stocked up. i’ve not seen any news since 7:15 this morning; been wondering how you are. hope today’s weather has been easy on you all and that don feels better and better. there’s never a good time to be sick … but now? with a pandemic and a huge storm?!? you two houldn’t have to deal with so much all at once! i will keep praying for you.
glad you have this dollhouse to work on (and don has that camera, music-making …). that light coming in is nice. will be fun to see your process and the choices you make. glad you have some books to read, too. thank you for sharing book/movie titles, etc. i’m adding more today to an already-long tbr pile, thanks to you. :)
no news to share here. work, walk, shower, leftovers for a quick dinner and now taking it easy.
stay safe in every way!
kathy in iowa
I know it’s not a permanent placement, but I love how that beautiful desk fits right into the sunny corner. I see you’ve blocked the stairwell for maximum room. I sure wish I had the skills that you do! And for a little funny, after your encouragement, I ordered a room box, as I mentioned. And this morning I got a message declaring my PayPal payment was incomplete. My PP account looks fine, so I don’t know what’s going on there. Message from the Universe, or just that my computer is messed up? Meanwhile my little furniture pile grows.
I thought of you and Don from Mon. night thru yesterday. We had some very gusty winds and lots of small branches beating down on the roof, but so far, we’re much better off than many of our neighbors. We have a sort of micro climate here which often protects us from the worst. I do feel much better the last several years since we put in the generator–I grew up with occasional power outages and don’t mind them, but we also have a well. No electricity means…no water and I’m too old and dizzy for an “out” house. I hope you came thru it all with no damage. I’ve been very “chatty” lately and you’ve been kind and generous to me. Thank you!
Just catching up with a couple of your blog entries. Have had a rough day today. Hopeyou fare well with the weather.
I thought of you every time I saw something on TV about the hurricane/storm; a lot of news talk about it hitting upstate NY and Cape Cod area further up. Looking at comments-exchange here on the post, glad to know the rain slacked off a little by the dinner hour, although I know you’d been needing some, but then feel’in for ya, Claudia, because I don’t like wind either and we’ve spoken more than a few times about the violent Santa Ana winds (and sundowners, which can be particularly bad in Santa Barbara) of SoCalif, which you’ve experienced. Trees, yes, oh wow in other places where I’ve lived had I worried about trees too close to the house; huge evergreen with shallow root ball at one place and then three massive, ancient oaks at the house before this one. You’re Weds morning now as I write this, so I hope you got thru the night okay!