Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

You are here: Home / gratitude / The Finished Puzzle & Gratitude

The Finished Puzzle & Gratitude

at by

C’est fini.

I finished around 4 pm yesterday. This is one of the most detailed and complicated puzzles that I’ve had the pleasure of working on. I loved every minute of it. I think it took me 5 days to complete and on at least one of those days (Christmas) I did very little work. I’ve had fun identifying certain characters. There’s a big sheet of paper with a large picture of the finished puzzle and on the back, there’s a key to the characters, though I didn’t look at the key at all until this morning. My one complaint is that the sheet with the picture is so big and, therefore, very awkward to refer to when assembling the puzzle. Mine is now torn on several seams simply because I used it so much. It would be nice to also have a smaller version of the picture.

But then again, maybe that’s impossible, as there is so much tiny detail that would be almost impossible to make out on a smaller sheet of paper.

There’s a Jane Austen version that is on its way to my front porch later today. And I also have a New Yorker puzzled on tap that Don gave me for Christmas.

We’re thinking about ordering Thai food for New Year’s Eve. We have a bottle of sparkling cider on hand and we’ll toast 2021 and 2022. We’ll be in bed by 11:00, of course.

Woke up feeling rested and grateful. Grateful for quiet mornings, for incredible conversations that I have with Don (like the one we had earlier this morning), for this tiny cottage that sometimes drives me crazy but mostly fills me with profound gratitude, for opportunities that come out of nowhere, for dolls that bring out my inner child (so glad to see her again!) for twinkly lights (yes, the tree is still up and will remain so into the new year), for books stacked up and waiting for me to crack them open, for dollhouses, for good people (and there are so, so many of them), for animals and sunsets and butterflies and murmurations of starlings and food and heat and music and theater and film and adventures and love, for family and friends, for my sister whom I love so, so much, for my estranged sister whom I will alway love, for my brother and father and mother – no longer with me in bodily form but with me always, for our dogs (I miss them every day), for neighbors who bring us baklava (I snuck a bite), for coffee, for pie, for foggy mornings, for poetry, for a Higher Power/God/Universe/Great Spirit, for kindness, for humility, for big belly laughs, for solitude, for flowers and gardens and birds, for people who appreciate irony and the absurd, for old movies, for satire, for joy (and sadness, which is a part of life and the reason I appreciate joy when it appears.)

I could go on and on.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Comments

  2. That puzzle looks like a doozie! My husband and I are still doing jigsaw puzzles, too! I find them so relaxing. I think they have saved my sanity during these last two years of insanity.

    Wishing you and Don a Happy New Year filled with good health and lots of love and laughter.

    xoxoxo

  3. I loved everything you listed. You and Don are so kind, thoughtful and loving to so many people. The puzzle is amazing. All your girls are precious, even their wardrobe! One question, do you get fireworks in your area that would disturb your sleep?

    • We get a few, but they’re not a big deal and they don’t usually disturb us.

      Stay safe, Carol.

  10. I was worried I hadn’t got a response on email from a first cousin out of state at Thanksgiving; then, no Christmas card came, and he always sends a card. So, with great trepidation this morning, I googled and, yes, he passed in October; there was his obituary. I’m awaiting details from other long-distance relatives. Fortunately, he had a good, long life. But this really shook me up today. With all our dreary SoCalif rain and gray and cold, I felt my tears as rain, too. If I could say anything to anyone, it’s to keep in touch with your loved ones however you can; don’t miss the opportunities. Time waits for no one. I was supposed to visit, in person, with this cousin in 2019 but we couldn’t pull off the trip due to my husband’s work. Then, the pandemic hit. I’d held out hope for 2022; now, it’s too late.

    Claudia, I’ll say it again, all the best to you and Don in the coming year. Thank you for all of your wonderful 2021 posts. Looking forward to more from you; you’re the best writer. You know how to echo our emotions, we readers of your blog. You have great insight and pathos.

