Don — Page 43

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 Fifty-Two

May 4, 2020 at 9:38 am by Claudia

Today’s flowers from Don, presented to me as he came in the door from his morning walk. He is the sweetest man in the world. (Of course, I’m biased.)

A few weeks back, Don mentioned that he was concerned about a pair of Canada Geese he’d seen down by the river on his morning walk. After several days of seeing them together, suddenly there was only one. I thought that since the goose was in the same general area, he may have been guarding his mate while she was sitting on a nest. Today he, saw this:

Five little babies, protected by Mama and Papa. Isn’t this adorable? So now we know. He was protecting the nest. That should bring a smile to your face this morning.

We worked outside yesterday – a lot – Don was out there even longer than I was. We were pretty tired and achy at the end of the day, so today is a day of rest. The temperature hit 80 degrees yesterday and it was beautiful out there. Of course, 80 is too hot for this time of year and today’s temperature will only reach 60 degrees. But it’s sunny! And gorgeous. And the porch is coming together, though I have to buy more potting soil and a couple more plants. I’ll probably do that tomorrow. I’m going to wait to plant seeds until next week. Usually, around here, we can sow them the first week of May, but it’s been so cold, I’m holding off.

Don’s been clearing a part of the property that we’ve sort of ignored over the years. He likes a project and it gives him something to do. I must say, he’s doing a good job of cleaning it up. More and more tiny leaves are appearing on the trees, more and more green surrounds us.

Very grateful for green things and buds and pretty potted flowers always, but especially at this time of year. We’re still watching Cheers every night. Situation comedy doesn’t get much better than that show and we’re really enjoying it. Last night, as we started a new episode, we realized it was the one Don was in. It’s called The Last Angry Mailman – a name I’m well familiar with as it appears on residual checks – and Don has a scene with Cliff Clavin, played by John Ratzenberger, and his mother, played by the fabulous Frances Sternhagen. I’d seen it long ago, but it was fun watching it with Don. You know I saw Don on several series, Hill Street Blues, LA Law, Cheers and more, before I met him. I specifically remember him on LA Law because he had a recurring role as an attorney and one of the most memorable episodes was one he did with the late, great Ralph Bellamy. I remember watching it. Who knew I’d end up married to the guy many years later?

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Day Sixty-Five

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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