flowers — Page 141

Flowers and Books

July 22, 2018 at 9:07 am by Claudia

The geranium that I overwinter every year had me thinking it wouldn’t bloom this summer, but it fooled me again. It’s a small plant, certainly not lush in its growth, but we have a deal now. I take her inside every November and she lives on the floor in the living room. And then I take her outside in the spring.

I mowed the back forty yesterday. Today it’s raining. It started raining overnight. We need it. I am shocked by how low the rivers are. I think we’re due for more rain and storms tomorrow, as well.

And I don’t have to water the gardens! Maybe a few of the porch plants, but that’s it.

I hope you’re not tiring of coneflower photos, because I love taking photos of them. Each one is different. I never tire of capturing their beauty.

This hydrangea – one of the Endless Summer hydrangeas – is blooming. It’s in the Memorial Garden. I got it several years ago through a blog opportunity and I love it, but it remains petite. I don’t know why. My other hydrangeas – the Annabelle and Limelight – are tall and cover quite an expanse of real estate. This one? Nope. I don’t think I have the original tag and I’m now wondering if it’s supposed to be this small. It sure is pretty.

The liatris is just starting to flower.

These books are new to the cottage. I ordered The Pottery Gardener and Jacob’s Room is Full of Books from Book Depository in England. And I found Tovah Martin’s latest book, The Garden in Every Sense and Season, at our local bookstore the other day when Don was taking pictures right outside the front door.

The Pottery Gardener is Arthur Parkinson. He created a garden at Emma Bridgewater’s factory and it has become quite famous. I follow him on Instagram. I think – as best I can tell from his latest IG posts – that he has just left that position. He’s young and loves chickens and ducks and flowers.

Jacob’s Room is Full of Books is by Susan Hill. It’s about reading and favorite books and I love books about books.

Tovah Martin lives in Connecticut. She’s a longtime writer about gardens and flowers and houseplants and I love anything she writes.

I’m also rereading A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I’ve been thinking of it a lot lately. In fact, just the other day it came up in a conversation with Don and I went on and on about its virtues, its beauty, and how much I loved it. So I’m reading it again for the sheer pleasure of it.

The plant in the photo was in Don’s apartment in the city. Now it lives on the coffee table in the den.

Happy Sunday.

Saturday Morning

July 21, 2018 at 9:37 am by Claudia

We sat out in the Secret Garden this morning, drinking our second cup of coffee. It’s the perfect place to talk; intimate, relatively quiet, birds singing, chipmunks running by. I’m treasuring these sunny mornings – it’s going to rain tomorrow and Monday and off and on throughout next week.

That means I’ll be doing some mowing and other garden chores today. I’m fine with that, in fact, I’m in the mood for that.

Thanks for all your support as Don and I play with our cameras and Don learns an entirely new skill. It’s good to have something to get excited about. That doesn’t mean, however, that we’re not mourning the loss of Margaritaville. We are. We just try to keep the sadness at bay. Yesterday, we took a little nap together on the sofa and when I woke up, I felt such sadness that I wouldn’t be getting a call from Don as he made his way to the theater for the evening. That he wouldn’t be hanging around with his Margaritaville family. That audience members who planned to see it in the fall are being deprived of seeing it with the original cast – a more joyous group of people you will never meet. That particular cast will never perform together again. And that makes me unbelievably sad. Imagine how it makes Don feel. Sigh.

So we mourn, then we distract ourselves. It’s all part of the process.

This bee is exploring the mullein that grows in the back forty. This is the mullein that is over 6 feet tall. It is no longer standing up straight, but is curving downward because of the torrential rain we got last week. I’ve tried to help all of the mullein stalks stand upright, but it isn’t working.

It’s a pretty time in the gardens. But I still have to weed. And I’m approaching that time – it happens every summer – when I no longer want to expend the energy to weed. I’m not there yet, but it’s coming. Prediction: August.

We’re off to have a little breakfast in town and then Don is going off to do his thing and I’m coming back here to do mine.

Happy Saturday.

On Location

July 20, 2018 at 9:10 am by Claudia

I’ll respond to yesterday’s comments when I’m done writing this post. I had a busy day yesterday and I was too tired at the end of it to do anything other than plop on the sofa.

Don wanted to go ‘on location’ to shoot some photos, which means to the town just north of us. I had plans to mow, so we split the difference. The morning for photography, the afternoon for mowing. We found a neat place to set up, right in front of a favorite local bookshop, Inquiring Minds.

As amazing as this sounds, right after we got there, a young guy walked by and stopped to talk to Don. He has the same vintage camera. He even offered some tips. Such a small world! The camera definitely attracts people and Don loves nothing more than to meet people and chat with them. A woman and her daughter walked by and the daughter was raving about the camera. Turns out her grandfather had one and he was a well-known photographer who concentrated on jazz singers – among them, Billie Holiday. All of this happened in the first 15 minutes we were there, as Don was assembling the camera. In a small town.

I thought you’d like to see this little sidewalk garden in front of the shop.

Isn’t it adorable?

Don has been working with this camera for a mere four days. He studies hard. There’s a steep learning curve because it’s vintage, entirely manual, and it’s heavy. But each day he has improved. Lighting, framing the shot, aperture settings – all of it is new to him. The whole idea of this kind of street photography is that the photographer has one shot. Period. It’s a polaroid, the film is expensive and so, one chance to get it right, to capture that one moment in time.

But, of course, when you’re first starting out you have to experiment a whole lot before you can offer your services.

I’ve been his model all week long because I live with him. It’s been fun. (And I’ve been playing with my new camera as well.)

Here are yesterday’s winning shots:

That red brick wall is the perfect backdrop!

Then I took my turn:

I don’t mind saying I have a crush on this incredibly cool guy.

This has become a real passion for him and the perfect thing to help him through the transition from doing Escape to Margaritaville in New York City to suddenly being back home. I’m so proud of him.

Afterwards, we walked across the street to our favorite vegan restaurant and had a bite to eat.

Such a pretty bouquet on our table!

Then back home to mow the corral and the entire front lawn. Yikes. I was bushed!

I love my new camera and I have much to learn about it. But so far, it’s a winner.

Happy Friday.

Flowers and Books

Saturday Morning

On Location

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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