flowers — Page 177

Birds, Buds, Flowers & Parrotheads

May 22, 2017 at 10:06 am by Claudia

Let’s just stop for a moment and take time to honor the favorite flower of yours truly.

They’re on their way. I walked down to the edge of the property to where the peonies were planted years ago by a former owner of the property and there they were: nice fat buds, complete with the requisite ants.

This bud is on the peony bush I should have moved last autumn, but didn’t. It’s under the shag hickory that is growing so tall and using so much energy that the peony can’t compete. But there’s at least one bud this year. I thanked the peony and promised to move it this fall.

Our other shag hickory, one of the four trees that made us fall in love with this property, inexplicably died a few years ago and the other shag hickory, which was a tiny baby when we moved in is growing by leaps and bounds. Don calls it Hick Jr.

Catmint.

Three poppy buds so far.

I did a lot of work outside yesterday – I’d say I was out there for six hours, off and on. Mulching, moving things around, mulching again, planting, watering…it was a spectacularly beautiful day and I knew it was going to rain today, so I kept at it until I’d finished what I needed to. I felt nicely tired and finally came inside, whereupon I promptly indulged in a cupcake.

Don told me all about the audience they had for Saturday night’s show. It was full of Jimmy Buffett fans, some of them had traveled to La Jolla all the way from Texas. In true “Parrothead” fashion, they partied before the show (a conga line was formed) and they were a fabulous audience! They “got” everything, cheered, sang along, and loved every minute of the show. Don talked to several of them after the show and really loved their joy and enthusiasm. Sort of your dream audience!

Finally, I’ve stopped by the bird nest a few times lately. Right after I found the dead babies, I stayed away for a while. Then a week or so went by and I peeked at it. There was still a trace of the bodies and the unhatched egg remained, but there was also evidence of new nest materials. I thought I was seeing things, but it looked as if the birds had been adding twigs. I checked a few days later – even more twigs. I could still see the blue egg.

Yesterday, this is what I saw:

All traces of the remains and the egg have been completely covered. It looks like they’re going to go for it again. Such resilience!

I had a lovely bit of Face Time with Little Z last night. That boy makes everything magical.

Happy Monday.

Missing My Husband, Garden, & Little Z

May 20, 2017 at 9:42 am by Claudia

It’s a good 15 degrees cooler today than yesterday. I must confess, I did a lot outside yesterday, culminating in mowing the larger part of the lawn. This is tiring on an average day, but yesterday, it was extremely tiring. Maybe because it was warmer and humid? I’m not sure. But I had to stop more than a few times and hydrate myself and rest. I felt frustrated by the whole endeavor, though I did finish. I’m not one to back off of chores like this and the fact that it was harder than usual ticked me off.

Anyway, after it was all done, I came into the house, took a shower, plopped into a chair and a wave of missing Don completely engulfed me. It’s been over 2 months now, with a month and half yet to go, and I felt overwhelmed with loneliness. And I knew I couldn’t call him because he was in the middle of rehearsals, so I had to wait until later in the day to speak to him.

Most days, we both handle this pretty well. But there are some, like yesterday, that are too much. We often say, “If we could just give each other a hug, everything would be better.” Not being able to do that is just plain hard.

Today is a new day and I’m better, as I knew I would be.

So far, I see three poppy buds. There will be more. And you can see that the catmint is just starting to bloom.

Forget-me-nots in the Memorial Garden.

I received an item in the mail yesterday that lifted my spirits. It was addressed to Aunt Claudia.

From Little Z.

We spoke briefly last night. He hadn’t had a nap and he was tired. After a little back and forth, he said, “I can’t talk because it’s raining.”

Oh, that boy! He makes me laugh.

Happy Saturday.

Storms (of Different Varieties)

May 19, 2017 at 8:16 am by Claudia

This is a Martha Washington geranium that I purchased the other day. I repotted it and placed it on the bench on the Funky Patio.

Last night, we had a rip-roaring thunder storm with high winds. I was reading in bed and the wind kept hitting the windows in the bedroom, so I got up to see what was going on. Opening the window nearly knocked me over! So, I guess it wasn’t much of a surprise when I went outside this morning and saw the geranium and another plant on the ground. The wind was too much. So there I was, in my pajamas, no garden gloves on, shoveling potting soil from the ground back into the pot. I’ll have to add some more later. Then I checked out the porch and the calibrachoa had tipped over as well, but it had remained on the table, so that wasn’t so bad.

Yikes. I’m just glad there wasn’t more damage. No tree branches down, thank goodness.

The grass is very wet, so I may have to table mowing until tomorrow.

The fight against the ‘glamping’ developer continues. My neighbor went to a Planning Board meeting the other day and she was alarmed by how gung-ho they seemed to be about the project. Last night I went to the zoning board meeting (we’re appealing a decision to classify it as a lodge and trying to get it classified as a camp – because that’s what it really is. As one guy said, no one is going to stay there in the winter.) We were instructed at the last meeting to send any letters in support of our plea to the zoning board, with a deadline of May 12th. So, when the head of the board read just three letters last night, our hands shot up. It turns out many, many of us sent letters that they never saw because of a glitch in the email address. The town’s website has an email address listed that the zoning board is apparently not using anymore.

Don’t get me started.

So, we’re resending our letters/emails, which have a time stamp, of course, proving that we sent them by the deadline, and the meeting adjourned early and the next time we meet will be next month. As it was extremely hot in the room (no a/c) I was quite happy to leave.

I figure the more delays, the better.

Then there’s the story about a possible coaching job that I was in negotiations for. My day rate was okayed, I asked to see the script before I made the final decision, and then I found out (the next day) that while the person I was in contact with was sending me the email saying they’d agreed to the rate, they hired someone else because of a ‘time crunch’ they had never once mentioned to me.

I was not happy and I let them know that. Completely unprofessional. It wasn’t a big job, in fact, it was only a couple of days, so it’s okay in the long run, but it certainly has given me pause. I don’t think I’d welcome any future offers from this company. And I’ve worked with them before. (And no, it wasn’t Hartford Stage. Never!)

Happy Friday.

Birds, Buds, Flowers & Parrotheads

Missing My Husband, Garden, & Little Z

Storms (of Different Varieties)

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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