Pleasant Respite

 

This dry weather has enabled me to give my walls a fresh coat of paint, so I have been taking some time to rest from it, sit outside to read and try to catch up on correspondence. I did a little prep-work today by spackling holes and imperfections in the walls and washing away some of the dust. It would sure be lovely if a room that was being painted could mind its own business, but it always spills over into other rooms. I hope before too long that there will be places to sit and that things will be put away.

I am trying to keep from getting too anxious about it by taking a few moments each day to do something else. I can remember the days when my family and I could finish painting and cleaning up in just a couple of days, but now I think it takes me several months to recover from the upheaval.

Sometimes I illustrate personal letters with crayons because they are such a simple medium, needing no mixing and no clean-up.

 

It is nice to look through a pleasant publication...

and see something orderly, in its place. Magazines are inspirational but I like the homemaking blogs a lot better because ladies are showing what they are really doing at home with their own things and showing how they really live. Just a few years ago the only ideas that were available were from commercial magazines or furniture stores, where everything was staged, and there were only a few publications available. Now there are hundreds of blogs all over the world that show so many homes where people dwell and work and clean and create. Some of the magazines are now including people's blog posts. I like to visit the blogs when I have time because I enjoy seeing how women mix their inherited treasures with their every day things and how they make their homes beautiful and comfortable. There are so many more ideas being shared.

 

Above is the little novel I wrote for Drina, who took me to Miss Marple's Tea Room when I lived at the campground in Victoria, Australia. It was about an adventure or two we had together. The chapter about the movies centered on my wanting to take my purse with me. She said it was not necessary because she was paying for my ticket. I asked about at least taking my identification but she said, "I recognize you and I will identify you." Drina was originally from Croatia, and she had an unusual and lovable sense of humor. I sewed the pages together on the sewing machine with a fancy stitch. I rarely go to the movies, and I had not been sleeping much or very comfortqbly during my 2 months away from home. The seat in the theatre felt like a cloud, the room was warm, and I fell asleep, so I cannot tell you much about the movie.

 

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