Beautiful day today. We need to mow, but we’re holding off one more day as my lower back is giving me a small amount of grief today. Should be fine by tomorrow. Sunny, in the low to mid-eighties for today and tomorrow and then we’re back in the seventies for the foreseeable future.
I can’t complain.
I did a fair amount of work around the house yesterday (see: back problems) and today I’ll start in on our tax deductions. One of my least favorite things to do, but it must be done. I’ve decided I’ll do a bit of work on that every day, so it’s not overwhelming and becomes – hopefully – relatively painless.
I needed to find a place to stash the pieces of china and this Roseville ‘basket’ works well. I have…ahem… strongly encouraged Don to take a day off from all outside work as his arthritis kicks up and he doesn’t know when to stop. I can be the same way, so I’m not judging him, just acknowledging a fellow overdoer. So he took a long walk this morning instead.
I’m in the middle of The Starless Sea. I’m enjoying it very much, though I’m not sure it’s as powerful as The Night Circus. However, there’s a lot more to read and Erin Morgenstern is so good at weaving a magical story and tying all the ends together that I’m withholding comparison until the very end.
We’re coming up on half a year in ‘lockdown.’ Since this is a leap year, I calculate 183 days equaling half a year. Though if you just count the months, it’s six months. Today is day 179, so four more days officially.
Stay safe.
Happy Tuesday.
Good morning, Claudia. Yesterday was sunny and cool – low 70’s. We went to my aunt’s house for a BBQ and all sat out on the patio, talking into the night. It was perfect. Today – and most of this week – yuck. Instant gloomy fall. Rain, wind, gray skies and only in the 50’s! Won’t even make it out of the 60’s this week. Too cool, too quick.
I love how you have the china pieces displayed in the Roseville basket. Just beautiful.
My lower back is “killing” me this morning, too. I think it’s from sitting on the uncomfortable iron chairs on the patio for hours yesterday. I will do some yoga stretches in a bit and then bundle up in rain gear and take a walk. Staying active seems to do better for me than more sitting.
Have a good day!
Sorry about the rain, but happy to hear you had a lovely time with your family yesterday.
I’ll take a walk around the property today – but pushing a lawnmower might not be advisable! Plus tree trimming is now happening on our stretch of road – the utility company is trimming all the trees that might impact wires. Fortunately, we don’t have any of those – they’re all smallish.
Stay safe, Melanie!
It’s been miserably hot, reaching 100, which it rarely does in my part of the Bay Area. This heat wave is affecting the fires and the added heat stresses the firefighters. They’re truly heroic.
I have been listening to podcasts as I go about my day. I used to love listening to radio when I was younger. As you rest your back, you might be interested in checking out the “Smartless” podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Armett. Specifically, the 5th episode, which features the last interview given by Kamala Harris before she accepted to be Biden’s VP running mate.
Thanks, Wendy. I listen to podcasts as well, especially when I’m working upstairs on the dollhouse. Appreciate the suggestion.
Stay safe and try to stay cool!
Day 179 for me also. My car wasn’t moved from March to August…saved tons on gas…I now go once a week early to small grocery…Fresh Thyme…and pick up books library…still home schooling and tutoring…Facetime…one grand and I meet and mask and distance…high school level…one is at college living…one is commuting college…one home still home school-10th…one in Florida third grade gifted school now E learning…one Florida kindergarten Virtual…one not a grand in Maryland E learning…I tutor her also. My days are full with school-we worked all summer…my grands don’t take time off as they love reading and learning…I am still amazed at folks who don’t distance…isolate or wear masks…I refrain from commenting as does no good…my family good about it…have a good good day today…I have used so many journals during this period…puzzles…books…take care dear one…brendab
Thank you, Brenda – you take care, too!
Enjoy your day.
Stay safe!
I believe that Roseville basket’s mission is to hold your found china. They look perfect together.
It is quite cool here…and rainy. Temps in the 50’s for the high today. Heat will probably have to be turned on…we chill easily around here as we get older it seems.
