flowers — Page 45

Pansies & Dove Cottage

June 4, 2022 at 8:47 am by Claudia

Nothing prettier than the sunlight shining through a pretty pansy.

It’s Saturday and Don is going to take some photos at the Farmer’s Market today. The first time in over two years! He’s just about to leave and will be back later this afternoon.

I’m going to do a little work outside today; some pruning, some mulching, and some weed pulling.

I bought a new faucet for the sink in the cottage. I never liked the one that came with the sink. It was too tiny and was more like a bathroom faucet. This one is perfect! If you look in the background, you can see a new floor lamp for the living room. I got that a couple of weeks ago.

Finishing touches are happening at Dove Cottage. I mean, there’s a lot of tiny detail I can still add – for example, silverware in the drawers, little bits in the cupboards, etc. But that would be for me and not something you would necessarily see. I need a few more lamps and some details added to the studio and the front entrance, but that’s almost done.

Then…the Beacon Hill. Gulp.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Jurgen: A Little Update

June 3, 2022 at 8:24 am by Claudia

I’m sure you remember my post about Jurgen Gothe, the late, much-loved host of Disc Drive on CBC2 in Canada. I found the tape Don made for me of one of his programs and played it once and then it sort of disintegrated. I combed the archives of the CBC – nothing.

In my search, I learned that two CDs were recorded by Jurgen. The first, titled The DiscDrive Disc, and the second, DiscDrive2. They have been out of circulation for years, almost impossible to find. I did find one copy of DiscDrive2 listed on eBay for over $150.00. Yikes! Then I came across a site called Discogs, where collectors/sellers come together to sell hard-to-find recordings. Both of the CDs were listed but no stock was available. I revisited a couple of weeks later and realized that I needed to register for the site – which I did – and that allowed me to see stock information. Nothing for the first disc, but there was a copy of DiscDrive2 available from a seller in Canada for an incredibly good price – I think it was around $12 Canadian. It was sealed and had never been opened.

It arrived in yesterday’s mail.

Whoo hoo! It has commentary by Jurgen, so I get to hear his voice again. I played it yesterday and both Don and I couldn’t get over the excellent quality of the recording. It’s a great mix of the kind of eclectic offerings that were a part of every one of his shows. Now, I just have to find a copy of the first recording.

Side note: there is also a 20th anniversary Disc Drive recording which my friends in Toronto managed to get for me. It’s lovely and the pieces of music chosen are very much Jurgen Gothe. That also arrived yesterday. The only thing missing is Jurgen’s commentary. It’s just the music. I’ll have to imagine what he might have said.

It was so lovely to sit at the table working on my puzzle, listening to Jurgen Gothe. That might have to happen again today.

During my initial searches, Don got into the whole thing and contacted a man who had blogged about missing Jurgen’s show several years ago. He thought this guy might know of some available stock. His name is Viktor and we’ve struck up a nice correspondence with him. He moved to Canada from Hungary years ago and discovered DiscDrive. He would listen to it every afternoon. He has also searched for these recordings. I think he has both of the CDs. What a lovely guy he is.

The clematis in front of the house.

A light rain is falling here this morning but it should stop soon.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Flowers, Imogen & Dove Cottage

May 31, 2022 at 9:34 am by Claudia

More clematis this morning. They sure do add a jolt of color to the green of the boxwood.

Hot, hot, hot here today. Tomorrow should be much cooler.

Yesterday morning found me pulling most of the forget-me-nots out of the ground. They were going to seed. I also wanted to clean the edges of the garden beds, so I fetched the lawn mower and mowed in front of the beds so that I could see the rocks that define the beds. Then I pulled anything that interfered with that border. And then, in true Claudia fashion, I also mowed the lilac side of the front lawn.

And then…I was tired. But it felt good to be out there after feeling under the weather for a few days.

Meanwhile, Imogen was on the porch enjoying the flowers.

(I love the cleft in her chin.)

Slowly finishing the front of the dollhouse. There are one or two elements to add, but here is where we are as of today:

I want to age that big pot on the left. The chair arrived in the mail the other day, all the way from Milan. I love the look of these bistro chairs; they remind me very much of the chairs in the Luxembourg gardens. I searched high and low until I found one.

I may make some stepping stones leading to the door. This area was to be a porch on the original house. Most of the porch elements were missing when I found it at the dump and I wasn’t inclined to replace them as I had a different idea of what I wanted it to be. So I’m left with this raised area. I’m going with terraced levels. I’ll probably add some of the ballast that I’ve used on the area just outside the front door on the lower terrace as well. Though, it’s messy and a bit of a pain in the tush.

And then we’ll move on to the Beacon Hill.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Pansies & Dove Cottage

Jurgen: A Little Update

Flowers, Imogen & Dove Cottage

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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