The weather here is clearing, and the sun is coming out... after a dreary, rainy weekend. I spent most of it on the sofa by the fire, working on the sequel to my book. Hope to have that finished and on Amazon by Spring. I actually took a video (out of boredom) during this time... just a short one of my front room and fireplace, but apparently it's too long to send from my iPhone... so I couldn't attach it here. I could send it by you tube, but wasn't sure about how that works.
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| this is how the video starts... but I couldn't get it to send |
Goes to show you how much I know about this technology... Anyway, next pic is a cup my daughter sent us in a basket of goodies for Christmas.
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| It's really a nice cup - holds a lot of coffee |
and next is a cat shaming calendar that my grand daughter sent (along with the cat pj's)
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| It's one of those daily tear off sheet types.... |
Nothing else going on... Well, actually there's a lot going on when it comes to the pandemic and politics, but I'm not planning to go there today. What will be, will be. We can only do what we think is right and hope for the best. At least that's where I'm at.
Just answered the front door to our neighbor... (I keep a face-mask by the door so I was wearing one although he wasn't). Apparently he's having a problem with his retaining wall. We drop off to a creek and he has a pool... so his backyard is 'built up'. Apparently all the rain we've been having has caused his retaining wall to partially fall down... which is a problem with the pool, etc. He needed to know if it was OK for the service man to come through by our drive instead of his to check it out. No problem... our gate isn't locked. Told him to go on back...
(I can imagine he's thinking that 2020 may be gone, but things are still going wrong... it could be costly to fix all that.)
Update: daughter-in-law (nurse) with Covid is feeling better... though still extremely fatigued. From what I hear that is a lasting effect from Covid. But so far, son and grand daughter are still negative (hurray!) And our other daughter-in-law (nurse) got her Covid shot as did my niece (Pediatrician). So our front-line workers are vaccinated!
Oh, and our oldest son has Disney Plus at his house... so we were able to watch some Disney or Pixar movies recently. Saw "Soul" and "Ralph breaks the Internet" - enjoyed both! (light during a dark time)
Have a great week! (It should be interesting) I'm trusting that common sense will win out... and somewhere in the future all will be well again.
Hugs, (virtual)
Rian
I am feeling the same, hoping that our pandemic and politics will settle down soon. I look forward to the book, I loved the first one. I watched Soul and enjoyed it, too.
ReplyDeleteDJan, I love seeing your name pop up on my iPhone telling me I have a comment! Soul was not what I expected, but I enjoyed it. Not sure kids would get all the underlying meanings...
DeleteOh, yes, common sense will prevail. And the Democrats may be able to overturn the Electoral College, after the current shenanigans. You have a good week, too.
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope we are right, Joanne... and that common sense will prevail. I know things are not perfect, but I want/need to believe that people will do what's right.
Deletesorry to hear that some of yours are down with the CoViD, we are good here, though am not sure the vaccine they for it is any good, it's way too early to know for sure, something i won't touch as i think it's too soon & the virus has mutated in some countries with a new strain, so it sort of makes the vaccine a tad useless; that's just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteam aware that some are doing it way tougher than we are here in Australia
none of us should relax around it no matter how many 'no new cases' there are;
hope your new year was okay & your family is well
i do hope that your neighbours problem doesn't become too big & is easily fixed
thanx for sharing
Thanks, Selina. I appreciate your comments. I understand your hesitancy about the new vaccines. We have some too. But when it comes down to it, we will get it... because as my daughter-in-laws explain from what they see in the ICU'S every day - the side effects can't be worse than what these people with Covid are going through. But if you are able to stay home, mask, and keep away from gatherings - that is the next best thing. Stay safe!
DeleteI tried loading a video of mine and had no luck either. I also did not want to go the You Tube route as that may add another headache in my life. It is probably easy but I don’t want to go thru the exercise to find out it isn’t.
ReplyDeleteLots of rainy days here also plus an hour of beautiful snow.
I recently watched Togo on Disney+ and that was good and exciting. I will take your recommendation and watch Soul and Ralph Breaks the Internet.
There's probably an easy way to do it... just wasn't sure if it had to go through you tube if that made it 'public'... didn't necessarily want that. I will watch Togo on Disney+ and my son recommended we watch "Up".
DeleteIt's always a bit sad to take down the holiday decorations. I don't put much up, and I have only a small tabletop tree, but if I had a beautiful live one I'd be sorry to see it go too. I like your tradition of giving it an ornament as a thank you. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your d-i-l is feeling better, and the others are negative. Fingers crossed that remains the case!
Vaccination roll-out is slow here in Ontario, but I'm not in the top 2 or 3 tiers anyway, so I expect it will take the better part of 2021 before I get the shot. Still, there's some hope for a better year, and certainly a much better 2022.
Take care; stay well, and happy new year! (It's still the first week, I can write that. LOL.)