Hope you get to rest up today. Stay safe! ;)
Wow, that IS cool! It’s still going to hit the low eighties today, but I think today is the last of those temps. I’m ready for the seventies.
Stay safe, Donna.
hope you and don both feel better soon and take it easy!
hope the tax work and outcome are easy on you both, too.
love the look of that broken pottery in other pottery. i have a couple largish pieces that broke in the dishrack (i must have been in a hurry because i love those dishes and i enjoy washing them) and need to find a place for them. thanks for the idea and photo.
also, what beautiful candle-holders you have! love the etching marks on them.
i can be an over-doer, too (though exhaustion about the pandemic is lessening that tendency). when i was rearranging closets this past weekend, i worked for five hours straight, up until nearly midnight on sunday … only to then be wound up and wide awake for a couple hours. but i opened those closet doors several times yesterday and this morning just to look at what i had done and smiled. they look good, are better organized and user-friendly and that makes me feel better. worth it!
except for a few days in april (when office hours were drastically shortened) and in may (when i was sick), i haven’t been able to stay home. not complaining … i am grateful to have a job and be able to do grocery shopping for members of my family and pick out my own produce. anyway, i don’t have that pent-up, locked-inside feeling (being an introvert helps me with that). but sometimes when i think about it or see the date written somewhere, i am hit with a wave of sadness that turns into tears, then into something almost like nausea and heartbreak and then anger … that we’ve been dealing with covid-19 for more than six months and still there are people who believe this is all a hoax and won’t wear a mask or stay six feet away from other people. heard that “hoax” stuff at work just last week. unbelievable. when i get those feelings and see people acting like there’s not a thing wrong in the world, i remind myself that we are six months closer to a vaccine and the end of this awful virus. and i keep on praying. and wearing a mask. wish everyone would.
cooler weather today and for the next several days so that’s one less excuse for not wearing a mask. WTF … wear the facemask! (i know i’m “preaching to the choir” here, but no offense intended).
hope you enjoy that book.
stay safe!
kathy in iowa
The candle holders were a gift from Craig Noel, the man who started the Old Globe Theater and who was our friend, as well as a mentor to Don (he really saved him as a troubled young guy by offering him work at the theater). We adored him. He died several years ago and we miss him.
I get very angry about those who won’t wear masks. On a personal level, they are extending the time that Don and I will be out of work. I despise them for that and for all the people they will infect by their selfish behavior.
Stay safe, Kathy.
a beautiful memento of beautiful friendships. glad you, don and craig met and all the great things that led to for each of you!
agree about being very angry at people not wearing masks or staying six feet apart, etc. they are prolonging the very problems they complain about. covidiots? indeed.
hope your day goes well. stay safe!
kathy in iowa
ps: hopefully a package arrives soon for you. was ordered early this month and to be sent directly to you (rather than first to me). xo
There is a package waiting for me at the post office. That might be it – says it’s from Etsy.
Stay safe.
I think anything related to the IRS is the worst task, but necessary & best not put off. Years ago a blogger wrote about her unprocrastination day. I am having one today. Everything I don’t like handling is written on my to do list, and MUST be done by day’s end. One task has been put off for years! So one miserable day. I should say not even the entire day, just a few hours of it. Procrastination is a big sucker of time, but I guess that’s how I was hard wired. If I would just do it, as they say, and not waste time writing it on a list, dressing it, finding excuses not to do it! Have a mostly good day!
I am a procrastinator by nature. I did my best writing when I was in school at the last minute. I function well when I have a deadline. Nevertheless, it has much less appeal as I get older, so I’m doing my best to NOT procrastinate any longer.
Stay safe, Mary.
Autocorrect changed dreading it to dressing it!
xo
we will be warm and stuffy today because we had to keep the windows shut last night because of the smoke coming from the south and east. Usually we open the windows to the cool night air and then close it up in the house, keeping us cool.
Everyone in our neighborhood seems to be having maintenance done on their houses. Two or three are being painted, roofs being cleaned, and yards being spiffed up. We had new gutter covers put in. I guess when this is over we will have a great looking neighborhood and you will have a lovely garden, or two.
