flowers — Page 45

It’s Those Decade Markers

May 24, 2022 at 8:15 am by Claudia

I have never seen so much fleabane on the property as I have this year. This photo was taken in the secret garden. The flowers cover the both sides of the stepping stones and the entire area bordering the back of the house that faces the garden. It’s amazing. I have to do some hop-scotch type moves to navigate the stepping stones. (That’s the rain barrel in the distance.) The petals are a combination of lavender and white. If I observed them more, I might notice if they start out as lavender and then change to white. I’ll try to figure that out.

It’s time to mow again. I’m not sure when we’ll do it, but it looks like we haven’t mowed in weeks when, in fact, we mowed less than a week ago. That’s the way of the world in the spring.

I’m starting to work on the finishing touches on Dove Cottage. I’ve been playing with the same mini pea gravel that I used in the rooftop garden on Hummingbird Cottage. I like it, but as much as I try to glue it down, it’s sort of impossible. And now I’m thinking that I need some stepping stones leading up to the door, with pea gravel around them. This pot of mums arrived yesterday. I have a few other things ordered as well. I need to finish this up and move it elsewhere so I can start in on the Beacon Hill while I’m still “young” enough to do all the work.

A glimpse into my mind right now: I’m headed toward my 70th birthday in November, and like all decade markers for me, it’s a time full of introspection. My posts about being an introvert come from that. I wake up some mornings panicked about how little time I might have left. Or panicked about how much stuff I have and realizing I need to make lists, provide information about all the things I collect (prices, provenance, etc.) in some big notebook. At the same time, I want to keep growing and learning and playing and creating – I don’t want to fall into the trap of thinking that possibilities are disappearing or fading. And all of that is up to me.

Thanks. I needed to share that so I could get some perspective.

Livvy: all set for summer.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

The Secret Garden, Books, and Pippa

May 23, 2022 at 8:51 am by Claudia

Yesterday morning in the Secret Garden. Wildflowers are springing up everywhere. There’s lots of fleabane and some wild phlox. It’s very, very wet there as we’ve had so much rain!

Wild phlox popping up in the rock garden.

Aside from mowing and planting the vintage pots, I haven’t done much else in this space. I’m debating whether to pull some of the weird grass that pops up in the path that leads to The Dude. Do I get in there and get rid of it, or do I just leave it there? No one can answer that question but me. And I’m feeling lazy at the moment.

It was incredibly hot and humid yesterday and, after some great time on the porch in the early morning, we stayed in. Both of us said that the combination of heavy humidity and pollen was making us feel tired and foggy-brained. I know that I felt completely out of it on both Saturday and Sunday. Later in the day, while talking to my sister on the phone, a big storm rolled in – though thankfully, not as big as the storms last weekend – and today it is much cooler around here. Hurrah!

I was reading one of my other books by Elizabeth George while in bed last night and I suddenly realized that I’d read it before, even though it was in my To Be Read pile. So I grabbed the other one that was also in that pile and started in….already read that one, too! Whoops! I think there’s only one Elizabeth George that I haven’t read and I’m going to order it from the library.

So this morning finds me looking around trying to decide what I’m in the mood to read next. In the meantime, I’m reading a short and delightful book from Slightly Foxed/Foxed Quarterly – A Boy at the Hogarth Press by Richard Kennedy. Kennedy worked for Leonard and Virginia Woolf for a while when he was young. It’s a lovely memoir of his time there, complete with his pen and ink drawings. Kennedy went on to be a well-regarded illustrator.

I grabbed a few moments outside yesterday and took Pippa with me:

Here she is in the memorial garden.

And in the secret garden:

The girls are enjoying the opportunity to explore the property.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Sunday on the Porch

May 22, 2022 at 9:32 am by Claudia

I’m sitting on the glider this morning, enjoying the porch before it gets too hot to be out here. So much bird song! We’re due for another day of temperatures in the 90s before storms roll in. Actually, while I’ve been sitting here, the sky has clouded over. But there’s a nice breeze and my goodness, I love the sound of birds.

Yesterday, I watered twice, simply because it was so darned hot and humid.

I am so much happier at this time of year. Green everywhere, wildflowers popping up, bunnies, birds, groundhogs, chipmunks, my porch once again becoming an extra room. Don was out here with me for a while this morning and I said to him – yes, money is extremely tight, the world has gone mad, we’ll be paying this mortgage for the rest of our lives – but this porch, this view, this peace we feel when we get to work and enjoy our property, that’s what we wanted and thought we’d never have. And we have it.

Here’s what is happening with my Annabelle hydrangea:

A lot of new shoots are coming up from the ground and they’re growing taller every day. I want to give them room and cut back more of the old stalks, but then I see something like this on a stalk I thought was dead:

Do I still cut some of it back to give the new shoots room to grow?

And ideas would be welcome!

We just had a wee bit of rain. One of my favorite childhood memories is sitting on folding aluminum chairs on our porch, watching the rain come in, and seeing just how long we could stay out there without getting wet.

There’s a quick little video of the Secret Garden on my IG this morning.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

It’s Those Decade Markers

The Secret Garden, Books, and Pippa

Sunday on the Porch

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives