Evidence that Don had a gig last night. This one was far from us – too far – so a lot of driving was involved. He got back after I had gone to bed. We don’t have a lot of extra room around here, so he carefully stashes equipment under the piano bench and behind the sofa. He’s too tired to lug it all upstairs and, of course, he doesn’t want to wake me up.
He says it went well, with an appreciative group of listeners. I love seeing him full of that post performance energy I know so well. He’ll crash later today, but he always gets a boost from performing.
It’s still warmish here and, as I said yesterday, it’s supposed to hit 59 degrees here today. I bet it will hit 60. Snow is coming on Tuesday, but not much, thank goodness. I heard birds singing this morning when I woke up and the Carolina wren was flitting between the porch and the hydrangeas, singing away.
Yesterday we went for a walk at the library. I took along my library card and phone in case I got an email that the book I’ve been waiting for had come in. I checked my messages right after the walk. Nothing. Came home, walked down the driveway to check for the mail – nothing yet. Invariably, once I’ve walked back up the driveway after checking the mailbox, gone into the house, settled into my chair, the mail truck arrives. Yep. It happened again yesterday. So back out I went to get the mail. Within about 20 minutes of arriving back home, I checked the library online account. You guessed it, the book had arrived and was waiting for me. So I drove to the library for the second time and picked it up.
These are quality problems, of course!
Oh, friends, I am longing for spring. I try to keep myself busy during the winter months, although I often feel like I’m on sleep mode, but once spring hits, I start to come alive again. However, it’s only early February and even if the groundhog is right and we’re in for an early spring, it’s still far off.
Books and dolls and old movies keep me going. Oh, and Don, of course.
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Stay safe.
Happy Saturday.
glad don’s gig and travels went well, that he had an appreciative audience and feels boosted.
love stickers put on the guitar case, that it gets used.
you had to make a couple extra trips, but glad you have the book. and some warmer weather to enjoy. hopefully on tuesday you won’t get much snow or for long and can feel hopeful that spring is on its way … because it is.
morning tasks done and i’ve been mentally rearranging furniture and other things. now it’s time to do some laundry, maybe cut my hair and definitely bake some brownies for my father (want to cut them into football-shaped pieces and add some white frosting for the laces/whatever that’s called). we will be watching the big game tomorrow as two iowa guys (formerly at iowa state and the university of iowa) are playing for the 49ers, including the quarterback, brock purdy. hope it’s a good game.
hope you, don and everyone else have a wonderful weekend! stay safe.
kathy
Your dad will get a kick out of those brownies, Kathy.
We don’t usually watch the Super Bowl as we basically have no interest in football, but we are fans of Kelce and Taylor Swift because they are people that do the right thing, so we’re watching for them.
I am anxious, too, for Spring. We have plans to continue our outdoor landscaping projects. Until then…some reading, lots of decluttering, lots of movies, and because it’s just that time of the year….several doctor appointments. All makes the days seem to move quicker. But…we know Spring will come, whether early or late. I hope it’s early, too!
Glad to hear Don’s gig went well. It must really be hard for him with no acting gigs yet. At least the music gigs seem to be working well, from what you’ve said.
We are having family here tomorrow for the Super Bowl. So must clean today and cook in preparation. Good day to catch up, eat, and watch a game we all enjoy….looking forward to seeing the new commercials, too…lol. Enjoy your weekend! ;)
It is very, very hard for him. He needs to work and there has been nothing since Margaritaville. He tried to put up a good front, but it’s devastating.
Enjoy your day tomorrow, Donnamae.
Stay safe.
My late husband was a DJ so I know about spouse coming home late (or early morning…3 am) and he always needed to stay up an hour or two to come down from the exhilaration and adrenaline. He DJ’ed parties but also had a regular gig at a high-end restaurant, playing dinner music and then dance music after a certain time. He was a friendly guy so all the staff loved him. He’d play the wait staff and maitre’d’s favorite songs and hang around afterwards to talk to everyone.
In return, the chefs used to plate up lobster claws for him to bring home. They’d cook whole lobster but only use the tails. Every Weekend morning for years, my little children would be excited about lobster for breakfast…lobster omelettes, open-faced cheese lobster sandwiches, lobster scrambles, “plain lobster today, Mom!”
My library likes to play the same trick on me! I’d go and return only to get a notification that the book is now ready for me. At least it was a positive chore when you had to drive there again.
I finally finished My Name is Barbra and am now reading Stanley Tucci’s Taste. What a different voice (my brain switched from Streisand’s voice to Tucci’s) but the same “chatting to an old friend” tone.
