Another foggy morning. I love a foggy morning. I took this around 7 am and since then it has become bright and sunny. Yesterday turned out to be surprisingly humid and hot and today looks as if it might be the same. We’re back up to high 80s and low 90s through this next week and then it will cool down a little. I remind myself that it’s August, the month where it was always hot and humid when I was a kid.
I spent the morning yesterday cleaning and sorting through my section of the office/studio. I had to grab some time when Don wasn’t using the space and since he was running errands, I went for it. I reorganized some storage in the pink cabinet, threw out lots of stuff, straightened up the work areas. I moved a lot of my acrylic paints back to the little cart I keep in the corner of the room. All surfaces were cleaned and dusted (except for the shelf with my putz sheep – note to self: do that this week.) It looks much better. I’m in the final phase of the renovation of Dove Cottage, so the paint was no longer needed and all the tools that were sitting out needed to be corralled. Also: lots of paperwork and mail was parked on the desk and that needed to be sorted.
I feel so much better when the space if free of excess clutter!
Because both Don and I share this small space (and it’s jam packed, as you know) we have to make sure we stay in control of clutter. Neither of us functions well when we’re surrounded by a bunch of stuff that’s not in its designated place. I couldn’t get up there for a while because Don was always using the space. I’m glad it’s now clutter-free.
By the way, Andrew Cuomo needs to resign. He’s been terrific throughout the pandemic but he has lost the faith of women, the state legislature, and his constituents. I’m saddened that we are losing him, but unlike Republicans, Democrats take action when charges such as these are proven to be true. And that’s the way it must be.
Stay safe.
Happy Friday.
Love the foggy morning. I get up between 4 and 5 daily and love looking outside. I go to bed between 11-12…don’t need much sleep…I am not into politics right now, but I know if I read any more of my (regular) blogs with comments about vaccines and masks, I will have to stop reading them. These people don’t know what they are talking about. I can just seem some of these growing up when we had to get Smallpox vaccines and Polio vaccines, etc. It is a shame. Little kids don’t complain…The powers that be need to be masking and distancing…people need to avoid areas where they don’t have to go…here we go again I guess. I like neat surfaces also…I am a true minimalist…I do not want things I do not use…
Here we go again indeed, Brenda. It’s so depressing to know that so many Americans refuse to do the right thing.
Stay safe!
Hi Claudia,
I was feeling exactly like you the last few days. Even though it is still hot, I am loving that Fall is almost here! All the catalogs, Fall decor, yay!! I also need to organize my office. I like to know where everything is! I love the lampshade in your work area….very pretty! Stay cool and stay safe!
Thanks, Deb. That’s a vintage lampshade that I found in California.
Stay safe!
Love the beautiful morning picture. Congrats on getting so much done inside. Oh, how I wish I could get my place uncluttered (or have a very talented, energetic blogger visit, tee hee). I like the desk chair with the cover. May I ask where you purchased it (and if recently?). I cannot find a replacement chair for my desk and my old one is driving me to distraction (the wheels don’t always move, the back is shot, and so on — ugh!). Have a great weekend.
Caroline
I bought it at IKEA several years ago so I don’t know whether they carry it anymore. But maybe they have something similar?
Stay safe, Caroline!
Thanks, Claudia! Going to check it out! It poured last night for just a little while, and this morning the grass/ground doesn’t even look wet. And no fog! Thought I wouldn’t be able to mow (tee hee). Have a great weekend.
Caroline
Darn it! You’ll have to mow!
xo
I agree completely with you about Andrew Cuomo. He was the right person for the job during the pandemic, absolutely. Unfortunately, that doesn’t negate his treatment of the women on his staff. Sadly, he needs to go.
Yes. And it IS sad.
Thanks!
Stay safe.
I too need to declutter my work space. I’ve been working on some downsizing of ‘stuff’ in other parts of the house, now back to the work space.
I really have to dump a lot of ‘stuff’ we have here. It’s overwhelming just to think of it!
Stay safe, Linda.
Yeah, I’ve been feeling let down by both the uptick in the pandemic/virus surge and also by Cuomo who I’d come to idolize in early 2020 although I’m ‘way out here on the West Coast and I’ve never even been to NY except for a layover/flight (JFK [there were times I’d thought, why can’t CUOMO be the president of the U.S. in times like this!]).
To something more pleasant; Claudia, even your work spaces are inviting! I love the fabric lamp with the clear base.
