Don — Page 42

Day Eighty-Four

June 5, 2020 at 9:37 am by Claudia

I mistakenly titled yesterdays’s post as Day Eighty-Four and then realized mid-afternoon that it was Day Eighty-Three so I edited the title. Just in case you’re confused. I guess the seemingly endless number of days in lockdown is taking its toll!

I took this photo this morning. It’s rainy and humid and we’re getting thunderstorms later on. I want to share this, my favorite time in the Secret Garden. The wildflowers (Dame’s Rocket) are blooming, and the wild roses have just emerged (the scent is heavenly.) This week or two when all is in bloom is just gorgeous.

We did next to nothing with this area for about ten of the almost-fifteen years we’ve lived here. Then, during a time Don was away, I gathered a bunch of old cinderblocks that were up in the woods and dragged them, one at a time, to make that little wall between the wild area and the grass. I did it because I was worried that the ‘wild’ might get closer and closer to the house. The next year, I bought those vintage pots from an antique dealer and came up with a choice of shade loving plants; coleus, vines, and little white flowers. This is the third year (I think) that we’ve had the pots. Then, later that summer, I bought the vintage furniture from the same antique dealer. I had already cleared a path to the crabapple tree that blooms in early Spring. This year, Don really expanded that path and cut back a lot more of the brambles and weeds. He put down some stepping stones and some bark, and that’s where we are today.

It’s one of my favorite places on the property. Don has been busy creating other paths and little clearings up in the woods. Eventually, we’d love to find old benches to put in each of the clearings and at the base of the crabapple tree in the Secret Garden. But that will have to wait until we have the freedom to shop and the money to spend.

I worked outside yesterday for about 3 hours; transplanting some ferns that were crowding other plants (fingers crossed that it works,) weeding the big garden bed, weed whacking, edging the big garden bed with large stones that Don found up in the woods, and then I mowed the lilac side of the front lawn. A lot of work, but it felt good – until I came in and sat down and crashed. But isn’t that always the way?

And I finished this. It’s so lovely, this intricate and beautiful piece of art by Mucha. Lush in the way that only Art Nouveau can be. If you don’t know French, these are the seasons: Summer, Spring, Autumn, and Winter.

I’ll leave it up until this afternoon when I’ll break it down and start another puzzle.

I’ve also got three Inspector Maigrets on deck.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Day Seventy-One

May 23, 2020 at 9:56 am by Claudia

Yesterday was a busy day – 80 degrees and very humid. We tag-team mowed the front lawn, then dragged four tarps-full of debris across the property to that place near the shed that I never photograph. Then we donned masks, etc., and drove to the post office where I had two packages to pick up – dear friends who sent me packages, I now have them, though I haven’t opened them yet as I usually wait a couple of days to open them in these times. Then we drove to Lowes where I had to pick up an online order of a new watering can and two pruners. Lowes was incredibly busy; in fact, I heard an employee say it was the busiest it has been since lockdown started. Then we drove to the shop where we order chocolates – slightly decadent, though to us, an essential item. The only sweet I eat is this shop’s sugar-free chocolates. We had ordered via the phone. When you arrive, you call them and let them know you’re outside and they put the bag on a bench outside the door. No contact.

The only snag was this. There is only one person allowed in the counter area of our post office at a time. Somehow, though I was initially the only person in the post office box area which is a separate room, there ended up being three of us in there at one time. Thankfully, we were all masked and the brief moment when we numbered three was just that, about two seconds. Our little post office is incredibly small as this is a very small town. That’s why I avoid going there for long periods of time during this lockdown. Still and all, everyone in Lowes was wearing a mask. Everyone at the post office was wearing a mask. I did see some young idiots walking around town maskless, and – get this – a young father pushing a stroller down the street and neither father or child were wearing masks. But the vast majority of people I saw were wearing masks.

Anyway, at the end of it all we were exhausted; physically because of the outdoor work, emotionally because of the stress involved with running any kind of errand these days. Once again, washing hands, disinfecting doorknobs and purchases, washing hands again, showering.

Today it is supposed to rain and we’re staying home. Unfortunately, Don has just talked me in to cutting his hair with a pair of clippers he is borrowing from Rick. I told him he can’t blame me for whatever the end result is. The exchange? He will trim my hair – and by that I mean whack about four inches off – when I order a pair of hair cutting scissors. I cannot abide how long my hair is!

Let’s hope this doesn’t send us to Divorce Court.

Okay. This arrived the other day:

One of my bookseller contacts (via Instagram) has a bookshop in Ironbridge, Shropshire, England, and she sells a lot of vintage Penguins. I knew there was a vintage Penguin edition of To Kill a Mockingbird that was issued within a a few years of its first publication in 1960 and I asked her to keep an eye out for it. Sure enough, a copy came into her hands and she messaged me. And here it is! This fits in two collections, my collection of various editions of my favorite novel and in my Penguin collection, as well!

Then, another bookseller – Maureen of Fine Preservers Books in Ithaca, NY – sent me a message. She remembered that I had asked her to let me know of any Tri Band Penguin editions of P. G. Wodehouse that might come into her possession. Sure enough, one had. And here it is:

Wodehouse is truly the funniest writer that ever lived. Don and I sat on the sofa this morning and I read a few pages aloud and we couldn’t stop laughing. Don knows far more about Wodehouse than I do, but I’m going to remedy that.

Wish me luck on the – gulp – haircut.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

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.

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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