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You are here: Home / Archives for flowers

Flowers, Puzzles, And Some Thoughts

July 13, 2022 at 8:29 am by Claudia

These day lilies just started opening. There would have been ten times more of them but the deer ate the buds before I could spray them. Still, I’m grateful that at least some of them survived.

After all the dire severe thunderstorm warnings and radar pictures that looked increasingly ominous throughout the day, we didn’t get a single drop of rain. And we really need some! This morning was foggy and beautiful and a bunny has been chomping on clover just outside the kitchen door.

The finished Alice’s Wonderland puzzle. I really loved this one. It was a little less complicated than normal because of the way it is designed. Everyone is there; the Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, the March Hare, the Mad Hatter. It’s beautifully illustrated.

The puzzles I’ve been working on this year are published by Lawrence King. You can find them on Amazon by searching for his name. I’m a big fan.

Don and I have had several conversations lately about how exhausted we feel. He was speaking to some friends who also feel exhausted. Now, I have terrible allergies and that doesn’t help, but it’s more than that. We both nap in the afternoon lately – something I never did until now. And we’re not sick. We even did a self-test for Covid. Negative.

We think this has to do with everything we’ve been through, and are still going through, over the past 6 years. Trump, a pandemic, mass shootings, the assault on our democracy, a whole chunk of our population believing in conspiracy theories, the war in Ukraine, the loss of Roe v. Wade, a corrupt Supreme Court which has been bought and paid for – I could go on and on. Every day brings some new atrocity or assault. It’s never ending. More strains of Covid to worry about. Our lives have changed dramatically and we fight to keep some semblance of normalcy. But that requires – at least for us – deliberately shutting out the world.  And we cannot do that all of the time. Nor should we.

I think we are suffering from a collective depression and exhaustion. I usually have a ‘can do’ kind of attitude, but some days it’s hard to summon up that energy.

There’s no answer but to do what we are already doing; find time to escape, meditate, spend time in the outdoors, work on things that bring us joy.

Just some thoughts this morning.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: flowers, garden, jigsaw puzzles, life 44 Comments

Flowers and Renewal

July 11, 2022 at 8:38 am by Claudia

The miracle hydrangeas, back from the dead!

I spent hours cutting back most of the dead wood, spurred on by the appearance of tiny little shoots coming out of the ground. I think that I’ve checked on them just about every day since then. And look! They’re tall and the flowers are far bigger than they were in the past. One bloom is over 10 inches across.

I’m so thrilled by this. Thanks to those of you who told me not to give up. I was ready to write it off. Boy, do I need this, to see renewal and regrowth out of seemingly nothing. It’s also so much healthier.

As we were leaving for the grocery store yesterday, I saw this great spangled frittilary on one of the coneflowers. (My favorite butterfly name.)

Just about to fully open.

It’s spectacularly beautiful out there. After an incredibly rainy spring, we’re in our first stretch of several days with no rain. We may get some storms tomorrow. I’ve noticed that both of our rivers are low. It happens every summer.

I started the new puzzle and worked on it quite a bit yesterday as I stayed true to our “Day of Rest” Sunday. The only thing I did outdoors was to get in the car to go to the grocery store with Don, and water all of my plants. The rest of the time was spent quietly.

I even slept in a bit this morning.

FYI, the starting time of the  January 6th Committee hearing tomorrow has been changed to 1 pm EST.

Can’t wait!

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: flowers, garden 25 Comments

A Day of Rest

July 10, 2022 at 8:11 am by Claudia

My favorite time of the summer is when my coneflowers start opening. I have scads of them because they self-seed. Over the 16 or so years since I first planted them, they have popped up everywhere. The deer got some of them this year but now that I’m spraying, no more damage.

First monarch butterfly sighting the other day. I tried to get a picture but he/she flew away before I could get close enough.

I pulled a Claudia yesterday and did way too much, including mowing both sides of the front yard, cleaning, laundry, pulling weeds, pulling out the refrigerator to clean behind it, etc. By the time Don got home from the Farmer’s Market (which was a dud yesterday) I was fried. But hey, the front lawn looks nice! I was trying to get to it before it gets very hot on Monday, and when Don is away, I get much more done. But I’m very tired today, as is Don, so we’ve declared that Sunday will truly be a day of rest.

Here’s a picture of the puzzle I finished the other day – it’s not the greatest photo, but it’s very hard to capture the tiny detail in these city scenes. It’s called The World of Sherlock Holmes.

I just started an Alice in Wonderland puzzle by the same company.  After my flurry of activity yesterday, I sat at the kitchen table and started sorting through the edge pieces and that’s as far as I got.

It’s a quiet Sunday morning, though for most of the day yesterday I thought it was Sunday instead of Saturday. I was surprised to see the mail truck because I was sure it was Sunday!

Katie – my surprise doll – is settling in nicely. As you know, I purchased another doll from Ukraine. She’ll take a while to get here. But when she arrives, I’ll have ten  Blythes, which is two more than I’d planned on having. I think ten is enough. In fact, I know  it’s enough – I have no more room!

Today, I’m going to read, walk around the garden, and work on the puzzle. That’s it.

Oh, and finish my coffee.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Filed Under: flowers, garden, jigsaw puzzles 21 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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