garden — Page 213

Outdoors at the Cottage & the Power of a Good Book

July 5, 2013 at 7:45 am by Claudia

coneflower

The very first of my many purple coneflowers has bloomed. Coneflowers are in every garden bed around here and since they’ve gratifyingly reseeded themselves, they’re cropping up in some unexpected places, as well. I just love them. They are very cottage garden to me.

I’ve finished all the Deborah Crombie books except the very newest, which is in hardcover. I’m going through a little period of mourning. I find myself unable to commit to any of the other books that are sitting around here, ready and waiting to be read. This happens to me rarely, but it sure has happened with this series. I’ve grown to love the characters so much that I feel as if dear next-door neighbors have moved away. I want to hang out with these characters, to have tea with them in their home in London – I want to be their friend. I’ve been pressing my nose against their fictional windowpane and I want in!

Does that ever happen to you? Does a book or a series of books so enthrall you that you find yourself wanting to live in that world? It’s sort of a mixed blessing, but it certainly attests to the power of the well written word.

hostabloom

The hostas are sending up their flowers and will soon be blooming.

I went out in the early morning yesterday and mowed part of the lawn. It’s growing so fast because of all the rain we’ve had and I knew that with the 90 degree/90% humidity forecast for the day I had better get cracking early. Totally exhausting, this weather. I did get a nice chunk done and I’ll do some more today. But only in bits. Because this weather, which has hung on for days and days, is not the best or healthiest in which to do any chores. Don, my poor guy, is in a dorm with no air conditioning. The actors are miserable. It’s hard to sleep. Yesterday, he was scheduled for only a costume fitting, so he went to see a play in the afternoon and a movie in the evening, just to be in someplace air conditioned.

I would not be coping nearly as well as he is. I hate humidity.

lavender

The lavender planted in the raised bed by the kitchen door.

garden

The bee balm has spread this year and its splash of red really adds to the garden.

beebalm

See that wheelbarrow in the upper right hand corner of the photo? Several weeks ago, I lifted it and noticed a small ant hill under it. I lifted it yesterday and gasped out loud. There is a veritable city there. Look:

anttown1

Do you believe this? It’s fascinating. It reminds me of ancient pueblos or those Indian dwellings carved into stone in the Southwest. How do they do it?

Good thing I don’t have to use the wheelbarrow at the moment.

Happy Friday.

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Merci

June 28, 2013 at 7:34 am by Claudia

hydrangeawithdrops

Goodness. What beauty there is in a flower. I watch and observe my flowers all of the time, but seeing them through the lens of a camera is another thing altogether.

Thank you for taking the time to leave your wise, compassionate, loving comments on yesterday’s post. And thank you for letting me know it’s okay for me to write something like that and post it on this little spot on the web. We’re here to help each other and to love each other. When I write something from deep within my heart, whether it’s happy or sad or frightened, it not only helps me but it seems to help you. There is a huge comfort in knowing we are not alone. Oftentimes, it’s easy to think you are the only one who feels the way you do. But you’re not. So I thank you for sharing your wisdom and for being there for me. I knew you would be, just as sure as I knew the sun would rise and set today and tomorrow. We’ve tried most everything you suggested – believe me. It ain’t easy to find any kind of work when you are our age. Especially around my neck of the woods. I have to believe that the work I am doing is what I’m meant to do. Sometime, I will list all the ‘other’ jobs I’ve had in my life. There are many. You’d be impressed.

I will freely admit to a tear or two coming to my eyes as I read through all your comments. You are a gift – all of you. Having this blog has been an amazing experience for me for many reasons, but the chief benefit has been the blessing of your friendship.

Let’s have a mini garden update. I managed to snap some pictures in between the rain and thunder that will be with us for the next seven days. Between the impossibly high temperatures/humidity and the rain, I’ve been feeling cut off from the outdoors. I mowed part of the lawn yesterday in an atmosphere that can only be described as a sauna, just to get outside again. I was a wet noodle at the end of it all.

beebalm

Some of the bee balm has bloomed.

whiteconeflower

The various white coneflowers that I planted last year have just started blooming.

studyinspirea

The spirea’s first bloom is coming to an end.

rosehydrangea

Just plain pretty.

sedum

Can Sedum Autumn Joy re-seed? After 8 years here, I’m seeing a few little babies cropping up. There’s one in the lower left hand corner of the photo, as well. What a wonderful surprise. Ignore the weeds.

bunny

My little buddy. Taken through the kitchen window. He sat in this position for at least ten minutes.

