garden — Page 158

Sadness, Lists, Flowers and Rain

July 9, 2016 at 9:54 am by Claudia

What a terrible week it has been. Last night, watching the news, I saw the photos of the policemen who were murdered in Dallas, each of them there to protect those who were peacefully protesting. And now they’re gone. I can’t wrap my mind around all of it. Innocent men all – and that includes the two men who were murdered by officers in Minnesota and Louisiana. All of it such a waste of life. I’m reading Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me. If you want to get a sense of what it’s like to grow up as a black male in our country, I’d urge you to read it. It’s beautifully and poetically written; it’s also raw and unsparing. The winner of The National Book Award, it is sometimes difficult and uncomfortable for me to read because that world is so different than the world I grew up in as a white girl living in suburbia. Oh, but let me tell you, that reaction tells me I need to read it.

There is much that needs to be done to bridge the divide.

7-9 anotherdaylily

It’s been so unbelievably humid here that it feels like walking around in a thick soup. And each day there are thunderstorms and torrential rains that smash down my hollyhocks and hydrangeas. More today and then, fingers crossed, we’ll get a break.

Don and I went out and tied up the hollyhocks for some support while we’re in the midst of these storms.

This daylily is in the flower bed that is right next to the porch.

7-9 beeincatmint

I remember that it was just a week or so ago when I was complaining about the lack of rain.

The joke’s on me!

7-9 beebalm

The night before last, All the President’s Men was on TCM. Don and I love that movie. In fact, it’s one of those movies that, should we happen upon it, everything else is immediately dropped. Whether it’s mid-story or almost over – no matter. We watch it.

There are others (this is my list):

Any Fred Astaire movie
Any Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers Movie
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Big Country
The Music Man
On the Waterfront
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Hannah and Her Sisters
The Awful Truth
Dinner at Eight
Most any Screwball Comedy
Most any Frank Capra movie
Stagecoach
Red River
Alien and Aliens
Charade
You’ve Got Mail
Any Hitchcock movie

I’m sure there are more, but this list is what immediately comes to mind. (You know me, I’ll probably be editing and adding to it as the day goes on!)

Do you have a list like that? I bet you do.

7-9 eggcuproses2

I got so mad at those dreaded Japanese Beetles that I ran in the house, grabbed my clippers, and snipped off all the buds that that were in danger of being eaten. Take that, Japanese Beetles!

I suppose more reading is on the docket for today. I miss working in the garden and, gosh darn it, I’d love to mow the lawn.

I’ll stop complaining. Our rivers are getting higher and our well is getting fuller. All good.

Happy Saturday.

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Playing

July 7, 2016 at 9:22 am by Claudia

We are in the middle of a heat wave here. Both Don and I were feeling blue yesterday and the heat, which kept us indoors much of the day, didn’t help. I did go out twice to water the newish plants. I think I’ll water them three times today – the relentless heat and sun is hard on them.

I’ll admit to feeling at sixes and sevens since I presented the TSP/Studio to Don on his birthday. I miss moving minis around! I miss playing ‘house.’ I know I need to dive into my next project (building the Fairfield) but I find I’m not quite ready for that. Soon, very soon…but in the meantime, I pulled out The Loft that I got from Target and played.

7-7 playingwithloft

Taken late yesterday afternoon with the afternoon sun pouring in the windows of our office.

7-7 playingwithloft2

Taken this morning.

The chair, if you remember, was a purchase from AlicesMiniatures on Etsy. The red table was a Michael’s find. The pottery was a gift from Barbara from ValueARTifacts on Etsy. The books were in my stash, and the artwork on the wall was a gift from Brae.

I don’t have a lot of minis stored away in a stash (wish I did!) like many other miniaturists. In time, in time! But I wanted to create a scene with what I do have. Gabrielle, who made the sofa for the TSP, is in the process of finishing another one that I commissioned – this time in red! That will go rather nicely in this scene, don’t you think?

If I was to do more with the Loft, I’d paper the walls. The wood grain on the walls is so out of scale! The floor is fine, but the walls have a real-sized wood grain. Perhaps I’ll do more with The Loft while I get ready to start my half-scale build. In the meantime, it’s fun to play!

7-7 purpleconeflower1

Hurrah! My favorites, the purple coneflowers, are starting to bloom.