    • Thank you, Vicki.

      I’m so sorry to hear of your cousin’s death. Oh, it just gets harder, the older we get, doesn’t it? Losing loved ones and friends – all so very hard.

      Stay safe, Vicki, and Happy New Year.

      • Claudia, your sense of joy and gratitude just shines through your words in your last two posts; I loved your New Year’s Eve post today; thank you. I want you and Don to have the BEST year ever, ahead!

        Ohmygoodness, what a morning in Southern California! We have BLUE SKY, dripping and wet from days of blessed, nourishing rain, but SUNSHINE; clear air; snow on our mountains; GREEN on our wildfire-burned foothills; when I had tears this morning, they were of joy and awe at my surroundings. To be at the marina, see the beautiful blue ocean and offshore islands, look north through the masts of the anchored boats, through the palm trees, to those white peaks thick with snow; yes, gratitude; so much gratitude. Yesterday when it was still raining, we drove to see our main creek and also the river, both GUSHING with fast water, DEEP water, like we haven’t seen for YEARS. And we have a chance to dry out between storms, so it gives the rain/standing water a chance to soak in, replenish the dwindling water table. It won’t be enough to break the drought, not yet anyway, but it’s a start.

        We kept our outside cat warm and dry with his three best/favorite shelters, insulated and with self-warming pads (we’ve checked them several times for integrity against this driving rain and wind); I wish I could at least coax him into the garage, but he’ll never do it as he’s born of the wild and will die in the wild, maybe this coming year as he’ll be age 14 and he’s never been immunized; can’t catch him as he’s wise to a humane trap; thankfully I did have a OTO shot at neutering him, so he doesn’t get in fights with other males, and that alone protects him. He doesn’t wander too much these days either. He keeps to himself and has somehow survived the death of his lifelong mate, his mama, who left us at an elderly age a couple of years ago; they were inseparable. I thought he’d never get past his grief; he does still look for her; probably always will.

        My husband patiently set out all our (numerous) potted plants (indoor ones, outdoor ones) once we knew it wouldn’t freeze, so they got the benefit of all this wonderful, cleansing rain. No more dirt and ash around here. We are one VERY clean world. (And our old roof on our old house didn’t leak; fingers crossed.)

        Again, Claudia; YES; gratitude! Even with the loss of my cousin, reading his obit (which had TONS of photos on a videolog; a wealth of photos I was able to capture thru my husband’s phone to my hard drive) and being reminded of the well-rounded life of quality and substance he led (faith, family, friends, FUN; work that he was good at; military service, too; a lot of volunteer/charitable endeavors as well; and travel[!] … talk about a balanced life!), I know from when I last spoke to him that his end must have come rather quickly, which leads me to think he wouldn’t have suffered for long if at all. He had a terribly unstable childhood even into his teens, but such an amazing triumph of an adult life; someone always to be remembered very well. A person very good to know.
        What more can any of us ask?!!

    • hej, vicki …

      sincere condolences to you on the loss of your cousin. i will be praying for you all and hope everything else is easier, better for you.

      here’s to a happy, healthy new year.

      kathy

  11. Wow. Now, that is spectacular! I think it would have taken me five weeks! Bravo.

    I loved your list of all the special things in your life for which you are grateful, not the least of which is rediscovering your inner child. That’s really beautiful. All good wishes for a most wonderful new year.

  12. What a lovely gratitude list! It’s worth the dark, short days as one year ends and we usher in a new one, because it certainly makes me look back and count my many blessings. Might make me pretty determined to contribute what I can to change the future as well. It’s good to take stock!

    Also, yes to Thai! Happy New Year to you and Don and all your wonderful followers.

  13. I so agree with your beautiful post today, Claudia. I, too, have & think about how grateful I am for so many things in my life. As we approach 51 yrs married in a couple of weeks, I am especially grateful for that! As tough a year as it’s been, my husband, children & grandchildren have remained safe. That’s the most important thing of all to me.

