I potted some plants yesterday, purchased a few more, cleaned up the porch and did one of those Instagram stories. I left it until late in the afternoon when traffic was getting heavy, so I was frustrated by the sound of traffic. And since IG stories can only be in short segments, adding more segments to tell the story was a tech challenge for me and I had to keep stopping to figure out what to do. Yikes.
I think I sound a bit hyper, simply because I was trying to cram everything into each little segment. Anyway, it’s a tour of the porch and it will be up on IG until about 4:00 or so. If you don’t know where the Stories are, they are at the top of the app when you open it. Each story has a little circle around it.
I don’t think I’ll do these too often!
Today, some weeding and mulching and lawn mowing and a host of other garden chores on my lists. I’m going to start early because it’s hitting 89 degrees today. And 91 degrees tomorrow. Then it goes back down into the much more normal 70s.
But I’m not complaining! It’s sunny. It isn’t raining or windy. And I love being out in the garden. This time of year, every day is a wonder. New growth, seemingly doubled overnight. Amazing.
Yes! The oriental poppies are getting ready to bloom!
Porch planting. How can you not smile when you see this calibrachoa?
Don and I have pretty much decided that I’ll wait to go out to California at the end of the musical’s run. Since this is a new musical, it’s being changed constantly during the preview process (like Anastasia was) and he is in rehearsals all day long and then performing at night. We’d never see each other. Seems to make more sense to wait and since I still have no idea when the chimney guys will get to our chimney, I can’t go anywhere right now, either.
He’s really loving the process. Yesterday, they gave him a slew of new dialogue and he had to memorize it for last night’s show. That’s what happens. Actors are giving re-writes, songs are changed, lines are cut, and it all has to go in that night. But it keeps it from getting boring, that’s for sure!
Have to get moving.
Happy Wednesday.
Calibrachoa reminds me of happy petunias. Any porch is happier for having invited them to the party! Enjoy your day outdoors….I’m doing the same! ;)
Happy petunias—I like that!
They are like mini ecstatic petunias, Donnamae!
beautiful flowers/garden. your hard work is paying off! glad that it’s not so windy for you and that cooler temperatures will soon arrive to make it easier to do lawn work.
glad, too, that you will be able to get out and see don in the show. sounds great and i sure hope to see it sometime, somewhere (i enjoy plays and musicals and it would be fun to see don in one; also, i am a big, big, biiiiig jimmy buffett fan)!
happy Wednesday!
parrothead in iowa
(kathy)
I think it might be in Chicago for a week or two later in the summer – whether Don will still be a cast member is unknown and I don’t know how far from you that is.
oh, chicago would be good! that’s an easy five hour drive (i am in des moines).
thanks for the tip!
The garden is looking pretty spiffy. I never heard of calibrachoa before, but what presence it has! I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for it when we do some plant shopping.
It’s also called Million Bells.
Thanks!
It seems to be in every nursery I visit, and it comes in lots of colors.
So very happy that we are in full plant/flower picture mode. My most favorite time of the year.
Sounds like Don’s play is a success. How glorious. I am sure you can’t wait to get out there and see him and the result of all of the hard work.
We had a quite hot day yesterday, and it is still muggy today. Supposed to be 60’s again by the end of the week. Springing along is what we are doing, I guess! Have a wonderful Wednesday!!
My favorite time of year, as well!
It’s really hot here – I just came in from mowing and turned on the A/C.
Thanks Claudia for adding the how to see your movie on Instagram. Very clear views of your entire porch and got to hear to as well.
Joy
You’re welcome, Joy!
Happy hot sunny day, Claudia. Glad you can finally do some planting. After a couple of overcast cool days, we’re on the cusp of high 70’s. Party today for the young students in the reading program in which I work, and then I’m off for summer break. Glad it will be warm and sunny for the outdoor festivities. The kids are hyper for summer to come!
Have fun at the party, Wendy!
I love those Pansies, so colorful.
Marilyn
Such pretty flowers!
Such beautiful plants Claudi and they look so healthy!
So far, so good, though this 89 degree weather is rather shocking to them. I had to rescue the pansies and move them to the shade!
Hi Claudia, I mentioned few days ago that I was being bombarded with ads on your blog for Max Factor, (not your fault), but I couldn’t get rid of them. If you have discovered a way, then please, don’t tell me. Because they have now changed to pics of a topless David Beckham promoting his latest fragrance. That can stay on my laptop forever. lol
Whoo hoo! You’re making me laugh out loud, Lesley!
