Dear Sunday Letter friends,
Do you ever have one of those weeks when you feel like you accomplished very little? When you felt out of sync with everything? That’s how last week was for me. I have nothing to whine about, not by a long shot, but let this serve as a reminder that some days (weeks) aren’t filled with rosebuds and optimism no matter what our Instagram feed would have us believe. Some days are quite the opposite.
And that’s okay.
Cabin Fever
Last week brought a smorgasbord of (mostly undesirable) weather to northwest Arkansas. We had freezing drizzle, and gray skies, and crazy wind that sent limbs flying from the treetops. Thankfully, we enjoyed a few hours of sunshine, too, which I tried to soak up as best I could. My plants tried as well.
This time of year my kitchen is more greenhouse than food prep area. My plants line the kitchen counter, stare out the window, and watch for spring. I swear sometimes I think I can hear them stretching toward the sun.
Compared to other folks across the country, we’ve been lucky with our mere taste of winter weather. Evidently, it only takes a teaspoon a day for me to suffer cabin fever.
How Does Your Lichen Grow?
There’s a fungus among us and it’s happy and thriving during winter. Lichen prefers winter. It grows in cold weather and goes dormant during summer.
What exactly is lichen? It’s the living result of a partnership between algae and fungus. The fungus provides living space, minerals and moisture; the algae provides food. Lichens are very slow-growing and sensitive to environmental conditions such as air pollution. Based on the amount of lichen growing in our backyard and within our neighborhood, I think we have a pretty healthy environment.
There are 15,000 varieties of lichen across the world and approximately 300 in Arkansas. Something you may not know—lichens are essential in soil formation and rock breakdown, provide food for a variety of creatures (including Santa’s reindeer!), and have been used medicinally through the years including in the formation of antibiotics.
The next time you bundle up and go outside, make a point to notice this under-appreciated, cool plant growing on rocks, on tree bark, all over!
Paint by Numbers
Speaking of cabin fever, when my sister and I were kids, we spent many a winter day hunkered over the kitchen table creating Paint by Number pictures. Did you?
It was SO MUCH FUN!
Horses and landscapes and flowers and lake scenes. Each box contained two canvases (I think) along with the pots of paint and paintbrushes needed to create masterpieces.
Wouldn’t it be fun to try again?
Just before Christmas, I ordered two kits online via My Paint By Numbers. I envisioned hours of holiday fun, maybe even painting again with my sister.
Well, the kits took much longer to arrive than I anticipated. My first order got hung up in customs (I kid you not) so the company sent me another order which I received a couple of weeks ago. Finally, last week I dipped my brush into paint.
My initial impression: like most toys and games and activities of the 1960s and 1970s, newer is not better. The paints are thick, the canvas is a rolled fabric canvas and not a board like the ones of my childhood. I can’t blame the manufacturer for the condition of my eyes, but dangnabbit, my eyes have to strain to see the tiny numbers and tiny slivers of paintable areas. LOL.
Honestly, Day One was exasperating. But by Day Two I’d figured out a few tricks of the trade. Now I’m having fun with it.
It may be next winter before I finish because I only do about 30-45 minutes a day. But as I hoped, this is a great winter day activity, perfect for when I don’t want to write.
Something I’ve been thinking about… What happened to all those beautiful Paint by Numbers Staci and I did years ago? I’ve not seen any of our artwork tucked away at home in the Bat Cave where everything lives. Hmmm.
Bring Back the Headscarf!
On Thursday when the wind gusted to 40 MPH, it became evident to me that we need to bring back the headscarf. You know, the headscarves our grandmothers and mothers wore that tied underneath their chins, a thin nylon square of fabric that protected their beauty-shop hairdos against the elements for an entire week at a time? Ladies always had one in their pocketbooks. There was a plastic version for rain, too.
Jackie O looked glamorous when she wore them.
Fashion always circles back, right?
Things Momma Says
If it ever stops raining, I’m going to put my rain-gauge back out.
Thanks for reading today’s Sunday Letter.
Before I go…1) how do you combat cabin fever? 2) did you do Paint by Numbers as a kid?
Onward,
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
Loved paint by numbers as a kid and you have made me want to take up the brush again. My most recent combatting of cabin fever is to throw myself into delusional thinking abut how my garden will look this year: my first full spring and summer in Arkansas climate. I’ve already bought enough vegetable seeds that would fill a small farm garden even though I’m sticking to a raised Veggie trug that my husband just made. But it’s flowers and perennials that I really want to focus on- my mind says stick with the proven, don’t expand what you already have but my delusional heart says “plant everything and anything”!