    Am loving The Madness of Crowds!!! Am looking forward to Hillary & LP’s book!!

    Wishing you both a wonderful New Year !!

  14. what a beautiful list and attitude, claudia! thanks for sharing it and inspiring me to write my own (i keep one in my heart and mind, but find it’s good for me to see an actual written list sometimes).

    your plans for new year’s eve sound nice, too. by the time i was out of school, i had zero interest in going out on new year’s eve except if i could be with my family (many years we lived a long ways apart). we keep it low-key and i like that and love them. we are supposed to get enough snow saturday to make travel miserable so are planning a sleepover for tomorrow night. :) will eat black-eyed peas on saturday morning (well-cooked and served on toasted wheat bread with ground pepper on top).

    great puzzle! i love the artwork and colors as much as you love the subject. :)

    glad you have more puzzles on hand or on the way.

    new job is getting better. had my first day on the register today … it’s all (understandably) computerized so there’s a lot to learn, but it’s getting easier. co-workers and customers are nice … except for one customer standing next to me today who (when i bent down to get something from a low shelf) reached out, touched my head and said “i like your hair”. ):( going to be okay.

    did the shopping tonight. stores were very crowded (but i noticed more people were wearing masks than not) so i had to go to three places in order to get everything on the lists. all good … but wish i had some thai food now, thank you (ha)!

    might knit on a hat tonight or read a little bit. or not. this has felt like an extra-long week. not to wish away time, but i am glad tomorrow is friday.

    hope you, don and everyone else here (and everywhere else) spend new year’s eve as you want and have a safe, happy new year. may it bring much good health and happiness for everyone! xo

    kathy

    • Glad to hear work is going well. We, too, eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day. Don is the child of parents born in the south and that habit has stayed with him.

      (That guy sounds very creepy!)

      Stay safe and Happy New Year, Kathy.

      • yes to black-eyed peas!

        no to creepy stuff!

        did i tell you this job is in a hardware store? big change of customers, pace and duties … ha.

        happy, safe new year to you and don!

        xo

        • I am always interested about black-eyed peas and now I have a recipe! Thanks, kathy! Sure glad the job is going well except for as Claudia says, the creepy guy. Hopefully that’s a very isolated circumstance. I like hardware stores, especially if it’s one with a garden center, too! Are you masked the entire time you’re at the register? Are the customers masked? Just curious.

          • same here, vicki … mostly because my father’s uncle created a hardware store in a small town that i love to wander around, continues to do well and still carries my last name. i love that place (shop, town) and my family. :) what i have now is not my dream job, but i am getting used to it. at tougher moments job-wise and life-wise, i “pretend” i am working in my great-uncle’s store or in mayberry (ha) … and mostly and more seriously, i remind myself that i promised God that if He opened a door for me, i would walk through it (more on that some other time as my last job situation was so bad, the board has told me to expect lawyering on my behalf).

            thankfully the manager and co-workers i have now all wear masks, so do some customers (i sure do, too) and there is a big plexiglas shield between us. everyone (excluding the creepy hair-toucher) has been nice.

            at this time of year, the garden supplies are limited to two sides of a pretty short aisle. am guessing there will be flats of plants outside, lots more come spring. right now it’s about snowblowers, ice melt, small household repairs and painting (we are to get up to seven inches of snow tomorrow and it’s icy out there now. well, as of 6:30 tonight … ugh).

            if you like, look up the history of black-eyed peas as a tradition for new year’s day. some history of that is attributed to the civil war. i am sure there are many other recipes (a lot of which include collard greens, etc., which i tend to skip), but most often i eat black-eyed peas throughout the year as described above. i cook them quite a while, until rather mushy.

            hope things have settled down and you and your husband are feeling better, able to rest and relax. and enjoy that rain (i am happy for you)!

            happy new year, friend!

            kathy

Please check back to follow the conversation!

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives