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Day One Hundred Forty-Eight

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I spilled coffee this morning.

Don sort of ruined a headphone adaptor that I had given him.

I posted on Instagram about a Rose of Sharon plant that I have been nurturing for 3 years – it was given to me a very small cutting about 3 years ago. For the first time, I’ve seen actual buds and I was so excited.

This morning I went out to check on them and they were gone. A deer, probably the one that was peeking at us this morning through the downed tree, ate them all. Gone. I wanted to cry. That same deer chomped on the hosta by the shed the other day. I love my deer, but when I wait all summer in hopes that I might see flowers on my Rose of Sharon only to have them taken away in a second, I am not at all happy with them. Especially when there are so many other things to eat on this property.

The day has not started out well. Neither did the entire week.

I’m in a bad mood, I’ll admit it. I’ll do some weeding today and some weed whacking; just to get my mind off things, hoping I can turn this day around. (Meditation didn’t help, either.)

So, I ask you to distract me with our favorite question: What are you reading?

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

Comments

  2. In the process of reading the sixth Ruth Galloway mystery—A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths. I’m ready to take a break from Ruth Galloway land for a bit and will start next on Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon. Also looking forward to the new Michael Connelly and Louise Penny books at some time in the future. Claudia, you and your blog readers are great at recommendations for reading material. I’m doing little other than reading during this awful 2020, that and Acorn TV in the evenings.

  3. I am sorry your day got off to a bad start. In a perverted way…it’s a fitting end to your horrendous week. (Please forgive my weak attempt at a joke.) I sincerely hope this will be the end of all the bad things that seem to have descended on you and Don, and all at the same time. It’s enough to make me cry.

    So…to distract you…I am reading Step on a Crack, by James Patterson. Fast read, interesting, mystery…but not to the level of a Louise Penny. But, a good distraction nonetheless.

    Hope the rest of your day goes better than the first part. Stay safe! ;)

    • I may go to Michael Connelly, even though I’ve just started Hamnet. Hamnet is supposed to be about grief, and it may not be the right time for that!

      Thanks, Donnamae.

  4. Claudia the deer ate all my hosta too – i had a bank of them all in their prime and poof like that gone! Even my husband noticed and said what happened they were looking so good. I was SO upset! I am reading John Barry’s “The great influenza”. Written in 2005 ( I think)and considered the best book on the Spanish influenza – even back then they had anti-maskers even had an anti mask league in San Francisco. Its a great read!

  5. Reading “The Cold Trail” by J.C. Fields

    I have several rose of sharons and they have little ones popping up all around them. I dig them up and give them to friends. The ones I gave a friend last year bloomed this year. If you would like some little ones I would be happy to give as many as you want. Can wrap them well and pop in the mail.

    • Thanks so much for your offer, Peggy, but I think I’ll just wait until next year and buy a bigger bush. I’m so sad today.

  6. Some ordinary books for review on Netgalley…my old favorites-Agatha Christie–my grand is working part time library before returning to Purdue…she has set aside a book she liked-The Yellow House…will start it also…have a good day…prayers…bburke

  7. Pulled Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance off the shelf the other day. I read it as a teenager and suddenly felt the need to reread it. Maybe it’s just a reaction to (another) anxiety-filled week, but I’m sure I’ll get even more out of it this time.

    Completely off topic – do you or any of your readers have any recommendations for stand mixers? My daughter would like one for her upcoming birthday. I tend to be the person who does the washing up rather than the cooking, although I do have a miniature teal Kitchen Aid mixer in the dollhouse. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks!

    • Hi, Barbara!! I know it isn’t fancy, but I do so love my Kitchen Aid!! It is nearly 35 yrs old, and just used it this morning to make a chocolate zucchini cake. It just keeps on working. I love being able to cream butter and sugar and walk away for a minute or two while it continues to work. I don’t use it daily, but I do keep it in the corner on my counter, and use if often. Even to do mashed potatoes or to mix meatloaf, or to shred chicken, it is a real worker!!

