We were doing some chores right by the porch the other day and I happened to look down and saw this:
Emerging from the gravel, these sweet grape hyacinths made me smile, so much so that I grabbed my big girl camera and knelt down on the uncomfortably rocky ground in order to capture their beauty.
Little miracles.
Oh my heavens, was it windy yesterday! Relentless. Today is cooler, but sunny and beautiful Tomorrow? Heavy rain. And so goes spring. Next week, there will be two days where it’s quite cold – in the thirties. Basically, the weather is all over the place.
We might take a drive today.
Next week is rather busy for us. Don has an eye appointment across the river in Poughkeepsie on Monday. And on Wednesday, we get our second vaccine shots. We’ve decided that two weeks after those shots, we’re going to drive to our favorite bookstore on the other side of the Hudson River – we’ll be masked, of course. But we’ll feel better about going into a store. We’ve already marked the day on the calendar.
Rest in peace to two literary giants: Larry McMurtry and Beverly Cleary.
McMurtry is most famous for Lonesome Dove. He loved writing and was prolific. He also loved books and reading. He loved books so much that he owned a bookstore in his hometown and a vast collection of books. There’s a section the book Biblio Style that shows his home and shop.
Beverly Cleary. What can I say? I wrote about her when she turned 100. I can’t imagine my childhood reading experiences without her. I loved her books. I loved her good and kind heart – shown clearly in everything she wrote. I think I checked Fifteen out of my elementary school library at least twenty times. Cleary passed away the other day at the age of 104.
The puzzle is going swimmingly. (I’m using that word on purpose, as you shall soon see.)
We’re watching a series called Fortitude on Amazon Prime. Anything that has Michael Gambon and Stanley Tucci in it is a must-see, though we didn’t know either of them were cast members when we started watching. I saw Gambon onstage in London years ago. My profession is based on the actor’s voice and speech and I’ve never heard any voice more powerful and more beautiful than Gambon’s deep, resonant, and wonderfully caramel-y tones.
Okay. Time to have some oatmeal.
Stay safe.
Happy Saturday.
Little violets have been popping up in my yard and my daffodils are blooming which always cheers me up! Those sweet grape hyacinths should be showing up around here too and I will have to go out to look for them.
Enjoy your ride and thanks for the peek at Spring in your garden!
Thank you Ellen!
Stay safe!
The little grape hyacinths are such a sweet sign of spring. I haven’t seen anything popping up here yet. It seems like we are always a bit later because we are so close to Lake Michigan. It keeps us a bit warmer in winter, and a bit cooler in summer. So the flowers seem just a little later than if I drive into town. I still have leaf cover on my flower bed too.
It is such a good feeling to get that 2nd vaccine. We are a month out from our 2nd dose but I still feel some apprehension when I go anywhere.
Enjoy your day and stay safe.
Haven’t cleared our leaf cover yet. I’m glad I haven’t as we have two cold days coming up this week.
Stay safe, Marilyn!
dear claudia — spring is fickle — I seem to need consistent warmth (sun) more in my old age. the Mr says I’ll probably get it in J – J – A!! was surprised to know BCleary was 104 — I read her books to our girls many times over — loved them. hope all goes well w/your vaccine. stay safe, healthy
She was such a wonderful writer!
Stay safe, Linda.
I had read about the passing of Beverly Cleary but not about Larry McMurtry. He was a favorite of mine and I read him often. So sad.
I think McMurtry died yesterday, Cristina.
Stay safe!
Oh, I’m sad to learn of Beverly Cleary’s passing; I haven’t been online or watching TV (too busy getting ready for home inspection with loan refi on the house), so I’m out of the loop. Another part of my childhood just like Mary Stewart. Time marches on. I treasure my few BC books; I have a couple of originals from when I was about age 8 (a L.O.N.G time ago!!).
Back and forth to the storage unit in ridiculous heat (it’s already starting in SoCalif, summer comes early each year now, and we’re not even out of March yet); 85 degrees at 2:30pm PST, not a cloud in the blue sky, and the sun feels like a furnace blast, at least to me!
