Yesterday was a busy and lovely day. I happily potted away on the porch, in the Secret Garden, and on the Funky Patio and Don, who had vowed to rest up, mowed the back forty. I still have some more potting to do, but I accomplished a lot yesterday.
Earlier in the day, I asked Don if we could take a drive to another town where a specific farm stand carried the type of lavender I like. So, after lunch on an 80 degree day (!), we got in the car and drove over the mountains (the long way) to this little town. It’s a beautiful place, with old stone houses. So picturesque!
We stopped at a place I’ve shared with you before:
Remember this great old cooler? I swear, that Art Deco lettering gets me every time.
They don’t carry a lot of plants, but I did find my lavender and Don bought some herbs, which I’ll repot. We drove back home the shorter way, which is equally beautiful. It was just enough time away. Perfect.
Given that the temperature reached 82, it was unseasonably hot and humid and it stayed that way throughout the night. We both had an uncomfortable night. When Don got up, the temperature in the house was 78. But it’s raining now and the temperature has dropped to the sixties. Of course, as seems to be the case here lately, we’ll pay for the high temperature with thunderstorms today and…you guessed it…high winds tomorrow. Can you hear my sigh?
All that being said, we’re grateful for a rainy day. We’ve been very busy and we need a day off.
I’ve started The Paris Library. I’m only about 30 pages into it and I know it’s a fascinating story. But after the beautiful, seemingly effortless prose and storytelling of Emily St. John Mandel, who manages to juggle several plot lines with grace and ease, the writing here seems labored and the introduction of characters and plot points clumsy. Don’t worry, I plan to stay with it, but the differences in skill and style are somewhat jarring.
Today? Some cleaning, some time with my new puzzle, some time with my husband.
All good.
Stay safe.
Happy Thursday.
Claudia, pleased you had a nice drive and foundwhat you wanted at the market. It’s the type of market I do like to visit. What kind of lavender did you buy? I have Spanish’ French and English lavender planted in my garden and the bees are finally back for the second, working in and around them.
I can’t remember what type it is and I’m inside right now.
I just recognize it when I see it!
Stay safe, Wendy.
Sounds like a perfect day yesterday. Except for the warm night. We are making our first trip to a greenhouse today, finally.
I find I have little patience for books that don’t draw me in right away or seem to be a chore to read. I used to feel guilty if I didn’t finish a book. Now, I feel like life is too short to waste on a book I’m not enjoying. It does sometimes pay off to stick with it awhile though and see if it gets better.
Enjoy the rain today and I hope you don’t get too much wind.
Stay safe
Since it’s about the American Library in Paris during WWII, I’d like to try to stick it out. We’ll see.
Stay safe, Marilyn!
Claudia I love the pictures of your front porch….in progress. That seems to be my life also. My allergies are killing me and I have all the right intentions but think I will have to stay our of the weeds for a few days. I love the spring weather but it doesn’t love me. Loved your soon to bud lilacs. I have very few flowering trees or bushes on our property. Just planted a large evergreen to replace one we lost this past winter. I saw a cardinal perching on it this morning. Hope that is a good omen. Have a great day.
Allergies are really tough this year!
I love cardinals, Maria.
Stay safe.
I am reading “Heart of Fire” which is written by Senator Mazie K. Hirono, Hawaii’s first female senator and also “the first Asian American woman elected to – and the only immigrant currently serving in – the US Senate”. She collaborated with Rosamarie Robotham, a woman whose blog I read. I am amazed at all of the struggles her family had to work through to survive and how she came from poverty to accomplish so much! It is an interesting biography of Japanese, Hawaiian, and American life through her lifetime.
Immigrants bring so much to our country!
Have a nice day with Don!
Mazie Hirono is an amazing person.
Stay safe, Ellen!
I have been on the list for The Paris Library for a couple of months, and it looks like I should have it within 2 weeks or so. I have been waiting to read it. It is the “downside” to being an avid reader sometimes ~ the event of switching authors takes us a bit of time to acclimate to a new style, especially after reading a book we are still enjoying in memories. My last Miss Read book of the series came in yesterday, so I will finish my visit back to Fairacre. It has been a lovely few weeks re-reading through those wonderful books. It has been many years, so much of it was like a new adventure this time around. I hate for my trip to end.
I think I need to journey to a few nurseries very soon. The first trip of the season truly overwhelms me every yer. The beauty and color of the plants, the scent, the possibilities, are all almost too much. I always go away on that first trip with one or two things, and need to process all that I saw and go back to do some actual purchases. So many beautiful choices. And, like you, there are a couple of little places where I know to find a particular plant I use every year, and go back year after year for that one special plant at that one establishment. Such good memories!!
Enjoy your rainy day. I imagine your plants will appreciate the rain water, but perhaps not the wind. We are supposed to have 80’s over the weekend. We will be staining a new deck that was built about a year ago. They told us to let the wood season for a year. Always a lot to do at this time of year! Take care.
Going to the nursery is always inspiring. You should do it, Chris.
It’s incredibly windy here today, which my plants do not enjoy!
Stay safe.
Watching British shows, I have seen so many lovely gardens planted with lavender that I have decided to plant more around my yard. In pots, if I have to. And definitely more herbs for the bees and hummingbirds. Will have to see how that goes.
Mine is in a pot. It works well that say.
Stay safe, Jan!
