I’m writing this early in the morning as I want to get outside and do some work before it rains later in the afternoon. Happy about the rain, of course, but this is the first morning where the temperature has been bearable and I want to take advantage of it.
You are dear to me – all of you.
When I wrote of being on a tight budget yesterday, it was not my intention to paint a dire picture, just to state the facts. We are not special. So many without work are struggling and have children and bills and mouths to feed. I have noticed a larger sense of worry among my actor friends as this goes on and on. No one knew that theaters would be closed for what will be nearly a year. It could be longer. We couldn’t grasp that back in March, when everything suddenly shut down. On one hand, we’re freelancers and have always had to deal with periods where we weren’t working. On the other, we’ve never had to deal with absolutely no possibility of work for months and months. Anyway, I thank you for caring and for reaching out.
I don’t think either of us is comfortable selling prints of our photos. I take pictures because I like to do that and I like to share them with you. I see others marketing their photos, but that’s not really me. And Don’s camera is meant for portraits – Polaroid portraits. It’s not meant for landscapes. Neither of us has ever been comfortable with marketing our extra-career skills. I sold scarves for a while on Etsy, Don has sold his CDs, but it isn’t a place where we exist with ease.
Anyway. Today I’ll do some weed whacking, a little mowing, some pruning and cleaning up. I’m not going to let Don do anything as his back is really bothering him and he is not doing any lifting or pushing for a week. It’s slowly getting better, but it’s my turn to take over for a bit, just as he has done when my back was bothering me.
I’m about 2/3 done with the stonework on the dollhouse. It’s looking good.
R. – I’ve been thinking about you lately. We haven’t heard from you for a while. When you have a chance, would you let us know how you’re doing?
Stay safe.
Happy Friday.
hej, claudia …
i didn’t read your words yesterday as you and don being in financial trouble. when i asked about possible commissions of nature photos and don’s cds, i wasn’t trying to suggest that you and don were in dire straits or needed to start a business on the side; i asked only out of my sincere appreciation of your (yours and don’s) talents and my interest in adding some of those photos and music to my home. i am sorry if my words yesterday suggested otherwise to you two or anyone else here. i am sorry if i upset you in any way.
and though, yes, most of us here in america and around the world are dealing with stress (financial and otherwise) due to the virus, etc. … yes, you are special! i don’t know how i found your blog or who to thank for that … but i thank you for sharing all you do here. thank you for being a voice of reason and kindness. thank you for being a friend.
sounds like you should get quite a bit of rain soon from tropical storm fay. hope it’s just enough and not too windy.
hope don’s back feels better soon and yours stays well, especially with that long list of chores ahead. also that you both stay safe and have a nice weekend at your sweet home.
usual plans ahead for me this weekend, though i might have to cut my own hair. eeek! at least the parts that need to be shorter around my face and ears (which is now bugging me a lot). it’s been almost four and a half months since i had a haircut … much too long when it’s a pixie style … but i am not going to risk going to a hair salon (that last word sounds like it’s a fancy place i go to; it’s not … but it is a small shop). hope i don’t end up with a mullet! also hope to work on a couple projects (making a bathtub caddy, painting, continue working on a children’s book). the best part for me is always seeing at least some members of my family (though, sadly and obviously, it still has to be from a distance). more hot and humid weather here for the foreseeable future; i am grateful to have air-conditioning and that today is friday!
hope you all have a nice, cool, safe weekend.
kathy in iowa
Not to worry, Kathy. I was simply worried that it would seem as if I was asking for sympathy when I really wasn’t. You are always kind and caring and I appreciate that so much!
Did you cut your hair? How did it go?
Stay safe.
I really loved you picture today of the studio miniature. It looks nice the way it’s lit up from the inside. Was the outside from a kit or one you picked up and refurbished? I hope you got in your gardening before the heat. I missed my window of opportunity here in NC but that was really early! Maybe this evening when things cool off.
That’s one of things we love about where it is now. The sun shines into it.
It was a kit that I built.
Stay safe, Jane!