I want to take a drive, too, when things settle down with my home; we’re several days past our 2-week period after the 2nd Moderna; we need to get out a little (and, yes, absolutely, always masked UFN). With this heat, although we’ve had so little rain, the native plants, like yellow coreopsis, will be popping out in the hills, so I look forward to seeing it and also our poppies and lupine (all that lovely orange [and the blue-violet]).
Your hyacinths are a sight for tired eyes (I’m a little bleary; pulled an all-nighter working on stuff to clear clutter, under a deadline and up til 4:30am [I’m sleeping for a week after this inspection/appraising/photographing; I’m too tired; this is like ‘moving’ which is sort of what you have to go thru in SoCalif, too, when your house is being fumigated for termites, which is why so many people don’t do it because it’s such a major hassle with not being able to leave food inside the frig, cupboards, etc.; I’m SO needing for life to calm down, and it will, SOON]).
Glad you’re doing well, Claudia; hope today was nice for you and Don.
I can’t go through a refinance. Just can’t. Too much paperwork, and way too expensive here in NY State. We did it once and the money we lost through closing costs negated the savings of a refinance. Though the phrase is overused, “It is what it is.” Good luck, though, Vicki! Hope it works out perfectly for you.
Stay safe.
Yeah, we got thru the inspection; it all worked out okay; we were as ready as we could be for measuring and photographing (and we NEEDED to further declutter; so, while totally drained/exhausted with so much recent and not-usual physical ‘work’, we’re much happier how things look inside and outside, vowing to keep it this way!). The appraiser wasn’t here long, just an hour (we were shocked; she didn’t go in the attic or under the house; we’ve been thru this before when the appraiser spent that much time [on his belly and back] just under the house and nothing else yet, doing whatever he was doing, like I assume looking for termites or rot); maybe it’s because we went thru our own lender this time (and, we’re lucky; as, in our case, the benefit of the refi’d loan far outweighs the expense of the process, so I guess it really can vary state to state [just like SO many things, such as property taxes, etc.]; but I don’t want to ever do this again; I’m done; we’re staying put; we know what things we need to keep working on, like updating/improving the kitchen & baths [we already have the new kitchen sink and faucets to install {lucky too for having a husband who is very handy with these projects}]; I know how much work I have to do yet on downsizing … but, have to say, while I’m NOT happy with myself for recent-years’ OVER purchasing, I’m quite proud to say that I condensed my clothes down to one half of a closet, filling up five large, heavy boxes of clothes for charity, some items still with the tags on, but I had to get brutal about it as I no longer need clothes for formal events or the workplace or even ‘normal’ social activities; my life is about comfort, being close to home, rather unexciting, just mundane excursions/outings but I don’t miss the ‘nylons’ and high heels; I was so ‘past due’ in cleaning out the closets once and for all, and I finally DID IT; now, it’s the hundreds of books, as it’s time to pass on a lot of them, and I’m just waiting for the library to open, when Friends of the Library start having their used-book sales again [and they need donated books for it of course; even DVDs and CDs]).
Anyway, was a real eye opener this time; my over-collecting and over-consuming. I just overdo it on a lot of things, but I feel like some of my behaviors have really changed in the pandemic year, when forced to live differently, curtailment of shopping inside stores, etc. I’ve needed to modify my behavior, certainly my spending now that we’re on a fixed income and a stricter budget in the past couple of years, so I think 2020 was a sort of ‘rehab’ year for me; forced me to go thru some ‘withdrawal’ and I just feel I have a new and better perspective. I hate that I’m such a person of excess (highs and lows with nothing much between) but I’ve been that way most of my life; when, instead, it’s so much better to live a life of moderation and better balance (something for which to keep striving!). I’m going to keep the best of what I have and discard the rest; hard choices when I have a lot of stuff I really love, but the house is small and it can hold only so much. (My dog is really overjoyed; she has a lot more room to roam around in, now that the inside of the house has shed a lot of its ‘weight’!!)
A final confession: Over the past few years, I couldn’t find my wedding rings. I’d quit wearing them because my hands are arthritic and swollen so much of the time; they needed to be re-sized and I just didn’t want to do it. But, THAT quickly, clutter swallows clutter, and they went missing although I knew they were somewhere in the house (this is so embarrassing to admit). I shoulda (woulda/coulda) taken them to the safe deposit box at the bank; just never happened. Happy to say I found them, safe in a box of ‘special items’, stacked under a second dining table we never actually sit at; but, see, in the wildfire of 2017-18, I looked around in a frantic hurry as we prepared to evacuate, and nothing was ticking off in my brain as to where stuff was (which I’d obviously want to take with me); I’d let it get THAT bad. Just will NOT let this happen again!
