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You are here: Home / Archives for bees

Aging, Bees, Flowers, and Reading

August 19, 2023 at 8:49 am by Claudia

A pollen-covered bee inside a Rose of Sharon bloom. Taken this morning.

This Rose of Sharon is the gift that keeps on giving. I suppose it’s finally reached maturity because the blooms have been non-stop for a month and a half. I suppose all the rain we’ve had has helped as well. The smaller Rose of Sharon, just a couple of feet away from this one, has some buds that I think might open. Fingers crossed!

More rain yesterday morning – pounding rain – and then later in the day it got cooler outside, with quite a strong breeze. This morning it is sunny and much cooler, with a gentle breeze. It feels like a front has moved out and cooler air has moved in. We just might not have rain for the next five days, which seems impossible given the constant rain we’ve had this summer. But, I’ll take it. A lot of weeding and cleaning up needs to be done .

Speaking of rain, I’m thinking of everyone in Southern and maybe Northern California, as Hurricane Hilary heads your way. I know you need rain, but I imagine you don’t need rain, winds, and potential flooding. You’re in my thoughts.

Don took some photos of me while I was painting yesterday. I had no makeup on, I hadn’t really brushed my hair. He was so excited about the way they turned out and showed them to me.

I saw an old woman.

Really, it was shocking. He kept saying, ‘but you look beautiful!’ Trust me, I didn’t. But he looks at me through the eyes of love, a love of 29 years. I see him the same way.

But I was very depressed and wanted to cry. (Truth be told, I did cry a little.)

I was going back through about 5 years of IG posts the other day because I was trying to find some information that I thought I had posted. It’s always fun to be reminded about what happened on any given day, but what became increasingly clear to me was how much I’ve aged in the past 5 years. At this age, I suppose that’s to be expected.

Nevertheless, it made me sad. My hair is almost fully gray now – if you lift up the hair at the back, there is still a bunch of brown showing, but it’s hidden by the gray. I wrote several posts a few years back about embracing gray hair and I’ve never attempted to color it, or disguise what was happening naturally. That doesn’t mean it isn’t shocking on any given day, it is. I’ve gained weight. It’s harder to lose weight these days – for Don, as well. And he used to be able to cut back on food and lose 20 pounds just like that.

I’m trying, believe me, but I don’t like the way I look now. Of course, wearing a bit of makeup would help, even if I only do my eyebrows. I hate wearing makeup these days and I know Don doesn’t care about that sort of thing at all. But maybe I should…

Anyway, I am blessed to be with someone who loves me and tells me I’m beautiful every day.

I just need to see that, as well.

Mowing today.

I read a chunk of War and Peace  this morning. And The Bullet That Missed, the third book in the Thursday Night Murder Club series, arrived at my library yesterday and I immediately drove over there to get it.

I started a new painting and I’m not at all sure about it, but I was sleep deprived yesterday so I didn’t have things in perspective. Hopefully, I’ll get back to it later today.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

Filed Under: aging, bees, books, flowers, reading 56 Comments

I’m Over It

July 19, 2023 at 8:51 am by Claudia

The calm before the storm. Literally. After I went back inside after taking some pictures, we had a doozy of a thunderstorm with rain and wind and a deluge that bent some of my plants, and created two furrows in my driveway from the force of the rain going downhill. It was a spectacular storm. The rain blew sideways, it came straight down, the gutters overflowed. The culvert was overflowing. So much rain all at once. And it lasted quite a while.

Thankfully, earlier in the day, I ordered a dehumidifier online and picked it up at a Home Depot about 30 minutes away from us. It was unbelievably hot and humid with yet another air quality warning. We carried the old dehumidifier upstairs from the basement and replaced it with the new one – this was about 1:30. Then the storm hit about two hours later. After the storm, dinner, and doing the dishes, we went down there to check it out and it was full of water. Hurrah! Don just went down there again – full of water. The timing couldn’t have been better.

I came home to Don mowing our front lawn, which is very long because of all the rain we’ve had. Without a working front wheel drive on the lawnmower, mowing is very difficult. I told him to take a break and I mowed a bit. But we can’t do it in one session as we normally do, so we’ll have to get back at it tomorrow. It’s way too wet out there today.

Today, we’re taking it easy because we are tuckered out.

I saw a couple of eastern swallowtails dining on the coneflowers. I was very happy, because I hadn’t seen any butterflies lately.

Flowers are blooming everywhere here and it’s lovely and I love summer normally, but I have to say it: I can’t wait for Fall. This has been an awful summer. Just plain awful. I can’t tell you the last time I sat on the porch. Between endless rain, high humidity, and smoke from the wildfires in Canada, there have been very few days where I could be outside for any length of time. I’m over it.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: bees, flowers, rain 14 Comments

Chippies

May 8, 2023 at 8:00 am by Claudia

I’m writing this post on Sunday night because we have to get to Don’s appointment early Monday morning. Fingers crossed that the bandage is removed, stays removed, and all is well. Mr. Don has been doing a bit too much on his own today and his hand hurts. I was groggy from taking a nap and I didn’t grasp what he was up to or I would have stopped him. Sigh.

On Saturday I was looking outside one of the kitchen windows and I saw two chipmunks running around. Don said he’d seen them lately. You know I’m a sucker for chipmunks, so I ran for my big girl camera and lens. (They were awfully cute.)

He’s right outside the window on the strip of concrete that runs from the door to the entrance to the secret garden. There are a few openings in the concrete like the one you see here. Remember, there used to be planter under that window? The wood deteriorated and we finally removed it.

The other chipmunk joined this one and before I could blink an eye, he went down into that hole. Thankfully, I clicked the shutter at the right time.

Right after this, the other one also jumped down there. Now we know where they hang out.

I love this time of year. There’s so much activity around here: bald eagles, groundhogs, robins guarding their nest, chipmunks, bunny rabbits. I should just station myself at that window, camera in hand.

The robins will be glad to see us drive off tomorrow morning. A respite for them. Don was sitting on the porch and one of them flew into the maple tree and stared at him. Making sure of his whereabouts, no doubt. We also have more honeybees than ever. (I had to rescue one from inside the house this afternoon.) When you walk over by the catalpa there are hundreds of them swarming around the opening. The buzzing sound is quite loud. I was over there trimming poison ivy on Saturday and one buzzed by me, but immediately moved away. So, they’re not aggressive.

Okay. Time for Sunday night dinner.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: bees, chipmunk 5 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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