Hi Claudia, darn backs at our age. They expect us to lighten our load and slow down. And we don’t want to! That’s the kid in me coming out!
The light shining thru the studio is amazing!
Take care…
I never want to lighten my load! And I have to force myself to and now Don realizes that he has to do the same.
Stay safe, Kelly!
I’m not doing any gardening(my husband’s area) and my back is still hurting. From sewing. I guess age catches up no matter what you do! And I’m older than you.
Have you thought of putting Don on Youtube so we could hear him? I looked up John Prine when you mentioned him and have enjoyed his music. And I discovered Lukas Nelson there. His songs are pretty good too, especially Just Outside of Austin.
He might be on YouTube already. I’m not sure. He has a video or two out there somewhere.
My back will hurt from working on the dollhouse, too! I understand.
Stay safe, Jan!
Oh, Claudia, this is a terribly stressful time, isn’t it? For so many people. We received some rain last night, but a horrible storm along with it. We lost some big branches, and my flowers look as if someone beat them with a chain. I am so hoping they will bounce back in a day or two. Flowers are nothing compared to the corn that is down for the farmers. It was crazy wind. So glad that there was no hail. It seems to have broken the humidity a bit which is a very good thing.
Hope you finished up your outside list for the day. We have to do things in little bite size pieces now. Hard to come to terms with, but truly much easier on us, and a good lesson to learn and accept, but surely not easy!! Take care.
I’m sorry about the damage from that storm, Chris. That’s always my worry, as well.
We’re still dealing with very high humidity and have a heat advisory today.
Stay safe, Chris!
Hi Claudia, I found your blog about 15 days into the stay-at-home order and have enjoyed reading daily ever since. My political leanings are very similar to yours and I share your frustration and dismay of the current situation. However, what prompted me to comment today, which I rarely do on blogs, was reading about your Roseville pottery collection. Enjoyed the pictures and write-ups and was inspired to do some quick research on the one Roseville piece I own. Discovered that it is a 1939 Roseville 951-8 Cosmos blue handled vase. My grandma gifted it to me Christmas of 1983. It had been a Mothers Day gift to her from my Dad in 1943 when he had his first job. Inside of the vase she included a short note which I treasure. Thank you for helping me learn more about this family keepsake, it made my day!
I’m so happy to hear this, Lisa! So glad to have been of some assistance. I love the Cosmos pattern. And that you have a piece that was your grandmother’s is priceless. Enjoy it! Thanks for reading and stay safe!
Wow, did I have a meltdown this morning.
I think it’s too much news/headlines again; the fear and uncertainty (in me) ramping up with our highly-infected, Covid-ridden SoCalif. (Not just my state, but my county and my hometown.) Maybe it’s just overall fatigue (haven’t been feeling terrific with my nuisance-bag of physical ailments which also affects sleep, so go figure). But we drove to another (neighboring; not far in distance) city (which I haven’t done in FIVE months [count ’em]) in what should have been a good getaway for homebound-me-for-too-long, just a simple and very-much pre-planned curbside pickup (shop owner and I had exchanged at least four email messages) … and she had nothing but problems from the moment we arrived, wasn’t ready for us, computer/cash-register system failed (and I don’t know what all); my husband was getting more antsy and impatient by the minute, we wound up waiting for an hour and, man, it was just too warm in that hot-asphalt parking lot (and then my purchases weren’t even complete; they ran into a shortage/back-order; so, things just didn’t go well).
And I get out like that (into the larger world), even as a passenger, and all I want to do is get home asap because I’ve obviously made the leap that ‘away from home is bad’. So, it’s an eye opener and a warning to self: I can’t keep feeling so powerless. It’s robbing me of an ability to cope with even the smallest wrinkles. (It is NOT normal to cry all the way home, which is what I did.) So I’m going to really take the weekend to make a plan … like really think it thru and make a written guideline … for how to better balance my activities because my fear, frustration and cabin fever is now ‘way over the top. (We drove by a burger place we often used to frequent [pre-Covid] and I bawled, “All I want is some FRIES!” [So healthy; NOT!] Seriously, this is just pathetic.)
