garden — Page 206

No Pumpkins or Gourds; Just Flowers, Please.

October 7, 2013 at 9:32 am by Claudia

Attention: We interrupt the profusion and plethora of fall decorating posts to say, “Flowers are still blooming in Claudia’s garden.” Yes, there are wet leaves on the ground and the leaves on the trees are changing to gold and red. Yes, the weekends up here in apple country are full of weekenders picking apples and buying cider and pumpkins. Yes, we’ve got a lot of raking to do. A lot.

But, we’ve managed to avoid turning up the thermostat. We’ve managed to avoid raking. There is not one pumpkin or gourd anywhere on the property. I looked at some in the grocery store yesterday and had no trouble resisting them. So for now, I’m going to focus on the never-ending beauty of the garden, which is still performing, still enthralling.

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It may be October 7th here in the Hudson Valley, but flowers are still blooming. There will be plenty of time for fall, believe me. I’m not going there; at least for a few more days – a week if I can stretch it.

In other news, I finally managed to copy and paste the one hundred 90th Birthday wishes you so generously left for my dad. Obviously, I wanted to do it on my dad’s birthday, but I came home from Hartford on that day, Scout was ill and you know the rest. So I sent them to dad in 3 separate emails, along with the post itself. He said he had tears in his eyes as he read them and he wanted me to give you all this message:

To all the readers of Claudia’s blog: Thank you for all the Happy Birthday wishes. God bless you. (And I’m not as good a person as you think I am.) From Gordon Hill.

And I thank you as well. They really made my dad’s day and he felt the warmth of your greetings as he read each and every one of them. You are all such wonderful, generous friends. Thank you.

And in other-other news, my favorite poet, Mary Oliver, has a new book of poetry out. It’s called Dog Songs and it’s all about the many dogs that have been a part of her life. If you want to know more, this article was in the New York Times this morning. I love Mary Oliver. I will be putting this book on my wish list.

Scout improves each day. Yesterday, for the first time, she loped back down the hill after doing her business in the dog corral. And she pounced!

Happy Monday.
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Scout, Cups & Morning Glories

October 1, 2013 at 9:46 am by Claudia

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Amazingly, the morning glories are still blooming here at the cottage, with new buds everywhere. If it stays relatively warm, I should be able to see these beauties for a bit longer. The zinnias are also still blooming, as are the cosmos and geraniums. Thank goodness! Otherwise, I would be forced to confront my severely injured garden bed and the now lopsided sugar maple tree. Seeing these flowers sure goes a long way toward lifting my spirits. Don and I sat on the funky patio yesterday, with the sun on our faces and flowers blooming everywhere. Much needed.

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Splashes of color and riotous growth along the Chicken Wire Fence Garden = there’s still a bit of summer left. Of course, everywhere I look there are leaves on the ground so it makes for an interesting contrast between the onset of autumn and the end of summer.

Scout is hanging in there. The doctor gave her some Acepromazine (a sedative) yesterday and she apparently cannot metabolize it very quickly, so she remained out of it most of the day. I wish he hadn’t done that. The same thing used to happen with Riley. It wasn’t until around 5:00 or so that she started to shake it off. She’s sore and antsy and is constantly asking for water. I can only give her a bit at a time. She seems to have an appetite but she’s also a bit nauseous, due to the drugs in her system, so we’re taking things slowly. I really felt strongly that one of us should be downstairs with her during the night, so Don took the first shift and I took the second. She was constantly getting up and down during most of my shift, which kept me from sleeping. We finally moved to the den, where I set up her bed by the sofa and after another hour or so, we both got some sleep. Not enough, but it will do.

There’s still a bit of bleeding, but much less than there was. I’m keeping an eye on it. Her butt was shaved, of course, and I see she’s getting a bit of a rash, poor thing. Anyway. She’s here, she came through the surgery, she’s a fighter and she’s getting mildly demanding. That’s a very good thing.

Update: we’re going to take her in for an anti-nausea injection and some fluids. She threw up this morning. All of this was very, very hard on her.

I can’t tell you how much your prayers and support have meant to Scout, Don and me. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Remember the oversized tea/coffee cups I bought at Anthropologie?

Here is what I did with them:

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I originally saw this glass drying rack, along with some snazzy cups from Anthropologie, on a post at The Inspired Room. That post is what got me thinking about those cups again. And then I thought about the rack, which was only $14.99 at World Market. Of course, mine doesn’t look quite as pretty because I don’t have white counters and subway tile backsplash, but it will do.

