Don — Page 41

Day Sixty-Six

May 18, 2020 at 9:54 am by Claudia

These wildflowers are everywhere right now. We have scads of them on the property. They’re so delicate and pretty.

We’ve been doing a lot of work on the property; so much so, that by about mid-afternoon, we’re exhausted! There’s always something to do here and since Don is really taking notice of things, he’s finding more and more little and big projects to do. He just carved out a path from our back forty through a bit of our woods that emerges on our neighbor’s back field, which is open and beautiful. I tried to do it a few years ago when Don was away, but I left it too late in the spring so it was very overgrown. We have so many wild roses/brambles on the property and they grow like wildfire. If we let them go, it’s already too late. As I’ve said before, we’re on ‘the edge of wild.’ Anyway, the path is meandering and lovely and the view at the other end is gorgeous.

I did a lot of weeding in the big garden bed and the beds by the shed. I’m going to sow my seeds today, about three weeks later than usual. We have some more debris to load on tarps. There’s also mowing to do but that can wait until tomorrow.

This morning, we were out of the house by 6:30 to fill my car with gas. The starter in Don’s car is acting funny so we thought my car should have a full tank of gas in case we need to rely on it exclusively. We also got gas for the lawnmower. And then we went to our local supermarket to see if they had any disinfectant wipes. We were the first ones in the door, but no wipes – one of the clerks said she hasn’t seen them on the shelves in weeks. No disinfectant spray, either. Darn. But somehow, we managed to buy another load of groceries while we were there. We go out so little that we want to take advantage of empty aisles and a relatively empty grocery store when we can. We were back home by 7:30, disinfected everything, and had our second cup of coffee together.

This is the robin’s nest that is nestled in the branches of the climbing hydrangea. It’s been there for a few years. There was no activity there last year, but this year some robins took it over and added to it. I saw the parents flying back and forth with worms, so they had some babies and they must have fledged a couple of weeks ago. I hope they lay a second round of eggs later this season. I see one of the robins flying in and out of there every once in a while, I suppose he or she is making sure no squatters have taken over the nest.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Day Sixty-Five

May 17, 2020 at 9:33 am by Claudia

Oh, the two of us are outside working and working and working! Don cleared yet another area that has been bugging me for about 15 years. Today, we have to load up several tarps-worth of debris and drag all of it over to our seemingly permanent piles of old wood, former trees, etc. I put two plants in the ground in the big garden, watered everything. In the middle of it all, we drove to the grocery store for our pick-up, came back home, and disinfected everything.

We’re really tired at the end of the day, but it’s such a good tired. Good to be outside once again, to be working on our property, to have projects going. Lockdown has been good for Don. He has lots of projects going.

This morning, we came up with the idea of building a rustic fence – ourselves – to replace the chicken wire mess we have now. We don’t know the first thing about it, but we can surely figure it out. And the key word here is rustic, which is in keeping with our property, and is also highly forgiving in terms of execution. So now we’ll do some research.

Hey, we’ve got nothing but time this summer.

These are some of the wild violets that self-seed in the shade garden. I love them and look forward to their arrival every year.

Is today the day I finally move the Boston Fern to the porch? And the geranium that I overwinter? I’m a bit hesitant, which is understandable considering the fact that I moved the fern outside way too early last year.

The clematis is full of nice, fat buds.

So, more work outside today. It’s cloudy right now, but hopefully we’ll see some sunshine.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Day Sixty-Two

May 14, 2020 at 8:41 am by Claudia

These vintage Penguins arrived earlier in the week, all the way from England. I think we have about 8 or 9 now. Don is a big Wodehouse fan, so we’re going to collect Wodehouse Penguins, and of course, I love mysteries. (Don did a one-man show earlier in his career called Jeeves Take Charge in which he played multiple characters from the series. He first performed it in his early thirties, having been coached in it by the actor who originated the role and who had been given permission by the Wodehouse estate to write the script. Don performed it again in 1998, so I got to see it. It was a huge hit. I saw it the day before we got married. He was frigging brilliant.)

A small, but slowly growing collection.

Today, my plants will be granted the freedom to once again grow outdoors. Huzzah! The perennials in the ground, despite frost last night, seem to be doing well. So the plan is to put on some old clothes, take the plants back outside, drive to the nursery/farm stand and get supplies – both plants and some produce. Don had a reaction to a shot he got yesterday, so I’ve forbidden him to leave the house, so this time I will be getting everything. It’s only right as he’s done most of the errand running during this lockdown.

Background: Don has been getting shots in his left eye for a year now as he’s suffering from macular degeneration in that eye. This particular round had been postponed because of the pandemic, but his sight was really suffering, so he went in yesterday. They have a protocol in place, only letting a few patients in at a time. But it was nervous-making. Sometimes the shot is relatively easy, but this time, it wasn’t and his eye has been watering continuously – as well as his nose. We ended up talking to the doctor on call last night and she was very reassuring about everything. But it’s been a pain – literally. So he’s taking it easy today.

And there you go. I’m off to restore the plants, fold up tarps, and run errands.

Stay safe.

Day Sixty-Five

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