If you do want to get rid of them, google “adware on browser” and there should be some information as to how to get rid of them. I think you can check whether there have been add-ons to your browser recently and see if there’s something suspicious there.
xo
Beautiful flower pictures Claudia. What is the yellow one just before your poppy? And the calibrachoa are gorgeous! I’m another one who had never heard of that plant previously.
That’s a lamium called Yellow Archangel.
I just bought a bunch of annuals today. Who knows when I’ll have time to plant them though – life has been pretty nuts around here. I don’t think I’ve seen calibrachoa before, but it sure is pretty. We’re having the same hot weather that you are, though finally back down into the 70’s tomorrow. Then only 53 on Friday! So weird. Rain on the weekend.
The pansies were wilting. I had to water them and move them out of the sun!
Love the poppy bud.
Love hearing about what’s going on with Don. Sounds rigorous.
I don’t know anything much about instagram but I’ll check out your story.
I just came in from watering…sort of a guilty pleasure to be able to do that midday with some of our California water restrictions lifted for the drought…where it was sunny and breezy in the mid-70s but, despite blue sky, seems very humid, and Husband says that we’re supposed to warm up this weekend. Just enjoying it while I can out there; so much pleasure from a volunteer hollyhock from our previous house. They almost look like paper flowers up close. These were ancient; who knows when they were planted at that other little cottage. It’s taken it over three years in this new location to grow and bloom.
I’ve already got green bell peppers growing on the vine. We transplanted all my herbs to make room for veggies and I’m so glad to see that they took hold and seem to be okay in their new pots. I think we’re going to have ‘way too much squash, but that happens a lot and I know how to blanch and freeze it although I’m no cook. We share the bounty, of course, with neighbors and co-workers.
I’m trying to stay sane. During the day, it’s quiet here. But, last night, my new neighbor came home at 5pm and blasted loud, offensive music continuously to 9:30pm. He had four to five guys in the garage, which he has turned into a man cave with refrigerator for long-neck Buds; sofas and chairs strewn around tables, sports posters and sports memorabilia covering the garage walls; so I now know that no car will ever go in that garage. (I did some spying in the dark of night, as was another neighbor doing the same thing over at his house across the street; I mean, we were in plain sight, but we both wanted to know what the heck was going on.) The saving grace is that this new homeowner is apparently a hardworking landscape/construction guy, from what we can gather, who has to go to bed so that he can get up at 5am and be on the road to somewhere…and they have a school-age child who obviously needs sleep (Mom must work as well)…so, unless it’s a weekend (God help us; it’s gonna happen; summer is just starting), I know these episodes will always have short-enough duration on weeknights.
The people are 20-somethings surrounded by eight neighbors (including my husband and me) in a cul-de-sac who are all age 50 to 85, so it’s not the greatest fit. We’ve had young’uns move in further down the block, though (there’s three sets of them now, including what’s gone in next to me), so this is how the neighborhood is cycling again and it’s just the nature of the beast with older folks dying off and younger ones coming in to the older parts of town as first-time homebuyers (entry-level market); what’s more affordable first time out.
But we just can’t figure out how they’re getting the money and qualifying for loans (when they’re so young) because home prices are (ridiculously, dangerously) sky-high in Southern California again. It’s like a mad scramble with people trying to get into homes with interest rates still low (I guess).
The mother of one my childhood friends recently passed in her 90s and the kids put up the house for sale last week without doing one thing to it. It’s been in the same family for over 60 years. I ran into my former contractor and we spoke of it as he’s very familiar with the home and he says the house needs a TON of serious work on it. I also, personally, know this house as I spent time in it, in my youth, and my parents were good friends with this homeowner, all through the many years. The house is attractive although worn, very-early 20th century; many nice features, set off the street but not a large lot, yet in the most-enviable neighborhood in our small town (that’s not saying much; we’re not a rich town). Listed at $700,000 as-is and they got a firm offer within a couple of days, $5,000 OVER their asking price, with no demands.
I ‘m seeing this daily, truly. And, again, we’ve also seen this before in SoCalif and all too recently. The bubble WILL burst. Buyers are gonna be stuck with huge mortgages with houses that will fall in price, so watch the foreclosures start all over again once they’re all ‘under water’. It’s just a shame. But if you’re a seller right now, you’ve hit it right. It’s all in the timing. (And I am SO tempted. My husband and I are in new discussions on the subject. But our house really isn’t ready to sell yet [unfinished remodeling; we’ve barely moved in!]…and the trick is, you’ve gotta have somewhere to go, and it can’t be another place in California, that’s for sure, unless you severely downsize.)
