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You are here: Home / Archives for garden

Bits and Bobs on Wednesday

August 24, 2016 at 9:25 am by Claudia

8-24 firstfouroclock

• After a longish wait, the first little bloom on the four o’clocks has appeared. I planted these from seed in the Memorial Garden. But, as you remember, we didn’t get around to creating the Memorial Garden until late May/beginning of June, so everything that was planted from seed is going to bloom late in the summer. That includes the morning glories and moonflowers, so let’s cross our fingers that we don’t have an early frost this year. Pretty please?

• It’s been a busy couple of days. On Monday, in the midst of the euphoria that is the rare day without excess humidity and temperatures in the mid-seventies, I mowed: the corrals, the grass in front of the corral, the section of lawn by the shed, and the entire front yard. I had my iPhone in my pocket to check on my step count/mile total. It was about 2½ miles. I was pretty darned tired when I finished but I was also energized.

Until I crashed.

But it sure looks good out there! Yesterday I ran all sorts of errands and then went on a 1½ mile trail walk with Don. I’m trying to lose weight, which gets increasingly difficult the older I get. I’m not happy with the way my body looks at the moment, though Don assures me I look great. Bless him. Nevertheless, I want to lose weight and I want to get used to trail walks so that they become part of my almost-daily experience with the hope that I will continue them in the fall and winter. Because winter tends to be my sedentary downfall and I want to change that.

8-24 limelights

• I saw a gorgeous Monarch flitting around the big garden bed the other day, right after I’d seen an Eastern Swallowtail. Fortunately, Don happened to be outside, so he saw it, too. For once, I didn’t run for my camera. I just let him be. So, so beautiful.

• We’re back to watching old episodes of Inspector Morse, after a two week Olympic binge. Morse has a problem with women, doesn’t he? He starts seeing women who are involved in one of his investigations, which surely is a no-no, or he falls for a woman much too quickly, which leaves Don and I saying to the screen, “Stop. Don’t do it. It isn’t appropriate.” We’ve known a couple of guys like Morse and they never seem to learn, do they?

8-24 phlox

• I can hear a mourning dove calling as I write this. Our lone dove who has lost her mate was sitting on the edge of the birdbath the other day. I always want to go and comfort that dove, though I know I’d just scare her off and she’d fly away. The pair of doves are still hanging around, as well.

• I saw a bunny eating our grass yesterday morning. Not baby bunny, but a bunny. Baby bunny had a white mark on her forehead. I haven’t seen her since the temperatures went sky-high last month.

Missing my critters.

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: animals, bunnies, flowers, garden 42 Comments

Potpourri on Friday

August 19, 2016 at 10:05 am by Claudia

• Late start today, as I slept in a little and had a nice long phone conversation with my sister. My nephew is going away to his new college today. It’s a big day and a big transition. I’m very proud of him.

• Yesterday, I weeded for about 2 hours, cleaning up all the garden beds. Usually, at this time of year, I’ve given up on the weeding. But, though it was tiring, I’m so glad I did it. Everything looks much better and more defined – and my rambling, country garden needs some definition.

• Around the property:

8-19 limelighthydrangea

The limelight hydrangea blossoms are the bigger than ever this summer. Very impressive!

8-19 zinnia3

Another zinnia is opening.

8-19 queenanneslace1

And the wild Queen Anne’s Lace is blooming down by the mailbox.

8-19 queenanneslace2

It always evokes memories of my childhood, when there was still an open field across the street from our house, and I’d see Queen Anne’s Lace everywhere.

8-19 MILtonguebaby

• Look! There’s a baby springing up from the soil! This is the mother-in-law’s tongue that my parents nurtured for over 40 years. I was so happy to see this little baby that I had to send a picture via text message to my sister. Mom and Dad would be pleased.

• This morning I woke up missing my dad’s voice and our phone calls. The other day, I lost it and sobbed about Scout – about all  my dogs. I explained to Don that I missed talking and singing to Scout. I talked to her all the time, explaining what I was doing, explaining what I wanted her to do, telling her about my adventures, telling her how beautiful she was and how much I loved her. And I sang to her all the time; little songs I would make up on the spot.

I miss that.

I know that some of you will say, “You can still talk to her.” I do, at times. But, let’s be real: it’s not the same. I did it all  the time. And there’s a quiet now, an emptiness of sound, that sometimes knocks me down and brings me to tears.

• Our dear friends of many years lost their home to a fire a couple of days ago. They live in Los Angeles: it wasn’t due to a wildfire but most likely an electrical fire. I think that has yet to be determined. Thank goodness, all are safe, including their two dogs. I can’t even begin to imagine how devastating this is for them. They will rebuild. They are in our prayers. Everything can change in a moment.

• For all of you who missed Don on Mr. Robot: You can see it On Demand, if you have that option with your cable package. Or you can do what I’ve done in the past and will do again. You can watch episodes on the USA network’s web page. Here’s the link to his episode. He did some fine work in this one.

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

 

Filed Under: Dad, Don, flowers, garden, Scout 31 Comments

A Monarch & Mr. Robot

August 18, 2016 at 9:36 am by Claudia

Patience is a virtue that I don’t always have. But I do  seem to have it when trying to capture flora and fauna on my camera. I’ve noticed that butterflies tend to come to the butterfly bush in the late afternoon/early evening. Around 6 pm I ventured out to the porch and peeked around the corner at the butterfly bush. Aha! A monarch! (And a hummingbird moth, I might add.)

I ran into the house grabbed my camera and then proceeded to contort myself into a position that entailed leaning out over the porch railing and then torquing my body to the right with camera in hand. For a long time.

Here’s what I got:

8-18 monarch1a

8-18 monarch2

8-18 monarch3a

8-18 monarch4

And, in flight:

8-18 monarch5

There’s more, but I picked the ones I thought were the most interesting. I like to think this one emerged from our very own milkweed plants.

This butterfly bush has been a joy. I planted it a few years back and now it grows very tall each year, with blooms emerging in August. I love its graceful lines. It draws small, beautiful moths, all sorts of butterflies, hummingbird moths – and hummingbirds. If you don’t have one, consider planting one next year. The bloom time isn’t all that long, but boy, is it worth it!

The morning glories and moonflowers are lush with green leaves and are climbing all over the place. Still waiting on some flower buds….

We mowed yesterday and it was exhausting. Since the grass was so long and wet because of the humidity, the mower kept clogging and we’d have to repeatedly stop and scoop up all the cut grass from underneath the mower.

Just under two weeks until the newest Louise Penny is published on August 30th. I will be at the bookstore that day, that I can promise.

Don was on Mr. Robot last night and we kept flipping back and forth between the Olympics and Mr. Robot to try to catch his scene. We were successful! He was wonderful in a scene with his daughter; heartbreaking, sad, bewildered, angry – very real, which, on film, is much more difficult than you might imagine. I’m very proud of him. We haven’t actually watched any episodes in the second season as of yet. We will. So we didn’t try to understand what the heck was going on with the rest of the show; we just caught his scene.

By the way, we didn’t find out that his episode was airing last night until mid-afternoon. I edited this post to include that information and mentioned it on FB and IG. Sorry if you missed it!

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: butterfly, Don, flowers, garden, life, monarch butterfly 34 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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