Yes, a lot of work being done in my neck of the woods, as well. My neighbors had a deck built and the husband – being home from work for an extended period of time – helped build it.
Stay safe, Jan!
The pottery looks PERFECT in the Roseville basket!
Thank you, Jenny!
Stay safe.
I agree with everyone you chose a wonderful way to display your found treasure. It’s part of the history of your house so should be on display. In another life I think I’d have loved to go on archaeology digs looking for past civilizations. When we were kids we lived across the street from a creek where we were told Native Americans had encampments in the 19th century. My brothers and I spent many happy hours next to the creek digging up arrowheads. Closest I’ve ever lived to some place where you could look for history with your hands.
We have very cool temps now. In fact, when I came inside from trying to sit out yesterday, I was tempted to turn on the fireplace! Rain today and all the rest of the week. So I’ll get out my stitching and sit and listen to podcasts today. I’m avoiding politics for a while for the sake of my blood pressure.
Take care.
Kay
Don would love nothing more than to find an arrowhead, Kay!
Yes, avoid politics and stay sane, Kay.
Stay safe.
I love how you stored the china in your basket. It’s beautiful there!
And a tad envious of your weather. Here at the lake we’ve had a fire going since seven this morning and it’s pretty gloomy out, though it hasn’t rained yet. Part of me wants to take a walk. Part of me doesn’t want to leave the house! I’ve been packing for our trip home tomorrow — we’ll be there about four or five days. It will be a full load. With Rick’s bike, tent, sleeping bag and all his travel stuff in the trunk, it leaves the backseat for a cat carrier and everything else we are bringing home — dirty laundry, water jugs, end of season clothes, fridge clean out. You get the idea! All we’re missing is a mattress on the roof! I’ve left out the food, computer, current books and breathing machine and will fill that up tomorrow. Oh, and Rick’s stuff. Yes, it’ll be a full load!
It feels very cozy here today, especially after our Laboring yesterday to clean!
That’s a packed car, Jeanie!
You’re not closing up the cottage yet, are you?
Stay safe.
Not yet, but we’ve been up for three weeks and had to check on the house here and do some things. I’ll go back up on Monday for a week, home for a few doc appointments and then probably back again. I hope Rick will come up but he has painting to do on his own house and the duplexes he owns (outdoor stuff) so we’ll see.
We’ll close mid-October. He may go up after I’ve given up the ghost — he’s much better with no furnace than I am and it’s getting nippy. On Tuesday we had a fire from wake-up time till bed!
xo
Ok, I have to agree that the cooler temps feel wonderful! First time I have ever appreciated them or at least to this extent, I am a summer lover! I suppose the aging process has something to do with it.
It is good that you and Don recognize when it is time to take a break. Both of you are hard workers and could easily hurt yourselves. My husband, on the other hand, begins his day with a chainsaw in hand or another device requiring equally strenuous activity, and works until he hurts then chooses light duty jobs for the rest of the day until dinner, then takes a shower and is done. Everyday. Watches the news and most evenings a movie and that’s it.
I’m not complaining, I am grateful for all my blessings!
Take Care…
We really need to buy a chainsaw. We’ve been here 15 years and have yet to do that!
Stay safe, Kelly.
Each time I go to your blog and read what number of days we have been locked down for – it just blows my mind…….. our year is well enough gone. It only seems like yesterday that we started to hear about the corona virus in Wuhan. What a year it has been. Dreams and plans have been shot to pieces and we wonder when it will all end.
I know. A half a year gone and more to come. It’s unreal.
Stay safe, Robyn.
Hope you and Don got a proper rest-up today. Pace yourself!
