Two things: First, some of you might have tried to get on the blog between about 3 pm and 7 pm. It was down because the server was down. Sorry for that. It’s the second time that’s happened in two weeks. It is ultimately frustrating because you can’t come here, I can’t answer comments, and there’s always a loss of ad income (which is happening to every blog and website during this period of lockdown.)
Second: Look at my boxwood! I truly thought it had come down with box blight. There were dead leaves everywhere and they looked exactly like the photos of boxwood after box blight. My original suspicion was that the dead growth was due to the late freeze we had in May. But then I started to worry about blight. I cut out most of the dead growth, pruned the bushes, and was sure we’d have to remove them at some point – because that’s what you have to do with blight. And now, after a month or so, there’s new growth everywhere and they’re looking healthy again. Hurrah!
The four boxwoods were the very first thing we planted here. We moved in at the end of August and there was nothing we could do about planting anything in the big bed or anywhere else on the property until the next spring. But I managed to dig out a bed in front of the porch and we bought 4 tiny little boxwoods and planted them.
See? That’s all we had. Those itsy bitsy bushes are now huge, nearly 15 years later. Don and I were chatting on the porch this morning, remembering that there was nothing but a couple of hostas in the bed to the right of the boxwoods and some sedum in the big garden bed. Nothing else. I planted everything else; the three garden beds on the far side of the house, the bed in front of the house, everything in the bed by the porch and the big garden bed, and the chicken wire fence garden and the memorial garden. Don was telling me that I should be proud of my work, my creativity, in creating all these gardens, and you know what? I am.
Especially when we are so homebound right now. This little oasis has made a huge difference in our daily lives. I cannot tell you how much I love our home and our property. The addition of Don’s work on the paths in the woods and the work done in the Secret Garden has made an enormous difference, as well. I dreamed for decades – literally, decades – of a little cottage in the country with gardens everywhere and it finally came true. But not until I was in my fifties. I’m here to tell you it can happen.
Just grateful for what we have today as we know so many are unable to pay rent or mortgages, are out of work, don’t have enough money to put food on the table, have run out of unemployment. We have to fight for them. Because the GOP has shown, by and large, that it won’t.
Stay safe.
Happy Thursday.
Such a lovely garden you have. I say garden because it is a garden of delights. I wish we had that kind of garden but we have more of a yard and my husband wants more of it in grass. I think it is easier to tend to for him. glad to hear you two are fine and near normal. I don’t think I can recognize my country with these so called republicans in charge. They remind me more of what we called dictators.
They are dictators. Sadly. Less than a hundred days until the election and despite Trump’s threats, he can’t delay the election.
Stay safe, Jane!
Your RL home bears a striking resemblance to some of your miniature homes!
It’s very hot here this week. Between the heat and the rain, the garden planters in front of our office have gone mad (in a lovely, flowery way). Sent you a quick email yesterday.
Thank you Barbara. I just responded. Stay safe!
You should certainly be proud of your gardens! Beautiful. And I’m sure they are a comfort in this more than strange time we’re living. Today, I’m grateful for my sister’s miraculous turnaround from near brain death to her going home for therapy and recuperation—completely confounding the medical community.
On a (slightly) less miraculous note I’ve found a series of mysteries I like! Only on the first one, but it’s looking promising so far. The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths (a pen name for an English writer named Domenica de Rosa). Always hesitant to read a book or author I’ve never heard of, but I liked the cover art so I dove in. Glad I did. I do love a series, so I’ve quite a few more on my TBR list, now. Hope I keep on liking them.
I’m so happy to hear she’s going home! It is a miracle, Shanna.
I’ve seen the name Ely Griffiths but didn’t know anything about her. I’ll check her out.
Thanks and stay safe!
That truly is beautiful news, Shanna!!!!
Thanks, Chris ❤️
hej, shanna …
what wonderful news about your sister … it is a miracle! :) i will keep her, you and the rest of your family in prayers for continued healing, safety and happiness.
kathy in iowa
Thanks, Kathy ❤️
Your garden and home look glorious, Claudia! I’m having a never ending battle with weeds especially dandelions at the moment.
Can I say a big thank you to everyone for their helpful information on American style grocery bags. Managed to source some very similar ones and they are strong enough to hold six library books.
