garden — Page 174

Autumnal Light

September 21, 2015 at 8:40 am by Claudia

9-21 late summer hydrangea

I’ve been exploring the autumnal light that comes in very late afternoon. It’s bright and golden with that sort of autumn tinge that tells me the seasons are changing.

Yesterday, as if a switch was suddenly flipped, the temperature dropped to the low seventies and last night the temps were in the fifties. Hello, Autumn!

The garden beds are flashing a flower here and there, but basically, they’re getting ready to go to sleep. Henry/Henrietta has been spotted chowing down more than a few times a day. I suppose he/she is getting ready for hibernation.

The doves came back to the birdbath last night.

9-21 late summer zinnias

Our dear friend, Adrian, came to visit us yesterday and stayed with us last night. Adrian (who coincidentally has the same last name as Don) has been friends with Don for over 40 years and with me for over twenty. He’s such a great guy – an actor, like Don. In fact, I’ve coached him out at the Old Globe. He’s been filming a movie about Ernest Hemingway over the past few years in which he plays Hemingway. After a long and sometimes stressful period of filming and not filming and waiting to start again (they filmed at Hemingway’s home in Cuba) the final editing has been finished and Papa had a screening at a film festival in Boston on Thursday. We’re so excited for him! It will premiere in Havana. Fingers crossed for all that is good for our friend.

9-21 zinnia and fly

I’m halfway through Come Rain or Come Shine by Jan Karon. It’s a lovely and gentle read. I believe it will be officially released tomorrow. A review on Just Let Me Finish This Page tomorrow.

Don’s new CD, Ready for the Radio, has been mastered and will now be duplicated, printed and packaged. Whoo hoo! It is really, really well done. Both Don and Dan have poured their considerable talents into this recording and I can’t wait until I can hold it in my hands.

Happy Monday.

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A Parrish Sky

September 18, 2015 at 8:46 am by Claudia

9-18 parrish sky

That, my friends, is a Maxfield Parrish sky.

Don called me over to the door, where he had been checking on Scout while she was outside, because that sliver of moon was so beautiful in the evening sky.

Lovely, simply lovely.

Still coughing, still feeling under the weather, but every day I feel a little less so. So that’s good.

We have a friend coming on Sunday to spend the night, so I’ve been cleaning. A little here, a little there, nothing too taxing. There’s nothing like an impending visit to make you see all the dust and crumbs and dirty grout, is there?

I’m still reading The Girl in the Spider’s Nest. Normally, I would have finished it by now, but I haven’t always felt like reading or concentrating for any length of time. This morning, however, I read a nice big chunk. It’s really well written.

I had been planning on working on the Top Secret Project when Don was in the city this week for auditions. Those plans were scuttled when I got sick. Darn it! So there’s nothing new to report there. I plan to find some time this week to do some interior painting and flooring.

I forgot to pick a winner for the Coercion giveaway. So sorry! The winner is Karen. Congratulations, Karen! I’ve sent you an email.

Must include a flower photo, as it won’t be long until I have no more flowers to share with you.

9-18 hollyhocks

My surprise hollyhock is still blooming. What a gift this plant has been! Hollyhocks aren’t annuals here and this one was self-seeded, so I’m not counting on seeing it next year. But who knows? Some seeds may find their way into another garden bed. That’s the wonder of gardening, isn’t it?

Happy Friday.

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The Repercussions of Trying to Beat Out the Rain & Other Things

September 13, 2015 at 9:06 am by Claudia

Do you ever play a game with the rain? I do it sometimes when I’m mowing. Yesterday, the clouds got increasingly dark and heavy. I knew rain was in the forecast. I was mowing the front lawn (after having mowed the corral and the lilac side of the lawn) thinking, “I’ll just mow the longer part of the lawn before it rains, otherwise it will get too long and will be difficult to mow.”

Don had given me strict instructions not to do too much, but little raindrops started to fall – just a few, here and there, and I immediately wanted to see how far I could get before I had to give up and flee into the cottage.

I managed to finish it all. Huzzah!

But, then again, I did far more mowing than I should have, which led to an allergy attack last night and into the night and very little sleep.

Crap.

That’ll show me.

I definitely feel under the weather, but I hope it’s all gone by the end of the day.

9-13 daddylonglegs1

I keep seeing daddy longlegs on the hollyhocks. After several sightings over the course of the last month, I can’t believe it’s a coincidence.

I googled ‘daddy longlegs and hollyhocks’ and saw several photos which look a lot like mine, so obviously others are seeing them, too. But I could find no explanation as to why they seem to gravitate to these flowers.

9-13 daddylonglegs2

Two flowers, two daddy longlegs. (By the way, I wondered if daddy longlegs needed a dash somewhere in the spelling, but the dictionary gave me this configuration, so I’m going with it.)

Another ‘by the way’; I saw birds in the birdbath a day or so ago: three catbirds and a robin. The robin, as usual, merely by his size, drove the catbirds away. But they stayed nearby and as soon as Mr. Robin left, they were back at it. I was so happy to see some activity there!

Finished Dishing the Dirt by M.C. Beaton, which is an easy read that can be done in a day. In fact, that’s what I did. I’ll be reviewing it this week on Just Let Me Finish This Page. Now, I’m starting The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz, the author chosen by the executors of the late Steig Larsson’s estate to continue the series. It’s had good reviews and I can’t wait to dive in.

The library is a wonderful resource. I reserved The Girl in the Spider’s Web and it didn’t take all that long for me to rise to the top of the queue. Another Huzzah!

9-13 morningglory

Yesterday’s morning glory.

Today is the last day to leave a comment on my book review. I’ll pick the winner tonight.

Okay. I’m off to cough some more and blow my nose and, hopefully, feel less yucky and start my book.

Happy Sunday.

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Autumnal Light

A Parrish Sky

The Repercussions of Trying to Beat Out the Rain & Other Things

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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