Sitting here at 11:30pm-ish PST, nail-biting a bit over the delayed Santa Ana winds which should start stirring up in about a half hour. We still have so much around us that was left unburned in the past two wildfires (significant ones in ‘my backyard’) since end of 2017 (the one fire did a lot of hopscotching/leap-frogging, leaving large swaths of old tinder/brush unscathed). I can remember from being a kid with the Santa Anas (aka as The East Wind) and just dreading them for having to walk against the wind force with our schoolbooks on the hilly campus; later, then worrying mostly as an adult that we’d lose electrical power; now, it’s always all of the above with heat, the power grid but add in wildfire; these winds now in SoCalif can only mean fire, unfortunately.
Very curious situation of how we didn’t get a repeat (thank goodness) of the 116 degree daytime temps because the smoke layer is so dense along with a surprising amount of unexpected marine layer, that it kept us in the high 80s/low 90s the past two days because the sun just hasn’t been allowed to shine the way it wants to. Odd, odd, ODD weather events. I just walked around outside and it’s that weird, eerie feeling; that lull where not one leaf is stirring; but just wait for the shift, begin to feel the drift. I’m like you, Claudia, as said before by both of us. I do NOT like wind. I’m in that bad wind/fire corridor where they’re saying we could get 45mph winds tomorrow although that’s nothing like the 85mph winds we had with the Dec 2017 wildfire.
Also starting to get pretty nervous about my dental appointment this week; the idea of taking off my mask to have somebody breathing that close to my face, although my husband has been and said the hygienist wears a double mask AND a facial shield. Can’t be put off any longer; I definitely MUST go and not bail.
How perfect, that you put the china shards in the Roseville basket. You’ve really got the eye for knowing how to display your collections of things. Of course every time you post a photo of the egg cup cabinet, I positively swoon. You were meant to find that cabinet and you have an ideal spot for it. Collection corralled and beautifully displayed.
By the way, surveying heat damage today around house & yard. It didn’t kill it, but the intense heatwave destroyed all new growth on our fledgling avocado tree; it’s got burn scars, too. No yield again this year now. All the (pre) deep-soaking in the world couldn’t help the exposed buds and leaves although there was no fruit per se.
And I know a home’s roof is meant to withstand high heat; but, wow, I hope our old roof stood up well enough against such high temps of Labor Day weekend here.
I don’t like the wind and I really didn’t like the Santa Ana winds when we were living in San Diego. I feel for you, Vicki.
I’m sorry about your avocado tree, hopefully, it will come back in time.
Stay safe!
Creative idea to place the china in the Roseville basket!! I can’t believe it’x been 6 months!! For some of my friends, lockdown has been a mere blip–they are traveling, renovating, doing small family outings (to the beach or by the brooks), teaching exercise classes, or moving to another state. In comparison, I feel stuck in concrete. Am I overcautious or sensible? I see that their mental health is better than mine, but then that’s always true. I think I’d feel better if I had made any progress in cleaning out the useless stuff in our living space, but I’ve been binge shopping and the amount of cardboard boxes filled with craft supplies is more than I have the emotional energy to sort thru. I’d like to be one of those people who can just walk away from the messes that they make.
Speaking of messes, I got a bit overconfident in my mini furniture building skills and started a project of more delicate pieces. The long sides of a 1/24 scale bed proved beyond my capacity! Teeny tiny notches on the base would not connect despite attempts with tape to hold them in place and it didn’t help that I put the slats with notches up on one side and notches down on the other. LOL. 2 hours later and I was becoming pretty frustrated and the flimsy plywood was curved and the notches were blocked up with glue. Now, the funny thing is that this very piece, the art-deco bed, was my inspiration for the whole project!! I’m not a drinker, but would you think a glass of red would help or hurt?
Anyone interested in a slightly “distressed” tiny Art Deco bed? Free, shipping included. :-)
Some pieces, especially when they’re on the smaller side can be difficult to assemble. I’m so sorry! Can you order another one?
Stay safe, Nora.
I love how you’ve displayed the results of your mudlarking. From someone whose previously vigorous husband has been struggling since late March since hurting himself while overdoing the landscaping work, advising Don to take some time off seems a wise idea. Hope you’re soon both back to feeling your best again.
I hope your husband feels better soon, Linda. Tomorrow, no outside work for Don! (We mowed today.)
Stay safe.