A gray and unseasonably cold morning with rain on the way. I slept very little last night because I had some nightmares when I first fell asleep that left me very unsettled. So, I’m exhausted.
But this guy being here makes all the difference in the world. It may be gray and rainy but he’s here. I may be exhausted but he was here to comfort me this morning. It makes such a difference.
Even Monty thinks so.
I don’t know what we’ll do today, most likely it will be very low key. He’s tired, too.
This morning the groundhog (is it Henry, or are there two of them?) was walking by the kitchen door. Awfully close to the house for a shy little creature! And the neighbor’s cat was roaming our property which I don’t like because I don’t want him killing birds. At that point, the groundhog was hiding under my car and when I opened the door and gave a sharp clap to shoo off the cat, the groundhog took off, too. As did a robin. The groundhog is welcome. The cat is not.
This is what I saw when I was waiting in the car at the bus station. And believe me, it got even more spectacular. Don and I were gasping as we drove home.
Happy Monday.
hope you and don do whatever you find restful and enjoyable. being together with loved ones is just the best so may the clock move slow for you two until don has to go back to nyc.
i love cats and don’t like to see them outside. hope that cat goes home to eat and leaves the birds and squinnies alone. and i know nothing about groundhogs, if they are solo creatures or live in packs … but glad you see henry (or henrietta?) …
it’s supposed to reach 82 degrees here today. it’s already sunny and, as much as I love rain, i like the sunshine, too. 82’s a bit much now, even though tomorrow’s the first day of may (where does the time go?!?).
happy Monday … and i hope you sleep better tonight.
kathy in iowa
What a gorgeous sunset. A nice relaxing time at home is lovely. Enjoy your day and I hope the nightmares are gone!
Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing! I don’t appreciate stray cats roaming the streets nor the countryside. We have one stray here…that actually does have a home, but, the owner just lets him outside…in all weather. We let our cat out on the deck, but, for his safety, we have put up a 4 ft. fabric fence around he railings. It lets him be outside…which he loves, and keeps him safe…he can’t jump on the railings and fall off…or catch birds at the feeders, which makes me happy.
Hope you two enjoy your low key day!! ;)
Claudia, So happy Don was there for your comfort. It would be nice for you both, to be able to sit on the porch and enjoy the birds singing. Blessings, xoxo, Susie
p.s. love that sunset photo.
I hope you have a wonderful day together. We are to be near 80* today and tomorrow. It is all too crazy. It is as if things can’t grow fast enough. I am sure that when I walk around in the morning, by evening when I look, things have blossomed even further. We really do need rain, though. Possibility a few days this week!
Nightmares. When I heard people saying the fake president should get a Nobel peace prize. Now, there is a nightmare/ horror story/ gut-slayer thought all wrapped up in one. We all need massive comforting with that in the air.
Enjoy each and every moment today. Peace and smiles.
Nightmares can throw you off so much. Hope this relaxing day with Don helps you regain your equilibrium, Claudia. I have three rescue cats, and they don’t go outside. They seem perfectly happy and content being spoiled inside. I open the patio door and windows so they can smell the breeze that waft in. After their first nine months in the hard streets of Oakland, I think they appreciate the warmth and safety of a loving home.
Do you actually know if the cat attacks birds? I have had three outdoor cats and none of them attacked birds. One of them, we had for 10 years before he died, would sit a few inches away from a bird and just watch it. He also would attack big dogs to protect me, but when he went to attack a dog when he thought I was in danger, and he saw it was a tiny chihuahua, he stopped and went back to his seat on the porch. Some cats are like that.
I sometimes love rainy Sundays…Makes me relax more and not feel guilty about being inside after such a long winter. I am trying to finish up a blanket that I am crocheting so the rainy weekend was welcome. Hope you have more pleasant dreams….
I think spring has finally decided to stay here in Kentucky. There have been too many cool and rainy days. I hope you and Don are having a restful day and that the cay stays out of your garden. xo Laura
I was hoping it would be brighter/sunny for Don at home so he could enjoy the yard; oh well.
Last night, I watched that series called “Rock Legends” on AXS-TV (I don’t know exactly what this channel is – – something to do with Mark Cuban and Ryan Seacrest…and CBS [??] but I’m finding I watch it a lot because it has specials and shows all about the music I listened to in the 1960s-1970s; just so interesting to find out stuff I didn’t know then that’s revealed now about some of the musical artists).
It was about the Yardbirds which in its various forms included Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck; incredible to think about it. Sometimes I can’t believe I was listening to so much original, ‘new’-style, inventive music for the era, as it was happening, in real time, on little AM radios before FM was really happening for everyday kids like me.
I think it’s amazing to have grown up with these bands. They were making music none of us had ever heard before, finding all kinds of ways to play instruments; such an exploration, honing their skills with all sorts of experimentation, musically/lyrically. There was mention of “Cream” (Clapton et al) and I can remember so clearly when they came out with “Sunshine of Your Love” and “White Room” and we were spellbound because it was so unusual. And even where I grew up in the more ‘liberal’ environment of L.A. airwaves so to speak, it felt ‘racy’ to be listening to music – – OUR music – – that had to be edited after the adults finally figured out the words/meaning of the songs.