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Coffee stations seem to be all the rage right now, but I’ve never felt the need for one. I always place my coffeemaker under the cupboard that holds our glasses and mugs. It’s also usually right next to the refrigerator where the half and half lives. Just makes sense. Since we don’t use flavored coffees or k-cups or any of that sort of thing and counter space is at a minimum here at the cottage, why the heck do we need a coffee station? Believe me, it took some rearranging just to give this drying rack a home, but I wanted to have those pretty cups on display. This is usually a darkish corner of the kitchen and those beautiful cups add the perfect punch of color. I think I’m going to keep my eye out for a vintage tole tray to put under the rack and the coffee maker.

Oh, forgot to tell you. The car repair was relatively minor and we passed the inspection in the nick of time. Yesterday was the deadline for our inspection! Now we have to deal with the chimney and the trees.

Love to you all on this Tuesday.

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What’s Rattling Around in my Head on a Wednesday Morning

September 11, 2013 at 9:04 am by Claudia

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I’ve been without air conditioning in this apartment since Friday. Most likely it was before Friday, but that’s when I got back here and that’s when I discovered it wasn’t working. Of course, it wasn’t until after 5:00 that I made that discovery and suddenly we were at the weekend, when nothing gets fixed. Monday? No one came by. Tuesday? A guy from Maintenance came by, played with the fuses, flipped a few switches and announced that it was the compressor. He would tell the front office, they would call a technician who would order the part and lord knows when this will get fixed.

Since it’s going to be 90 degrees and humid today and tomorrow, you can see why I’m a bit concerned. Company management has given me 2 fans and I’m currently sleeping with one of them aimed directly at my sleeping self. My allergies and sinuses are going a little haywire with this weather pattern and I’m sort of cranky. Actually, not ‘sort of’ – I am cranky.

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I had breakfast with Erika, my former student, yesterday morning. We had so much to catch up on that we ran out of time and we’re remedying that by meeting for breakfast again tomorrow morning. And trust me, we still won’t have covered everything by the end of that meal. I just adore her and yes, she’s someone I taught and nurtured, but she’s now a friend first and foremost.

Speaking of former students who are now friends, thanks to all who alerted me of Jim Parsons’ appearance on Who Do You Think You Are? I’m currently in the phase of coaching that centers on afternoon rehearsals and nighttime performances, so I couldn’t see it. But I will. That rascal, who I just chatted with via email, didn’t mention the program at all. But his plate is rather full at the moment with new episodes of Big Bang Theory being filmed and the upcoming Emmy Awards.

My priority last night when I got home was to catch the end of the final episode this season of So You Think You Can Dance, the only reality-type program I watch. And the end of the Red Sox game. Crap. So You Think You Can Dance is over for the season. Only one more episode of Newsroom. And only three more episodes of Breaking Bad. Those are the only shows I really care about in the vast and arid land that is cable television; the only shows I make time to see. Yes, I love Big Bang and Modern Family, but I can catch up with them any old time.

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Let’s talk shopping cart etiquette. We all learned to drive, right? And when we’re on the highway, there is, at the very least, a lane for slower moving traffic and a passing lane. We wouldn’t think of stopping our car in the middle of a road or highway. If we had to stop for some reason, we would pull over to the side of the road. Simple. And we certainly wouldn’t double park. We might get a ticket or cause an accident.

So why do shoppers routinely stop their carts smack-dab in the middle of an aisle? Or pull up along side an already ‘parked’ cart, making it virtually impossible to get by? And what about those shoppers who meander down the aisle, oblivious to everyone around them? The ones you have to say “Excuse me” to in order to get by. What about the carts of other shoppers that you have to physically move to the side of the aisle in order to get by?

This seems to be a simple concept. Drive your cart like you do your car. Be aware of other drivers, cede the right of way, pull over to the side of the road/aisle when you need to park. Don’t drive slowly in the fast lane.

This makes me nuts. It makes me especially nuts when I’m in the store on a quick visit to pick up a few things and I have to run the gauntlet of carts parked every-which-way and the inevitable cart pile-ups that result in a traffic jam.

Don’t get me started on umbrella etiquette. That’s another post, for another day.

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Just had to include Scoutie because I miss her. Love those pink ears. Just two and a half more weeks, sweetie, and I’ll be home.

Don’t forget my book review of The Returned which I posted yesterday. I loved this book and I’m giving away one copy. Leave a comment on that post if you are interested.

Happy Wednesday.

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No Pumpkins or Gourds; Just Flowers, Please.

Scout, Cups & Morning Glories

What’s Rattling Around in my Head on a Wednesday Morning

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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