It was a perfectly lovely day yesterday, made even more lovely by your wonderful comments. Thank you, dear friends!
We ate lunch at our favorite restaurant, stopped off to visit a few shop owners that we know, had a lovely dinner (Don gave me – that sneak – a little miniature rose plant and a pine scented candle) and we watched The Music Man on TCM. My father and I used to watch that movie together whenever we saw it listed in our TV Guide. He had a major crush on Shirley Jones. So, we toasted my dad as the movie started. I hope he was watching with us.
I didn’t give Don anything because, and I confessed this to Don, after Father’s Day and his birthday, I was fresh out of ideas! I couldn’t come up with one – not even an appropriate card. He didn’t care, thank goodness.
Caught on camera the other day – a lovely goldfinch.
I love seeing that flash of bright yellow. We have a lot of finches that hang about the property and they are at the birdbath fairly frequently.
We stopped in at Postmark Books yesterday.
This is one of Maggie’s flower arrangements. It’s simply gorgeous – she’s so talented!
I took this picture because I want to remind myself to read some more John Irving. I read so many of his books years ago but I haven’t been keeping up and Jesse (the owner) told me Avenue of Mysteries is really interesting. I also want to read Mycroft Holmes by multi-talented Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Hurrah – Postmark Books now has a lovely bag with their logo on it.
I wasn’t going to buy anything – we are having to be really frugal at the moment – but I couldn’t resist this book (and Don was loving it as well):
My beloved Elements of Style by Strunk & White – this version illustrated by Maira Kalman. The illustrations are whimsical and charming and they are based on sentences in the text.
Lovely.
This reminds me that a re-read of Elements of Style is in order. It is the wisest source of sound, basic advice for the writer and I think I’ve probably acquired a few bad habits that need to be corrected.
Our period of birthday and anniversary and Father’s Day celebrations has drawn to a close. It’s been lots of fun, but now we’re back to our daily routine. By the way, Meredith thanks you for all your Happy Birthday messages. She tried to write to everyone, but some of you are No Reply commenters so she couldn’t respond. She was very touched by all the good cheer sent her way.
We’ll close with Sunday evening’s sunset:
Happy Tuesday.
Sounds like a perfect day Claudia and Happy Anniversary to you and Don. Such a lovely story (ongoing too!!).
Thank you, Vera!
As a couple you find fun things to do together. That is why you are both so happy! Take care.
You are so sweet! Thank you, Doris!
What a lovely day. I had a nice dinner with Mom and my friend Carter. The Grands should be back from the mountains today, I’ve missed them. Trying to take it easy this week also but feel the itch to start doing some more organizing of the messy house!!
hugs,
Linda
It sounds like you had a nice Fourth, Linda. I totally get wanting to get up and get going! Recovery drove me nuts at times!
You capture such incredible photos with your camera; that sunset; that finch!
My husband and I watched THE MUSIC MAN last night, too! Love TCM! Robert Preston always seems like he’s dancing while he walks; like he has springs on his feet in that film.
We had an enormous amount of fireworks last night and the days preceding; and they are illegal in our area. Not the occasional firecracker, but big BOOM stuff was going on, even before ‘dark’, which rather dwarfed our city’s small LEGAL celebration at 9pm. Our dog was a mess; she is SO afraid of fireworks. I think to myself, because we don’t exactly live in the ‘fashionable’ part of town and, frankly, there’s quite a lot of poverty in our town in general, how do these people afford the fireworks in the first place? I understand a lot of what was being shot off is expensive. Just pray nobody got hurt and what I was mostly uneasy about was fire, as we are in this long, long drought in SoCalif. Much better to watch the Macy’s extravaganza on TV. I thought the Singing Sargents were terrific.
There are a lot of fireworks around here, too, and I get nervous because of the fire danger. When Scout was alive, before she lost her hearing, fireworks and thunder drove her insane and we had to make sure we were with her during those events.
We don’t watch the Macy’s thing – mostly due to my aversion to all the promotional network entertainment, I guess. I just want to see fireworks. As it was, we were in bed by about 10:30!
