The view from my window

The view from my window
The view from my window

Monday 30 November 2020

Keeping busy!

There's not a lot going on around here, for obvious reasons. Even though lockdown has eased a little since Saturday, we still can't mix with other people, although we are now free to go out shopping, as non-essential shops are slowly opening up. Bars, restaurants and gyms will remain closed until 20 January at least (ouch) and my various classes are still off limits until then, although the yoga teacher has sent round classes for us to do and I can log on to do a pilates "zoom" class if I want to. Trouble is, I don't really want to - zoom just doesn't seem to do it for me! From what I understand they are hoping to get our Italian classes going again shortly via remote - there's not really much else they can do is there but at least they're trying! So since we're still in semi-lockdown I thought I should get my act into gear and tackle some of the UFOs (unfinished objects) that have been hanging around here since forever!

So with that I pulled a card table up to one of the sofas in the TV room and finally opened up the "wasgij" puzzle I bought about six months ago. If you remember, a wasgij is "jigsaw" backwards, which means the picture you see on the front of the box only slightly resembles the finished puzzle. It's a bit painful to start with but it gets more interesting as you get more pieces in. Actually, AndrĂ© and I were having lunch yesterday and I saw him sidling over to the wasgij and try to find a few "obvious" pieces, so I'm thinking I might buy him one for Christmas, although who knows if he will ever give it a shot. I doubt it somehow!



Knitting bag - finally finished!

Quilt - unfinished - a recurring nightmare!

Jen would like me to make this bag for her - 
not even started!

Darn it, I have so many things I could be doing (should be doing, really) that if I don't do it now, during lockdown and with winter on the horizon, when will I do it? A friend and I also bought a couple of cross-stitch projects about three years ago, so I pulled one of them out to finally get started on it. What a nightmare. You start in the middle of the fabric with cross-stitch so I stitched in the letters "O", "P" and "Q", but now I've started on the teddy bear in the car it's starting to look like a big ball of knotted thread plonked on top of a car. It's much trickier than it looks!

Sorting the thread!

There are three sheets like this. Already
the teddy driving the car looks more like a cow pat!

I've just finished reading a book called One Man and His Bog, which was written in 1986 and describes the author's hike along the Pennine Way in England. It's extremely well written and very funny, but to be honest there's only so much you can say about trudging through 250 miles of bog isn't there!


So now it's on to Michelle Obama's book Becoming (I've had it for a year already)! I've only just started it but I very much like the fact that she came from a poor background and made her way in life through intelligence and sheer grit. Of course marrying Barack didn't exactly hold her back either but I sense that she is a woman who was always going to be a success even without Barack in her life!


In other news, the oven that I bought just over two years ago started playing up (I bought it 30 months ago to be exact, so no longer under guarantee), so I dashed out today and ordered a new one, which should be delivered on Monday. The old one was a Whirlpool and I have to say I wasn't at all impressed with it from the very beginning, so the fact that it's just conked out after such a short time just confirms to me that I won't ever be buying Whirlpool anything ever again!

Other than that, there's not an awful lot new here. We've been keeping the walking up every day, if not all four of us then at least me and one other person, so that's a plus. Then today I saw John's post over at Going Gently reminiscing about Christmases past and what were your best/funniest memories of Christmas? We first moved to D.C. in 1985 after we got married and the Marine Corps shipped my furniture but it took over four months to get there so my then-husband and I spent four months with no furniture. I remember on Christmas Eve we went to the cinema to see White Nights with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines, and featuring Lionel Ritchie singing Say You, Say Me. It was a great movie and when we came out it had started to snow - something that didn't happen that often in D.C. It was a truly magical evening. For Christmas lunch we had spag bol on paper plates sitting on the floor. We had nothing and yet we were happy! Funny how that works isn't it. Another Christmas, when I was just a little kid in junior school, unbeknownst to me my parents had bought me an upright piano and hidden it in the garage at the back of the houses. Now these were council houses (subsidized rental for poor families) and the garages were not attached to the house but round the back and down a sloping road. After I had gone to bed that night they tried pushing my piano up from the garages but it had started to snow. My sister's description of my dad and my brothers trying to push that bloody piano uphill in the snow was like something out of The Keystone Cops but it's a sweet memory nonetheless!

