Seen on a poppy bud the other day – a tiny visitor.
Rain and rain and rain yesterday and this morning, but it is going to stop within the hour, I believe. I felt housebound yesterday. I’d planned on taking a drive (that’s twice this week that my plans have been foiled!) but it was raining so hard that it wouldn’t have been the relaxing trip I had imagined. So I stayed home.
I did listen to the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Anastasia, however! It doesn’t come out until June 9th, but Entertainment Weekly is streaming the entire album all weekend long. Here is the link, if you want to give it a listen.
It’s glorious. I dropped everything, donned my ear buds and was once again transported by the music.
Don’s show opens on Sunday and rumor has it that Jimmy Buffett will be around this weekend. What fun!
Fleabane at the back of the house.
This plant has self-seeded in the big garden bed. It’s not virginia creeper – we have a lot of that around here – but my research tells me if might be foamflower. But I really have no idea what it is. Any ideas? It has tiny flowers. (Now I’m thinking it might be Clustered Black Snakeroot, which grows in damp places and it’s been a very damp spring.)
I’m always intrigued when something new shows up in the garden, other than all the wild mint and dandelions.
And look what’s growing in the bed in front of the house. Milkweed. There are two of them. It grows in the back forty, but I love that it’s shooting up in the garden beds. We like milkweed and we definitely like Monarch butterflies. So, it’s all good.
Today I am getting out. I have a little drive planned. I’m trying to keep myself busy and entertained while Don is away because this time apart is damned hard. That’s the only way to describe it. So I either read, or work outside, or do something adventurous to break up the day.
Happy Friday.
I’m glad you will get some sunshine today. It is so pretty here today but more rain on it’s way. I keep thinking it’s good for the plants. Most of my major obligations are done for now and it’s just me and Mom this weekend. She is looking for a drop leaf table and we might go out and about while the sun is shining. I need to fill the bird feeders and plant a few things also. I’m feeling relaxed and that is a very good thing. The Anastasia recording was so good. I love the voices and only wish I could see the production to have in my mind while listening. Get out and enjoy your drive. Hugs!
The music is gorgeous, isn’t it?
I hope the rain stops so you can have a relaxing time out. Your garden is always a beauty. Wouldn’t it be grand if Don was able to meet Jimmy Buffet? Have a wonderful weekend!
He’s already met him, Debbie. He met him at his audition and he was also there for the first day of rehearsals!
I like milkweed, too, but we don’t have any. For years I had the prettiest dried pod arrangement. Do you save the pods? They are so sculptural after they’ve burst open and dried on the stalks.
I’ve never saved the pods, but I’m glad you mentioned it. I might do that this year.
I really hope you enjoy your ride…you deserve it! Nice day here….all windows open to air out the house…first time, too. We deserve that. Thanks for the link…I’ll try to listen later…when the noise of my neighbor’s lawnmower subsides. I just found a milkweed plant myself in an odd location…it looks out of place among my hostas….but, I think I’ll let it do it’s thing! ;)
I’m definitely going to leave them there. The more the merrier!
Hope you cure your cabin fever today with outdoor activities, Claudia. Maybe you’ll discover a new shop on your drive?? Daughter home! We moved her out yesterday and already the home dynamics are changing in a positive way. I just feel content when my chicks are home
I went to a well known potter’s studio. I’ll write about it tomorrow.
Yay! I’m glad your daughter is home!
The music is wonderful and what a beautiful voice Ms Altomare has…thanks for sharing with us…Free flowers are always good but the milkweed comes with an added bonus…How I would love to see Don in Jimmy Buffet’s production…What fun it must be!…Enjoy you’re drive today…mine is scheduled for tomorrow…rain or shine…I will be going to an indoor flea market were he and I used to visit a lot…There are two big floors and a small restaurant where you can sit and take a break and enjoy lunch…I have missed this place so much…I told myself that it is time to get up and start going again!
Her voice is incredible, Nancy. Enjoy the flea market – you are right, you need to treat yourself and get out to some favorite places.
Looking forward to hearing more about your driving adventure today.
I feel so much more engaged with my yard/garden, even though there’s no real formality to it, when it’s us (husband and me) who’ve done the planting, or at least picked out the plants. I pretty much know every single plant/bush/tree on my property, in the ground or in pots. It personalizes it so much, to be able to know a rose name, or when the jacaranda tree was planted…or, oh, that’s my new eggplant growing, the one with the ladybug on the leaf! (Hardly ever see a ladybug, only a few butterflies but there’s a big return of the bees since we put in native sage. I remember when young at this house, how I’d see caterpillars, inch worms and grasshoppers; a lot of hummingbirds. Where have they all gone? I live in a heavy agricultural area and I’ve heard stray gossip that people wonder if, over the many years of ‘modern’ farming here, perhaps pesticides have killed off a lot of the insects. Troubling, because I have a lot of different stuff in my yard which should attract a variety of living things.)
And, for remembrance, what was left of my parents’ yard and what I grew up with, since this is their home, I have two of Mom’s roses and her callas, plus one bird of paradise, their geraniums…and poinsettias, that are in such profusion (almost June?!…I think I should have trimmed them a month or more ago, at least!) we’re letting them run riot (oversized, thick, red, almost double flowers on stems that reach nearly to the eaves of my roof; they’ve been there since the 1950s).
I’ve planted almost everything here, except for a couple of hostas and some sedum. Everything else I’ve put in over the past 11 years. It’s very satisfying.
I’m hoping you see some beneficial insects, but it they’re using pesticides, that will definitely diminish the population.
We had a nice sunny morning, but it is raining again. Sounds like every day of the weekend may bring some rain. So over it. You reminded me that I planted some milkweed last year, and I need to go and see if anything ever came up.
Hope you have a lovely drive today and may find a new place that you will be able to share with Don when he gets back. Sounds like he will have a wild and crazy weekend!! Fun!!!!
It finally got sunny late this afternoon. I had a good day and I’ll write about it tomorrow.
I’m so happy to see the sun coming out now, it’s been such a rainy couple of days I can’t do my walk around the garden without getting muddy and soaked! Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
I know! Thank goodness for some sun!
At least there is no rain today. The wind here in Queens has picked up quite a bit. Those thunderstorms last night were awful. Have a good week end.
Marilyn
No rain today or tomorrow or Sunday. Monday? Storms, at least in my neck of the woods!
Hello Claudia,
I have been reading your blog for a while now but this is my first (any maybe only time) posting. I wanted to let you know I enjoy reading your daily posts and seeing photos of your home and garden. I live in upstate NY (Saratoga Springs), but I was born and bred in NYC, so I am familiar with the areas you mention. Keep writing and know that there are those of us who quietly enjoy. Best wishes.
Oh, Saratoga Springs is beautiful, Terri! Thank you so much for commenting. I truly appreciate it.