    • KitchenAid, without a doubt, Barbara. That’s what we had at culinary school and what I’ve used for more than forty years. I can hardly go a day without using it for bread, cookies, cakes, pasta, …everything!

    • I have a kitchen aid – it’s probably close to 20 years old. I love it and recommend it highly.

  8. I have fallen back into a state of not being able to read anything new, so I’m rereading Tony Hillerman mysteries. The wide open spaces he describes always calm me down.
    Pulling weeds is great when you’re in a bad mood! So is cleaning house, but only if no one is there to hear me yell at the dirt and throw unbreakable objects around and sometimes weep at the injustice of it all.

  9. Those darn deer! They probably think they are at a high class salad bar, delicious food served in a beautiful setting. I’m not making light of this as I know how upsetting this can be. Something got my tomato plants and I was devastated. I’m reading the first in the Kincaid and James series by Deborah Crombie. It’s very easy reading, not as exciting as Michael Connelly but something to fill the time until I can get his new book. Hopefully next week will be better. At least we will be one week closer to November 3rd. Stay safe 😊

    • I’ve read every book in that series. She’s one of my favorite authors!

      Thanks, Janet.

  10. Not a big reader but, stumbled across Strange Inheritance on Fox Business and Tubi. Every episode is so well done and so interesting. It is a nice distraction. Have a good weekend.

  11. What a terrible week for you both!! I try to say to myself when I have those days-this too shall pass. It is difficult to even think of it when you are in the middle of it. Going forward I hope it will get better. I am reading The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. I am sure I have read it but can’t remember the ending!!

    Marion

  12. There will be days like this, my mama said goes the song. Sadly these times are tough to deal with. Hoping the days passes without any more mishaps. I just finished Playing Nice by JP Delaney. It kept me awake reading long in to the night.

  13. Not reading since my eye surgery is postponed till … but love listening to Malcom Gladwell podcasts and learning tons from Tightrope by Nicholas Kristof on audible. Our twin fawns are trying a bit here and there which makes me a bit testy but I of course I can forgive them . Cute goes a long ways these days. Take care and stay safe.
    Lani

    • I like podcasts, too.

      This deer is cute, too. But cute didn’t do it today.

      Thanks, Lani!

  14. I am re reading my favorite Gamache books. I like them all but I do have my favorites. First is Still Life, then A Brutal Telling ,Bury Your Dead and now How the Light Gets In. Three pines always makes me feel better. Except for all the dead it seems like a nice village. These three contain some of my favorite lines.
    Be well.

  15. I feel for you Claudia. Some of those same kinds of things going on around here. Just finished re-reading one of my very favorites, My Antonia. Now reading King Leopold’s Ghost. I always have an audiobook going to listen to while doing chores or walking, and that is Mobituaries. I also have The Great Influenza audiobook that dq mentioned downloaded. That may come next. Hope things turn around and you see a Rose of Sharon bloom before the season is out.

    • I hope so, too. I’ll be happy if I see one or two. We’ll see.

      Thank you, Louise.

  16. What a shame about your Rose of Sharon! I’ve just finished Diary of a Mad Housewife by Sue Kaufman, first published in 1967 and started A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys Bray. It’s won several prizes and is loosely based on the author’s background. It deals with the death of a young child from a childhood illness and the effect it has on a present day Mormon family and community in a Lancashire coastal town.
    The author left the faith in her early thirties and for a first novel, it’s so well written, poignant but never mawkish.

    Happy Saturday

  17. Oh, yay!!!! my favorite question!! Just finished The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubic yesterday and last night started Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan. Next up is either The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson or Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore. (or one of the other 12 I have checked out from the library). Soooo many books!!!!

    So sorry about the Rose of Sharon. It has been a stupid crazy week. I am on a news break as well. Watching the idiot with his billionaire friends all maskless and laughing about it while the idiot laughs and said “we will just call it a peaceful protest” made me almost throw up.