Happy Thursday
Remember that bees love dandelions and we need bees, Dee Dee!
So glad the bags are going to work out. Hurrah!
Stay safe.
Well done on the boxwood. Whatever you did was the magic cure and they look spectacular.I love seeing the photo from 15 years back. That’s quite astounding, isn’t it — how well they grow? Does that site face south? They’ve done very well.
And yes, you should be proud. I understand about how you mean about being grateful for your space, your home, your sanctuary. I feel the same. We are so lucky, so privileged by comparison to so many. I feel it every day when I wake up in the morning and when I go to bed at night and I will never, ever take it for granted.
No, it faces west.
Yes, we love our homes and flowers and gardens and they are just the tonic we need right now.
Stay safe, Jeanie!
Your hydrangeas and boxwood look great! My last limelight finally has buds…yay. I also cut out the dead parts on my boxwood, and it seems to have recovered.
I wish I had pictures of our yard when we first moved in 37 yrs ago, It was quite barren compared today. Funny thing…we found landscaping plans in a closet after we moved in. The previous owners never used them. And, we had our own ideas.
You should definitely be proud of your work. It took a lot of time and hard work. And, I’m sure you’ll agree, it was totally worth it. My gardens this year have been my salvation. I’m betting you feel the same. Stay safe! ;)
Mine have been my salvation, as well. I did some work outside today and I immediately felt better!
Stay safe, Donna!
You’ve done a beautiful job on your yard…You SHOULD be very proud!!
We love ours too. When we moved into our little cottage it was all & only grass. Now, not a blade of grass, but flowers, bushes, trees & veggies all over! I love it!
We, too, feel extremely greateful for what we have. We need to get this country back on the right road, so that others have a feeling of greatfulness too. Everyone is entitled to some kind of financial, emotional security. Better days are coming. We’re at the bottom now, it can only improve!
Sounds beautiful, Priscilla!
I hope this is the bottom. I expect, however, we’ll sink even lower as he gets more and more panicked about his numbers.
Stay safe!
I don’t think he can sink any lower!! Oh yeah. My hubby does!!
xo
It is fun and rewarding to plant a garden and do landscaping. I am on my third house that went from no landscaping to lush plantings. My current house will have a much smaller of plantings because I just don’t enjoy it as much. Of course in Florida the yard work is never done and weeds are nonstop.
I love seeing your photos of plants and wildlife. I miss the northern flowers.
Enjoy. Work is good for us.
It is. I did a lot of work this morning and it felt good. I’m much happier when I’m working outside, Kay.
Stay safe!
Your gardens are lovely!
Hoping for some rain here so I don’t have to water. Getting worried about my well. I am worried about a lot of my trees and shrubs. Their leaves look very shriveled. We had an arborist come look and he thinks it’s stress from combination of late spring snow, too much rain in early spring and drought now. I hope he’s right. I’m so glad your boxwood has sprung back gloriously!!
I can’t wait to vote in November. Can’t take much more of this nonsense.
We were supposed to have rain the other day. None. It’s been cloudy all day here with a threat of storms. Nothing. I understand your worry. We always worry about our well when this happens. The rivers are really low.
Let’s hope we all get some rain very soon.
Stay safe, Betsy.
A lovely photo; indeed an oasis for you. Look at the bits of color! Soothing sight for the eyes. And we need soothing now more than ever.
I was looking at your 139 days caption. It’s really something, isn’t it.
Will be an interesting look-back when this is all over, as to people’s behaviors of the time (of mass epidemic). I was talking to a former neighbor by phone yesterday, such a lovely woman who has cultivated so many fascinating hobbies and passions over the years, like a flair for English gardening. Her home, vintage/1930s-era, inside and out, looks like something out of a coffee-table book for English style. Her father was a U.S. diplomat and she was raised in Paris (a la France). Beautiful, elegant upswept hair; posh; intelligent. Gorgeous clothes. (I’d normally not have neighbors like this; it was just the neighborhood I lived in for a time because I’d inherited the little cottage in a still pretty-good area of the town. Was nice, though, for a little while, to feel more ‘upscale’ than I do now!)