I also finished West Heart Kill. That was an unusual murder mystery. If someone can explain it to me, please do!
Enjoy the warmer weather.
Your late husband sounds like a lovely person, Wendy. I love hearing stories about him.
Stay safe.
I’m in Southern California where we’ve been getting a rather-alarming amount of rain with frequent storms, another to come this time next week. My husband started a new, full-time job and has to be commuting in it (for an hour each way). Not the best of timing. For us, too, it’s cold; we were in the high-30s temps at 6am. So, although we don’t experience what those of you do in the other parts of the country with ‘weather’, we’re as well MORE than ready for the spring. Of course in other years of drought, we yearned for rain. One thing nice about the landscape, since we don’t get snow except in the mountains (‘way up high), we’re very-very green (as someone said [I wouldn’t know; I’ve never been there]: Ireland-green).
I certainly didn’t like yesterday afternoon’s earthquake (it hit north of Malibu). It was like a dog vigorously shaking a rag toy. This quake wasn’t a jerk or a whip or, to me, a roller; it was definitely a tremoring and a shuddering, prefaced by the sometimes inevitable snapping and cracking sounds (like you might hear with your house if a big wind was blowing through, sending gusts). I said after August’s quake here, that this was IT for me, a native Californian, with earthquakes and their subsequent-continuing aftershocks; however, we didn’t leave, we didn’t move, we didn’t relocate elsewhere; so, this is what IS; we put up to shut up. Hope for the best.
But, right now, the sky is blue and the sun is warm. It’s a nice Saturday and I hope everyone else including you and Don are enjoying their weekend! I’m not reading a lot these days. Instead, I find I’ve returned to listening to a lot of smooth jazz as I did in the 80s. There are some wonderful new artists out there (both instrumental and vocalists) and I’m currently listening to Lindsey Webster. She’s got a nice voice with good phrasing. Young, in her 30s. She’s from your nearby Woodstock, Claudia.
You have certainly been through it this week, Vicki! I hope things settle down – all that rain and an earthquake is a bit too much.
Stay safe.
So good Don has places to perform his music that are not too far away.
Our “balmy” weather is gone and we’re back to low thirties. Snow finally almost all gone in the back so Dean can get out there and deal with our fallen arbor vitae with his new toy – a power saw. We were waiting for the snowbanks by the street to be gone so we can stack the pieces out for the village to pick up. That way it’s out there waiting before the next inevitable blizzard. It’s only mid-February, after all.
Take care,
Kay
Our balmy weather is headed out as I write this. It was nice while it lasted! Lots of wind, maybe some rain, and colder temperatures tomorrow.
Stay safe, Kay.
Lovely spring day here, too. But we need some snow so we can appreciate the nice days even more. Lovely that Don’s gig went well. Enjoy your weekend. Isn’t it nice to get a notice there is a library book waiting for you even if it arrived after you got home? Hugs, Elaine
Yes. Now I have to get my butt in gear and start it!
Stay safe, Elaine.
Just when I can’t take any more of winter, along comes Adams Fairacre Farms’ Spring Flower Show. Always a treat, with perfect timing, just the thing to tide me over. They usually have small
pots of daffodils, tulips and hyacinths specially priced for the event – I see a tiny indoor garden in my near future. It begins on Feb. 23rd – just 10 days away.
That will cheer you up, Anne!
Stay safe.
Claudia,
I have a request. Please….give me (all of us) how you manage to accomplish what you do? Do you have a routine? I ask because at the moment…..I am so scattered. I have projects but I crave being around others….I feel anxious when I am alone. Lonely and anxious and sad.
Maria
I don’t think I accomplish much at all, Maria! But I do make sure to keep busy, especially when I’m worried or stressed. I give myself chores to do. Giving myself a task to accomplish keeps my mind focused on the details of that task and takes it off of my worries.
I’m also an introvert, so being alone is not something that makes me anxious, though I do suffer from anxiety. Are you okay, Maria? Two thoughts: can you find some local group you can be a part of, where you have get togethers and support from your friends?
Have you thought of seeing someone – a doctor or therapist – about your anxiety? Maybe there is a medication that might ease some of your anxiety. Maybe you already are, but if not, please consider it.
xoxo
Claudia
I know we shouldn’t be complacent about the weather — mid-February means more winter, no matter how you slice it. But I’m just loving this. I don’t even mind if it’s cold (30s!) because that’s so much warmer than February usually is, and dry too! (At least so far.) Today is the brightest blue sky I’ve seen in ages and 42 degrees. Loving life!
Wonderful!
Stay safe, Jeanie.