We’re getting close! There are lots of flowers on the lilac bush this year. That seems to vary from year to year, depending on what happened weather-wise during the winter. I look forward to them opening and inhaling that glorious scent.
I snuck in a little bit more work outside, but not much. Trimmed some old hydrangea blossoms, trimmed a bit of one of the ‘pricker bushes’ – darn, I always prick myself. “Pricker bush” is what we called them when I was a kid and it’s stuck after all these years. We have two of them. I also trimmed a few of the wild roses. And I cleaned the bathroom.
It was a bit too warm yesterday, but as of Monday, the temps will be back in the sixties. We may mow the lawn today. I also have to get Don to do a few things today that he won’t be able to do after his surgery. Wish me luck! He’s been noodling away on his ukulele, since he can play that by strumming with one of his fingers – that will serve him well during the post-surgery healing process.
Mabel insisted on trying on the new hat. I also chose to post this so you can see the GREEN in the background! Huzzah!
I’m reading Colson Whitehead’s mystery, Harlem Shuffle. That man writes beautifully (I guess we already knew that as he’s won two Pulitzer Prizes.) Don has read two of his books and loved them. He bought Harlem Shuffle and then never got around to it, so I grabbed it. I’m really enjoying it.
And War and Peace – ongoing. I think we’re about a third of the way through it. Tolstoy was a genius. Don and I are continually astounded by the beauty of his writing; his knowledge of human frailties, the descriptions that are almost cinematic – brilliant. It is a true pleasure indulging in this slow read. I don’t think I would have done it otherwise.
So here’s a question I haven’t asked for quite a while: What are you reading?
Stay safe.
Happy Saturday.
What a lovely photo of spring. I am still blanketed in snow. It is a slow melt which is preferred to avoid flooding. Unfortunately, there has been flooding and mudslides in Salt Lake Valley.
I am reading “The Maid” by Nita Prose.
Take Care,
Kaye
They are supposed to be producing a movie based on this book starring Florence Pugh. Hope it comes out soon. I loved the book.
Thank you, Kaye.
Stay safe.
glad you could spend more time outdoors. the green looks good out there (here, too).
:)
to lose (permanently or temporarily) something enjoyed, helpful and loved is hard … so glad to hear that don will be able to play the ukelele as he recovers until he can get back to guitars! will continue praying for don, you, the medical team and everyone else.
very clever idea, that “war and peace” read-along. i might try it sometime. glad you and don are enjoying it, like your own two-persons book club. to answer your question … the Bible. working on making removable, free-standing shelves for that cupboard-turning-bookcase, i’ve recently seen and thought about (but not taken time to read) my books. keeping Christmas gifts to read (like “the storied life of a. j. fikry”), favorites that i expect to re-read and sharing the rest with family members, friends and strangers. feels good.
cooler here and i love it. makes doing things easier, more likely for me. :)
hope everyone has a very happy saturday. stay safe!
kathy
kathy, I am betting you were LOVE a.j. fiery. I read it a few years ago and still think about it!!
Sounds like you are keeping busy!
hej, chris. :)
that’s a great endorsement for the book (top of my to-be-read pile). thank you!
yes, pretty busy, but doing alright.
how are you? hope and praying that you are fully recuperated and having fun every day.
happy, safe sunday to you!
kathy
Thank you, Kathy!
Stay safe.
I’m reading Going Rogue by Janet Evonavich. It’s an easy, fun read.
The weather is not cooperating here. Last Saturday I got sunburned at my granddaughter’s soccer game. Today I will be wearing my winter coat. It’s been wet and cold most of the week so no yard work here yet.
Take care
Thank you, Marilyn.
Stay safe.
I bet that lilac will be beautiful when it blooms! I love lilacs! “Pricker bushes” are not fun, and good to have them trimmed back. We had some warm weather here yesterday, more today, hopefully I can get out for a walk. Mabel looks cute in her new hat! I just started reading The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. I’ve never read any of her books before.
I have a lot more trimming to do on that bush, Barrie.
Thank you!
Stay safe.
Your lilacs are ahead of ours — we’re still working on leaves! And I’m glad Don has the uke to enjoy, especially as he will when he recovers.
I just finished Elly Griffiths “The Locked Room” and am now into Rennie Airth’s “The Valley of Kings.” AND still working on the Feinstein “The Gershwins and Me.” I don’t want to say it’s a slog because it’s interesting and I’m into the material but there is so much there it is hard to digest if you read too much at once. Plus, it’s hardcover and BIG so it’s not going to doc office waiting rooms with me!
Thank you, Jeanie.
Stay safe.
I wish Don well with his surgery – no hitches and a quick recovery!
