Daily Notes for Friday January 2nd....Cold...16 degrees. Bright Sunshine.

1.  I have to work on the desktop images...like...GET SOME.

2.  It's Friday and I won't be going to the Library- The street between the grocery parking lot and the Library does NOT get shoveled...and it melts and freezes and is not a SAFE walk for an old woman. The grocery parking lot gets salted...like every day and is always 100% ice free. I'll see if Son thinks me going the grocery is a "good idea'....... He just asked if I was ready to go to the store-- yeah!!!!!

3.  I want to go to the grocery so I can pay for the groceries.... I took a shower this morning so my hair would look nice...if I wear my hat- it won't really matter.  But...it's nice to go out in public with clean hair.

4.  I have been searching for the black and brown squares I hand sewed....Can't find them...Been looking.  I did find some kits for ABC Samplers.  I bought them but never did start any- cross stitch. I have two complete kits and one very incomplete one...no chart. Scarlet Letter Kits...  I might see if they are still in business... even if it's been forever since I purchased them...

5.   A Vintage Sampler- hand embroidery seems like a good Winter Afternoon Project... an alternative to reading if the books I have aren't that great.  I'm also considering reading the entire Louise Penny series.. I have them all (here) in hardback- thanks to my daughter....I purchased the newest book on the last book store visit (in person). I won't be "in person" again until Spring.

Daily Notes from Maine....Thursday January first...Sunshine and Snow on the ground. 27 degrees

Snowdrops.

I had these in my perennial beds for many years...I think the squirrels dug them up...every year so I stopped planting them...

One thing I can always count on- squirrels..

I have two Soccer Matches to record.....I watched three episodes of Time to Come Home on Hallmark yesterday. I had seen all three in many years past....I don't need to see them again for another five years or more. But it was nice to know "second chances" are aways available .... but not for me, I guess.

My book is one I read awhile back and forgot...Karen White's "the night the lights went out".  Set in the area around Atlanta.... it has that Southern sweetness about it.....like sweet tea.   And reminds me of happy days living in Georgia.  If I was ever to move away from Maine ...it would be to Georgia.  Both my children were born there.  We left the Atlanta suburbs to move to Florida...The first of many many moves...  

I forgot we had a sunporch loaded with toys and furniture and a large painting my brother sent me...none of it got packed or missed for decades....... when we were quickly transferred to Chicago and our fourth home.  And then to Germany a few years later.

Southern food is being cooked...tomatoes are being left on doorsteps...sweet tea is being made. All things I did when living there,  having babies.... being happy.....so of course husband had to move us to Florida. Where I was alone and miserable and he was working in the Virgin Islands.  Anyway...I am reliving my Georgia Happiness...with this book.... Previous book was set in Florida....by the water... Might look for a Chicago book next- any suggestions?????

Happy 2026...My new desk calendar fits perfectly...already have things pasted on it...

 

Daily Notes- Wednesday, December 31st... A New Year Starting Tomorrow. 23 degrees and Sunshine

 My new desk top calendar..  The page under the keyboard is packed with images... the new calendar is  a blank canvas.   The red is my down lap blanket...  keeps me cozy.

I watched several episodes of Antique's Roadshow yesterday.  I am always surprised by the things people bring in.   And I think about what I might dig out of the attic if I had a roadshow ticket.  I can never think of anything.........

Not much to add to this last post of  2025.  It was a good year...no one died. No one fell down and broke anything..... I tried my best...even though I heard plenty of complaints regarding what I thought was my "best".

I could also express complaints about other people.  But ...sitting here thinking about it....slight annoyances are not really complaints.  Large annoyances are. And one or two did really annoy me- thank goodness they aren't related to me.

I guess I am supposed to make Resolutions....for a New Fresh Year....I'd like to list more of the big fat cookies with the red jelly centers....but that would NOT be a "Healthy Choice".  I can list walking up to the end of the street and back- when it's warm and the street is dry.  Months from now.

I am actually looking forward to warmer weather, dry sidewalks etc so I can go to the Library again. I may not like the way the Library looks, or the way it's being run but the gal's behind the checkout desk brighten my Friday visits.  I'm still sad that most of the books I check out come from"other" libraries....and hardly any from my Library's stacks.  The condition of my library is a sad whisper of what it was when I worked there.  There are moments in the stacks when I want to cry. For what we lost.

Well...a New Year.....A fresh calendar.  I wet my hair this morning and it's getting its "curl" back. Fighting its way back from the razor hair cuts......which we will never be getting again........

I have a drive over the New Bridge in my Future Plans.. when Winter is over...and perhaps Sweet Potato Fries at the Riverview restaurant.....but I will wait for Spring.

You'll hear from me..... Next Year...(tomorrow).....

Daily Notes- Tuesday December 30th. Sunshine here in Maine. Melting Ice. 23 degrees

 Good Morning....Sunshine here in Maine and  23 degrees.  Slippery sidewalks.

I started the day being told I was OBNOXIOUS. In an email. Regarding my opinion of Song Sung Blue movie and the negative reviews......

I am guessing having a "differing" opinion makes one obnoxious... Like the President. Not really sure I should be boxed up with him though.........not same to same... (we do both have white hair but my skin isn't orange).

So far.......I keep waiting to feel sad or something with the name calling but actually...I don't really care what this person thinks of me- as she is often VERY critical of me.  A long time friend who is often mean spirited...she also wants me to donate money to people I don't know. Because I don't "need" it...myself.

Sounds like "Elder Abuse".... three episodes of Antiques Roadshow cheered me up.  A LOT!!!

Daughter is picking up my book....we ordered it from the book store....she is also buying me my new 2026. Desktop calendar. You all know how much I love starting each day with images and my glue stick. Also the weather report. There is a box in the dining room with a few years worth of calendar pages....like a super large diary.  I'm thinking....quite seriously---of dragging out the watercolor paper and brushes and paints and PAINTING.  I'm still a few dozen or so years away from Gramma Moses but... I could start warming up.......

I love that the Sun is shining....makes it feel warm even when it isn't.....That shrub that was bent over and possibly going to crack- is NOW snow free- it all melted in the rain and while still NOT standing straight.... all it's stems are intact...has a good chance of staying upright and alive.  Like me.  Cracked...but not giving up. Still standing upright.  But happier on the couch.  Where I might be a bit obnoxious.