    Happy reading everyone!! It truly is my salvation right now!!

    • And what they are doing to the Post Office! I get so angry.

      Thanks, Chris. (It’s my salvation, too.)

  18. I am currently reading “Girls Like Us” – Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon” by Sheila Weller. Carole King is my favorite. It’s an extremely long book and very detailed. Maybe a bit too much detail. But I am enjoying it and learning a lot about all three of them.

    Sorry about the deer enjoying your yard a little too much.

  19. Spending the summer in Venice with Commisario Guido Brunetti courtesy of Donna Leon. Spring was Penelope Lively time in England.

  20. I’m not going to mention the book I’m currently reading as I’m not sure yet how I feel about it. The author is either incredibly talented, switching scenes and time frames often enough to deliberately keep the reader unbalanced, as is the character who is running from an unnamed terror, or is inept at transitioning the reader into new scenes and changes of time period. I haven’t decided which it is. However, books that I’ve read in the last few months that are worth recommending are The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare’ and The Mountain Sings by Nguyen Phan Que’ Mai. The first one might have triggering scenes for those who have experienced sexual violance. Dominicana by Angie Cruz is also worth reading. Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller is a suspense set in an earlier time with intriguing but dark characters. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Richardson drops readers into an uncomplicated but interesting tale built on the experiences of the women hired to ride long distances in dangerous circumstances through Appalachia to deliver requested reading material, with the main character’s special situation and character growth adding depth. That book might also have fear-triggering scenes for those who have experienced sexual violence. None of those books include violence for violence’s sake or titillation, but as a realistic look at women’s lives in other times and places. I just feel as if I ought to warn people.

  21. I am reading As I Lay Dying by Faulkner and I ordered 2 books from the Mysterious Bookshop that you wrote about. I also have books on order from my favorite local independent shop, The Poisoned Pen. I love books, especially mysteries. I really shouldn’t order more as I have a bookcase full of others that I haven’t read yet but they are my addiction.

    • Oh, thanks for ordering from the Mysterious Bookshop, Cristina! Mysteries are my favorites, too. Though I’ve read a lot of non-mysteries this year.

      Thanks, Cristina.

  22. We bought two perennials for our garden last week, didn’t even plant them and the bunnies had a feast!
    I am reading Too much and never enough by Mary Trump
    Should be interesting

    • Oh no. So sorry!

      I want to read the Mary Trump book but that’s one I might get for the Kindle.

      Thanks, Linda

  23. Thank heavens for Jane Austen. The perfect way to end my day and get a good night’s sleep.

    Voles have taken out at least four of my perennials. Grrrr

  24. Dear Claudia,

    Sorry about the deer. I hope that maybe the Rose of Sharon buds were very delectable and that the deer enjoyed them more than anything they might have tasted in a long time! :) A happy ending to their very bad week, maybe?!

    As for what I am currently reading…Mister Rogers Neighborhood – A Visual History. It is just what I need right now. The heart of everyone who worked on that program was in the right place. The details behind the scenes give me hope and reaffirm my belief that many, many, many people want to make this world a better place. And while I am reading this book, the world feels like an immensely better place!

    In the meantime…the post office situation is ridiculous…of course, right? Why wouldn’t it be? I never knew how easy it could be for a monster to be elected as the president of the United States… where he could hire his buddies to dismantle any tradition and public institution at the snap of a finger.

    Stay Safe Claudia!

    xo, Christy

    • Since there’s berries and buds and yummy stuff all over our property, that isn’t going to fly! I’ve waited three years for this plant to bloom and I’d much rather the deer finished off the hosta he was munching on two days ago.

      We certainly need Mister Rogers and people like him right now!

      Thanks, Christy.

  25. Reading Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear. I am looking forward to her new book that is coming out in November 2020. It is about her childhood growing up in England. The book is titled “This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing”.

