Life at the cottage, taken in the morning because I was sitting on the loveseat, still drinking my second cup of coffee.

Wow! The convention was terrific. I liked it so, so much better than the usual fare. Truth be told, I usually zone out during conventions, waiting to hear the big speeches. All of the hoopla, signs, funny hats, balloons, and noise is distracting, so I usually busy myself with something else until Don says, “So-and-so is going to speak!”

This year’s experience was intimate and powerful and so well done, especially since the Dems had to invent an entirely new convention. Bravo! Last night; the young boy with the stutter who spoke so movingly, the words of the Biden family, the stories of Joe’s kindness and compassion and strength in the face of despair. His speech may be the best I have ever heard from him. He was magnificent.

I’ll be glad to get back to our regular sleeping schedule, but boy, staying up late was worth it. I feel hope again.

And Steve Bannon was arrested. Perfect. Grifters, one and all.

We came up with our voting plan this morning. We will vote in person, but early. This is the first year that New York has had early voting, and we can vote in our neighboring town at the Community Center from October 24 – November 1st. We don’t trust the mail simply because OM is doing all he can to keep us from voting by mail. So we figure we’ll be able to vote sometime within that nine-day time period and social distance while doing it. If it seems crowded that day, we’ll come back later or the next day. That’s our plan.

I’m close to finishing Hamnet.  I cannot say enough how beautifully written it is. Extraordinary. And since it deals with death in the time of the Plague, it doubly resonates. O’Farrell writes about grief so movingly; the pain, the raw, laid-bare emotions, the sense of unreality. I have to put it down at times because it is so beautifully, excruciatingly painful. It’s a gem.

The newest James Lee Burke is sitting here waiting for me after I finish Hamnet.

We mowed like crazy yesterday and we were pretty tired for the rest of the day. Today? Hopefully, I’ll get to the organization in the office that I wanted to do earlier in the week.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

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.