7-7 blurrybee

I know this photo is blurry and normally I wouldn’t use it. It was very breezy yesterday and I couldn’t capture this flower during a still moment, but I wanted you to see this teeny-tiny bee that was crawling around on the coneflower. Microscopic, almost!

7-7 ruffledaylilies

Beautiful ruffled daylilies.

You know, Don will be in one episode of Mr. Robot this season. I had a feeling that some of you thought he wouldn’t be in it at all. He has a nice scene with his daughter. Fingers crossed it doesn’t end up on the cutting room floor. That happened last season. (Can you tell I’m feeling a bit cynical about the whole thing right now?)

Happy Thursday.

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Wednesday Thoughts

July 6, 2016 at 9:18 am by Claudia

7-6 babybunny

Let’s start the post with our adorable baby bunny. There’s nothing quite as sweet as seeing that little white cottontail as he/she jumps around the yard.

7-6 dreadedjapanesebeetle

• Then the not-so-adorable – the dreaded Japanese Beetle. This one is perching on one of the wildflowers that pops up on the far side of the house. Their timing is particularly ominous. Two of the rose bushes have already bloomed, but the New Dawn (which happens to be my favorite) is ready to bloom when they arrive. So the buds end up being eaten by the beetles and I go into mourning. If I used the language I actually use when speaking of them, some readers would be offended. You’ll have to leave it to your imagination.

• Speaking of ‘offended,’ I’ve lost some readers – looking at my stats, probably quite a few – over my not-very-frequent writings about this election. That, of course, affects my ad income.

But you know what? I don’t care. Of course, I don’t like losing ad income, but the truth here is that I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t speak out. This blog isn’t just pretty flower pictures or pretty little miniatures. This blog is mine and it’s about my life and my life is far more than a series of pretty pictures.

So, I’ll continue to speak out when I feel moved to do so.

Curious Side Note: Why is that people who disagree with me write comments that scream at me in CAPITAL LETTERS??? Or call me or people who feel the same way as I do, names? Don’t get me wrong, I’m tough, but I do find it fascinating. I just wish those who scream things that aren’t true would simply do some Googling to find out the real story. Or go to politifact(dot)com, a nonpartisan, Pulitzer Prize winning fact checking organization. Perhaps the falsehoods have become so second nature to them that they are fearful of actually learning the truth?

Ah, well.

A fascinating article, should you be so inclined.

• And may I just vent for a second or two more? Don was supposed to do three episodes of Mr. Robot. He’s done one. And as we waited and waited to hear when he was next going to be called and noticed that the time left for filming was dwindling, I urged him to ask for some clarification. It turns out he’s only doing one episode and no one told us.

Listen, I know things change all of the time and scripts are rewritten and storylines changed and, in this case, we know that they lost one of their locations, which I think might have been Don’s house on the series. I don’t know that for sure. But we were counting on the money that would come from those three episodes and on Don getting to work on that set more than once this season. Why the heck no one told us things had changed and that there was only going to be one episode rather than three, I don’t know.

It has nothing to do with his work because everyone there really likes him and the actress who plays his daughter loves working with him. Usually these things are not about the actor, and are more about logistics and writing and time.

It’s not the first time this has happened and any actor who has worked for a number of years will be able to regale you with stories of just this sort. But it’s disappointing – especially at a time when funds are very tight. Another reason to remember this maxim (at least in this business): Don’t count on it until it happens.

I cried a bit last night over this one.

But, we move forward.

7-6 beebalm

• We seem to be in a humid stretch here with air quality warnings each day. The air conditioners are humming and I’m staying indoors except to venture out to water my plants.

• And I’m still wrestling with NY State of Health and MVP Health Insurance to get a refund. As per usual, NY State of Health moves at a snail’s pace and I have to keep calling them to get an update. Did I ever tell you about the time I didn’t have health insurance for four months because of a computer glitch that no one at NYSofH could explain? I’m justifiably wary of them.

Okay. This post is a bit on the complain-y side. Sorry!

Let’s end with something positive. I love bunnies, birds, Henry, my husband, my sister and her family, and all of you.

Is that better?

Edited to add: Maybe I wasn’t clear: Don did one episode for this new season, so you will see him. You just won’t see him in three episodes.

Happy Wednesday.

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Sadness, Lists, Flowers and Rain

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