Yesterday was rather crazy around here. A big shopping trip – we were out of virtually everything – so more items to disinfect, wash, etc. We didn’t even get around to our second cup of coffee until well after 11 am, when all the shopping and disinfecting was finished.
We showered and had some lunch and then I proceeded to text bank for Biden for about 4 or 5 hours. Then dinner, then the debate (Bravo Kamala!) and then some good news via email about our taxes and then I was so wound up that I couldn’t get to sleep until 3 am.
Yikes.
I’m looking forward to a calmer day today.
Oh, forgot to add that we had a huge wind event that went on for hours, along with rain that blew sideways.
Crazy.
You know that Don and I do our best to rescue flies that we find here in the cottage. That’s just the way we are. But I must admit my favorite fly now is the one that landed on Pence’s head and stayed there for two minutes. Don and I were beside ourselves with laughter.
The perfect symbol for this administration.
Just playing around. I rather like this moody photo.
Plus, it helps to motivate me. I like the way the floor is turning out and the way the sofa looks there. And the bookshelves and the wallpaper. Yes, I’m getting used to it now.
Today I’m going to tackle that glue that is stuck on the floor and then finish laying the wide planks. I’m making a list of materials I need to order. I have to get on with the windows and the door – my least favorite things to do!
The email versions of my post have been going out rather late. This happens every once in a while and I’m powerless to correct it. As always, just come here directly if you’re wondering whether I’ve posted.
Stay safe.
Happy Thursday.
brendab says
I has been stressful months but especially last few weeks…tests…and more to come. Son turned 50 yesterday…big deal but alas…in Florida…we will celebrate when we can, but his wife and little boys made it great…FLies…yuck…sorry…I don’t do them or insects of any kind…I am a vegetarian so don’t eat animals…but I don’t like those…you just make my day…you are so unique…I speak of you to a good friend…and she feels as if she knows you also…I believe she thinks you are a famous person because I quote you…as an educator, I find few worthy of quoting…lol…have a good day…we are getting the BP under control again, and of course, I am avoiding the news…what are you reading?
brendab says
This is for Kathy when she reads your blog today. Orient Express good book…also I like A. Christie Miss Marple books…and also one of my favs…And Then There Were None…have never ascertained the ending to that one…enjoy Kathy…you might look on Amazon and look at some of my favorite mystery writer’s books…earlier ones…creepy and scary but I like them…Carlene Thompson…
Claudia says
Happy Birthday to your son, Brenda!
Glad the BP is getting under control. I’m reading Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith, who is really J. K. Rowling. It’s a mystery and it clocks in at over 900 pages, so I’ll be reading it for a while!
Stay safe.
kathy in iowa says
hej, brendab!
happy (belated) birthday to your son! sorry that you couldn’t get together in person, but glad that his wife and sons could celebrate him.
glad the blood pressure is getting in control. more prayers for your health, that you feel better and better, that test results are good and you don’t have to wait long to get them.
thanks for the book suggestions! i hope to finish “the mysterious mr. quin” stories by the end of this weekend. finally! “murder on the orient express” is next. will then look for “and then there were none”. i like mysteries, but don’t do well with scary books, especially if they go into grizzly detail … they just stick in my mind, but i appreciate the author’s name. will check it out.
as far as looking at some of your favorites on amazon … is there something like a cart or reminder list that people can set up on amazon (like i can do on a cross-stitch site) of what they want to buy? is that where i’d find your list of favorites and, if so, is it under “brendab”? thanks. will check that out, too.
hope you’re staying safe and well and have an easy, good day today.
thanks again!
kathy in iowa
brendab says
Kathy…I don’t do a list per se…I do read for Net Galley and review those books-all on Kindle/online…on my NEW IPAD…I read mostly from the library…I also review books and other items from Amazon-those are pretty much free also…I only buy Carlene Thompson now because I live in an apartment-no room…the money for books is beyond my senior budget…and frankly, unless I am going to reread a book many times, I want them to be in the hands of others. My extensive library was donated years ago…Agatha Christie is a good author…the best mystery writer who ever lived-probably…and not too gruesome…just simple mysteries…enjoy…so glad dear, sweet Claudia has this ONE blog that we can read and not become so upset. When I started reading blogs-a year or so ago…I had about 20 I went to during the month. I am down to one in America-this one…and three in the U.K. and one in Ireland…enough said as we KNOW why I can’t read the others in America…
kathy in iowa says
hej, brendab. happy friday!