Just finished “A Precautionary Tale” by Philip Ackerman-Leist and “The Reindeer Chronicles” by Judith Schwartz – main impetus to actually finishing was that I was reading with a group. Also finished “Memories and Visions of Paradise” (the second edition from 1995) by Richard Heinberg – very inspiring, even more than the other two, and I didn’t even need a group. No fiction at the moment – just re-watched “Foyle’s War” on Amazon – it was free the first time through but you have to pay now. Someone has put random episodes on YouTube, which was what got me hooked in again, but not all of them, so I just gave up and bought the whole thing.
Thank you, Anne!
Stay safe.
I like Mabel’s face; the colorway.
I don’t know if it’s the right time to plant any of this, but I’m going to the nursery this coming week to inquire about two particular items: Pride of Madeira (I love the blue and also purple ‘pokers’ with the bloom; it can be a good-sized plant) and a Trumpet tree (can get golden or pink; I want the pink; they’re blooming everywhere in March-April, here in SoCalif; so beautiful). I’m done with an avocado tree that won’t yield fruit (planted almost ten years ago) and an apple that is in the wrong location (‘way too much sun; it just won’t grow or thrive), so they’re coming out, just as soon as my husband’s weight restrictions are lifted (after surgery from end of March) and his activity level can be okayed for some yard work.
We were 100 degrees midday yesterday; blistering hot with a sort of medium Santa Ana wind condition. Makes me annoyed. Will take all the green out of hillsides which we’ve been enjoying so much. Oh well. Time marches on and Southern Calif gets hot from May-forward; it’s just a little early to be THIS hot in April. We knew it was coming, so watered the landscape and outdoor potted plants early in the morning; also worked with the old central air conditioning unit yesterday, cleaning and checking; thankfully it is working okay; I hold my breath every summer. But only slept with one sheet last night, so I guess the bed blankets are about to get stashed til next ‘winter’. I feel sad to say goodbye to the lovely cool weather we’ve been blessed with since Christmas. I am NOT a fan of summer like I was when I was a kid!
I’m not reading anything that would be known here. It’s all non-fiction I picked up at a local museum bookstore because it’s background research for some stories I’m continuing to write for my tiny hometown newspaper. I’m heading out more these days; getting adventurous; but always still wearing a mask. I have an appointment upcoming at Univ of CA at Santa Barbara’s Architecture Museum to peruse some documents which may have to do with the cottage my collective family and I lived in for upward of sixty years. Just happened on this discovery and I’m pretty excited; may be some architectural but primarily landscape plans from the early 1940s; the university has been generous and helpful. The landscape designer was actually related to Louis Tiffany of NY. And any excuse to ever get up to Santa Barbara is wonderful, although we just did it a few days ago (my husband and I are individually enamored with Santa Barbara because at diff times in our lives before we knew each other, we each lived there [when I’m visiting, I shake my head wondering how I could have ever left; but, frankly, it would be so expensive to live there today as it’s a resort town; gosh is it a beautiful city, though, and we love the north beaches of El Capitan/Refugio]).
Anyway, I buy fiction (my bookstack is getting large; I need to tackle it) but it seems to sit as I gravitate to non-fiction these days.
I’m currently reading “Because You Loved Me” by Beth Moran. It’s about a young woman from Northern Ireland who had a troubled childhood with her mother. She travels to England to find out more about her father who dearly loved her and died when she was young.
I’ve resisted going to the nurseries to look at plants because here we can get frost up to about Mother’s Day. The cold snaps we had through the winter killed some of my new perennials from last year. My nephew was here yesterday to help me get the leaves cleaned up in my patio area.
Today we’re under a severe thunderstorm watch. Hoping and praying we don’t get the storms. The high tomorrow is supposed to be 10 degrees cooler than today.
We just had a severe thunderstorm last night – and I got a tornado warning on my phone!
Stay safe, Denise.
xoxo
I am not either! I hope it cools off a bit, Vicki.
Thank you,
Stay safe.
It is a bit breezy here and some cloud cover. Just finished reading The Killing of Innocents by Deborah Crombie. It was nice to sit down and visit an old friend. That was what I thought as I was reading her book. I am finishing Float Plan by Trish Doller. The idea of sailing your own boat and visiting different islands in the Caribbean sounded interesting. Would I read the book again. No. Also am reading a nonfiction The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. The book is not a light read. Also added to my reading for May is An Appalachian Summer by Ann H. Gabhart and a fun read A Woman Called Sage by Diann Mills. Should keep me busy for the next month. Enjoy your garden.
Thank you, Trina!
Stay safe.
Loved Mabel’s pink hair and her cute blue shoes. I’m currently reading “The Last Bookshop in London: a novel of World War II” by Madeline Martin. I’ve only just started it but I’m really enjoying it. Your lilac bush is going to be wonderful when it is in full bloom. Nothing like the scent of lilacs to lift your spitits. Stay well. Stay safe. Hugs, Elaine
That was a great book to read!