I deleted “The Paris Library” sample only several pages in. I’d downloaded copies onto my phone, iPad and my Mac because I was convinced it would be a great read. Too many of today’s authors fail on so many levels. Enjoying Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies.” It was published a few years but but checks all the boxes for great fiction. I dive into it when “The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames” becomes too painful.
Isn’t it interesting how we still talk about the weather? It affects us more than most of us realize. I try to to complain about it when it affects my aging joints, interferes with plans made, or seems disagreeable in general. As a result, I’ve learned to love it. The Deep Freeze came with benefits here in Texas. The annoying, destructive insect population is at a manageable level. We’re talking invasive beetles, the crazy ants AND our giant mosquitoes. The skeeters are bold enough to plague us in past winters. Not this one though.
Looking forward to your review of “The Paris Library.”
The weather really effects me, especially my allergies and sinus problems. I wish it wasn’t that way, but it is.
Stay safe, Bobbie.
hope you get to enjoying the “paris library” book. if not, glad you have another one you can read. :)
glad you had a nice drive, found the lavender at a favored market (with that very cool cooler … love that)!
the rain sounds like a welcoming gift to your new plants and a hint for you and don to take a break. hope you enjoy that and the new puzzle, too! :)
an air conditioner was installed yesterday by my very nice landlord (one example is he provides the a-c and stores it over the winter … and it’s numbered so I get the same a-c each year) because it was 84 on monday. window air conditioners are noisy and not, in my opinion, nice to look at, but i will enjoy it and am grateful for it and my landlord’s kindness.
also grateful that i get my second “moderna” vaccine tomorrow morning. i have some questions that of course the CDC’s current guidelines don’t or can’t address so i still worry. i will try, but i don’t think i will be good at “letting go” after the past fourteen-plus months of fear and sadness, etc. and sometime it all just feels so surreal, like the sci-fi kind of books i don’t read. wish it was all just a book.
anyway … better days ahead for everyone! :)
stay safe and have a nice day!
kathy in iowa
kathy, so glad you have your 2nd shot tomorrow. It does give a feeling of peace. But, I am with you. I still can’t imagine sitting inside a restaurant, or being in a large group of people. Being an introvert, I actually haven’t felt hampered too much over the last year, and an empty calendar makes me rather happy. EXCEPT for that beautiful granddaughter!!!! But the fam is all vac now, we kept our pod very small, so those missed holidays are in the rear view mirror now, and we are babysitting her every Monday. It is so very much fun!! My little world is in tact, but I am still not ready for letting in the outside world. Good luck w your shot. Be prepared to rest !!
hej, chris …
i am so happy for you and your family to get to routinely spend time together now and you can play with your granddaughter in person! :)
i am an introverted person, too. add in being a social worker, this awful pandemic and so many people still believing it’s a hoax … well, i will continue to limit interactions, too. sad … i want to enjoy (and be) more of the goodness in the world, but will be waiting and praying for more positive signs about the vaccines helping, etc. before eating in a restaurant or going to a concert …
had my second vaccine this morning. tender spot at the injection site is all right now. no peace yet, but hope to get there. part of it is there are still so many unknowns and i haven’t had a way to physically release stress since my back broke months ago (physical therapy is helping with movement, but it’s not like running has been for me all my life). will keep at it.
thanks, chris, very much for your encouragement. :)
hope you get to see your granddaughter this weekend!
stay safe.
kathy in iowa
kathy in iowa
I have another 30 or 40 I can read! There is no lack of reading matter in this house.
Glad you have your a/c installed. No, I don’t think they look all that attractive, but I really don’t care! They do the job.
Congrats on your second vaccine!
Stay safe, Kathy.
oops … i replied, but not in the right place. scroll down, if you like.
kathy in iowa
I look forward every day for your post. Love all your info and pictures. Stay safe and God Bless you and Don.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Barbara!
Stay safe.
Sounds like an idyllic day yesterday….a drive in the country, mixed with a cute store in search of lavender.
Tomorrow we are venturing out to a nursery to buy annuals for my containers. I won’t be planting right away. The average last frost around here is May 10, but last year we had one on the 20th. So, the plants will be on carts I can wheel in and out of the garage til they are planted. I am beyond excited.
Hope you have a pleasant evening! ;)
Donnamae, we do the same thing. The plants have much time on wheels being put in and out of the garage, and my hubs says our driveway looks like we are having a plant sale. I haven’t ventured out to get plants yet. Maybe tomorrow aft for a drive. Our FFA has their annual plant sale starting on Sat and I have to get my order ready for that, also. I do wish we would get a bit of rain sometime soon. They predict it, and we get abour 17 drops and that is it. Have fun picking out your flowers!!
We do need rain!! Hopefully next week we’ll get more than just a few drops. Happy plant shopping! ;)
Have fun looking for annuals! Getting out to the nursery is so inspiring!
Stay safe, Donna.
Our temps have dropped a lot after 80, too. But they’ll be back up soon enough. I need to get lavender this year. My plants died last year and I didn’t replace them. I’m due for a nursery visit next week, although we know better than to plant anything outside (apart from a few cold weather veggies) before May 15/Memorial day!
That market cooler is terrific!
I plant in pots, but not in the ground. That will come in a week or so.
Stay safe, Jeanie.
i agree, claudia. air conditioners aren’t pretty, but i am glad someone invented them and that my landlord installs one for me (i don’t function well in hotter weather or much humidity … i prefer 40 to 70 degree days)!
and it’s nice to have choices (reading, etc). glad you have them.
goodnight!
kathy in iowa
xo