Overgrown, late summer. I love this stage, when everything is looking kind of wild and a little bit past its prime.

Our mornings have been very, very cool this week. It feels like fall. Such a strange thing to happen in mid-August, which is usually very hot and humid. But everything is topsy-turvy nowadays, we’ve had hot and humid most of the summer, so we’re getting a little break now. Perfect weather to mow, which is what we’ll be doing later this morning. Don is at the grocery store right now; I’m writing this post rather quickly so I can help him wipe everything down when he returns home.

I’m up far too late in the evenings during the Democratic Convention, but it’s worth it. Barack Obama’s speech last night was one of the best (in a long list of bests) that I’ve ever heard. It was powerful, hopeful, and chilling at the same time. He didn’t mince words. This is what we’ve been waiting for him to say and he chose the perfect moment in which to say it. If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to find it online. We are fighting for our democracy and if we don’t elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, we will see it disappear.

Kamala Harris’ speech was excellent.

I should finish Hamnet  today and then I’ll move on to James Lee Burke’s newest. He’s a mystery/police procedural writer who is, at heart, a poet. I love every one of his Dave Robicheaux books and I’ve read them all.

That’s all for now, my friends. I have to wrap this up and get moving – again, sleeping too late because I’m up too late!

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

A very cool and foggy morning today. I’m wearing my shawl. If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was autumn. But it’s going up to nearly 80 today, so it’s still summer. I’m not quite ready for fall yet, though I am definitely enjoying this cool morning.

Ah, the sun just came out.

Friends, there is not much that is new around here. I did a lot of laundry yesterday, took it easy (sinus crap, ongoing) took part in a mini bidding war (on a mini) on eBay, read some more of Hamnet, began watching Knives Out  on Amazon Prime until we both looked at each other and said “This isn’t very good.” (I know some of you really liked it. As always, that’s just our opinion.) As Don said, “It needed to be directed by Wes Anderson.” Then we watched a couple of episodes of Frasier  because ending the day with laughter is the best medicine.

I have to make a quick run to the post office today; Barbara, your package finally arrived. I think I’m going to start in on an organizing project. My minis are all over the place and I’d like to centralize the pieces that I’m not working with on one shelf in the closet. I know there are boxes in the closet and I have no idea where they are. It doesn’t help that the closet is currently blocked by boxes of canned goods and toilet paper – we call it our pantry extension.

Then I have to figure out the window situation in the dollhouse; once I have a handle on that, I can start in on the floors and wallpaper. The windows are what I least want to tackle, but I have no choice as I can’t do anything else until they’re done.

But I’m still feeling under the weather, so all these plans may or may not happen today. We’ll see.

Tonight, the Democratic Convention.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

The rear of this scene is the tree that was cut in half by the hurricane. The arborist said that maples always split that way. Anyway, at some point this week, we’ll hear when they’re coming, though this guy is a bit off-putting. Just a bit terse, could easily go to cantankerous. But we don’t have to love him, right? Especially since we’ll be hiding in the house.

The morning glories are okay, but there aren’t nearly as many vines as in previous years. It might be due to the drought we’ve been in. I also didn’t add any fresh soil this year because of the pandemic, so that might have been a factor as well. I barely remember buying the seeds, I grabbed them so quickly. It was my first trip outside the house with a mask on and I was nervous. I swept through the nursery very, very quickly. So I’m a bit surprised at the color, but I like it.

Overslept again. And again it was because I woke up in the middle of the night and stayed awake for about an hour. I’m also very congested and feeling a tad under the weather so I think that is contributing to the long sleep. Poor Don. He was waiting for me to get up so he could make a run to the store. (He just got back.) He wanted to get the whole thing done before the store got crowded. Bless him for doing that.

We watched Grand Hotel  last night, one of my favorite movies. Don is now fascinated by Garbo. She really was one-of-a-kind and, in addition to being incredibly beautiful, she was a wonderful actress. The scene where she and John Barrymore are in profile, looking into each other’s eyes, is mesmerizing. And I think Lionel Barrymore’s portrayal of Otto Kringelein is his best work ever – beautiful, touching, funny, moving. Grand Hotel  and Dinner at Eight, made a year apart, I think, are automatic “we have to watch this” movies. If you get TCM and have On Demand, they’re both available at the moment.

I’m very much into Hamnet  now. My lord, it’s written so beautifully.

The weather is a bit cooler this weekend and we had some light rain this morning, which was lovely, though I don’t think it’s quite enough to keep me from watering.

I hope all is well with you.

I’m taking it easy today.

Don is still outside disinfecting everything.

He deserves a second cup of coffee, don’t you think?

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.