When I said we’d talk about how we’re distracting ourselves and staying busy during these unsettling times, I did not mean to talk about unsettled weather. Saturday night, I was playing a game on my iPad when my cell phone went off and the tornado sirens started screaming. I turned on the TV to my favorite station for weather alerts, only to hear, “Vanderburgh County is under a tornado warning. Take shelter immediately.” Well, there’s a distraction. My mother, who lives in Ohio, even heard about it on the Weather Channel. I called her afterwards to assure her I was okay, although the town to our east was hit and had some damage.
I enjoyed a few other distractions a little more than that. I’ve been working on the “Treasures in My Closet” post for Wednesday, April 1. And, one night I watched BroadwayHD. I’m a subscriber, but I understand their Friday night shows are streaming for free. This past weekend, they showed “Oklahoma” with a young Hugh Jackman. This article from a couple years ago has two terrific scenes from the show. https://dcdr.me/2vTGmzE
I did finish a book. But, my blog, tornadoes and Hugh Jackman were my biggest distractions since last week.
Are you reading? Or, what else is distracting you this week?
Morning Lesa 🙂 yes, me again – so as you can see, one of my favourite distractions is your blog!
I am reading much more than usual, and although I am as anxious as the next person (except at the moment the only other 'person' in the room is Gracie, and she's only anxious about one thing…the next meal) I am finding it easier than usual to concentrate – not entirely sure why.
I started The Chilbury Ladies' Choir last night and carried on with it in bed this morning – I'm very much enjoying it so far, it's much better than I had expected (I though it would all be very twee and cosy, which would be fine just now, but there's much more to it than that). It's set in 1940, in a village where the vicar has just decided to close the church choir down owing to the lack of men. A new music teacher, however, has other ideas.
Yesterday I had a call with my mother, who informed me that 'I am doing my exercises in the garden' – she is 92. The only problem she had had was her desktop computer crashing, but luckily one of the housekeepers at her sheltered housing had fixed that for her.
I also had a wonderful walk beside the Dee in the evening, just around dusk. The birdsong was magnificent. There were a very few people out walking their dogs, but we all 'socially distanced' and thanked one another profusely. We are mostly very civilised out here, though i can understand why people get so much more fraught in the crowded cities.
My little garden is keeping me occupied, though I would like to order a few more plants if I can. On twitter I follow a wonderful young man, Dara McAnulty, who lives in Northern Ireland. He is autistic and has been horribly bullied at school, but he is a wildlife enthusiast and this has saved him – he has now written a book about his observations and thoughts over a year of watching nature in his garden and local area, and it is to be published by Little Toller in May. It is called 'Diary of a Young Naturalist.' He is worried now that without a launch, and with all the bookshops closed, no-one will read his book, but he has amassed a huge following so I hope it will take off as it should.
The reason I mentioned this was that yesterday Dara tweeted about making a little pond in his (small) garden using an old bowl that he and his Dad sunk into the lawn. I think I might try that myself.
I've also been keeping up with my children through calls and messages. One of my daughters was upset that she had accidentally had a whole order of compost and garden stuff delivered to her old address (the company could not deliver it and she had to cancel the order) – then it transpired that my son had managed to get his Freeview box sent to THEIR old address, and my other daughter had inadvertently purchased THREE tickets on different trains when she came up to Scotland from London last weekend. I think this thing is addling all of our brains, but at least if we know everyone is the same we don't feel so silly.
Then, as I said yesterday, I'm finding lots of old radio shows to listen to, from ancient editions of Desert Island Discs to dramatisations of Frances Durbridge's Paul Temple detective novels – they are currently replaying one called 'A Case for Paul Temple' – this is actually one that was remade a few years ago with Crawford Logan as Paul and Gerda Stevenson as Steve (Paul's wife) – she is a Scottish actress (she was in Braveheart I believe), singer and writer. I saw her at the Edinburgh Book Festival last year as she was talking about a book she had published about Christian Small, a very modest artist who was once her family's next door neighbour.
So those are my distractions Lesa,and i am looking forward to hearing everyone else's. Take care everyone.
Lesa, glad to hear you are safe. Nothing like a tornado warning to ramp up the anxiety!
One coping skill has been to dust off my long-forgotten cookbooks and make new comfort food recipes. Also since my favourite artisan bakeries are closed, I have been baking bread, which has been relaxing but time-consuming.
But alas, my reading mojo has still not returned. I can't remember the last time I had not read a book in 12 days! Fatigue and low-level headaches makes it hard to concentrate. I have over 40 ARCs and all my LCC2020 books waiting for me, when I'm ready.
No cable TV, so I stream some shows on my Roku. And I got a 3-month free trial on a Canadian service called CraveTV. Looking forward to (binge) watching shows like Killing Eve and Star Trek: Picard.
Once my self-isolation period ends this week, I hope to be able to take long walks. Spring is starting to show signs of coming to Ottawa. My daily step count has dropped from 15,000 to 1,000, which is not good for me both physically and mentally. And I need to burn more calories to counter all the cooking/baking!
Haha Grace – I feel exactly the same, pace count way down, calorie intake way up…..I will look like a bus by the end of this if I am not careful. It's so tempting to think 'oh what the hell, comfort food is needed…'
Killing Eve is brilliant!
We saw that production of OKLAHOMA with Hugh Jackman at the National Theatre in London! Very well done.
Rosemary, What a beautiful way to start my day, with your descriptive post. Thank you. While I'm not a gardener, and I live in an apartment, I can appreciate your description of your garden and of Dara McNaulty's. At least spring is coming or here in most places. Can you imagine how depressing this would all be if it was grey and wintry? At least I can see sunshine.