sounds like you are enjoying that new ipad … good for you! i understand and agree about the limited space for everything, books included; i live in a 500-square-foot apartment (there is a small storage unit in the basement, but i am not comfortable leaving much down there … a bike, an old oak office chair, metal stool, etc. …certainly no family items or important papers). that said, i don’t know that i’d switch to reading books electronically. i haven’t read much for too long, but i’d miss reading physical books. anyway … enjoy that ipad and what you read with it.
and yes, many thanks to claudia for creating and maintaining such a lovely place we can visit and talk, see beautiful photos … thanks, claudia!
hope you will have a peaceful day ahead. same for the weekend!
stay safe!
kathy in iowa
brendab says
You can probably tell I love reading in any form. I started reading one book a night in elementary school…don’t even ask how many I read in the summers…enjoy Kathy…
kathy in iowa says
glad you’re stocked up for a while. that feels good, doesn’t it?
love the light in the dollhouse and the whole look of the place. great work, claudia! good luck with the glue, windows and door.
thanks very much to you and don for your time and efforts to help turn the tide * for * our country!! 27 days, right?
watched most of the debate. missed the fly. glad they sat at least twelve feet apart and pence finally agreed to the plexiglass shields.
hope the wind and rain didn’t damage anything for you and don. we could sure use more rain here. there’s been none for a week (and then we received maybe a tenth of an inch is all), only a slight chance for rain on monday and then nothing predicted for the rest of next week. october, though, usually brings us more rain toward the end of the month. hope that happens. the clouds for the past several weeks have been especially incredible. i pull over, take photos that don’t do them justice, but they are reminders (when i can’t get outside) that there’s so much beauty in nature!
hope you all are having a good, safe, easy day.
kathy in iowa
Claudia says
We ended up having wind for two days, but thankfully, no damage.
We have been in a drought since the beginning of summer – we really need the rain.
Stay safe, Kathy.
kaye says
Hi,
The republicans will say that the fly was a mini drone that the Biden/Harris campaign created to make pense (who does not deserve a capitol letter) look foolish.
Have a restful day,
Kaye
Park City, UT
Claudia says
We need do nothing to make him look foolish. He does that all by himself.
Stay safe, Kaye.
Ellen D. says
I could not watch the whole debate – I thought Pence was rude the way he kept talking over the moderator. She should have had an airhorn that she could just blast when his time was up. He just kept repeating disinformation – UGH. I did wonder about the fly – it sat up on his head for so long! Have a relaxing day!
Claudia says
He was incredibly rude. And arrogant.
I thought she could have been stronger. I would have kept talking over him until no one could hear him – ‘Thank you, Mr. Vice-President” loudly and over and over until he shut up.
Stay safe, Ellen.
Nora Mills says
I did not torture myself with the debate but I’ve seen so many memes about the fly that I almost wish I’d seen it!! This little insect is the best thing to happen in politics this year. It’s great that Pence is a silver fox (LOL) cuz the fly really stood out. It was kind of like a fascinator from the trash heap that Pence hangs out in. I think people should start sending him flies.
Anyhoo…the doll house is looking stunning. I’m glad you stayed with that wallpaper. Of course the sofa and wall unit are gorgeous. It’s a great photo and it reminds me of moving day…bring in the big pieces first. XO
Claudia says
You should have seen the fly. It was hysterically funny.
Thanks so much, Nora.
Stay safe.
kathy in iowa says
meant to say earlier … glad you received better news about your taxes!
kathy in iowa
Claudia says
xo
Chris K in Wisconsin says
Oh, that fly! Afterwards, Nicolle said Pence was so boring that the fly finally couldn’t stand it any longer, and that was why he flew off and didn’t return. I loved how Kamala referred to Joe. Can you ever imagine Pence (or anyone) talking about Don or Donald?? He would have their head!
Now he won’t debate virtually because of the technical things they could do to him. Does anyone think he has ever even USED a computer?? I highly doubt it . He still talks about DEVO’ing tv programs. And the plot to kidnap the Gov of Michigan …. no one could ever make this stuff up. What a cluster. All he wants is to be out rallying. Do you think he realizes that at a rally, those are all people who will already vote for him? He really doesn’t need rallies any longer ~~ well, of course, except to feed his insatiable ego.