I periodically sort through things, but haven’t done a lot of it – except for the shed – because I have no place to stash bags of stuff for donation. Until those places are open again, I might as well sit tight and wait!
xo
My daughter still has some of the Beverly Cleary books I bought at school. I loved her books. I had a childhood sweetheart, (we were together 30 years) and the books were similar to my lifestyle…loved them…kids today have no clue how lucky we were…decorating for prom in the high school gym…walking everywhere…roller skating down the cracked sidewalks…reading our books under a big shade tree in the front yard…having pizza for the first time…going steady…wearing that class ring on a chain…oh my…I was writing about this in a column I do for a small newspaper…fun times…I grew up on a tiny street in a tiny town…never realizing I would travel to almost every state and England, Canada, etc…having the best kids (and their spouses) and five fantastic grandkids…my life has come full circle, and I am so blessed.
Oh, this was fun to read, brenda; I can relate! I don’t know much about kids of today, but I get a feeling so much that they’re faces stuck to screens, devices in their hand, not moving around, so often/maybe too often indoors; it’s a generalization of course but I live in a neighborhood with A LOT of children, and I know it’s Covid out there; still, we have good weather in SoCalif much of the time, but they’re just not outside; whereas, when WE were kids, you couldn’t keep us INside. Skateboards, roller skates, bicycles, wagons, playing ball and yard games like hide ‘n seek or statue-maker, hopscotch, playing with marbles and jacks or board games and cards on a picnic table under a covered patio when the sun was scorching; making a ‘beach’ for our Barbies, climbing trees, memorizing songs under a shade tree in hot summer while we listened to our little transistor radios and American Top 40; so many wonderful things of carefree childhood. I too grew up in a small town with the same kids from preschool to high school graduation, and a lot of us are still in touch with one another. And I remember the first time I got asked to go steady at age 12-going-on-13, by the young surfer-guy with the shock of blonde hair who’d carry my schoolbooks for me, and who’d had my heart since second grade; it was pretty special puppy luv which one never forgets. Thanks for sharing your memories because it prompted my own!
Love this Vicki. My two grandsons have no tv…have never been in a fast food restaurant…they are almost nine and and six…will return to gifted school in fall…learning online and with mom and nana…they bike almost 20 miles, run so many…tennis…you name it…they have traveled lots in this country and abroad…are studying Spanish…no video games…love this…I also love reading about your life…I grew up in WV but raised kids in Ohio…I lived South Carolina…back to WV and then a Indy and now Florida…grandsons born on Ca and Washington State…girls in Indiana….I remember when boys spent a month in Eukraine…one said…too much processed food…they have allergies to all that…you can email me at bburke701947@gmail.com and tell me about your growing up…can use for my column…no names mentioned of course lol
I suspect all of us on this blog had childhoods that were much the same. I’ve talked about those very things many times here on the blog.
So happy that you’re happy and blessed, Brenda.
Stay safe!
You are the best ever…prayers
xo
what pretty colors and a nice (maybe early?) surprise for you to get those hyacinth blossoms! a reward for your hard work.
glad mcmurtry and cleary books are still available. not to be rude, but i say that especially about beverly cleary’s books … such sweetness for kids compared to what they find on tv and the internet now.
love stanley tucci! i think he is so talented, can do so many kinds of roles. have you seen his cookbooks?
hope today’s been easy … full of puzzle-ing, music, …. glad you have an in-person trip to a bookstore soon to look forward to! what’s on your list to buy there?
i worked this morning to help people get their vaccinations. someone had to cancel so i asked if i could get that “extra” vaccination rather than have it possibly go to waste. nope. was told it would be reserved for someone somewhere in the future waiting for their second shot. i understand that it’s “two shots plus two weeks” for fullest immunity, but isn’t one shot at least some protection and hope? after everyone left, i cried and cried. i was so excited at the possibility of getting my first shot, then very very disappointed. i miss my family so much and i need a hug.
