That color! As everything else is dropping leaves, as the fall colors fade, this bush is simply gorgeous. Don’t get me wrong, it’s shedding its leaves, too, but much of it is still beautifully intact.
Don is out raking some leaves at the moment. I’m still feeling a bit under the weather. Yesterday, I realized that I’d reached the end of my rope. I don’t feel well, I’m enraged on a daily basis, I’m text banking, I’m glued to Twitter. It hit me as I was talking to Don – my body and soul need a break. So I largely stayed away from the news yesterday. I listened to music. I read. I even vowed not to text bank, though late in the day, I found myself signing on and doing some texting anyway. That’s what I’m trying to do this weekend: lay low, stay away from the news, listen to music, read. I’ve reached a point where I am emotionally, physically, and spiritually exhausted. Time to surrender for a few days.
Early voting starts today in New York. I’m not up to standing in a long line today but hopefully, we’ll get there on Tuesday. Don has a doctor’s appointment on Monday for a recurring problem with his right pinky finger that has been exacerbated by years of playing the guitar. Whether it’s arthritis, tendonitis, or a sprain, we don’t know. But hopefully, he can get a diagnosis and a plan to ease the pain.
I just now caught Don dragging the ladder towards the house. We talked about cleaning out the gutters today. I just had to get up and tell him not to do anything until I finished this post and could go out and help him. Oh boy.
And just now I saw him stepping on a rung and had to yell out NO! NO! – It reminds me of having a pet that you have to say no to all the time.
Anyway, as you can see, I have to finish this post in order to keep my husband in line.
We’re hanging in there. I hope you are, too.
Stay safe.
Happy Saturday.
So many people have come to the end of the line. I keep thinking I can get through the next ten days but it just seems endless. Will it ever be over? The only thing that keeps me sane is hope and visualizing……prison, bankruptcy, and other unmentionable things for this faux president. I never thought I could hate with such a vengeance. Stay safe and don’t take chances with ladders!
We’re always very careful with ladders. Just finished.
I visualize prison and a trial at the Hague for Crimes Against Humanity.
Stay safe, Ginny!
I am OVER IT too. I started to watch the last debate and then realized that was a mistake. I don’t want to see his face any more or hear his voice. I plan to watch news very sparingly between now and the election. I never finished watching Cheers. I think I have a few episodes left so I may finish it and then move on to Fraser.
I saw yesterday that you are reading a book by Robert Galbraith, aka JK Rowling. I didn’t know she has written under another name. So I checked my library to see if I could get the ebook and there are 5 Cormoran Strike books. I started The Cuckoo Calling this morning. I’ve read for an hour and don’t want to put it down! Another way to escape reality for awhile.
I won’t let my husband do anything involving a ladder alone either. Scares me. I finally talked him into getting screens on our gutters so they don’t have to be cleaned out. It we well worth it.
It’s cold and rainy here so it’s a perfect day for more reading.
Have a relaxing day and stay safe.
Yes, I’ve read all of the series except this latest and I’ll have finished by the end of tomorrow. It’s a great series, Marilyn.
I think I mentioned to you before that we can’t get screens on our gutters. The roof lines are out of whack since this house is nearly 130 years old.
Stay safe.
Music and books sound lovely. I hope they’re the respite for you that your blog is for me!
Oh, thanks for those kind words, Di!
Stay safe.
Hope your relaxing day helps you feel better. We all need a break and, hopefully, we will get it soon!
Fingers crossed, Ellen!
Stay safe!
How timely – Brian’s up on the ladder now cleaning out the gutters. For the THIRD time this fall. There will hopefully be just one more time and then he’s done. I helped him empty out the rest of the plant containers, too though my Boston Fern still looks fine so I’m leaving it alone. Now we need to clean off and cover the patio furniture. And it is so cold today. At least it’s not raining. We’ve had nothing but rain so the leaves are wet and heavy. Makes the cleaning out of the gutters and raking even worse.
I have arthritis in my right thumb and now have an ongoing pain problem in my left thumb, though think it’s tendonitis, not arthritis because it’s a different sort of pain. I’ve been resting it as much as possible (holding my phone seems to make it worse) and wearing a splint at night.
We haven’t had a lot of rain – we’ve been in a drought since early summer. Though we are supposed to get some early in the week. We’ll see.
Take care of your thumbs, Melanie!
Stay safe.
I’m with you on the exhaustion. Mental, physical and spiritual. I need some time to read or watch a movie that takes me away. These last few weeks until the election are torture. I want this over and with a good outcome. I’m scared and can’t think of much else but I’m trying. Hugs.
DON NO!!! Love a good stubborn man.
He is stubborn. But then again, so am I!
Thanks, Linda.
Relax and enjoy the weekend. Stay safe!
It is so hard to stay away from news, and Twitter. It’s just all around us, everywhere we turn, and there seems to be no escape. I feel pummeled! So…as a remedy I hope, I just got Dan Rather’s new book…What Unites Us. I heard it is excellent, so I’m looking forward to reading some positive messages. I’ll let you know.
We got screens for our gutters last February. I would spot Jim on the ladder, but always have my phone handy in case I had to call for help. It was such a worry for me. I would highly recommend.
I hope you are able to rest this afternoon. I plan on starting Dan’s book, and watching college football. U Rah Rah! Stay safe! ;)
We can’t do that. We live in a house built in 1891, with crooked and warped roof lines. That’s not an option.
I’ve heard great things about that book, as well. Enjoy!
Stay safe, Donna.
Speaking of great college football, Donnamae, did you watch UW last night?? wow!!
My friend, who passed last year, once told me the story that she went to visit her folks and there was her Dad up on the roof. She asked him what he was doing up there and he said “looking for the leak.” He was also 94 years old, but he was OK. He had his oxygen tank up there with him!