I hope you have a lovely weekend; just stay in, stay cool.
I’m happy to report that I’ve gotten thru another scary period for myself but CT scan, ultrasound, exams by a couple of different doctors have all resulted in the happy news that I have NOT had a recurrence of cancer, or new cancer. I live again.
We went to our happy place with my happy news, happy husband and happy wife, which is of course our gorgeous-blue Pacific Ocean where the breezes are cool and clean, and the beach, despite all the THRONGS of tourists (as you said, it’s August; it’s people’s last getaways before an early start to school in whatever form it comes to our students), was perfect as usual (I will always, continually, be ever-feasted with the colors of ‘shore’ which, to me, here where I live, is very much the neutrals of sand and sky, when sometimes it’s hard to see what separates water from its celestial ceiling; but, yesterday, the truest pale-aqua of blues where the waves were gentle, and the deepest royal of blues ‘way far out, and such a feeling of infinity and something so much bigger than just ‘me’ although, certainly then and today, my gratitude is REALLY big).
Clearly, not to get too ‘personal’, the seashore is a spiritual place for me, as it is for a lot of folks who often equate a natural surrounding as their ‘church’ and where they can best connect with God. I’ve been around some surfers in my time because I’m a born & bred girl from Southern Calif and have always lived not far from land’s end. I’ve heard them, both male and female surfers, say that surfing is their religion, and I used to scoff at that somewhat, but I’ve had a lot of talks about it with someone I know who’s age 50. He has surfed every morning of his life since he was a preteen (he surfs in all weather, within reason, BEFORE he goes to his job every morning; the only times he’s missed a day of surfing were when his kids were born and, once, when he hurt his arm, which made paddling too difficult). When you surf, you have to be aware and vigilant because you’re in deep water, but he says, in the lulls, he works out a lot of stuff in his head and is prayerful.
We’re about to leave to hit the coast highway once again where we’re meeting friends who have a brand-new motorhome, parked in a state-beach area for the next four days, mere feet from the sand. We’re all vaccinated but I’ll probably keep my mask on around everybody until I’m walking alongside the sea all by my lonesome. I’ve really thought of not going, and I’m not going inside the motorhome although I’d love to check it out, but it’s important to my husband to get out and see someone besides me. The reserved parking spot our friends have secured is pretty large and we can easily all distance at least ten feet from one another between the sea boulders and the rig. And that cleansing sea air can just take any Covid aerosols and bust ’em apart/dead as far as I’m concerned!
I have to go, too, because the lure of getting back to the shore is just too great for me; really, in my other/past/next/whatever life, I’m a person who is/was/will be a beach resident. One of our fave places to park the car (sometimes to just relax, talk, contemplate, BE; meditate if you will!) is next to a house at the end of a row where there used to be, when I was a kid, the old one-story bungalows of anywhere from the 1920s to the 1950s (oh, how I miss those cottages; I really dislike the big McMansions which have replaced them). This particular house has two levels but is not ostentatious for as much as it’s probably more from the 1980s. No time when we go, any day of the week and whatever hour of the day or night in any season, is there not this elderly gentleman sitting in the upper sunroom with its wall of windows, where he reads or gazes out to sea. (I feel like I know him!) The pelicans and seagulls love to sit on the roof above him in the warm sun, so I’ve wondered if he hears their calls. But this is a man after my own heart: He is lucky to live on the water … at high tide, the waves actually can suds through his yard out onto the road … and he doesn’t seem to miss a moment of the changing ocean views from his perch up high like the shorebirds (he has a widow’s walk, but I’ve never seen him up top; I’m thinking he’s become so old that he can’t easily climb the exterior, circular stairs leading up to it anymore). I’m betting he’s seen a wealth of sunrises and sunsets in the past 40 years, from when he likely first moved there as a younger man. Although it would seem he lives there alone, he probably doesn’t feel alone.
Thanks for letting me spill/share my ‘story’ today.
So glad you’re healthy and the tests proved negative, Vicki. Congratulations!
Yes, the beach and the ocean are big for us, as well. I always miss it. Don, especially, misses it as he was born in San Diego and lived the majority of his life in California. He’s a real beach boy. Went deep sea fishing with his dad, boogie boarded, swam in the ocean all the time (or a pool) at several points, lived in beach communities. And of course, we met at the beach.
I love where we live but sometimes I just have to push my yearning for the ocean aside. Because though we’re in the East, getting to the ocean is no small task. Ah well.