So, we were talking along, and I started getting this vibe (‘that feeling’) with some of her responses: Oh dear, seriously, is she a Trumper or is this just old-tradition GOP or what? But she was 100 percent dismissive of Covid. I was speechless. One response after another to cinch/clinch the deal for me. She’s got two acres of avocados and we’re gonna go ‘pick’ soon, I said we’d have masks and would keep distanced from her (and of course it’s outdoor air) and she said, “Oh, I don’t care about any of that. I don’t ever think about that kind of thing; we don’t subscribe to any of it.” And I said something akin to, “Are you wearing a mask?” And the reply was essentially, “Only if I have to, because they won’t let me into a store otherwise.”
I had earlier asked, because I haven’t spoken with her for awhile, how she’s getting along in the pandemic, like being confined to home and she said, “I never stay home. I go everywhere; always have; nothing of my life has changed.” I said, “When you shop, do you adhere to early-morning shopping, like the senior hours?” She said, “Never; I don’t get up that early; I just go wherever I want, when I want.” She’s a pretty-strong churchgoer and I’d noticed from the newspaper that her church recently reopened with outdoor seating, so I brought that up, too, asking how it was working out and my neighbor said, “Oh, it’s just silly. Imagine having to sit under a TREE.”
SHE IS AGE 75 (looks and acts ten years younger); HER SISTER LIVES WITH HER AND THE SISTER IS AGE 90 AND IS SUFFERING FROM RECTAL CANCER WHICH MEANS HER IMMUNE SYSTEM ISN’T GREAT (and she’s currently taking radiation treatments).
I noted that the sister is going to the same cancer group that I go to, although a diff doctor, and that I understand they have amazing protocol in place when seeing patients, providing a personal escort into the building and elevators with a guard at the front door, checking temperature before you get out of your car and that sort of thing, and my neighbor said, “Well, we’re not into any of that; we don’t care about that stuff; it doesn’t matter to us.” I swear I could feel her nose up in the air, like swatting away a nuisance fly, such a bother.
After a bit of this back & forth, I really did have to change the subject, because I began to steam (after my initial SHOCK). How can anyone be so indifferent to a national emergency? She is a big reader; I know she watches the evening news. How can anyone not care about themselves or others to such a degree? When NOT uninformed; when NOT mentally disabled and ARE able to comprehend the danger of the virus?
Beyond the beyond the beyond the beyond.
Imagine how all this sounded to ultra-careful ME. Like some kind of alien species! California’s Covid numbers are horrible; even in my small town, we’ve just had nine people die. This dignified, cultured, well-traveled and well-spoken woman of refinement who’ve I’ve admired, my good former neighbor, is acting irresponsibly and recklessly … and unexplainedly! She and her sis are ignoring their own vulnerabilities for the virus (age alone!). Just last week, they had friends over to stay for a few days, from another area, not family members. Their neighbor has come over twice, inside the house, to fix the TV remote and also work on a bathroom sink. And I’ve definitely seen him and know him and I guarantee he wouldn’t be a mask wearer because he was my next-door neighbor for nine years (although a very sweet man). They are doing everything wrong, wrong, wrong.
I just wonder how much of this type of mindset and attitude we are fighting against in the U.S. In which case how do we ever get on top of the spread? I was so disheartened and disappointed after this phone call with her. We need a national mask mandate for people like my neighbor!
hej, vicki …
heard there was a very noticeable earthquake in california today. did it affect you? hoping and praying that you are safe.
kathy in iowa
ps … i don’t understand your neighbor at all!!
I did NOT feel that earthquake and my husband and I can’t figure out why!
kathy, forgot to say, thanks for thinking of me . . . of course with Covid, we dread the thought of a quake and people having to go to crowded shelters; the words I’ve been hearing is Covicane (hurricane), Coviquake (earthquake); makes me shudder!
agree. there’s a lot of good things and a lot of wonderful people (like you, claudia and everyone else here) in the world … but the bad stuff is very bad, scary. hard to not have the bad stuff take over the world, our thoughts and hearts so we keep doing the best we can, right?
more prayers …
stay safe and have a peaceful weekend (hopefully your neighbors will get a clue or a visit from the police).
kathy in iowa
hej, vicki …
that’s good to hear!
stay safe in every way, including from your irresponsible neighbors.
kathy in iowa
It’s very disheartening. I’ve written about it in today’s post.