Wow! That’s an amazing story!
Thanks, Tana.
Stay safe.
I find that I take a news break on weekends.
You’re so wise to know when you need to nurture yourself. I’m sorry you’ve been having a bad time. It’s hard not to …
I’ve bunged up my shoulder and I don’t know how; perhaps in tense sleep, laying on it wrong. But I can’t move my left arm and am trying to type this with one hand some of the time. This is gonna be a wasted weekend for me. Just not something I’m wanting to have go down in the middle of an epidemic; don’t want more medical appts than necess. However, this one almost landed me at an ER last night because I needed pain relief, and prescription ibuprofen at 800 mg a pop just wasn’t doing it for me. Ice is best; heat is not. I even have a TENS unit (self-administered electrical stimulation) left over from a previous physical therapy issue but it seemed to aggravate it. So, first thing, Monday, me too to the doctor because I can’t tolerate this kind of shut down to where I can’t do anything. My husband had to dry my hair last night; it’s ridiculous. He’s having to be like a nurse’s aid to me. Ice man.
I kept thinking, for some reason, of Bob Dole and how he’d visibly hold his arm down one side of his body. No comparison of course; his was a war injury. But that’s me right now. Wow, it made me think of him, so I looked him up on Wiki. He’s still alive at age 97. The past 15 years of his life have been ones of poor health. And he’s lived with the war injuries for 75 years. I don’t recall much about his politics, my bad, but I feel sorry for him in how medical problems have plagued him since he was just a young guy in his early 20s. Makes me feel like I can’t complain about my momentary painful shoulder at all. I know I just need to wait for cessation of pain, let it rest, and then start doing gentle exercise, but I sure don’t want anymore pain like I had last night. I was a screamy crybaby.
Hoping we all feel better soon!
Your flaming bush in the photo is wonderful; oh, the colors of your world, Claudia!
So sorry to hear about the pain in your shoulder, Vicki.
I figured Bob Dole was in seclusion but he tweeted something recently in SUPPORT of the current GOP headed by Mitch McConnell, something I thought he’d never do because he was an old school Republican. Ah, well.
Stay safe.
I don’t know much about the GOP. I’ve just never paid much attention til this year.
My shoulder isn’t as acutely painful today but I still have decreased mobility/extension. Although waking up this morning wasn’t fun. Toast with peanut butter and yet another ibuprofen.
Well you know all you need to know. They support Trump.
Take care, Vicki! Feel better.
Stay safe.
I think most of us are mentally, physically, spiritually exhausted these days. I know I am. This morning I fully cleaned the kitchen, sorted some linens and did a few other tasks. Then I ordered curbside wine and after I picked it up went on a color ride. I actually stopped and got donuts at an outside “farm” (loads of pumpkins, cider and donuts. I kept clear of every person and got out pretty quickly but seeing the color, the people — even if I didn’t interact — it really helped. Rick was supposed to cook tonight but he has totally dismantled his kitchen and mine is so clean I don’t want to cook in it, so we’ll get Thai take out (that’ll be a first), watch the Great British Baking Show and just chill.
OK, this is weird. I was watching a show and people were gathered at a party close together and I felt very uncomfortable. I mean, it was a SHOW, probably made a year or two or three ago, and of course they can congregate. But it kind of freaked me out!
I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend. Chill.
I love Thai food!
I find that I watch or read things lately and I automatically think “Why aren’t they social distancing?” I understand!
Stay safe, Jeanie.
glad you’re taking a break, claudia. hope it brings you rest and relaxation, plenty of time spent doing just what you want to do and that you feel much better very soon!
that’s what i hope next week will be for me. i walk around in here and am pleased with most of it … but not the storage bins stacked in my kitchen (that i need to go through) nor the four pillow covers yet to be made. also, the plants need help and Christmas presents are nowhere near done. but i am taking it easy right now because my back hurts and it was a long week at work and i am sick of people not wearing masks and getting too close.
it is cold here, but i spent an hour underneath the gingko tree a couple doors down as the leaves were starting to fall this afternoon. will do the same tomorrow morning because they lose all their leaves in about a day and it’s magical to look at and feel, sitting under it. :)
trust the gutter work went well and you and don are inside, taking it easy.
stay safe in every way and have a good night!
kathy in iowa
oh! saw something yesterday worth sharing (i don’t know the author; sorry):
we isolate now
so when we gather again
no one is missing.
(sobbing here)
have a good night.
It’s cold here now, too. Overnight, the temps changed and we’re back to where we probably should be for this time of year. Enjoy your week off!
I love that final poem. Beautiful.
Stay safe.
meant to add …
best wishes and prayers for don’s finger and when you both go vote.
here’s to better days ahead!
kathy in iowa
xo
Have lost so many loved ones this year. As I say often… 2021 come-almost like a child. Prayers dear girl.
Prayer for you, Brenda.
Stay safe.
Please please please be very careful with ladders. Summer 2018 my husband fell off of one…and I saw it happen. Traumatic injury to his right ankle…emergency surgery that night and three days in the hospital. No weight on it for eight weeks. He felt terrible putting me through it but I was so thankful it wasn’t his head or back.
I too have tried to not watch the news so much….praying for peace…
Debbie
Thank you dear Debbie. We’re always very careful. No one ever goes up on the ladder without the other there to keep it steady. Your poor husband!
Stay safe!
P.S. I love when people say to me…well…the masks don’t help…social distancing is not important…we have to live…it can’t be that real…parties are ok because they are all together all the time anyway…or love this one…just had a family gathering for vacation…we social distanced…whew…can this just be over soon???? Take care and be safe…one more week…and then…we begin again…and hoping and praying…a vaccine soon…
I don’t understand these people, Brenda!
Praying my head off right now!
Stay safe.