Thank you, Elaine!
Stay safe.
Can you believe I’ve never smelled a lilac? I’ve never lived where they bloom but it’s on my bucket list to see/smell one. I’m reading Ruth Goodman’s “How to be a Victorian”. Take care, Jen
Oh, Jen; me, too; have never smelled a lilac; they don’t seem to grow in Southern California where I am; I believe Claudia once told me they need a cold winter and ours was rainy this year but I can’t even recall when we had a for-real hard freeze. My husband said his mom had them all around the front porch of the house (in the Midwest) when he was growing up and there’s simply no scent like a lilac’s; so, I feel left out; deprived! I’ve heard it pronounced Ly-Lak or Li-Luck; I hope somebody tells me which is correct. One purple plant I’m seeing right now where I am on the coast is wisteria and it’s really pretty. It gets heavy, so a friend of mine from K-12 has it supported on an arbor-arch; I’ve driven by, waved, as she sits on a bench beneath it.
Hi Vicki, l pronounce it li-lock. Not sure if that’s right or not. Well, just checked on Google and the correct pronunciation is li-lak. Perhaps you might enjoy a lilac-scented perfume or cologne. It wouldn’t be the same as the real thing but close. Maybe a lilac-scented candle would be nice. Hugs, Elaine
I do this for a living: it’s lie-lack – at least the American pronunciation is that. Other countries, I’m sure, are different.
hej, vicki …
my family and i pronounce it “li-locks” (rhyming with “buy frocks”).
i hope you can smell true lilacs soon (a favorite scent for me)! also that your husband’s recuperation is going well and you three are having a nice, easy weekend. :)
kathy
As someone who coaches the correct pronunciations of words for a living, the correct American pronunciation is lie-lack. Long i in the first syllable, short a in the second. Stress on the first syllable.
I hope you get to smell a lilac some day, Jen.
Stay safe.
I’m anxious to see photos of your lilac. It was only last weekend that our neighbor’s lilac started sprouting leaves. So, it’ll be awhile before I can breathe in that heavenly smell.
I’m currently reading Long Shadows by David Baldacci….it’s part of the Memory Man series. Enjoy your day! ;)
Thank you, Donnamae.
Stay safe.
Hope all goes well with Don’s upcoming operation. I have things to plant out but we’re still having overnight frosts so I will leave until later in the month. Lots of rhubarb has appeared in my tiny vegetable patch.
I am currently reading The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. It’s set in the 1930s dust bowl of America and the journey to California. I remember learning about this when I was about fourteen and The Grapes of Wrath was one of the books on our reading list at school.
One thing I find hard to grasp is the sheer size of the United States. Texas alone is three times the size of the UK!
Happy Saturday
Thank you, Dee Dee.
Stay safe.
I just finished “Belonging” by Michelle Miller; coauthored by Rosemarie Robotham. I read Rosemarie’s blog “37th Paddington” which is how I heard about the book. Michelle is cohost of “CBS Saturday Morning” and the book is her journey to discover more about her mother who gave her up at birth. I liked the book a lot!
Thank you, Ellen!
Stay safe.
Too much rain for me to get into the garden today.
I recently finished Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni, very suspenseful, and am now reading a book by Donna Everhart called The Saints of Swallow Hill. It’s a historical novel set in the Depression about working on a farm where they produce turpentine. It’s quite interesting.
I’m also trying to finish a pretty trellis lap quilt for next Saturday.
Hopefully, tomorrow will be a garden day.
I’ve read quite a few Robert Dugonis. He’s a good writer.
Thanks, Betsy.
Stay safe.
Oooohhhh!! My fav posts!! I just finished Lucy By The Sea by Elizabeth Strout. It was excellent.
Also, The Book of Lost Names by Kristen Harmel. Another good WWII read and The Mayfair Bookshop :a novel of Nancy Mitford and the pursuit of happiness by Eliza Knight. I have 5 that I just got from the library to dive into.
Another cold and rainy/ snowy day here today. It really ramped up my pain level. We need some sun and warmer weather!!!! If only we could make those things happen! Have a great rest of your weekend. Take care.
Thank you Chris!
Stay safe.
Hello there! It’s been awhile since I’ve visited. I just finished “Flash Boys,” by Michael Lewis. I don’t know how he does it, but I can understand what he’s writing about only because he’s writing it. Any other writer and I wouldn’t get to the second page. Other than that, roses are blooming, spring is here, and I’m enjoying it all as much as I can before the big swelter of summer. Life is good.
He’s a wonderful writer, Elizabeth!
Thank you!
Stay safe.