I think your idea of garden dreaming is a great solution for cabin fever! I hope your first spring and summer in Arkansas is bountiful!
I remember the scarves! I always thought they brought color to the person wearing them. Failed at paint by number! 3 degrees currently in the Colorado mountains.
Brrrr. You need a different sort of scarf there!
I loved paint by numbers as a kid. I still have two of them that my brother painted. One is an ocean view with a lighthouse that hangs in my bathroom. The other is two deer on a mountain. I would love to do one again!
For Christmas my mother always bought us 1-something we wanted 2 – something to read 3 – something to do with our hands…some kind of craft…& often it was a paint by number. I guess the books & crafts were to keep us busy during winter. She did this until I left home. She also would give us a family gift of a new puzzle or board game.
I have almost never had cabin fever. . I love winter. I love that it gets dark early & I can cozy up inside where it’s warm & watch movies or read. I light lots of candles. I also love walking in the winter. I walk in the rain, snow & ice through the woods. I hate walking in the humid summers. Last winter was the first time I ever experienced anything close to cabin fever because I was stuck inside for weeks after a surgery. This year I’m still not out as much as I like so some of the cloudy days have gotten to me but I go through the house every morning, open all the curtains & turn on all the lights….that helps.
I love winter too but for some reason I’ve been antsy this year. We always got a new puzzle at Christmas too.
I loved paint by number as a kid and I’ve thought about doing it again. So glad to see I’m not the only one! The scarf would have been wonderful this week when my hair kept being blown across my face in all the wind. Maybe they’ll come back in beautiful colors and prints.
Thomas and I painted “Paint by Number” when we were dating. I wish I had kept some of the pictures. I do need a headscarf, and I did put my rain gauge back out. ( If it sleets one more time, I throwing it away.)
Oooops!! That would be “I’m throwing it away!”
I cannot imagine Daddy ever doing Paint by Numbers!
I almost added to my comment, “Can you imagine Thomas Tate sitting down long enough to Paint by Numbers?” LOL
I enjoy coloring in my Magic Garden coloring book that I won a couple of years ago on your Instagram contest. Perhaps that is today’s version of paint by number. Equally therapeutic and a good pass time. I really don’t get cabin fever but this winter has been brutal for our neck of the woods. I don’t care for hot humid summer days. I love to read, bake, experiment with new dishes, and of course there’s social media no matter what the weather. Head scarves (cloth and plastic versions) were worn by my mom and my grandmas. They were so practical back in the day. I will ne er look at lichen the same again. We have lots of it all around in the yard and timber. Our rain gauge is about 10 years old and still in the original packaging. Hummm! Have a great week!
P.S. My husband and I also play cards for a couple of hours most days.
I don’t like humid summer days either. I’m glad you found my lichen lesson helpful!
I just threw a paint by numbers kit away this week. I had intended for it to be a door prize for an event. When I have my Goddess girlfriends over, I always set out coloring books and crayons, some kind of goofy games like Old Maids and all kinds of craft supplies so that we can celebrate our inner children. As almost all of us are over 60 years of age, none of us can jump rope any more. Well my Halloween celebration fell through as everybody had last minute company or one Goddess fell on her way to the party and wound up in the ER, one gal just forgot, and so forth. Only one gal showed up. That paint by numbers kit was left out in the pavilion and the canvas got ruined in a heavy rainstorm when the wind blew the rain on my storage basket.
Oh no! I love the idea of a Goddess party though!
I loved paint-by-number as a child, since I had absolutely not talent in drawing or painting. We may have seen the same ad. My kit arrived a few weeks ago and I can’t wait to start, as soon as I leave the work world next week.
I never got past my coloring books, but I loved them. We have a framed paint-by-number of ducks hanging at the lake that Terry did when he was young. His mother had saved it and even included a note saying he painted it while he was home sick when he was nine. It’s pretty good for a nine-year-old.
Also, we have plenty of lichen around here. I think it’s pretty–kinda lacy. Thanks for the information about it. And I am really tired of winter. The wind has been bad down this way, too. We’ve needed warm scarves to wrap around our head and neck!
Love you and your letters. I’m catching up on reading today.
Thanks Dorothy. That’s so neat that Terry’s mom kept his paint by number!
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