Much loved McCoy pottery and a dash of Shawnee (the duck) with a smidgen of our Aquitania lithograph.
Gray, colder, and rainy today, which is often what happens during spring in the northeast. I saw a robin this morning. I can’t wait until the birdbath becomes the neighborhood pool once again and I see the groundhogs and bunnies and chipmunks who live alongside us on the property. I saw several deer right outside my kitchen window the other day. I didn’t know they were there and I walked into the kitchen to close the window, which startled them. Beautiful creatures. I’m amazed by their hearing and/or sensory awareness. Sometimes I’ll quietly walk up to a window and they’ll immediately know I’m there.
Don’s doing well. He’s been spending all day at rehearsal, learning music, being fitted for his costumes, that kind of thing. We don’t have a lot of time to talk, unfortunately, because of the time difference. When he gets home from rehearsal, I’m immersed in Rachel Maddow and have to tear myself away so we can chat.
I have to replenish my larder today, but other than that, I’m laying low, reading my book, doing the crossword, reading the New York Times and Washington Post and quilting.
Not very exciting, I know, but it feels a little bit like heaven at the moment.
A quick reminder: It’s fine if you respond to a post via the email version that is sent out every day, but I can’t reply. Those posts come from my server address, which won’t let me respond. So if you want dialogue with me, reply on the blog itself.
One more photo of the Pileated Woodpecker:
Happy Friday.
I must say a quiet day sounds lovely. It clouding up here so I think we will get rain. I need to get my hair cut but probably will put it off. Staying home reading and painting a little bit sounds great to me. Happy to hear Don is getting along well. When I’m on the West coast it is so hard to call to GA, the time difference makes it difficult. One of the reasons I don’t talk on the phone with Ashleigh very much. I’m really missing her right now and need to see her soon! Hugs!
Understand. That darned time difference is very frustrating! I feel like Don and I never get time to really connect. Sigh. Have a good day, my friend.
My brother lives in California and when he called it is midnight here and 9 there. I would be in bed sleeping. The ring of the phone would scare me out of sleeping. Receiving long distance calls from Korea would be interesting when my husband was stationed there. Talking with him when he was over there was never long enough. And the year he was over there was when we had a lot of tropical storms. I think there were 3 or 4 the summer he was gone. And we had a LOT of trees on this property.
Grey here too. There is a possibility of severe storms later today. In a way I am hoping for a good thunderstorm.
Any phone call at midnight is frightening, Trina!
It’s hard to deal with weather events all alone, isn’t it? Fingers crossed that we have a calm spring!
It’s also gray here, down south. Blustery breeze off the ocean and threatening to rain. Lazy day ahead.
Love your woodpecker. That flash of color really puts an exclamation point on it. But the bark on that tree—the texture is fabulous!
It’s a shag hickory. I’m so sad that it died, but we have another one on the edge of the property. It was very tiny when we moved in and over the course of the 11 years we’ve been here, it’s been growing tall. The shag part of the bark finally emerged last year.
It’s a gray day here too. Windy, but no rain….that was yesterday. Time zones make it difficult to communicate when loved ones are seperated. Seems like there is always sacrifice to be made by someone. I’m glad Don’s doing well. I’m off to get my locks cut…that’s my excitement! ;)
Good luck with your haircut, Donnamae. I’m overdue, myself!
Tax prep for me. Then sewing buttonholes on two garments and a Costco run. I hope we all have an exciting weekend! Is Don working on the weekend too? Will he have time to explore? If he isn’t working, hope you two can talk longer at a more reasonable hour for you, Claudia.
He will work through the weekend. Actors usually have only one day off – Monday – and work six days a week.
The nice thing about TRMS is that her show is repeated a couple of hours later every night. Sometimes I need to just re-watch something she said to try and understand, and it is so nice to be able to do that. Her closing last night was wonderful.
Our daughter has been on vaca in Thailand for 10 days and there is a 12 hour difference. As we are up and about in the morning, they are at the end of their day and she is posting pictures. When she lived in India for 2 yrs, there was a 10.5 hour difference. Never quite understood the .5 hour…
Oh, these gloomy days. They do get a bit depressing. It seems like the cold and wet just penetrate and I can never get warm. At least there is some green out there now and it isn’t all brown when I look out. Have a good day, my friend, Happy reading!!
I watched the midnight version when I was in NYC because I was working during the 9 pm slot. She is amazing.
Today it is sunny!
glad to hear don is doing well and you have a cozy day at home with time to read, quilt, work a puzzle, enjoy your fuzzy neighbors …
too bad about the time change making phone call conversations so tough! though they’re just not the same, am glad there’s e-mails and texts, too.
i read somewhere once when it comes to those middle-of-the night phone calls that women get scared and tend to think “who’s been in an accident?” (or something else worse) and that men tend to get angry and think “what drunk *** is calling at this hour?!” rings true for me!
hope everyone has a great weekend!
kathy in iowa
I would absolutely believe that is true, Kathy!
Glad you are home all snuggled in. It’s been cooler here but nothing like you all have had. It’s suppose to be in the 70’s next week. Here’s hoping. Enjoy your quiet time. How long will Don be gone?
Judy
He’ll be gone until mid-July. Too long!
I don’t miss the gray, but I do miss the rain and storms. This is my first time commenting on a blog. I am trying to become more social media savvy. Please tell me if what I write is appropriate.
I must say, it nice to read your posts. I can almost hear your voice. I take it Don will be appearing out here on the West Coast someplace. Where? When?
(I don’t have a website, but my daughter does. So I listed hers below.)
It’s so great to hear from you, Mike! Your comment is entirely appropriate, my friend.