Stay safe!
Well, how many times did I hear this from my folks when I was growing up, “You can’t have everything!” You’re in such a beautiful spot, Claudia. Bloom where planted.
Thanks for your comment.
Exactly!
xo
congratulations on that wonderful health news, vicki!!! and that you can get some time at the shore. enjoy every minute!
also, i relate very much to what you wrote about the ocean. for me it is water of any kind, especially if it is moving (including rain) … very therapeutic and comforting. a happy place for sure!
stay safe.
kathy in iowa
…thanks, kathy; I hope you’re having a nice Saturday!
Thanks so much, Vicki.
Stay safe.
I like my workplaces to get just a tad cluttered, because it’s so much more satisfying to clean them up then. Our garage workbench is looking good right now, but give it a few days…
Like you, I use the kitchen table for my painting. It stays fairly clean because dinner happens every night. It might be my most organized space!
I don’t mind a little clutter, but when it stays in the same place for a long time? Time to clean!
Stay safe, Roxie/
Love that particular view of your property. Your flowers in the foreground really set-off the foggy view further away.
Decluttering is my ongoing job. We’ve accumulated far too many things in our life, and have spent & continue spending many hours clearing them.
Today my grandson (who lives with us) prepared his backpack for return to school (8th grade) on August 16. School supplies are always fun to choose and prepare.
Loved Vicki’s comments above about her love of the sea, such lovely descriptive terms. So glad there was no cancer found!
I have encountered some major vision problems, sudden onset July 3rd. Multiple doctors and testings in the past few weeks. The worst part is I’m having major difficulties reading! All my lovely books calling my name. Today’s retina specialist said this will improve – I pray he is correct.
praying for your vision to return to proper good health and you can get back to more reading and less worrying, janl!
stay safe.
kathy in iowa
Thank you, Kathy in Iowa.
I suspect decluttering will be my ongoing job this fall and winter. The same: we have too much stuff, though much of it I’ll never part with.
I’ve had some vision problems in the past few years. Sending you healing thoughts, Jan. I know all will be well.
Stay safe!
Thank you for your nice comment to mine. I am so sorry you’re having vision problems. Will pray for a return to healthy retinas soon! My mom had a very sudden retinal occlusion and I remember how scary it was for her. Nothing was going to keep her from reading her newspaper; I don’t know how she did it in those early days of the difficulty!
I know what you mean about reading becoming harder. I have a cataract in each eye which yet cannot be operated on, and my often-milky vision really affects my enjoyment of reading. But the retina is serious and I’m glad you have expert care. Thank goodness we’re in 2021 and not 1921.
looks good!
i love and need to see things of my family, fun times, hope … yet i need things to be clean and organized in order to function well. not always easy for me to find a balance between those two things (especially in 500 square feet) so i aim for 90%, will be happy and okay if it’s less. :)
agree about cuomo needing to resign.
i haven’t seen the news lately so maybe this is old news to you all, but i just heard something on my car radio going home tonight … that the cdc director said the delta variant gets past all vaccines. stay safe and well, everyone!
hope you have a good weekend ahead.
kathy in iowa
ps … even though i have absolutely no place for one, i keep looking for an old scotch tape display piece like you have. looks great there, handy and clever.
I found I was at my most efficient and organized when I lived in very small apartments. I had to be ruthless, but less space equaled more imaginative storage solutions.
Stay safe, Kathy!
Your space looks terrific. And a good reminder that on these days at home, I’m in the clutter mode and juggling that decluttering project (which got worse when I just added a garage sale wicker settee and shelf unit to the mess) and dealing with the car issues so I can sell it. My brain is whirling, everything is a mess and I feel almost ADD — a few minutes here, a few there, then back to something — or not. Everything feels just a little disconnected in my head and life right now.
I don’t think I’ll ever get decluttered. I didn’t know I’d be home during garage sale weekend or I would have done one. It feels like the walls are caving in on me and something must be done. Or else, I’ll just go back to the lake and pretend this doesn’t exist till fall. I like that idea.
Happy weekend to you. And yes, Cuomo must go.
Oh, wow, do I hear you jeanie; I too feel like I will NEVER be decluttered; it’s overwhelming. I often wish to escape and just get out from under it all!
I’ve heard that the best way to do it is to assign yourself one task a day. Maybe a drawer, a corner of a room, whatever. Complete that task. The next day, one more task.
Stay safe, Jeanie.