Maeve and I are wishing we were in Paris, my favorite city in the world. Paris is also the venue for a spectacular Blythe event and show – Play and Party Paris. I’ve been looking at everyone’s photos and videos from the event – which will go on until 5 pm, Paris time. The venue itself is stunningly beautiful and there are so many vendors there! There are lots and lots of Blythe creatives in Europe, so a fairly central location like Paris gives them the opportunity to have a booth, whereas they might not be able to travel to the United States.

Wish I was there and had scads of cash on hand! Anyway, I will live vicariously through my fellow Blythe lovers and try not to sob.

Speaking of beautiful, we have another gorgeous day here in the Hudson Valley. It’s sunny and I’m starting to see that golden light that comes in the Fall, even though we have a week until it’s officially Fall. We’re both fairly groggy this morning and are having a hard time waking up.

This morning, I made a list of the books I’ve read this year – so far. Just seemed like the thing to do. My friend Pat, from back home in Dearborn, was a voracious reader. He kept a small notebook and recorded every book he wrote along with some notes about each book. I often wonder what the final count was. Pat died last year; his devotion to literature was inspiring and I loved chatting about books with him.

Anyway, the number so far is about 34 or 35. In my days as a book reviewer, I had to read a lot of books and read them quickly, which eventually led to burnout. Going forward, I vowed to read at a more leisurely pace. And I do exactly that these days. Just started Kate Atkinson’s newest Jackson Brody mystery (it’s been a while since she wrote one) Death at the Sign of the Rook. It was just published and, as luck would have it, there was a very short queue at the library.

We might mow today. We’ll surely take a walk at the library.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Heavens, the limelights are gorgeous this year! More pink than we’ve seen in recent years. I love this timing – as the gardens fade and leaves begin to fall, the limelights turn a stunning pink. They take center stage; deservedly so.

Yesterday was the first day since we got our vaccinations on Monday that we felt normal again. It took four days for the swelling to go down and the achey feeling to disappear. To celebrate, we walked at the library (we finally figured out that the distance is a little over a mile.) Then, when we came back home, I decided I needed to mow and I mowed the back forty.

In retrospect, maybe a bit too much. I was tuckered out.

A Don story for you:

He went to our local supermarket on Wednesday. When he arrived back home, I had just finished getting showered and dressed. I came downstairs and he said “I hope you’ll have a sense of humor about this.”

Uh oh.

He proceeded to tell me about his adventure. The supermarket has recently finished extensive renovations, except for the bathrooms. There is a porta potty outside the entrance for shoppers who might have to go. Don almost always has to use the facilities wherever we are. It’s been an eye roll for me since we met. Sure enough, he used the porta potty, He placed his phone in the pocket of his shirt, so as not to have it fall out of the back pocket of his jeans. He did his thing and then decided to pick up some unused toilet paper that had fallen to the floor to leave things relatively neat for the next person to use the facilities.

He heard a plop.

His phone had fallen into the potty, at least four feet down.

Obviously, it was unretrievable.

My sense of humor wasn’t working very well, as all I could see was a bigger phone bill, when the cost of electricity and car insurance and food has already gone up.

I managed to find a cheaper phone on the Verizon site that would work just fine for him and he was able to pick it up at our local Verizon store.

But did I want to gently wring his neck? Yes.

Never a dull moment around here.

I couldn’t stay mad long, though, because a few years back I was in Barnes & Noble and my phone plopped in the toilet. It fell out of the back pocket of my jeans. I retrieved it immediately and there was no damage. (I sprayed hand sanitizer on the phone and on me and wiped all surfaces down – even though the water was clear and I hadn’t yet used the toilet.) I called Don from the parking lot to tell him of my close call. So, in all honesty, I know how easily that can happen.

All is well now.

A thought: one of the most maddening things about Etsy is when you’re trying to sell something and you see that several people have that item in their ‘cart’ but never buy it. I have that right now with two vases. Sigh.

Okay. The tale of the porta potty has reached its conclusion.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Well.

That was a knockout punch! Several of them, in fact. A masterclass on how to bring down a liar and a bully.

We briefly considered not watching last night, but in the end, we did, and I’m so glad.

Brilliant!

And thanks, Taylor, for the perfect timing of your endorsement.

_________________________

We got our shots on Monday and both of us have had a reaction to them. I’m not sure to which one, but we felt achey and slightly fluey (I know that’s not a word.) My arm is still sore and today is the first day that I feel somewhat normal again. I don’t usually get reactions, so I was surprised.

Luckily, we didn’t have to be anywhere, so we simply hung out and took it easy.

My husband is currently outside because I saw the body of an animal in the street in front of our house (either a groundhog or a raccoon) and he doesn’t want to see it get hit repeatedly by cars. He’s going to bury it on our property. He said ‘it deserves a proper burial.” In the years that I’ve known him, he has evolved into a lover of all animals and birds and bees and spiders and bugs. His heart is a mile wide.

I bought an Amazon Firestick because it’s obvious that Sony isn’t going to do anything about their not-so-smart TVs. The Firestick was on sale, so I got a good deal. I’ve already installed it and we’re back up and running.

And…most of the ink came out of the chair!

I might mow a bit today. We’ll see how my arm feels.

And last but certainly not least, we remember 9/11. We had moved east only a few months earlier and we lived very close to the Hudson River, the path the hijackers followed as they flew south to the World Trade Center. Later that morning, when all flights had been halted, I was outside with the dogs and heard fighter jets high overhead, headed to Manhattan. I will never forget that day.

We watched a segment on 60 Minutes this past Sunday about the firefighters who were on duty that day. It was heartbreaking.

We must and will never forget.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.