The floor on the house looks so pretty, and the colors are all coming together beautifully! Such a great project.
Claudia says
He’s a weak man and a chicken.
He wants to rally without masks, of course. After he got COVID and passed it on to everyone else. I’m convinced he’s ground zero on this one, the Superspreader.
Thanks, Chris.
Stay safe.
Linda Mackean says
That fly made me laugh out loud. Well Done Kamala! I get your email notification later in the day but since I signed up for email at least I remember to come visit you. I realize how much I miss keeping up with you and Don. Hugs!
Claudia says
I’m so glad you’re back, Linda. We all missed you!
Stay safe.
Donnamae says
Kudos to Kamala! And…the fly knew to whom he should fly…enough said.
Sounds like great news about your taxes…I couldn’t be happier for you.
Today is a strange day, what with OM and his ranting on Fox, a thwarted kidnapping in Michigan, riots in our own Wauwatosa, Wisconsin….probably the sleepiest suburb that Milwaukee had. And…the day isn’t over with yet.
Waiting for the other shoe to fall….stay safe! ;)
Claudia says
I haven’t yet read about the riots in Wauwatosa – that’s where my brother-in-law’s family is from.
Stay safe, Donna!
Vicki says
I loved the look and admonition (with a knowing, pointed smile) she’d give Pence when he’d interrupt. Do not mess with Kamala! Somehow, I never saw the fly; maybe I was half asleep when Pence would drone. At least it was a more civil debate; well, at least in contrast to the Trump/Biden one. I look forward to Joe Biden’s town hall next week.
Shook me up to hear about the Governor of Michigan. I’m glad she got right on to the evening news shows; I mean, sure, she’s got a political career in the making and it’s good to have visibility, but just talking it through, feeling empowered, has surely gotta help her triumph over fear. She seems strong and very human to me.
Noting that Trump is more off the rails than usual of course. I wish he’d just get out of the way. He’s already a cliche. People are voting early in large numbers. Polls aren’t in his favor.
—–
It DOES feel good to get stocked up. I’ve said it before, but it’s almost like I can go back to my grandmothers and aunties building up their cellars for winter, having harvested their gardens and done their canning/preserving; how it must have felt to take one last long ride into town in the wagon to restock with flour, coffee, sugar. My husband’s family were in the middle of America, on that snowy prairie; you didn’t get out again for months once the snow set in. It was enough to just get from the house to the barn safely in a blizzard, to make sure the horse and milk cow were warm enough and fed (and I assume to retrieve the milk). I wonder how they kept the animals’ drinking water from freezing? Never thought about it til now. They’d string a rope line between the two buildings to have a guide to hold on to when it would be coming down so thick that you couldn’t see; so easy to lose one’s way and risk freezing to death.
We’ll go to the grocery markets later today, in about five hours from this writing, not fun in these dark mornings; but, a long list of things needed. And it’ll be more than one store and a lot of disinfecting, clearly exhausting, but then the good feeling that we’re ‘good to go’ for a fair amount of time as we all face these next arduous months of the ramped-up virus cases. I pray all here will stay well. It’ll be a hard holiday season with many family separations, but everybody’s mostly in the same boat and we’ll get through it knowing 2021 will be different after ‘the lost year’ of 2020.
Claudia says
I think we’ll be stocking up even more as winter heads our way. Once it hits and we start getting snow, that’s yet another hurdle to jump on the way to getting supplies. Sigh.
Stay safe, Vicki.
Vicki says
But you know you’ll be fine, Claudia. (Winter? You got this!) You and Don are compatible. Best of companions. You’re in it together. Netflix? Yes! You’ve got reading, puzzles; doll houses. What about something to crochet? Don’s got his guitar and the cooking/meal planning. Knowing you can’t do anything about it anyway, it’s on the one hand nice to know that you don’t have to, either of you, be traveling for work in the snow. You can tuck in; be safe and warm at home. Maybe pick and choose when you have to be out on the roads other than Don’s medical appointments. Beauty of being retired; less confines; go out to the stores on the less-snowy days. You two are good planners; just batten down with supplies and also be relieved to know you had all that tree work done, such that you don’t have to worry about a snow-laden tree falling down.