And finally, about 10 minutes ago I got a call from my ex to tell me that his cousin, Danny, died yesterday from covid after a four week stint in ICU!!! Bloody hell! The expression "only the good die young" certainly applies here as he was one of the kindest, gentlest men you could ever wish to meet. The sad thing is that his wife and family hadn't been able to sit with him all the while he was in hospital and like so many others he died alone! His daughter just posted that when they were clearing out his papers at the hospital they found a note to them saying "Peace and love, see you in heaven"! RIP Danny!


18 comments:

  1. I'm sorry for your loss - Danny sounds like a lovely man. Are you on Twitter? There's an account called "Faces of Covid" where they post pictures/stories/obituaries of people who have died. It's so very sad. Hoping that when we have a real president in charge we can get the virus under control.

    I've been working on a 1500 piece puzzle for months. Never again! One thousand pieces is my limit.

    Our wall ovens started acting up in the beginning of March. They're eight years old but we bought the extended warranty (10 years! They don't even offer it any more). The guy came to repair it, then Covid hit, then they strung us along forever, then they finally said we'll give you a credit for what you paid for them (at this one particular store) and you can buy new ones. We plunked down an additional $1500 and have been waiting for MONTHS. Supposedly everyone in the states is having trouble getting new appliances. Luckily one of the ovens works a little better than the other so we're not completely without, but it's maddening.

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    1. I'm not on Twitter as I reckon blogging and FB are enough for me, but I imagine that account is so said - putting faces to the numbers! As for the jigsaw - ha - sooner you than me, but I have to admit in quiet moments (aren't they all right now) I am enjoying it. And I am surprised that you're having such difficulty getting a new oven delivered. He asked me if Monday was ok but if it was an emergency he could get it to me earlier. They even offered to repair the old one free of charge but since the last one went into "overload" and I was afraid it would start a fire I told them not to bother. I'm very happy with this particular company and I buy a lot from them so maybe that was why they were so helpful!

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  2. When Michelle met Barack, she was the power person. I think he was lucky he met her. I like Whirlpool, but I have never had a W stove. So, no opinion here. But, that is good info to have. Now, if I can just remember that info! I love the Christmas stories people have.

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    1. I've only just started reading Michelle's book but I can imagine what you say is true. They're a well matched couple! As for my oven, when it was delivered there was only one rack in there. I thought it was a mistake and asked but nope, apparently it only comes with one rack. I mean, who the heck only uses one rack in an oven! So I ended up buy another one separately. Even so, I found it confusing to use and didn't like it from the beginning. I'm not saying all Whirlpool stuff is bad (I think they have a good reputation) but I won't buy another oven from them!

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  3. I am so sorry for your ex family member. At least he could leave a note which I am sure his family will cherish forever-small consolation though I am sure. I also find snowfall in DC magical having spent years travelling multiple times per year there, a glimpse of snow on the various buildings and monuments and cherry blossoms were my favorite things. I love your first Christmas story-life and love was simpler in the beginning, right.

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    1. The first snowfall has a beautiful silence to it doesn't it (three months later you're usually ready for it to get the hell out of here though). Trouble is, in D.C. everything ground to a halt with half an inch of snow. I remember a French Canadian colleague roaring laughing at all the traffic backlogs after a smattering of snow. And snow certainly does make everything look so pretty. Slush not so much!

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  4. That's such a surprise about the Whirlpool, they have a very good reputation. My Dishwasher's going on 20 years old... maybe I should knock on wood.