did the grocery shopping and deliveries, then we went for a drive (some in one car, with me following in mine). purple-y blue and big white clouds out there … i hope we get some rain. if so or if not, i am going to take it easy. maybe read or knit (too dark to cut and sew fabric tonight).
hope you’re having a nice night.
stay safe!
kathy in iowa
oh, kathy dear; I’m so sorry you had such a rotten day about the vax; hugs sent your way!
thanks, vicki. a virtual hug and your kind wishes feel better than hearing “no vax” did yesterday.
i am sad and disappointed, but (like millions of other people) will keep searching and praying!
how are you? doing alright? hope so.
kathy in iowa
kathy, I have such respect for the home arts and I’m not adept at much of it; just out of curiosity, when you mention you will cut and sew fabric soon, may I ask what you make (like is it clothes, curtains, etc. — do you have a hobby where you’re making quilts or dolls [?]; I love to hear about people’s creativity, and I love the fact that you can knit [I was all ‘fingers’ with knitting and crocheting although when younger {a lot of years ago now}, I did enjoy doing embroidery with the hoops; I was just cleaning out stuff today and found my embroidery hoops {made me have a yen to start something; I have some beautiful slips for bed/sleeping pillows which were decorated with fine embroidery by relatives long since passed, including some Embroidered By Mom, and I just marvel at the detail and how ladies in my family took such pains to make things look lovely when they didn’t otherwise have a whole lot of money, especially for nice store-bought things; I had an aunt who did complex needlepoint, too}]); so, do tell about what you’re sewing these days, okay(?), because it sounds so relaxing and productive (and interesting)!
thanks, vicki.
i share that respect and love for creativity and making things.
when you have time and space, i hope you can get back to embroidering or whatever else you’ve always wanted to do. like knitting. if we lived closer, i’d be glad to show you how to knit or let you use my watercolor paints.
very happy to hear that you have some pieces made by your mother.
as for my sewing … nothing complicated like clothes or curtains! just simple straight-line projects like quilts (pieced or whole-cloth) and mainly pillows.
when i moved to where i live now, i lost a lot of space and storage … but gained peace of mind (that was a very good trade). it’s a cute place, but i have had a hard time figuring out storage and minimizing the orange-y floors and doors. tried different arrangements and colors, etc. huge sadnesses and the awful pandemic put things in perperspective and i am back to my usual way of decorating … if i like it, it stays and i make it work in a smidge over 500 square feet. i am done fighting the orange-y-ness and do my best to ignore it and just be glad and grateful that i have floors and doors. so, back to your request about my sewing … i recently found some fabric in colors and patterns that make me smile and am making pillowcases for my sofa, settee and bed pillows (things given to me by my beloved parents over the years). it is taking time because obviously good light is needed and i’m not home enough for much of that. plus, with every flat surface covered with books, etc. and my broken back, i don’t have a good place to cut the fabric. just this past week, however, a nice lady at a locally-owned fabric shop said i could use their tables for measuring/cutting as long as no class is in session. now i just need to schedule that in … ha.
anyway, that’s my current sewing story.
thanks for asking.
happy palm sunday!
kathy in iowa
So sorry about the shot, Kathy. I understand. We all miss our families and friends. It’s been very hard. Soon! Stay hopeful.
I don’t read cookbooks but I know that Tucci is a great cook.
Stay safe!
I too loved Fifteen, reread my copy many times, and have always remembered things like Jane’s father’s silly Dad joke of the cat coming in on little fog feet. I do remember Henry Huggins, but was too old for the Ramona books which I thoroughly enjoyed with my daughters forty years ago.
I’d like to read it again, but maybe it won’t match up to my memories? I don’t know.
I was also too old for the Ramona books.
Stay safe, Margaret.
You are brave going into a bookstore.
The virus has had a huge uptick in numbers here with variants and the tourists have not yet arrived.
Last summer we never went to the ocean to swim because no matter what time we went it was so crowded. Will be content with gardening and reading.
Obviously, we will go in a specific bookstore, one that lets only a few people in at a time. It’s no different than going for a vaccine, or to the grocery store, both of which I’ve done.
Stay safe.