garden — Page 164

Happy: I Love This Time of Year

May 31, 2016 at 10:09 am by Claudia

Slow start this morning! That may be due to a bout of lawn mowing during the most humid and hot part of the day yesterday. What were we thinking? I don’t think we knew it was that humid when we decided to mow. And by the time we realized it…it was too late. We were really tired at the end of the day.

I also made Don get the older air conditioner that we used to use in the office (formerly guest bedroom) out of the shed. That room was impossible to work in because of the incredibly hot temps we’ve been having. Sweating, just having finished mowing, we lugged it upstairs and put it in the window, all the while crossing our fingers that it would work.

It did, thank goodness! We didn’t want to buy yet another a/c unit.

5-31 wildflowers

Wildflowers blooming right under the kitchen window.

5-31 clematis

The clematis is blooming like crazy!

5-31 wildroses

Wild roses, which are blooming all over the property. They are so delicate and beautiful. The rest of the year I curse them, of course, as I get stuck by the thorns. But right now? I love them.

I am so happy when I can work in the gardens, mow the lawn, look at our beautiful property that we love so much. Yesterday, as I was mowing, I kept saying to Don, “Isn’t it beautiful?” I’m very grateful. Tired…but grateful.

At the end of the day, we had the most spectacular sunset that turned the whole sky orange and lasted for at least 30 minutes. It went on and on and it was glorious,

5-31 sunset

You can see it reflected off our neighbor’s solar panels. Gorgeous.

The winner of a copy of June is Joan. Joan, I have sent you an email asking for your mailing address. Congratulations!

I’ve posted some more photos of Postmark Books on Just Let Me Finish This Page. Stop on by!

Happy Tuesday.

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Too Darn Hot

May 29, 2016 at 9:12 am by Claudia

Cripes. It’s been so hot here that we are under an air quality warning and have been for the past couple of days. It ‘felt’ – according the the weather report – close to 100 yesterday. Where the heck did Spring go? I’ve been staying in, just venturing out to keep water in the birdbath (they are drinking and bathing there almost constantly) and to water my seeds and potted plants.

All the rain that was predicted last week never materialized and we could really use some. I hope that tomorrow’s predicted rain comes. The birds, the animals, the plants, the grass – they all need a break.

5-29 catmint

The catmint has really taken off – purple blooms everywhere.

5-29 yarrow

Yarrow that has self-seeded over by the Chicken Wire Fence Garden.

5-29 clematisvines

Clematis twining and looping and blooming.

5-29 windchimes

Wind chimes moving gently in the breeze – when there is one.

I read a book in a day and a half. It’s titled Security and it’s by Gina Wohlsdorf. On my Kindle in eGalley form, it is un-putdownable. A high-tech thriller so well plotted and written that I was mesmerized. I’ll write a brief mini-review on Just Let Me Finish This Page today. It will be published on June 7th. Don was out doing a gig last night and there was nothing that interested me on television, so I just kept reading. And then I picked it up this morning and finished it. I love having a nice chunk of time in which to lost myself in a book. It’s the best.

Is anyone, other than Melanie, seeing ads that block the text or photos? I don’t mean the drop down ads that are sometimes above the first post. Those do open up and expand but are easily closed back up. I don’t seen anything on any of my browsers and I use Safari, Chrome and Firefox. I think it might be adware that’s on her browser, but I want to check with the rest of you.

Happy Sunday.

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Opening Night

May 28, 2016 at 9:37 am by Claudia

I’m getting started very slowly today as we didn’t get home until 1 am from the Opening Night of Anastasia. It was a long day – driving there took almost twice as long as usual because of the Memorial Day weekend, I suspect. I almost gave up, thinking we should just head back home. But oh! I am so glad we kept going.

I cannot tell you enough how glorious this musical is. Opening Night was one of the most magical nights I’ve even been a part of, and I’ve been in theater for, ahem, many years. I am sitting here, this morning, in my blogging chair, remembering bits and pieces of the night, snatches of songs, magical moments onstage, the roar of the crowd at the end of certain musical numbers, the cheers and foot stomping and bravos that filled the theater. Don was completely enthralled. He couldn’t stop talking about it and said it’s the best show he’s seen in years.

I love the cast, a group of super talented actor/singer/dancers with big hearts and a wonderful, positive attitude. I love Darko, of course – his brilliance is a given. The music and lyrics, the libretto, the choreography, the music direction, the costumes, the set design, the lighting, the projections – are superb. I grew up acting in musicals. They are my first love. And what I love about the musical theater are the lush, gorgeous songs of the greats: Rodgers & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart, Frank Loesser, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Kander & Ebb, Jule Styne, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin….what I don’t like is the Pop sound in a lot of recent musicals. I avoid them like the plague. Musical Theater should be larger-than-life, it should take you to a different place, a place where the feelings and emotions in a moment are so big, so momentous, that the character just has to sing.

Anastasia does that. Oh, how wonderful it is to witness something like this.

We spent some time at the party afterwards and then, about 11 pm, headed home. Not much sleep, but so worth it. It’s headed to Broadway sometime in 2017.

5-28 clematis

Before we left for Hartford, I noticed the clematis was blooming!

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As is the Lamium.

5-28 lamium

With these 90 degree temperatures, I suspect a lot of blooms are going to pop open. Staying inside with the A/C on today. Don has a gig tonight, poor guy, so he’s trying to sleep in.

Happy Saturday.

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Happy: I Love This Time of Year

Too Darn Hot

Opening Night

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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