  26. Tried book shopping therapy yesterday at the nearby shop and got Memorial Drive – heard interview of Natasha Tretheway a week or more ago on NPR – and The Overstory – gave up on getting it from the library – I’m #92. With my propensity toward inability to focus, it might be awhile before I get them read. Just being realistic.

    Love the recall of the Pirsig book, an assigned reading for a Public Health class. We all looked at each other mystified, but so appreciated having that assignment.

    May your day have reset itself and peace and calm return. XO

    • The Overstory was one of the best books I’ve ever read. Definitely a top read from last year.

      Thanks, Martha.

  27. Tough week for you guys, but Monday starts a new one! I’ve had a tough one too. Severe vertigo, then decided to get our Shingles & Tdap shots…???? Not sure how we did that this week??!!
    Am reading Walking People, an Irish novel. I love them. Have read so many on this list by other gals…thanks for keeping us distracted!! Nov is coming..not soon enough, but it’s coming..

    • I’m sorry about the vertigo, Priscilla and I know those Shingles shots are tough to handle.

      Thanks so much!

  28. sorry that your day started crummy. hope it quickly turned peaceful and happier and stays that way. and that you are pleasantly surprised with some rose of sharon blooms soon.

    i am awaiting my order from the mysterious bookshop … agatha christie’s “the mysterious mr. quin”. i am determined to read it by the end of the month, to start the roll i want to be on of reading more (hopefully every day like i used to).

    i gather puns for my family and these made me laugh out loud so want to share them with you:

    “i used to be afraid of hurdles, but i got over it.”

    “writing with a broken pencil is pointless.”

    “becoming a vegetarian is not a big missed steak.”

    and, apropos to your question …
    “the story about the haunted refrigerator was chilling!”

    haha!

    have an easy night, be well and stay safe!

    kathy in iowa

  29. My reading lately is pure escape! just finished Parnassus on Wheels and now I’m reading the sequel: The Haunted Bookshop. I have known about Christopher Morley forever,but somehow these escaped me until now. xo

  30. So sorry about the deer and your Rose of Sharon PLUS a lousy week. We have both deer and a Rose of Sharon on our rural property. I spray Liquid Fence, Deer and Rabbit Repellent on it once a month and it keeps them away. It is harmless to plants and animals. It is made by Garden Safe and we get it at our local home and garden store. It works.

    I’m not reading anything now, cannot concentrate. Hope to start up again after the election.

    Peace to you and Don.

    • I usually make a natural liquid concoction, but I didn’t expect to have to use it this late in the summer. Usually, that’s for early spring when the tender buds are there and deer love buds. Ah well.

      Thanks, Mare!

  32. Why I’m reading your blog entry of course! Haven’t read anything else today! I’m so busy making some really nice face masks for my darling daughter who wanted to wear some masks now. So of course I got out my best materials. Better get back to it.

  33. Just finished the excellent “The Wild Remedy” by Emma Mitchell (especially if you have ever had SAD or depression and love nature) and “Every Contact Leaves a Trace” by Elanor Dymott (decent mystery set in Oxford; I’d give it a B-. Now A quickie — Rhys Bowen’s “Crowned and Dangerous” before I start on something heavier.

  34. So sorry!! You’ve been thru the mill lately. I’m not reading anything worthwhile, so I’ll just say I’m sending you good thoughts.

  36. I just started reading the new book out by Mary Trump. My curiosity got the best of me.

    Anyway…..I live in the woods and deer eat a lot of my precious plants so I’ve had to put dog fencing or chicken wire around what I don’t want them to eat. If I don’t I won’t have them. They love my camellias, Indian Hawthorne, roses, Sweet William and a couple of ornamental trees.

    • I can’t chicken wire all the gardens. But we are going to enclose a section next year and have a veggie garden. And I think I’ll fashion something for the Rose of Sharon.

      Thanks, Kathy. Stay safe.

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