Again, I’m rarely out (so I don’t know what’s going on in the streets) and, even then, I’m only a passenger in the car, but was quite startled to see this morning on entrance back into my own town, this massive thing in the roadway, some sort of portable signage with big digital read like you might see out on a freeway/interstate, with this urgent-feeling messaging in two different languages, Spanish and English, flashing one sentence at a time with big orange-yellow letters on a black screen, directly in your line of sight as a driver (or passenger, or pedestrian):
DO NOT GATHER.
COVID-19 IS SPREADING HERE.
STAY HOME.
WEAR A MASK.
WASH HANDS.
(And I say: What.is.this.world.)
But a PS to you and today’s post, Claudia: I agree with another reader that the light flooding Don’s Studio in the photo is really striking. I do LOVE that doll house; it’s just a masterpiece. And it’s nice you can have the doll houses out so that you see and enjoy them every day.
Have a good weekend and take what rain you can get, right?!
I’m glad to hear that there’s a sign like that. There should be one everywhere, on every highway.
We got a lot of rain yesterday and might have more today. We really needed it!
Stay safe, Vicki. (Meltdowns are perfectly okay. Maybe even necessary once in a while!)
Yeah, I was talking to a friend on the phone today and she said meltdowns (within reason) are both necessary and more common than we think with people, because we’re all under a lot of tension, so it’s a stress-reliever rather than to bottle up all that emotion deep inside. Still, I felt ridiculous, yet I understand it.
(She’s got a friend recovering from Covid when, curiously, it went straight to this gal’s kidneys before anything else which is what got her to the hospital and learning she was positive; thankfully out of the hospital within two weeks but still not breathing right at home [the doctors said they can’t really do anything more to help; she’s had the plasma and the med that starts with an ‘r’ so better just to recuperate at home, besides which we’re assuming they just plain need the bed for the constant influx of new Covid patients {this is in the San Fernando Valley of the Los Angeles region of SoCalif}] and her level of fatigue is dramatic; says she sometimes feels like she doesn’t even want to lift one finger or have eye movement; really something of how the virus just ‘takes it out of you’ [this is an otherwise healthy and active ‘senior’] and quickly drains the strength although of course bed-confinement can do that to you, too; also, just hard breathing is absolutely exhausting, so it’s like a triple whammy. [I forget right now if she’s age 69 or 70, but those effects from the virus get to more patients than just the over-65s; I watched a short news piece last night of this little baby, precious little thing only a few months old {and she’s okay now} with Covid, just coughing so pitifully and in distress, oxygen hooked up to her wee nose {this is why I have to ratchet down my news-watching, the daily heartache; and I got SO steamed watching the news channels last night with this whole Trump/Stone thing that I was ready to throw stuff against the wall; the only good thing though, Claudia, is that he’s going down; look at the polls, although the experts say to not write DT off quite yet}.])
I’ve been watching the weather and have seen the weather folks talking about this deluge of storm/rain in the Northeast and the Hudson Valley was mentioned! Here, also very much in need of rain, I’m so over the heat and am getting fed up with the high-90s temps; I just SO dislike summer which is so weird because, of course, when young, there WAS no more favorite time of year (kids and summer just go hand in hand!).
I’m in the flight path of the gigantic helicopters being used for the search of the TV actress who drowned in the lake (it’s a mere/few [dozen or less] miles from the L.A. county line, this lake, and I’m aware of it; is green & murky water anytime I’ve ever been there) and it’s been so sad to hear them fly over, day after day now. The sound is deafening; I squealed the first day because it sounded like a jet aircraft was headed straight for my roof; then, we sadly knew what it was; is profoundly sad when they fly west at dusk when their day has ended and night’s to come on, because it’s another reminder it was a day with no success in recovering her. I don’t know anything about her or her career but have wondered about the small child found on the boat and I guess she has a lot of family and he also has a father, so at least he can be with loved ones in the absence of his mother.