Thank you for sharing your digressions. I enjoy reading your writing.It feels like it's a glimpse into your life.
Grace, I talked to another friend yesterday who said she hasn't baked in quite a long time, but bought baking powder so she could bake something. I think there are a lot of us who are snacking and eating much more since we're at home. Hopefully, you'll be out walking and enjoying that again, soon. Continue to take care of yourself!
Jeff, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Broadway will be up and playing by mid-November. I have tickets to see Hugh Jackman in The Music Man in November and December. I hope it still happens.
I had to start reading books on line from my library – Overdrive, etc. and through Project Guternberg. I have many books here that I would like to read but I do not have my new glasses and can't read with my old ones so need bigger print…reading with a magnifying glass is tedious. So online I go.
On top of reading and cooking (both of which I love to do), I'm also involved with my local food pantry. Our protocol has changed dramatically and, as you can imagine, our demand is rising. It's a challenge that our immensely dedicated board is tackling head on.
We have a dog who is a relatively new member of the family. So glad to have him around. He makes us smile and gives us focus. And my husband and I enjoy each other's company while also knowing when to give each other some space. Luckily he can work from home and has plenty to keep him busy. We also cook together, feed the birds, watch a movie or documentary each night, and share books with each other.
Finally, I'm Marie Kondo-ing the heck out of my house. I now have a kitchen linens drawer worthy of a magazine spread in House Beautiful! But, I still haven't figured out how to make my bookshelves hold more titles.
That's the one good thing about online reading, Gram. You can make the print larger. At least you're reading!
Oh, Jane. I guess your protocols must have changed at the food pantry.
And, none of us true readers would Marie Kondo our books!
I have discovered the pleasures of connecting through Zoom. My Toastmasters club meets now on Zoom, and I even judged a Toastmasters contest on Zoom. My Sisters in Crime chapter is also meeting on Zoom. I stay close to my family through videochatting on Facebook Messenger and by phone.
As for reading, I've already read my library loans, so I've been borrowing some titles I've been meaning to read as ebooks from the library. Some were immediately available! And I have enough "real" books to slip them in as well.
I got out a just-started cross-stitch project and started working on that again, and I am bingeing The Good Place on Netflix–I think Call the Midwife will be next.
But–and you might not believe this–my main distraction has been selling my house and buying one closer to my grandchildren. The process had gone too far to stop when the coronavirus hit, so I had to keep going. Although my house hadn't yet been listed, my realtor had found a family on the off-market who desperately wanted to live in my neighborhood, so we're in escrow right now. I made an offer on a house after my other realtor had previewed it and sent me narrated walk-through videos, and we're in escrow as well. Crazy, right? I did sneak away for a few hours (the new house is a 2-hour drive from here) to walk through my selected home briefly, making good use of hand sanitizer and hand-washing. The best news is that my buyers will let me stay in my house for up to 3 months rent-free after escrow closes, so I can take my time making arrangements and hoping that I'll be able to move as time progresses.
Well, Margie! Selling & buying a house would definitely be a distraction! Good for you! I'm glad it all worked out, maybe even better than it would in other times. That's fabulous! Now, you may need a distraction from the moving distraction.
But, that's great that you'll eventually be closer to your grandchildren. I'm sure everyone will be happy with that when it's finally able to happen. Congratulations!
oh no – that was a distraction that you could have done without! I'm glad you're okay! I've been sitting on the back deck enjoying some nice spring like days while reading a little, writing a little. Baking and eating – a lot. And working on a collage. All while Donald and Annabelle are doing yard clean-up. Stay safe, dear one! xxoo
My friend Maggie – a huge Hugh Jackman fan, who lives in California – was also talking about coming here to see THE MUSIC MAN. We'll just have to see how things go.
Kaye, I'm glad the weather is nice enough for the three of you to be outside. It gets a little claustrophobic in the house, I imagine, especially for Donald and Annabelle. Hugs, my friend. You all stay safe.
I know, Jeff. So much uncertainty!
I'm still working.
Watched the movie 1917 – highly recommend – it should have won the best picture award and Sam Mendes best director. My kitty – Buddy – loves doing computer work – however, he wants to sit between the screen and key board which makes it impossible to see – but he purrs so loudly I can't move him away!
You take care, Glen, if you're out in the world working.
I wondered about that, Donna. I didn't see 1917, although I wanted to. Timing just wasn't right for the theater. My Josh likes to sit between me and my laptop. It doesn't make it easy to type, but, as you said, he purrs, and he's so content there!
Donna and Lesa, I can relate. My cat, Sasha, sometimes gets up on the stand holding my PC's monitor and walks back and forth, scratching herself on the monitor and wanting my attention. Impossible to see the screen with that going on, not to mention the black hair shedding at this time of year! But she is good company.
Distractions? I’m doing my best to avoid them! At least the politics and Covid kind. I absolutely will not watch the White House “briefings”, which are pretty much rants.
Instead? I finally finished the mystery novel I’ve been rowing through for weeks, THE CASE OF CABIN 13 by Sam McCarver. Interesting setting as it takes place on the Titanic . I liked the protagonist, but I’m afraid his newfound love made a series of foolish choices putting her in jeopardy. This was the first in the series, and I’m not sure I’ll continue.
Now I’m thinking about comfort reads, but can’t decide what.
Aren’t our cats good company, Margie?
Rick, I agree with you on those rantings. I don’t watch them either. I'm finally getting back into reading with a nonfiction book.
I’ll be interested on Thursday to see what you call comfort reads. Everyone’s idea of comfort is different.