This sunset occurred about a week ago. If you look just above the sunset near the trees on the left, you’ll see the crescent moon.

Monday again. We had rain and thunderstorms yesterday and it looks like we’ll get more later this afternoon. There was terrible flooding in Connecticut. I hope the readers of this blog that live there are okay.

I thought I might mow but it looks like Mother Nature has other plans. I’ve been cleaning bathrooms (my least favorite job,) reading a lot, and hanging out with my husband. We finished watching season 4 of Babylon Berlin and now we’re going to watch it again from the very beginning. The same with Northern Exposure, which we also finished. The last season of that show was not as good as the others. Rob Morrow, who played Dr. Joel Fleischman, wanted to leave the series to work in film and the producers talked him into staying for a portion of the final season. After his departure, they brought in another doctor and his wife and the writing and storytelling declined. We have lots of thoughts on what went wrong. Morrow was the heart of the series and his departure left a huge hole. They shouldn’t have brought in two new characters. The rest of the cast was excellent and wonderfully quirky and their storylines would have been just fine. The writing was uneven. Watching the latter half of that season found me sighing. A lot. We want to watch it again, but this time it will only be seasons 1 – 5.

This week, however, will be primarily reserved for the Convention. Conventions often bore me, but this time? I think it will be exciting and hopeful and just what the doctor ordered.

This morning Don has to go to the eye doctor and I am going to attempt – again – to return a book to Amazon, which means I have to drive to a Staples south of us. If you remember, the last time I tried to return the book, I got all the way to Staples and a woman coming back to her car told me that their online connection to Amazon wasn’t working so they couldn’t process returns. I’m girding my loins and giving it another try.

Little birds, probably Carolina wrens, are sleeping in the hanging plants overnight and I can hear them waking up in the morning. It is the sweetest thing. I heard them on Saturday morning and then three of them appeared on the porch railing. This morning, I heard them again. It was still dark out but light was beginning to appear in the sky. Last year, we had a Carolina wren sleeping on top of the porch light. I’m glad they feel safe here.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

The grass on the front lawn was so long that mowing was a real slog. Don, in an inspired moment, grabbed the other lawnmower. He went at it from one end, and I went at it from the other. Even so, we had to take a break halfway through. When you have lots of dangerously hot days followed by a few days of rain – including torrential tropical storm rain – the grass and the weeds in the garden get out of control.

I did do a bit a weed trimming as well, but there’s much more to be done out there. Lots and lots of cleanup. The trouble is: this is the time I stop caring as much about the gardens. So I have to work against that and force myself to pull weeds.

I sat on the glider later in the day – it was such a lovely day – and listened to the bullfrog, who has been very vocal the last couple of days, Today is beautiful, as well. Don and I are going to resume our library walks, so later on this morning, we will head on over.

I started a book the other day that I had ordered from a library. A mystery. I know of the author, who is quite prolific. Boy, within the first three pages, I knew I did not like her writing. Not one bit. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s too glib, too trendy…all style. Formulaic. It’s the kind of writing that has proliferated since Gone Girl  and, if you remember, I threw that book across the room because it was manipulation for the sake of manipulation. I’ll return it today. Unfortunately, I have another one by the same author coming. Maybe I can cancel it.

So that was disappointing.

I’m still reading The Mirror and the Light, so I’m good. But because it’s historical fiction and pretty dense, I like to have another book going at the same time.

Loved the closing ceremony of the Olympics. Though, if I never see Snoop Dogg again, I’ll be fine. We felt there was way too much emphasis on celebrities. I’m relieved we can get back to our normal rhythms around here, but I will miss the Olympics. It’s always so inspiring.

Okay. Have to finish my coffee so we can take that walk.

By the way, I walked outside to take the above photo and the temperature was quite cool. Heaven!

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

What a day yesterday!

It rained a lot. A real lot. By the early afternoon we were under a tornado watch as tropical storm Debby started to blow through the Hudson Valley. The rain was torrential, scarily so, and it went on for hours. My phone went off once with a flash flood warning and then, about a half hour later, another alert: Tornado Warning. Oh boy. It was for the next twenty minutes and after some searching, I found it was for the county just south of us and we were included in the warning, because we’re just over the border.

All is well, obviously. We passed the deadline for the warning. The rain continued until about 7 pm.

We very seldom get tornado watches or warnings. The last time I can remember was about 3 or 4 years ago.

Did I say we needed rain?

Well, we got it.

Thanks, Mother Nature.

A very intense day. Today is beautiful and sunny, like nothing ever happened.

We’re lucky. We never lost power. I know there’s a lot of damage in the Hudson Valley and CT and further north. No damage here. The trees are fine. The sump pump kept working – for a while there it was going on and off every minute.

I have so much catch up work to do outside. Weeds to trim, pull. Grass to be mowed. But today is just too darned wet, so I’ll wait a day.

I have a feeling little Wren’s arrival will be delayed. There is no update on the tracking number. I imagine lots of flights were delayed/cancelled yesterday.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.