It’s such a sad story. Heartbreaking.
Stay safe, Vicki.
Glad you got some rain. We got rain and then some. Discovered two leaks in our home…wonderful. Just the sort of thing we don’t need. And, like Chris said, my flowers are also beaten down. Unfortunately this time, we got some bad along with the good. But…I’m going to be grateful for the many parts of the roof that didn’t leak.
Happy weeding! ;)
Oh darn it. Leaks are no fun. I hope they’re easily and inexpensively fixed, Donna.
Our bathroom sink started to drain slowly. Oh joy.
Stay safe!
It rained all night and our back garden is turning into a jungle. The daisies are hip tall and the cone flowers even higher. Trumpet vine about ready to burst with orange beauties that will lure the hummingbirds. Best of all is a break in the humidity. Still in the eighties but oh, what a difference without that wet blanket air. As I type this I’m still sitting outside on the patio because, by some miracle, there are no mosquitoes.
Hope you and Don have the same kind of weather in the next day or two. It does wonders for the soul.
Stay cool.
Kay
We’re still getting very high humidity due to the tropical storm that is headed up the East Coast. I’ll be happy if and when it breaks. Today is already unbearable and it’s only 10 am!
Stay safe, Kay.
Your indoor plants are looking so healthy and I love looking at your wall art. The picture with the two children is quite lovely. We are in for quite a wet time here, and are expecting quite heavy rain after the weekend, so I am trying to do some outdoor things before the heavy stuff arrives. Going for a walk soon in the gentle rain. Have also been doing a lot of cooking this morning. Feeling a little less blue but need to get out of the house for a walk each day to keep my mental state positive. Lucky to have some lovely walks around here where we live. Was supposed to see our daughter this weekend but the person spreading the virus has put paid to that. We will see our daughter soon and her office has been allowed back to work again. One day…………
We got that in Paris, Robyn – it’s a very old advertisement for coffee. We really love it.
I felt better – even though I was drenched because of the humidity – getting outside yesterday and accomplishing something in the garden. It really helps, doesn’t it?
Stay safe!
Just love your garden. Hope that Don’s back gets better real fast. Wish I had your energy.
But then I crash!
Thanks, Rose. Stay safe!
I’m sure you and Don are used to work (or lack thereof) stress, but this situation is so dire that it takes things to a higher level of worry than ever before in our lifetimes. And my belief is that it will get much worse as some states are closing down again, or returning to more stringent requirements. So many lives on the line. We need a handbook or course on Depression 201 to learn what our parents or grandparents did with nothing and survived (most of them survived). I am sickened by the commercials I see about the great American road trip–so buy a new car, or since you’re sheltering in place why not refurnish your house or buy a new entertainment system or more channels or streaming…all because these companies are “there” for us. The departure from reality that our politicians AND businesses are exhibiting is as frightening as the virus. In a time like this, it would be fun to do a version of dumpster diving to see what’s out there that could be repurposed or put to good use, but with the virus everywhere, that is just not feasible. As I mentioned I’ve been “window” shopping for my some-day Art Deco doll house…I would be interested in seeing the kinds of things you envision for Dove Cottage if and when buying becomes possible again. I don’t get Instagram, but I would love to see some dreams, inspirations, and ideas that you may have about furnishing and decorating the cottage if you’d care to share. Shopping vicariously is fun! You and Don and all the gig workers are in my thoughts. Hope Don’s back is better! Good thing you two are a great team. Hugs! (from more than 6″ away!)
I’ll try to do a post like that. I have some specific ideas, but I try to let it evolve as well. I’ll do a post soon about that very thing.
I LOVE ART DECO! I’m jealous!
Stay safe, Nora.
I’m really inclined to think Don’s studio house is your masterpiece, museum worthy. I say lay low, take it way easy.
I had a meltdown yesterday. A doc friend says it should be considered an official diagnosis! But on we go.
I had one today, Jeanie. Just about 30 minutes ago. I guess we needed them!
Stay safe.