On this Country Inn “in” Day or on any day I’m confined to stay in due to the corona virus, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad. Actually I do more than remember them. I enjoy them. Take, for instance, the Art of Letter writing.

And I don’t just write letters, I enjoy creating the stationery too. Some stationery I try to make pretty, as in my wildflower correspondence cards, but with other stationery I just have fun.

The Art of Letter writing is great fun any time, anywhere, and a wonderful way to stay in touch with friends near and very far away without ever having to leave my inn or your very own home.

Another favorite thing I enjoy on Country Inn “in” Days is reading. I need lots of these “in” days if I’m ever going to read all the books I’ve collected. I love visiting with my “dead friends” as I read their biographies. Just this week I had visits with Aristotle, Noel Coward, Tasha Tudor, and Henry James. I learn so much from these people and am greatly inspired and entertained. What will I read today? I’ll just have to see what jumps out at me as I scan my bookshelves.

Staying “in” is a great time to watch a movie, put feet up, make a drink and do needlework. This is a picture of my late pooch, Alexander. I miss him so, but I’m making this needlepoint picture of him which I’ll frame in a beautiful manner and hang in a place of honor. Do you enjoy any form of needlework? It’s very relaxing and therapeutic. The owner of my favorite yarn shop tells me many of her customers are doctors and people with stressfull jobs. They buy yarn and knit because it takes them away from all their cares as they knit one, purl two over and over and over again. I too enjoy knitting, et toi?

A fun thing to do most any “in” day is to care for indoor plants. Do you have many? I keep my geraniums from year to year in my sunroom where the western exposure keeps them blooming all Winter. Soon many will go back outside into the flower boxes. Watering, fertilizing, caring for house plants is an enjoyable activity because caring for any living thing feels good.

Speaking of living things, maybe you are lucky enough to have pets to care for and play with on “in” days and any day. As I said before, I so miss my Alexander, but I have this stuffed version of him to enjoy. My meanie husband says, “No more dogs!” Hmph! We’ll see about that, but if you are fortunate to have a fuzzy creature you live with, give him or her a hug for me. Pets can keep us so very entertained.

Since I absolutely love music, especially classical music, and piano, an “in” day is a great day to dig out the Debussy, Chopin, and Beethoven and play away. When I’m not making music I’m listening to it. Music helps me keep calm and carry on. As I write this post to you I am listening to WQXR, the classical music radio station out of New York City. I’m hearing Edvard Grieg’s “Holberg Suite, Op,40. Nice!

I hope you have a good imagination. I sure do and that’s why I can stay home, in my 1853 Jeremiah Brown House, but imagine I’m writing you from a Country Inn. Another fun thing that requires only a little imagination is to go off to favorite places with the help of books or creative visualization. What’s creative visualization? It’s simply lying back, closing eyes, and remembering the favorite places that have brought you joy. . . going their in spirit.

For me it’s always France, especially Paris, or The Boston Public Garden. But I also like to go off to Bryant Park in New York City or imagine myself sitting on a park bench across from Lake Skaneattles in the New York Fingerlakes. I bet you have a few places you could go to right now if you closed your eyes and simply remembered being there.

At this time of year it’s great fun to stroll through the yard to see what’s popping up. My daffoldis are appearing, the forsthyia is blooming and I’m watching for the giant purple allium I planted last Autumn. I could actually do a little garden work today. I love to be outside to enjoy the scent of the boxwood and the cheery singing of the birdies. Yes, nature is there for all of us to enjoy. It’s free and it’s beautiful.

I might do a little art work on this “in” day. A while back I needed something to fill a blank wall in my sunroom. I couldn’t find anything that was the right color or size so I made these three paintings myself. They’re not great art, but they do the job, and it was fun. Besides, my “dead friend” Henry James said, “It is art that makes life, makes interest . . . and I know of no substitute whatever for the force and beauty of its process.”

Of course I always enjoy a nice afternoon tea on Inn days and on every day. I freeze the extra goodies from the monthly teas I host so there’s always a little something to enjoy with tea. Ah, afternoon tea.! I love it, and so did Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, the English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. He said, “The cup of tea on arrival at a country house is a thing which . . .I particularly enjoy.” and so do I!

So as you can see, a Country Inn “in” Day or any day spent at home, or many days spent at home because of the corona virus, can be a very fine time to enjoy favorite things. There are so very many of them. I only scratched the surface. As Robert Louis Stevenson said, “The world is so full of a number of things I think we should all be as happy as kings.”

You happy? I hope so. I’m happy because I have really enjoyed writing this post to you. Writing, any kind of writing, is just another of the many wonderful, fun things there are to do in life. So take Oscar Hammerstein II’s advice and don’t just remember your favorite things. Do them! Enjoy them! And now I’m off to enjoy more of mine, starting with a little French study so . . .

Au revoir