Hi Kim! Hope you and Derry are doing well. Since DH and I are both 75 and have had some 'issues', we will fall next in line for the vaccine. I'm in no hurry to take it as long as we're able to 'shelter at home, etc."... but know we will - eventually - as the risk not to do so is too great for our age and conditions. The stories we hear each day from our DIL's are so heartbreaking. Yesterday one of them had to return after a 12 hour shift because there wasn't enough staff or ICU beds to accommodate all the ones that needed it. So take care and don't let your guard down. I think we all still have a long way to go... vaccine or no vaccine.
DeleteLucky you with a fireplace. That can always make a room and an attitude cheary. So glad your family is recovering. My niece did also and so far the rest are well. Hopefully the vaccines will put a stop to all this if we can just get people to take them. But then we couldn't get them all in masks so I guess it is wait and see.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your new book. So enjoyed the first one.
You are right, Patti... if they don't want to wear masks, they may not want the vaccine... whatever. Thanks about the book, Patti. They are fun to write... not world's greatest novels, just hopefully an enjoyable read.
DeleteI always find the house looks empty without the Christmas decorations (maybe I go a little overboard?). This year I left any snowmen out...it will be winter here for a few more months so they won't look that odd. I like your tradition of leaving a small ornament on the tree. Mine's artificial and maybe someday I'll do like my mom and dad and move it to the basement fully decorated and cover it up with a bag so I don't have redecorate the next year. :p
ReplyDeleteGlad your DIL is feeling some better and thankful that your son and granddaughter were not affected.
Take care and stay well!
Oh I agree, Mae... the den looks empty without our tree. Christmas decorations always make the house feel cozy and warm. We put things up the day after Thanksgiving and take them down the week after New Year's.... trying to get the most out of the season.
Deleteoh the one ornament left on the tree!!!!!!! i have never heard of that and it is such a cute tradition!!
ReplyDeletei always get my calendar at longwood gardens. but since we have not gone, i ordered it on amazon. it has not come yet. i don't really care, i have nothing to write on it!!
The tree wants to keep all the ornaments... feels naked without them... so we relent and let it keep one each year to take with it when it goes (silly, I know... but still).
DeleteWe usually get a new wall calendar each year too... cats or Ireland for the most part. This year I picked up "horses". January is our Anniversary - 53rd this year!... (Yes, Jan. 20th - also big this year for 'other reasons') so it's the first thing to go on our calendar for the New Year.
I did very little decorating this year so it was a snap to take down and put away but I did miss seeing all the Christmas things and associated memories.
ReplyDeleteWe probably didn't put out as much this year... not even all the ornaments on the tree. But it still looks bare when gone. Hopefully next Christmas we can all go all out...?
DeleteI think leaving one little ornament for the tree to keep is the sweetest thing I've heard in a long time. Funny how we can feel an attachment to things. Congratulations on your book. Guess I'm lagging behind. I plan to order it. We've put our Christmas decorations away too. Honestly, if we don't soon get a few days of sunshine...They may have to put me away. :)
ReplyDeleteI do understand about the sunshine, Henny. Hope you get some soon! Thanks about the book... it would be something to read on these dreary sunless days. I spend most of the time reading, writing, or watching streaming these days (probably when I should be sorting and de-cluttering - but hey, there's always tomorrow - at least I hope there is).
DeleteWe didn't have a Christmas tree this year, so no sad-looking fir on the curb. We did have lights, but they are still up and will be for another month. Our neighborhood does that. Makes January a little brighter. Hope your DIL is doing better.
ReplyDeleteAnything to make January a little brighter sounds good, Tom.
DeleteDear Rian, I am just so happy to learn that you've kept writing and have a sequel nearly ready for us to read. I so enjoyed your first book and I'm eager for the second. Oh, this is great news. For myself, I sort of lost 2021--not to the Pandemic but to Meniere's and vision concerns and I suppose what some would call "writer's block." I simply think of it as not having the energy to craft a good sentence! But this year I'm going to try to write a memoir about my childhood. We'll see if I can pull it off. You've inspired me today. Thank you. Peace.
ReplyDeleteHi Dee! If you notice, I'm writing this at 2:45 am. Woke up and had too many thoughts running through my head to go back to sleep. Guess all the craziness that went on yesterday is still with me. Sorry to hear that you have been experiencing writer's block, but I do understand. Between your health concerns, the pandemic, and the political atmosphere, it's hard to focus. But hopefully things are going to be better in 2021... I choose to believe this. Wishing you a Happy New Year, Dee. Stay safe!
DeleteDear Rian, thank you. I've written a little every day this week except for Thursday, which was a Meniere's Day, so I'm feeling good about that. Peace.
DeleteStill have our Tree up, but it's a new Fake Tree that looks Real that we bought this Christmas and it cheers me to have it up twinkling, so... mebbe February? *LOL* Glad to hear those with COVID are recovering and some escaped infection. We have a Granddaughter whose a Nurse in Pittsburgh and I worry about her safety on the front lines of this Pandemic.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you keep your tree up. Yes, I think it's comforting to have around as long as possible... especially these days.
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