I hope this situation with your neighbor gets better. I’m always amazed by those who seem to have no sense that they have neighbors, or that they might be talking too loudly on their phone, or a whole host of things.
Oh, they have zero manners. They come in not gently, but as if to say, ‘We’re here and we rule.” As I ranted on before, they block my driveway with their cars, they make no attempt to introduce themselves to anybody or ask anything about the neighborhood, they reduced their trash pile by half but it’s still stacked against my fence although they told my husband they’re getting a dumpster for all the weed clearing (brush/trimmings also still stacked seven feet high against our fence as well; THAT I’m really, really tired of; I want it gone, yesterday…). I constantly cringe at their blue language; I don’t know why every other word has to be a four-letter one. I’m not a prude but it’s so disturbing to the ear. So jarring. Despite not caring about anyone else but themselves and their MANY relatives and friends, they do appear (to my husband; I’ve yet to speak to anyone over there myself) to be happy to have their first home. My husband continues to feel we just need to give it some time; see how it plays out, within reason. I’ll be so relieved when he’s home more in June, once this past five months or so of too many work assignments away from home and overnight, days on end, are over. It’s not that I need him as protector, but more that I need his level head, as I get crazy over this sort of situation. But I’ve cautioned him to not wait too much longer to point out the property line, so that they don’t pave over our part of the grass (I’ve overheard that is something the guy wants to do, which is his right, if it’s on his side of the property line) or, of course, start taking down our fence (the other thing I inadvertently overheard, the first hour they took possession of the house – – it’s not hard to overhear things because the guy is SO LOUD, all their windows and doors are wide open, and the houses are so close together; I’m back and forth, feeding cats, watering plants, letting the dog play, taking out the garbage, picking up dog poop; I can’t avoid hearing things even though I have no desire to know about their life!). Once we get this property line thing to the man’s attention, I’ll be less vigilant (I think) and with summer coming on, I’ll just retreat into the house with the A/C on, windows closed, and try to shut out their comings/goings/conversations/parties. So sad, because one would wish the situation could be so different and so much more positive. I had intended for it to go differently and I actually had ordered a pie to take over to them as a welcome, but then I was so put off, I just gave half the pie to my gardener instead. I keep thinking that maybe these young people aren’t BAD people but just coarse. I’m still somewhat trying to reserve judgment, not looking for a new friend but just to live peaceably for the time I have left in this neighborhood. Maybe things will get better.
Hopefully, they’ll settle down and once the property line is pointed out to them, and introductions are made…things will be better.
It helps to have know your neighbors have names and a story. It might make it harder for them to ignore you.
Good point. Thank you for your thoughts. I’m going to try to stop talking about it here on your dear blog, though (it’s a happy place!). My problems aren’t everybody else’s! I don’t need to be dumping! And, very scary, my blood pressure has gone sky-high to the point of my doctor today having to prescribe medication to try to get it down, like in a hurry, so it’s clearly a signal to me to find a way to live with this and reduce my stress. These unpleasant people aren’t worth my life. I don’t want to have a stroke over it. What did me in last night is that they started fighting (verbal) at 10pm; I could hear it with their windows closed; I’d gone out to pick up the cat food for the night, so I heard what I didn’t want to hear. I listened for a few minutes because I swore if that big-bad, loud, obnoxious dude was hurting her, the wife, I would call 911 but it ultimately seemed like she was holding her own in the yelling/shouting; it eventually simmered down, I guess (I went back inside but I felt uneasy for hours afterward). I of course don’t know anything about these people. What a blow to a decent-enough neighborhood to have to have somebody like this move in…and it WOULD have to be right next door, to me. Anyway, again, I’ve tainted your blog enough with my rants about it and that’s not doing you, your readers or me any good. Somehow, things will work out; I just can’t see it yet. Let’s get back to flowers, birdies, Nancy Drew; miniatures; egg cups. Comfort stuff! It helps, a lot!
I would definitely introduce yourself when your husband gets home. It’s a lot easier for them to be clueless when they have no idea who their neighbors are.
Such pretty flowers! I’m so tired from working on the church rummage sale. I’ll take tomorrow off then have long days Fri/Sat. I think waiting until nearer the end of Don’s run of the play is a good idea. Maybe drive back together?
Maybe you forgot, but we decided we were going to do that before Don left. We’ll drive back together!
Rest up!