He’s going to be in the new musical based on Jimmy Buffett’s music – Escape to Margaritaville. It will be at the LaJolla Playhouse. They just started rehearsals, and I’m not sure yet when it opens. Keep an eye on the blog for more details!
Catching up to your posts today; i don’t know why I ‘ve felt more busy in the past couple of days but I feel like I’ve hardly been home; a ton of appointments and errands. But it’s been interesting; I’ve had some very good discussions with a variety of people whereas I’m traditionally fairly confined to home.
I’ve been looking for wee ‘stuffers’ for Easter baskets so have tried to visit some museum stores and struggling shops in the area. Nicest people running these places with far too much time on their hands because there aren’t enough shoppers except that it often picks up on the weekend. One of the shops is carrying pickles made by a guy I went to church with when we were kids, and another is carrying BBQ sauce made by some people’s kids I went to school with…nearly retired now and looking into new things to try and do. Aging baby boomers continuing to be productive and creative! Love it!
I’m gathering a bunch of stuff about our town and area for a school kid from New England who contacted our newspaper for a class assignment she is doing about States of America (not the state of America, thank goodness; she’d probably get too scared); she chose California. One of the museum stores gave me some free stuff to send her which I thought was so generous. And another ‘task’ (happy task) I’m doing over the next few days is putting together a big ‘kitchen basket’ full of stuff for a bridal shower which has a red chili theme, so I’ve been finding specialty vinegars and salsas (well, I wound up keeping the salsa for myself as the bride-to-be actually MAKES her own salsa which is why she’s ‘into’ chili peppers); got a bunch of inexpensive red ‘stuff’ at the dollar store like pot holders and oven mitts, scrubbies, dish cloths; tried not to get too much plastic-y stuff although I did get some Betty Crocker-brand measuring spoons and cups. Found some chili-themed ‘decor’ like a ceramic salt & pepper shaker set in the shape of chilis. I think she’ll like it all; I sure would. I’d always go crazy over a gift basket if I was ever lucky enough to be the recipient! Have to be careful, though, as lots of little items can add up quick for the pocketbook; I’ve done this for baby showers and, whew, before you know it, you could just as well buy a darn stroller for what you spend on the little stuff!
Then, early this evening…bright, warm evening, almost 80 degrees at 6p here in the southern part of the state…I got into a LONG talk with a guy who is tackling the renovation of a 130-year-old home in the foothills here; a home which used to be a ranch house in the middle of acres of orchards, anything from walnuts to apricots or, later, lemons and oranges. The home has been built on to over the years and is almost 4,000 sq ft and it has, he says, an incredibly pristine swimming pool that is in exceptional condition although it dates from the 1930s. Under tons of muck, he’s discovered a tennis court.
He’s just a guy who’s handy and he likes to bring old places back to life; hunky in his early 40s (my guess) and not married but looking (I was thinking, what a catch!). I love to hear about people working to save these historical homes in our town because my husband and I were once two of those people with our own cottage from 1923. So, this guy and I couldn’t stop talking about our house stories and I’m going to be watching him to see how this home (with a stunning view all the way to the ocean which was completely obliterated by old-growth trees which are really just a bunch of woody cypress and not really the best choice) comes together over the course of his work on it.
He has spent weeks and weeks just clearing it out; the elderly, long-time owner had become somewhat of a hoarder but there is compassion for the gentleman because he got overwhelmed with health issues and had, at one time, really tried to do a lot with the house himself (all the while, being a widower raising young children). Maple and oak floors under all the old carpeting; redwood beams; this stuff sings to me. He has cleared away so much tangled brush and old-growth (almost unidentifiable and not exactly pretty plants) that I find my mouth hanging open in surprise because, for most of my life, I could barely see a house there…and now it’s this very large home revealed, as if it was cocooned and now it’s a butterfly set free.
Tomorrow, my husband and I are going to a nursery quite a way from where we live because…if you’re going to plant, this place has PLANTS (like whatever you could ever think of or want). Budget is super tight for it right now, but we’ve got some holes left over from lost plants in the drought. My mom’s decades-old rosebush didn’t make it despite all our efforts, so, at least one plant will be a new rosebush and I know I’ll have a tough time choosing because I adore roses. A landscaping crew we bring in twice a year to weed and clear our back hillside is coming next week…I think it’s two full days of work due to all the rain we got…and we want the new plants here for the supervisor to put them into the ground for us; he likes to do it.
We’re trying to get a lot of stuff done because my husband has to have a dual surgery in about three weeks although we’re hoping all will go smoothly. His life isn’t threatened but, you know, I’ll be glad when it’s over and he can be on the mend.
I’m glad you had a day today where you felt more rested and I applaud your efforts to keep busy as you adjust to these days without Don for awhile. Your photos, as always…amazing. The woodpecker shots were so CLEAR; what a view! You make living in the country sound tantalizing!
You’ve been very busy! I would have loved to have seen that house and been in on that conversation, Vicki!
It must be lovely to live in a part of the world with such wonderful creatures so close by. I live in the south east of England in a suburban neighbourhood so wildlife is somewhat sparse here but one day I looked out into my back garden and saw 4 parakeets around our bird feeder. I’d never seen them before in our garden. Such brilliant colours. I thought at first that they must have escaped from an aviary and was worried for their safety but when I looked it up I found that they are becoming naturalised in this part of England. One theory is that they were brought over for a film at Elstree Studios (just a few miles away from us) in the 1950’s/60’s and that some escaped and managed to survive and breed. They returned to our garden for a few days and then disappeared. We do have a herd of deer in nearby woodland but the only evidence we have of them is the decapitated plants in the front garden!
I love the handle on the McCoy pottery vase..I have a nephew who lives in Washington state so I understand the time difference when making phone calls…
It can get frustrating!