But we never forgot all those tunes. You watch one of these ‘Legends’ shows and here it all comes back, singing right along with the music, transported to 1967. And then I can’t believe it was 50 years ago and a lot of the musicians are dead now, so many succumbing to earlier deaths (their 40s, 50s, 60s) due to the earlier lifestyle which included too much alcohol and drugs.
In fact, I got to reading last night about what I’d just watched, not realizing how much Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton were influenced by seeing Jimi Hendrix play, which then led me to read about Jimi Hendrix again and I seem to have never known much about Hendrix and his tragic childhood with a very dysfunctional family, young children of alcoholics, in and out of foster care. The poor kid, how did he even get to adulthood?
Somehow, although not a surprise with that kind of bedtime reading, I couldn’t escape the nightmares last night either, Claudia. My husband said I was ‘exclaiming’ in my sleep, and I did bolt joltingly right out of all this dreaming which is, as you say, unsettling…and heart beating a mile a minute. I think this happened before – – that you spoke of having a bad dream, and then I’d had one, too. Maybe it’s a misalignment of stars in the sky (rueful grin).
Tonight will be better!
it’s like when Matt Dillon left Dodge. and though Chester was in charge and handled things…
there was just a feeling when Matt rode back into town. all was right again.
that’s how it is at your cottage. Matt shouldn’t stay away too long!
and seeing his head there in the lamplight with the uke in his hands… well. Matt’s home. XO
and WOWY !!! that sky is unbelievable. i’m a skywatcher from wayyyyy back. like childhood back! and that one is special.
Beautiful sky picture! Thanks to reading your blog I learned about the Netflix series with Monty Don. Thank you! Hope you have a better sleep tonight! Hugs, Jen
Sorry about those nightmares. I know the feeling about not being able to fall asleep. You are right about the cat concerning the birds. Enjoy your day with Don.
Marilyn
We have groundhogs under our front porch again, but we are having our sidewalk and porch dug up and redone, so the groundhogs will have to go back to our neighbor’s rotting garage from where they came from in the first place. The contractor even said that with our porch right up against our house, it’s very dangerous for us to have the groundhogs under the porch because they dig very long tunnels and will go under the foundation of our house. Can’t have our foundation ruined, that’s for sure! So we’re having this work done just in time. I hope. We’ll be able to see the damage when the porch is torn out.
The kitty won’t necessarily kill birds – not all do. Mine are strictly indoors, but there’s a neighbor (we don’t know exactly which one) who lets their cat roam freely 24/7 and my cats go insane when they see it out the window. I think it also sprays urine around our property. Grr.
Hope you and Don had a relaxing day at home. Sunny and in the high 70’s here today and tomorrow, then rain – but we desperately need it. We’re actually under a fire hazard warning today.
I agree. I have a lot of true feral cats in the outdoor area (a colony that’s out of sight and mostly keeps to themselves, only coming out at night when the birds are quiet and not flying so much) and even though I know these cats are one step from starving, they leave the birds alone. I only have/had one of these ‘bush’ kitties who was ever a ‘birder’ and she still is; it’s something deep in her DNA, more deep than the others (and she’s well-fed, by me, and an old lady now). It’s the hunter in her that even her own grown baby hasn’t the gene. But Claudia, you have the right to not have or want any cat in your yard. The two ferals and one stray-reverted-to-feral cat I feed do not ‘potty’ in their environment because it’s where they eat and sleep. They save it for the hillside, some place I never see; I never see them do ‘their business’. The mama who’s the birder is somebody I’ve been feeding for eleven years and I never once, ever, have seen her go to the bathroom in my yard in all that time…and I watch a lot, from my windows or when I’m out back. I’ve got a pretty wide view. And I don’t see or smell any evidence of it either. But I guess when a cat does come into a territory, perhaps an unneutered male, he maybe pees to mark and be King, who knows. But I personally haven’t had that problem, thankfully.
Enjoy your time ‘together’.
You’ll rest better with Don on the home front tonight. Only ‘happy’ television … stay away from the unsettling, which seems to be prolific these days.
Though I’m an animal lover with two ‘inside’ Manx cats. I understand your feelings of pet owners not keeping their cats inside. Predatory birds protected by federal laws are on the up rise, which are decimating the songbird population in our area of the Northeast. Now coupled with irresponsible pet owners. It’s quite noticeable by us birders doing our part with food, birdbaths & housing for our feathered friends. Hope Henry & Henrietta aren’t too prolific this summer.
This too shall pass …
– xo
PS … Netflix needs more episodes of Monty Don’s Big Dreams Small Spaces {… ? memory} as I finished it ALL … !
All things bright and beautiful,. All creatures great and small….
xo