North Down Muse

Non-holiday

NorthDownMuse -

It’s hard to get in the holiday mood here when it isn’t a holiday. I painted for a few hours last night and a few more hours this morning. The long stairway wall now has its first coat of yellow. I’ve decided, before I do the second coat, I want to paint the white trim. Groan. That will add weeks to the project.

I started the day with an e-mail to my BFFs telling them how grateful I am for their friendship. I also e-mailed an animated card to mom and a few other people. The thing I was mainly thankful for this morning was music. I’ve spent so many hours painting and it is so much more enjoyable when being serenaded by the Pogues, John Legend, Kim Richey, Muse, etc. It is a mystery to me how music is composed--so many different instruments layered on top of each other. I just love the result.

I took Maysie for a walk--it’s a sunny cool day, perfect fall weather. I asked another dog walker to take a photo of me and Maysie to send to my mom, but there was no photo on my camera when I got home. Then I elevated two articles to Preventable Surprises' website then sent an e-mail to 500 people linking to those articles. Then I went to Ulster Hospital and had the results of my allergy test analysed. Nickel, apparently, is causing my lip issues. Possibly from touching my face after handling coins, which have nickel in them?

I was supposed to go to yoga at 6:30 but decided to eat dinner and have wine--I was very tired and hungry. Things I’m grateful for--off the top of my head:

  1. Glad I can spend hours going up and down ladders and painting at odd angles. This is the third house I’ve redecorated and it could be the last, you never know.
  2. Gorgeous weather this fall.
  3. Ice-laced flowers and leaves, particularly my russet-coloured hydrangeas.
  4. Tesco’s goat cheese and sweet potato lattice pies--my dinner.
  5. My neighbours--each of who invited me over, worried about me on my own.
  6. My pets, Maysie, Isabelle and Marco.
  7. My mom’s health, going strong at 84.
  8. My friend Bobbi’s successful hip surgery yesterday.
  9. Good fiction.
  10. Not being allergic to something I would miss. Like red wine or chocolate. Life wouldn’t be worth living...

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