bookstores — Page 8

Float Like a Butterfly

August 9, 2016 at 9:21 am by Claudia

On any given day here in the gardens, I see cabbage moths and the occasional butterfly. (No Monarchs yet.) However, once that Butterfly Bush starts blooming, I see them all the time. The other day, I saw two Eastern Swallowtails on the same bloom. By the time I got my camera (the older one, as it was nearest to the door) they had moved, but I managed to grab a quick shot of them at the top of the bush.

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From that point on, I just kept snapping pictures whenever one of them landed on a flower.

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I saw a black swallowtail as I was pulling out of the driveway yesterday. He was dining on the phlox.

We are in the midst of August now. I see fewer birds in the birdbath and fewer critters, though I did see a bunny this morning. I can’t help it, I love my little friends, so I feel a sadness when their visits start to be few and far between. These little and not-so-little changes are heralds of the upcoming seasonal change.

Do not like.

I have to get the oil changed in my car this morning – I know, how exciting can my life be? And I’ll run some errands while I’m in that area – an area that has a Target, Home Depot, Barnes & Noble, and Michael’s. By the way, the last time I was in Barnes & Noble, a few weeks back, I was stunned at how few books there were. The toys and educational items and games are literally taking over the store. Perhaps the new name should be Barnes & Noble Toys, Games, DVDs and Children’s Books. Because there sure aren’t many books for adults.

The winner of the Bedrooms Coloring Book is Lorinda! Congratulations, Lorinda. I’ve sent you an email. Please send me your mailing address and I will forward it on to my friend Donna – she’ll be sending you your very own copy.

Happy Tuesday.

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Berries, Birds, Bugs & Books

July 16, 2016 at 9:50 am by Claudia

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We have a bumper crop of black raspberries this year. They grow wild all over the back forty. Some years, we’re busy and we forget to pick them, but this year we’ve been on top of it. Don went up there yesterday and came back with a bowlful.

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Oh my goodness! They are so good!

I managed to capture (digitally) this catbird in the birdbath this morning:

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You can see the water splashing as he dunks himself in the water over and over again. Catbirds are known for loving baths, but it’s been so hot here that we’ve had a constant line for a dip in the pool. I see finches, robins, catbirds and mourning doves. Finches are polite, they share the bath. Robins take up all of the pool space and don’t want to share. Catbirds are a little less territorial, but since their bath rituals are so exuberant, no one can get in there anyway. Mourning Doves, like the classy birds they are, sit on the edge of the bath for quite a while, then take a dip. Then they sit on the edge again and rest.

All of them are very careful; they check for any possible predators several times before they jump into the water. Then they check again when they hop up onto the rim.

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Post dip.

Birds, bunnies, groundhogs – often they’re all out there at the same time, just outside our window.

Speaking of creatures…

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What kind of bug do we think this guy is? I saw him on this coneflower the other day. The next day, he was on another coneflower. There was no damage that I could see. He is incredibly tiny (this was taken on Macro) and I’m fascinated by him.

As I said, it’s been very hot and humid here, so apart from watering the baby plants in the chicken wire fence garden and the memorial garden, adding water to the birdbath several times a day and watering the potted plants, I’ve stayed inside. I’ve been restless, though. I don’t do too well in humidity and I’m having trouble concentrating on anything for any length of time. I did finish my third Jo Nesbø mystery and I made a special trip to the bookstore to get the next one in the series. I’m reading them in chronological order.

He is a wonderful writer who hails from Norway and his protagonist, Harry Hole, is flawed and human and fascinating. These police procedurals are so well crafted! I recommend them highly. I knew of Nesbø, but hadn’t read any of his books until I overheard a conversation at The Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan. A young woman who is a book blogger (I don’t know her name) was talking to another customer and she raved about this series, even going so far as to say it was her favorite series.

“Hmmmm,” I thought. “Perhaps I should check him out.” The Mysterious Bookshop conveniently shelves books in chronological order (but if you’re unsure, they are a fount of knowledge) so I grabbed the very first one and now I’m hooked.

I love those overheard conversations in bookshops. At The Mysterious Bookshop, they are often between staff and customers, with the staff recommending some author or another. I learn a lot that way.

Another hot one ahead.

Happy Saturday.

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A Lovely Day, Indeed

July 5, 2016 at 9:44 am by Claudia

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.

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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.

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This is one of Maggie’s flower arrangements. It’s simply gorgeous – she’s so talented!

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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.

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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):

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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.

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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:

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