Overwhelming.
xo
Yes, we do. Thanks, Vicki. Stay safe.
Our Gov issued a state-wide mask mandate this aft. Immediately Vos and his idiot repubs vowed to call a special session to suspend it. We did vote in a new Justice this past April, and she takes her seat on the SC this weekend. At least one vote closer, but there is still a 1 repub vote lean. To be worrying about political affiliation while this is ravaging our nation is unreal. Then tonite when the supreme idiot said it could be years before the results of the election are finalized, I nearly threw a shoe at the TV. Hearing Obama this afternoon brought tears to my eyes. We forget how beautiful words can be when spoken with intelligence, kindness and belief. All of the service was just amazingl. Inspiring for sure!!
Those Republicans need to be voted out. Disgusting. THIS SHOULD NOT BE POLITICAL. This is a public health crisis, not a campaign slogan.
It won’t be months until the election is finalized. That’s just a fantasy of his because he’s insane.
I loved hearing Obama yesterday. I cried.
Stay safe, Chris.
I felt the same. And for the 1000th time thought, if it could only have been; if it was B. Obama still at the helm. We’d be saved; he’d be leading us out of this mess with intelligence and strength and heart and, well, EVERYthing we need.
Then they did the shot as he was leaving the lectern (pulpit?) and he stopped, put on his mask, before he ever reached his secret service detail. Thoughtful; mindful; a man of grace.
A man of grace, indeed.
I miss him so.
glad the blog/server hassles are fixed. thanks for all the time, trouble and expense it costs you to share parts of your life, mind and heart with us every day.
thanks also for the reminder that having dreams and gratitude changes life for the better.
hope you’ve had a nice, easy day.
kathy in iowa
ps … the boxwoods are beautiful.
Thank you, Kathy.
Stay safe!
So glad I found your blog by way of Debra at Common Ground! I was encouraged to find like-minded folks who are ready to see the country return to a decent place that cares for ALL its citizens. I have had a couple of discouraged days after stumbling on a blogger who said yesterday she doesn’t believe anything the health experts, the media or government agencies say about the pandemic and then today proposed that coronavirus was a judgment from God against America. This misinformed or uninformed thinking is the cause of the disaster we’re experiencing today. Let’s keep loving each other, wear a mask and encourage everyone we know to vote.
Completely agree! Thank you for visiting the blog, Liz!
Stay safe!
Throughout this lockdown I have been continually thankful that we live where we do and that my husband still works. Having lovely greenery in the garden makes such a difference although there is not much work going on out there with the cold weather we are having. Your place does look lovely and it is good to look back to where you once were. Such an abundance of growth.
While we are grateful for so much, we do wish we could work and the predictions of when that will be are more discouraging than ever. We need to work, as do so many millions of people.
Stay safe, Robyn.
Looking at the first picture in which your cottage is darling but rather spare, and seeing what it has become under your stewardship is incredible! You and Don both work hard to bring such grace to our world. I wish I knew how to post a photo for you of my teeny Art Deco vignette–Instagram has banished me forever for reasons unknown. But I received a few pieces this week which make a charming little corner: a fabulous yellow chair from Etsy at a very moderate price that is so well made that I was floored! It’s from a company/artist called Take a Seat. You might enjoy looking at her work–many styles and I can tell you the one I have is quite beautifully made. I also received a nicely made rug (with a lovely texture) with a great geometric pattern, a Strombecker (?) 3-tiered side table, and a tiny deco teapot. Very exciting start! Now time to pick a room box (I can’t afford a dollhouse and don’t have the space for one) but I’ve found some fun deco wallpapers. Thanks for listening to my rambling. It’s fun to have something else besides the crumbling world to talk about. XO PS: I love Arlette’s chair too and I would love the matching sofa, but for the sake of space, I’m doing two amazing chairs before the deco fireplace and a bar against the back wall. So much pretty!
You could send me photos via the email address on the sidebar, right at the top. It’s the envelope icon. Just attach some pictures! I’d love to see them.
It sounds like you’re having a great time! Huzzah!
Stay safe, Nora.