flowers — Page 124

Monday Morning

April 29, 2019 at 9:32 am by Claudia

99% of the time, having a blog is a wonderful and rewarding occupation. But that 1%? A pain in the tush. I won’t linger on my technical problems yesterday, except to say they took up most of the day. Three different times I was on the phone with my host and, after painstakingly describing what was going on with the technician working hard to figure out the problem, the call failed. I would have to call them back, this time with a new technician because there was no way for them to contact the person I had just been speaking to and I would have to start all over again. Cue Claudia’s scream.

It’s still not quite solved, but one of the side effects of all the technical stuff going on was that trying to leave a comment took you to an error page and I didn’t realize that was happening until mid-afternoon. Another call to my host and the problem was solved.

The result of all of this was a stressful day because – and I admit this – when something goes wrong with the blog that I don’t understand and can’t correct myself, I get very tense.

Plus it rained all day long.

Anyway, I’m back today. And though rain was predicted for this morning, it’s sunny out, so I’m going to grab the opportunity to do some work outside.

However, I had to bring the pansies, lavender and Boston fern inside on Saturday because of the high winds and they remained inside yesterday and last night because the temperature went down to 31 degrees. We had frost this morning. And it’s nearly May.

A very strange Spring, that’s for sure.

I finished the Donna Leon and ended up enjoying it, but as some of you have mentioned, I had to read a great deal of the book before I got hooked. Since I have another Leon from my local library sitting on my coffee table, I’m going to go for it. We’ll see if the same thing happens.

Happy Monday.

Wind, Rain, Plants & Reading

April 27, 2019 at 10:05 am by Claudia

So sorry that I’ve been late responding to comments the past couple of days. But I’m either outside all day or, as in the case of Friday, out and about with my husband all day, so I’m too pooped to respond.

It rained a LOT yesterday and certainly made our errands a bit harder to navigate. We took a little drive and ended up at Davenport Farms, a family-owned business in a neighboring town. I bought a flat of pansies and a lavender plant – the same things I purchased from them last year. Don got some vegetables for one of his crock pot creations. We really love that place.

They’ve been in business for decades and decades, as you can see by the original cooler with the art deco font. I have to take a picture of it every time I’m there.

What else? We drove around a bit, ended back in our neighboring college town where we had a late breakfast at our favorite breakfast place. We are being very frugal, so eating out, albeit very modestly, was an indulgence. Then we went to our local market to pick up some things. Oh, and we mailed the bills and stopped at our little library to pick up some books I had ordered.

Today, as seems to be the norm lately, the rain/storm is gone, but we have high winds. AGAIN. I’m so, so sick of them. The gusts are so strong (up to 40 mph) that I can’t really do any work outside. And it’s going to rain again on Sunday. And almost every day next week. I have a lot to do out there, but Mother Nature clearly doesn’t want me to do it. I’m frustrated.

All that being said, it’s nothing compared to what many of you are dealing with in the midwest today. Snow. And lots of it. I’m so, so sorry. I know I would be screaming if it were happening here. The only comfort is that it will melt quickly, but it’s a small comfort, I know.

We watched Mrs. Miniver last night. We’ve been watching movies that we now realize we’ve never seen in their entirety. Bits and pieces, half the movie, but not the entire movie.

It was very moving.

I just had to take a break from writing this post to go rescue the pansies, lavender, and Boston fern from the porch where they were in danger of being knocked over by the wind gusts. Sigh.

I read more of the Donna Leon this morning. I found myself getting into it – I only have about 75 pages left in the book at this point. I always try to give a book a chance, unless I absolutely know from the early stages of reading that it’s a no-go. And that happens. But, in this case, it seemed worth the effort. If I gave up on every book I had some minor issues with at 20 or even 50 pages, I would have missed out on some of my now-favorite books. Plots take time to develop. The author may be slowly but surely weaving the initial threads of the plot and being patient will be worth my while. I only give up on something when it’s just plain badly written or if I find I don’t like or care about any of the characters. I love reading. But I also love the process of reading.

Anyway. I’m housebound today. Take care everyone, especially those of you dealing with snow at the end of April.

Happy Saturday.

Blooming

April 24, 2019 at 9:00 am by Claudia

In the midst of shoveling mulch onto the soil in the garden, I moseyed on over to the lilac bush. It’s full of flower buds! More than last year. Huzzah!

Our crabapples are also blooming – the one next to the catalpa bloomed first.

I cannot tell you how all of this makes my heart sing.

As I said to Don yesterday, “I’m happier in the spring.” That’s just the way it is. I’m in the middle of a lot of the physical labor that is required to get the gardens and the property in shape, so my muscles are complaining; nevertheless, I love being out there.

There are challenges this year and some that will test my ability to do things on a very small budget. When we lost the huge limb on our maple, that part of the big garden bed was no longer in shade. The lovely crown vetch that worked as ground cover for approximately half of that huge bed gradually died off. Crown vetch only thrives in the shade. Consequently, I have large sections that have nothing growing and that was made clear when I was mulching yesterday.

I added a couple of plants last year, but I need to step up my game and add more this year. On a budget.

Then there is the unexplained absence of a couple of perennials that just didn’t emerge this year. One is the oriental poppy; it’s happened before, though. I remember a few springs where I just assumed it had died only to have it reemerge the next spring. It decided not to show itself this year. Also not showing itself – the scentimental balloon flower.

I think it has to do with the kind of winter we had. Ours was warm, then unbelievably cold, then warm, then cold – and many of the snowfalls started off as snow, turned to rain and then turned to ice. I suspect this has something to do with it. If I was more industrious, I’d track it. Anyway, I miss those plants.

On the other hand, the lone tulip that has been on this property for years and years has a flower about to open. For the past few years, only the leaves emerged. Go figure.

Gardening is rewarding and mysterious. And sometimes you just can’t come up with an explanation.

Blooming all over our lawn.

Soon, the buttercups will also be blooming.

Today is the fifth anniversary of my mom’s transition. I miss her every day. Not only was she my mom – the best mom – but she was also my friend. I really liked her. I miss talking to her. She adored all her sons-in-law, you know. One of my favorite memories: when she knew I was out of town working and Don was home by himself, she always called him. She looked forward to these nice, long chats. It was so sweet. Don loved it and I loved knowing that they had ‘their talks.’

I miss her. We miss her.

Happy Wednesday.

Monday Morning

Wind, Rain, Plants & Reading

Blooming

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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