    And it is truly a shame about Danny. Unfortunately it's going to continue to get worse over here because of the Loser in the White House. People are dying because of him, and he doesn't give a shit.

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    1. To be honest it's only fairly recently that I've been finding appliances conking out after just a few years (planned obsolescence?) and Whirlpool does indeed have a good reputation but this oven was a definite mistake. Oh well, you live and learn I guess. And I agree, Trump seems to have completely given up anything "presidential" now (not that he put much effort into it to begin with) and I fear the US (in particular) is really going to pay the price for all those people that travelled for Thanksgiving sadly! Then of course we've all got Christmas to contend with!

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  5. So sorry about your friend Danny. May he rest in Peace. As for appliances go, I have always bought Bosch and never had any problems. When I was re-doing my kitchen, I bought a stove and an oven from Bosch. My fridge and diswasher were bought in 2004 and so far all work fine. With that said, knock on wood! Lol!

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    1. I think Bosch is a good make too but whatever I've bought in the past they've always been ok. It's just these last couple of years that I seem to be getting the duds! We'll see how this next oven goes I guess!

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  6. I'm sorry about your ex's cousin dying. I don't mind dying but I don't want to struggle to breathe before I die. That would be awful.

    I'm supposed to be working on a couple of quilts right now but feel less than inspired. I have been trying to walk more and set up a spread sheet. The problem is, it's dark by the time we get home from work which leaves me with only days off but that's better than nothing.

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    1. Good for you for setting up the spread sheet, although if you have an iphone that should track your weekly mileage too. And I know what you mean about it being dark when you get home. I used to hate it when it was dark when I left for work and dark when I got home, so I used to do as much walking as I could in my lunch break. Needs must I guess!

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  7. So, so sorry to hear about your ex's cousin. Dammit!
    I applaud you for pulling out your projects. I can't seem to motivate myself to do anything. I don't know what's wrong with me. Oh, I can crochet a few rows of something while I'm watching TV but beyond that...
    So good for you! I adore your energy.

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    1. I don't believe in eulogizing people who were bastards when they were alive just because they've now died, but Danny was sincerely one of the loveliest people I've ever met. I'm not surprised he left that note for his family as for him, his wife and children were his everything! As for motivation, it's hard to find sometimes isn't it. I just tend to pull everything out and surround myself with it in my little "nest" in front of the TV. In any case I wanted something to do while I was watching TV so that's one way to get moving!

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  8. I know where you are coming from with all those UFOs and this week I've started a few more to add to the pile! With such short days it's actually pleasant to snuggle down with the knitting needles.

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    1. In "normal" times I often feel too busy to get stuff done (so why start them?) but I quite like the thought of hibernating this winter and getting stuff finished!

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  9. Sorry to hear about your ex's cousin. It's so cruel isn't it.
    We did a Wasjig during first lockdown and at times wondered at our sanity! I've dug another out of our attic as we're in tier 4 till 12th December but to be honest, we're finding we have plenty to do at the moment so its still in the box!
    I have millions of unfinished items to do. However I've been making Christmas masks for all the family so they have taken priority. I finally finished them today so I'm now trying to tidy my room - again!
    I think my favourite Christmas was the year I bought hubby a music centre (remember those?!) It was in a huge box and we lived in a tiny terraced house at the time but my friend helped me carry it up to the childrens bedroom and we drapped covers and clothes and all sorts over it and hubby never noticed it. On Christmas morning his face was a picture when he saw it. He couldn't believe I'd been able to hide such a big parcel in plain sight!! I was very pleased with myself too lol. x

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    1. I'm just a few days into my wasgij and it's coming along slowly but I agree, what were we thinking????? And it's funny that you should mention that music centre. When we first moved to Pittsburgh my husband was looking at a mixer unit but I knew we couldn't afford it. But, I had a credit card and went back a couple of days later and bought it for him. The look on his face was priceless. And good luck with Tier 4, I understand it's pretty harsh!

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