I used to share a monthly favorites post and stopped during our move because it became a little overwhelming! Collecting my favorites through the month seemed more difficult in all of the upheaval and chaos of the move and renovations. I am finding my stride again and realize I miss sharing my favorites. I considered starting to share them again in the same format, but I decided to change it up and start something new. Instead of sharing them monthly, I’ll share them weekly as four things – What I’m reading, what I’m watching, what I’m loving, and what I’m working on. In this format, I can share things when they are fresh and in little bite-sized chunks for my readers. So, here we go with the first Four Things…
what I’m reading
As I shared recently (in THIS POST), I typically read several books at one time, so in these posts, I’ll highlight one of the books I’m reading from my stack and audiobook list.
I’ve been reading The Sea Journal and it’s such a gorgeous record of journals and sketchbooks kept by mariners, explorers, travelers, ship captains, and sailors. I love peeking into the sketchbooks and journals of others, so this book is right up my alley. Not only have I enjoyed learning about people and places, but I have found all sorts of inspiration in their words and art. It’s the kind of book I enjoy for the visual beauty as well as what I’m learning from the text.
what I’m watching
The Commanders! If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might recall that I’ve been a Washington Redskins (now Commanders) fan since I was in middle school. It’s been a commitment riddled with disappointments, admittedly, but I have remained a faithful fan. Now, with new owners, new coaches, new players, and an exciting new rookie quarterback (Jayden Daniels), there seems to be a bit a magic in the air and I’m here for it.
View this post on Instagram
what I’m loving
In The Sea Journal, I read about Else Bostelmann, an artist and explorer. She went diving six fathoms below the water’s surface in a heavy copper helmet to capture the wildlife in the deep ocean. “Spellbound, she drew the life forms around her, using a steel pen on a zinc engraver’s plate. Trying to capture everything underwater was tricky and she had to be careful not to tip her head in case her helmet tumbled off and with it her oxygen supply, but again and again she returned to the sea floor. On subsequent dives an iron music stand was lowered to the sea bed, on which she tied a canvas and a lead-weighted palette daubed with oil paint. Her brushes floated with their wooden handles upright, tugging lightly at their strings.”
I mean, talk about painting from life. I find her fearless commitment to curiousity and record-keeping very moving.
what I’m working on
We have our first dry day and sunshine in well over a week, so I’m going to start working on the dining room trim. In addition, I just got the best news… the glue and foam stuck to our basement floor does not contain asbestos, so I will be doing scraping and scrubbing here and there to get that floor cleaned up. We’ve done a lot of exciting projects in this house but I am almost giddy about this! In addition, the worrywort in me is glad the basement isn’t trying to kill me.
I have my work cut out for me, but I only have to do it once and it will be so nice to have a clean floor in the basement…
21 Responses
I’m curious how you hear about books like The Sea Journal or another book I saw on your site, Remarkable Diaries. How do these books and books like them drift into your awareness? Thank you.
Chris I was wondering the same thing.
A friend did the glue removal in his house and a pro recommended a scraper that had a long handle and he stood while scraping. It looked like an old timer edger, but had a sharper edge. I don’t know what it’s called, but I figure you can find it now that you know it exists! 🤣 Good luck!! 😍
Yes! I actually have one. Used it to scrape up some old tiles in a 1950s house (the hard tiles & glue were asbestos free, but some old sheet linoleum was chock full, so I didn’t touch it). The tool has a flat, straight across, sharp blade and I got it at Home Depot, but Lowe’s probably has them, too. Now, I use it to scrape moss off the driveway, LOL, PNW!
I’m curious how you find interesting books like The Sea Journal or another book I saw on your site, Remarkable Diaries? How do these books, and others, drift into your awareness? Thank you.
I comb the internet for books pretty regularly, but I also follow trails from other books I love. I look at bibliographies and check out their sources or book recommendations, I look up books by the same publishing house or the same author, and sometimes I just do searches for topics or words. I think I found this book while searching for books on diaries, letters, journals, and sketchbooks.
Thanks for sharing the book recommendations. I will be ordering one as a birthday gift for our artist daughter. It’s very good news about your basement floor…perhaps you need to have a “scraping” party. You can send them all home with a party favor…their very own scraper (of course tied with a pretty ribbon). Seriously….hire the glue removal and you paint more bunnies!!! They were delightful.
i agree … a few more bunnies and Marian will save her shoulders, hands, back, lungs, knees, hours!
I vote for the ‘scraping’ party …. maybe the pool party kids?
Yay for no asbestos!
I agree with Mary. Those creative hands have other places to be. What are you going to use for flooring?
The variety in your life is so interesting!
Wow, I am fascinated to learn more about Else Bostelmann. I will definitely be looking up more about her. Thank you for sharing her story. So cool. And yay, to no asbestos.
When you start cleaning the glue from the basement floor use a gardening foam bench with handles . It will save your knees and help you get up by using the handles . Good luck
If the glue is safe, why do you have to remove it.? Couldn’t you put a plank floor or carpeting on top of it….??? I have never had a basement, so I really don’t know anything about having one….looks cool to have all that extra space!!! It would be sports equipment, ping pong table and teenagers hangout.
I don’t want to put carpeting in because of the humidity in the basement and the potential for flooding. I have considered a waterproof linoleum but just cleaning the floor is free and will make the space feel fresh and more functional.
Depending on what your concrete looks like, how about polished concrete? That may even be something that you and Jeff could do by renting a concrete polisher (with a bag that captures the concrete dust). I have neighbors down the road who built a new home a few years back and the entire house is polished concrete and the floors look great! (Their house is more “contemporary,” but you may not mind the basement being a little more “contemporary” for the teenagers.)
The other day I saw that someone had taped her scraper blade to her foot in order to scrape a floor.
Hmmm…
Your reading list is eclectic to be sure. I’m a one trick pony—give me all the mysteries! Please be careful with your shoulder if you’re the one scraping the floor; maybe 2 strong high schoolers for the hard part? Will you get one of those bumpy floors like for garages or a more finished one? Have you considered staining the concrete?
YAY on the no asbestos news!! That’s one hurdle off of your list. I wonder if you could just use a long handled ice scraper for the task? You wouldn’t have to bend as much and you could use your full body weight to press into it vs. just your arms.
I am pretty sure that is 1776-1976 celebration wallpaper! You can rent a floor scraper at an local tool rental place for a very reasonable price. I used one to remove glue from tiles on a cement floor. Thank goodness tiles were already gone! 9 inch tiles are often asbestos tiles and should always be checked.
I would look into a sander to clean up the floors. A standing sander that you push. Maybe even a polisher to shine them.
As far as Jayden Daniel’s, well, that kid is Pure Magic. LSU fan here. He was a joy to watch. Every single time he gets knocked down, he jumps back up with the most glorious smile on his face. I’ve never seen anyone bring so much joy to football.
Phew…you amaze me over and over again. Do you ever get overwhelmed just doing what you love and life~. I should be on the phone with Apple Support as I was last night for 3 hours..but I’d rather read you. 🙂
Thank you for the reprieve~ take good care of you!
Cynthia