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A Mini Heat Wave

May 3, 2018 at 9:40 am by Claudia

It reached 90 degrees yesterday! Way too hot, of course, and that temperature, coupled with winds all afternoon long, has kicked off my spring allergies. I ran some garden related errands and then, because I bought way too many pansies, salvaged as many as I could and planted them in a window box. Without the window.

Robins are taking baths in the birdbath. One of the groundhogs was dining on the grass in the corral. Birds are constantly singing. And all of that makes me smile.

Hello!

This is a crabapple that has popped up right next to and under the catalpa, which doesn’t bode well for its continued existence. I didn’t cut it down last summer as I had planned to and now?

Look at all that bloom! It’s putting on such a pretty show and it would be mean of me to do anything but let it bloom. A reprieve for the little-tree-that-could.

I slept in a bit today and am finally feeling caught up. But that means I have to finish this post and take a shower as I’m going over to Rick and Doug’s for a little french toast.

89 today with storms on the horizon for this evening.

Tonight’s audience at the theater will consist of parrotheads. The entire audience. They bought out the house.

Should be rather wonderfully insane!

Happy Thursday.

Filed Under: flowers, trees 32 Comments

Green

May 2, 2018 at 9:31 am by Claudia

I decided to power through my lack of sleep yesterday. I added top soil to some of the garden beds and I mowed the front lawn (both sides). Goodness, I always forget that the first time is always the hardest! I’m not in my best lawn-mowing-shape yet, but I’ll get there.

The lawn slopes downhill and the land behind the house is on a higher elevation. That means that rainwater flows down hill and the grass gets really long – really quickly. I knew I had to mow soon or I would be dealing with constantly clearing a clogged lawnmower.

I took a break halfway through. I do love seeing a freshly mowed lawn and the spring greens that are popping up all over the property are so lush!

I came in, took a shower and laid low for the rest of the day. Today it will be in the eighties and I’m going to do some plant, topsoil, and mulch shopping.

I slept well last night, so I’m feeling much less ragged this morning.

I found the hyacinth bulbs a few years ago when I was digging a new garden bed on the side of the house. I had no idea what kind of bulb they were. They had been buried deep within the soil. So I took a chance and planted them in the big garden bed. Imagine my delight the first time they came out of the ground and I discovered they were hyacinths! They’re awfully pretty this year.

This is one of the Italian pots we purchased a few weeks ago. I’ve filled it with lavender, which should do well on the very sunny funky patio.

And here are the other two. I’m not sure what I will plant in them, but I’ll figure it out.

The pansies are keeping me going as I wait for my garden plants to grow and flower. They’re so darn cheery!

I hope your weather has changed for the better and that you are able to get outside and do some therapeutic gardening! Speaking for myself, it makes an enormous difference in the quality of my life. After many years without a garden, I started gardening in earnest at our rental in San Diego and then when we first moved out east, I asked my landlord if I could put in a little garden on the side of our rental cottage. Seriously, I now wonder what the heck I did all those years without a garden! Tended my houseplants, I guess. I still do that.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: flowers, garden 45 Comments

And It’s May

May 1, 2018 at 9:26 am by Claudia

I hope you don’t mind, but I’m not going to reply to yesterday’s comments, only because I had another sleepless night (must be a phase) and I have to write this post and drive Don to the bus station.

Short answer to your questions: Yes. I know the cats kill birds. I’ve found evidence.

We had a lovely low key day together, mostly hanging out at the house save for a lovely lunch in a neighboring town. We’re now into Wallander, which for some reason, I haven’t watched before. So well done. And Kenneth Branagh is perfect in the role. Lovely, understated performance.

Oh, before I forget: I was on Amazon yesterday and one of those ‘for you’ reminders came up. Much to my astonishment, since she said she wasn’t writing any more books in this series, Susan Hill has another Simon Serailler mystery coming out in November! Huzzah! I loved that series and was so disappointed when I thought we wouldn’t be seeing any more of Simon.

A lovely, velvety pansy.

Last night’s sunset. No filter, no enhancing. This is how it looked.

Spectacular.

The temps are going to be well over 20 degrees warmer than yesterday. Mid seventies. It’s sunny, as well. So even though I’m beat, I’m going to do some work outside as we have only two rainless days this week – today and tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Filed Under: Don, spring 30 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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