Let me leave you with a couple of reminders. I wrote a book review 2 days ago and I’m giving away a copy of the book. You have until Sunday night to be entered. Just leave a comment on that post.

Remember that Google Reader is no more as of Monday, July 1st. If you read your blogs through Google Reader, you’ll need to transfer your feed. There is a lot of information out there as to other readers. I’ll leave that to you. I transferred mine to Bloglovin and I’m quite happy with it. You can also follow me on Bloglovin. There is a follow widget on my sidebar.

I’m trying a new font for my post titles. I love this blog design and I’m perfectly happy with it. I just like to change a little something or other every once in a while.

Happy Friday.

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Adventures While Driving

June 25, 2013 at 9:14 am by Claudia

crownvetch

Oh lord. It’s in the nineties with lots of humidity – for the whole week.

I’m not the type of girl who thrives in a humid climate. Oh no. I wilt, I get testy, my brain turns to mush. Yesterday’s drive to Williamstown and back was smack dab in the midst of high temps and humidity. On the way back, the temperature gauge on our 12 year old car kept moving towards HOT. This same thing happened to us last year, mostly in the summer. Our mechanic could never figure out what was causing it, at least not enough to charge us a lot of money for something he was unsure of. When this happens, I have to add coolant. Fortunately, I always carry some with me. So there I was, on a country road, searching for a place to pull over. I ended up in the parking lot of a motel, where I then had to wait thirty minutes for the car to cool down. Hot sun. Sweat. Not a pretty picture. Eventually I added the coolant and it was smooth sailing.

Until I ran into a severe thunderstorm as I drove through the Berkshires. Lightning strikes everywhere, rain so heavy I could barely see the car in front of me, hail, you name it. A precarious Hudson River bridge crossing where I could barely see the side of the bridge. Cars slowing to a crawl. Cars pulled over on the side of the road. This went on for quite a long time.

I was more than ready to see my driveway awaiting me at the end of this journey.

beebalm

The bee balm is starting to blossom.

Williamstown is charming. I’ve been there before, but the last time I saw something at that theater was in the mid-eighties and a whole new complex has been erected in the meantime. I didn’t have time to do anything other than help Don get settled. He’s staying in student housing; sort of like a dorm, but nicer. He’s in a house that has individual rooms, a common room and a nice kitchen. The dorm room I lived in never had a hardwood floor or tall, beautiful windows. I distinctly remember tile floors and cinderblock walls. There is no air conditioning, however. We brought along a fan and the theater provided him with two more. I hope he had some cool air during the night.

As he slept on his twin bed. 6 foot 4 inch Don on a dorm-room-sized bed. Oh boy.

coneflower

Coneflower

He shares a bathroom with another actor. Fortunately, that actor is an old friend of ours who is also in Pygmalion. She is a wonderful actress and her partner of many years is also an old friend of Don’s. When I spoke to him last night, he said that it was so nice having both of them there and it helped make his birthday a little more special.

Because I did drop him off and leave smack dab in the middle of his birthday.

The Williamstown Theater Festival is a major force in the theater and well respected and lots of well known, even famous, actors work there. Don’s already spotted several. When I went there in the mid-eighties, I saw a play directed by Joanne Woodward. It was opening night and I spotted Paul Newman in the audience. Afterward, I saw them walk away from the theater, hand-in-hand. That image is still vivid in my mind, all these many years later.

hydrangea

Hydrangeas have bloomed

I have to get going and water my moisture-starved plants. There’s a chance of a thunderstorm or two almost every day this week. Good. The garden could use a good rain.

Happy Tuesday.

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Outdoors at the Cottage & the Power of a Good Book

Merci

Adventures While Driving

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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