I know you miss Scoutie so much, but it’s good for a winter to not have to be letting a dog out in a blizzard. When SoCalif used to get some good rains and I had multiple dogs, every time they’d go in and out of the house to do their thing, I had sixteen muddy feet to clean off. Sometimes, one dog would drop out of the assembly line at the door, get away from me, so I always had to have protective coverings over the sofa and human bed but I’d still be mopping up floors. On my lunch hour. Never having enough time to even make a sandwich before getting back to my job, sometimes as much as 20 minutes away. (I’d always come home midday for the pets, rain or shine, because a doggie door never worked for us; the dogs couldn’t be counted on to ever get back inside the house. I was generally the one of us who worked closer to home as opposed to my husband who usually worked further away.)
I’ve just spent an hour cleaning out the frig and reorganizing what’s in the freezer(s), knowing I’ll have ‘incoming’ any minute when my husband returns from the shopping. I confess to say, we’ve still got the second/old frig in the kitchen although my husband blasts loudly about it every day; but, right now, we need it!! With Covid, we just live differently, don’t we! I didn’t want to spend the money for all this shopping today, but it’s always this sort of juggle in the mind of, ‘do we go now, or wait?’ I keep hearing about shortages; I notice that some of the online grocery places we buy from (for non-perishables) are having more and more ‘out of stock’ and more shipping delays. I sign up for an ‘in-stock’ alert but the item is already sold out again by the time I get the alert. Maddening.
So, there’s going to be some bill that doesn’t get paid on time right now, but we felt the need to replenish which maybe will ease down a bit of worry. I can understand why you and Don would feel similarly as you indicated, with the nag of shortages AND weather. I’m always thinking now (much like last March-April) of what we have on hand, how we could get by with pantry food alone, which is kind of a first for me. The only reason we’d somewhat stock up before, in other years (although it was never like THIS, in Covid) was because my husband likes to do the shopping and, when working, he had less time, so we’d have some amount of time between trips and it was never fun to run out of things in between.
But some people haven’t changed how they do things. My one friend, the Trumper, still goes out for fresh food 3-4 times per week. Another who has a massive amount of empty storage in her good-sized house just won’t prepare beyond, say, two weeks of human food and pet food. And what stymies me is that she has the money. But, like, with pet food, especially if anything of it is canned, it has a long shelf life, so I don’t know why she risks getting so low on her inventory. In her case she has changed a little, but not a lot, in how she lives in The Covid World. (Whereas I feel my husband and I have changed how we live in a quite major way over these past eight months!)
Claudia says
I’m sure you remember the year when Don was away and I had to dig a tunnel for Scout that went all the way from the door, around the perimeter of the corral and back down the hill so she could go outside.
I cannot crochet any longer. It really had an impact on my wrist – mostly because I was crocheting all those scarves for Etsy and I was doing it very quickly.
Stay safe, Vicki!
Vicki says
Oh yes, I’ve been reading you for so long that I definitely recall that awful winter when Don was gone a lot and you were on a ladder trying to dislodge snow/ice from I believe your gutters? And white Scout in the white snow; just was scary to me and I’d tell you to be sure to take your cell phone every time you went out there in that severe weather, even in the corral and yard. Everything was getting to you, very understandably, and I remember when readers were trying to do anything to help you feel sunny in the cold and gray. I remember when someone suggested bringing out yellow dishware; anything cheery; like a throw pillow or blanket in sunwashed colors; and light up plenty of lamps. We were all trying to be ‘here’ for you in Don’s absence!
Oh gosh, I didn’t know your wrist was so bad that you can’t crochet now. Darn. It happened to my mom, too, once she was hit with rheumatoid arthritis and so badly in her hands; the joints. No longer could she hook rugs or crochet but, for awhile, she could still paint; was an amateur artist. I don’t know how you work with the miniatures and tiny spaces of the doll houses except that you have the love for it which drives you. All the little-tiny things to maneuver and work with! I also have arthritis and carpal tunnel issues to where I wear splints on my hands/wrists for much of the nights. Curiously, because it’s surely where it started, I can still keyboard away (as you know!).
Claudia says
Well, I was selling the scarves on Etsy and I was working on them non-stop and that took a toll. No more crochet. Frankly, making so many scarves took the fun out of it as well. That’s why I rarely sell anything I make. Selling something makes it a job.
xo