I knew I spelled “sargents’ wrong. Looked it up on U.S. Air Force band website: “The Singing Sergeants is the official chorus of the United States Air Force. Stationed at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., the group is one of six musical ensembles that comprise The U.S. Air Force Band. Featuring 23 active duty Airmen musicians, the Singing Sergeants presents more than 200 performances annually performing a wide range of musical styles, from traditional Americana, opera, and choral standards to modern Broadway and jazz. The Singing Sergeants regularly perform with their instrumental combo and in smaller configurations, such as duets, Barbershop quartets and specialized musical ensembles, at military and civilian ceremonial and diplomatic functions, education outreach events and local concerts throughout metropolitan Washington, D.C. Originally formed as a men’s chorus in 1945 from the rank and file of The U.S. Army Air Forces Band, the Singing Sergeants became the first premier military chorus to integrate women in 1973.”
xoxo
We have many Goldfinches here too Claudia…they are so bright and pretty…I wish we had a wonderful little book shop here..I didn’t know that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was writing books..do you know what type of stories he writes?..I did receive a thank you from sweet Meredith…That was so nice of her…I love that you two manage to stay so close when you are so far apart…
I don’t know – that one is a mystery. I know he’s written at least one more? Plus he writes op-eds for newspapers and The Huffington Post. He’s really brilliant.
Aren’t those the best days…the ones that present themselves for you to explore and enjoy? Glad you had a fun and happy anniversary on the 4th.
They are, Wendy. It just unfolded itself to us. Thank you!
Sweet post as usual, Claudia. Be sure to post a pic of the miniature rose.
So glad you both had a nice anniversary with gentle memories of your friends at the bookstore and lots of happy wishes from friends far and wide.
The goldfinch reminded me of my wonderful Mom who loved them so much.
They used to feed on the chicory plants where we lived when I was a child.
Flocks of them on the tall stems and she would stop the car on that country road so we could watch for a while.
And your sunset photo is so pretty I want a huge version to frame and hang over my bed! Just gorgeous.
Now out to mow before it gets too hot.
That sunset was incredible, Joan! Stay cool when you’re mowing!
That flower arrangement!!
I know! Gorgeous, isn’t it?
I love the pictures of the finch – we do have finches here, but haven’t seen any lately. The flower arrangement is beautiful. I love the slightly wild, messy arrangement vs the neat, perfectly arranged flowers. And that sunset – jealous. Such a fabulous sky and nice picture. Our fireworks are not far from where we live so we could see them through the tree tops. Our cats do not appreciate the noise that goes with them so we watch through the windows. They try so hard to associate an event with the noise and when they can’t, they react as if in danger. Poor kitties. Glad you and Don had such a nice day together. Ranee (MN)
Our dogs were always afraid of fireworks, especially Scout. I felt so badly for them!
Love the sunset picture. Watched The Music Man also. The lady who played Alma Hix (Adnia Rice) was from my hometown of Fayetteville, TN. She later taught drama at the county high school. The auditorium at the school is named for her.
Oh, how lovely! She was wonderful in the movie.
Sounds like you had a perfectly lovely day! I did not know Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote books! Is that a mystery? Sounds like I’ll have to check that one out! We have a couple of goldfinches at our feeders…beautiful little creatures! A few of our neighbor’s shot off fireworks well after 11, and since it was so nice out…..all our windows were open. Guess I’ll need a nap this afternoon! ;)
It is a mystery. He’s a big Sherlock Holmes fan, I believe. Take a nap, Donnamae!
Glad you had a good day! You deserve it!!
Judy
Thank you, Judy!
What a wonderful day, we are TCM fans. Love old movies. A beautiful photo of the Finch, they pretty birds
Cindy
They are very pretty birds, Cindy. Thank you!
I love the idea of an illustrated Elements of Style!
It’s really neat, Shanna! You’d like it.
I am so happy the 4th is over for another year. The fireworks do the dogs in. They get SO upset. The big display is done on the river which is only about 4 blocks from our house, and the windows shake at the end when they shoot off the biggest ones. I have never personally been a fan of fireworks, but for me I think it is the crowds even more than the noise.
The humidity is back. ugh. But the sun is shining and it is a pretty day. Spent the morning with a little 7 year old and her Grandma in the movie theater watching “Finding Dory”. Fun!!
Loved the pic of the Goldfinch. My grandmother always called them “wild canaries”. Hope you had a lovely day!!
I’ve never been a fan of fireworks either. The noise drives me nuts – mostly because it drove my dogs nuts and I have such strong memories of their fear when it was all happening.
Humidity is terrible here! Yesterday was horrible.
Hello Claudia! Happy Anniversary, Don’s Birthday and Father’s Day. My husband and I share the same trifecta. His birthday is on the third, our anniversary is on the 4th, and that on top of Father’s Day. Gifting becomes very difficult!!! All the best, Heather
Thank you, Heather!