After 36 hours of constant rain, courtesy of the most recent tropical storm, we are sunny and dry. At least for today. Friday afternoon consisted of heavy rain but the atmosphere here was considerably lightened by the sound of guitar, dobro, mandolin and banjo – along with my husband’s voice.
That’s Dan on the left playing the dobro and Don on guitar. Just on the other side of the table, you can see Scout’s ear. That girl never left the living room. It was as if I didn’t exist. She loves people and music, so I can’t blame her.
Friday’s mail brought something from my sister. Meredith recently ordered her own Maggie Rabbit kit, as well as Alicia’s new pattern for a knit dress for Maggie. Since Meredith is a far better knitter than I am, I asked her is she would make a knit dress for Maggie.
Let’s see if we can get Maggie to stand up.
There! She needed to hold on to the wrought iron. Okay. Now we’ll put her in her new dress.
Hello! Could that dress be any more adorable? Maggie likes the layered look.
Meredith also sent along something she designed; an apron. After all, Maggie works in the garden and in the kitchen and all around the house. She needs an apron.
Be still my heart. She looks so cute.
Every time I put something over Maggie’s head, I have to rearrange her whiskers. I clearly forgot to when I took this picture.
Meredith is quite talented, you know. Thank you, sister!
Lots of buds on the New Dawn roses.
And the Julia Child roses, which were originally a pale yellow but now have reverted back to red, are really taking off.
I love all my roses, but (shhh!) I love the New Dawn roses the best. They are in the side garden, so you can’t see them in this picture. I did plant another New Dawn rose bush at the end of the summer last year. It’s several feet to the right of this area of the garden, which is in front of the house. I’m hoping it takes off.
I have to start work on the text for Much Ado About Nothing. I’ve got a two-day gig in mid-July – I will be working with the cast of an upcoming production of that play being produced by the Barrington Stage Company (situated in the lovely Berkshires.) But our work will be in NYC. And then, not long after that, I will be once again coaching at Hartford Stage. This time it will be Macbeth and a French play, La Dispute.
I think I’d better tear myself away from the garden.
Umm….tomorrow. Because today is sunny and tomorrow will be rainy.
By the way, if you tried to download any of Don’s music and had a problem, we hope to resolve that within a few days. Just a glitch with Paypal that will soon be cleared up. I’ll give you the all clear when everything is resolved. Thanks for your patience!
Happy Sunday.
Goodness, these Miss Maggies are everywhere!!!
Your roses are beautiful every year, I love that you share them with us :)
Maggies are multiplying like….well, rabbits!
She looks adorable and ready to help you in the garden today.
Hugs to you sister and thanks for your work on my blog, it looks great.
Mere
Do you like your larger photos? I bet you do! Thanks for the new additions to Maggie’s wardrobe!
New Dawn is my favorite climbing rose! I used to have one on my front porch at my old house, but cant find a good spot here, and I miss it. I will just watch for pictures of yours.
That bunny is adorable. Your sis did a great job on the knitted clothes.
I love New Dawn roses – such a soft shade of pink. So beautiful! And disease resistant to boot!
Maggie looks so happy in her new outfits. Just adorable. Your roses are starting to look beautiful. The upside to lots of rain is lots of wonderful growth. xo Laura
Yes, everything is growing like wildfire.
Aunt Meredith sure made Maggie some pretty pieces! :)
Your garden is looking very lush, Claudia, enjoy, because soon enough you’ll be away again and won’t recognize it when you return!;)
xo
Poppy
It will be overgrown, I can guarantee it.
Love the new Maggie Rabbit clothing. I have the pattern but I have to find someone to make it for me as I do not knit that well. I certainly don’t know how to knit in the round. sigh.
I’ve knit in the round before, but this pattern used double pointed needles and that scared me off!
I know the sound of music in the house. Our son is a musician. I love to hear the guitar playing, and his voice! I love the doll!!! I have been admiring Teresa’s and I saw that Meredith made a “pinny” for her doll too. How cute they are !!!!
Happy Sunday to you!!
xo Kris
I’m totally in love with Maggie Rabbit.
My second husband (and the best of the bunch should I have to choose) was a mellow soul and played guitar, banjo, mandolin and something called the bazooka (sp?). He played Irish music mostly. The roses in this neighborhood look tawdry now. Don’t know if they put on a big show and have to rest a bit or not. This years roses are for me my first blooming ones. Never had much luck with them before.
Brenda
Maybe a Bouzouki? The red roses basically bloom once. The pink ones to the right of them have about 3 different blooms. Not sure yet about the New Dawn, as it’s rather newish to the garden.
Forgot to say: Maggie is adorable and Meredith IS quite talented!
Brenda
Yes, she is.
How nice to be able to sit back and relax while listening to their music..Meredith..I didn’t think Miss Maggie could get any cuter but just look at her in her new dress and apron..Claudia..I envy the relationship that you and Meredith have..I wish I could have the same with my sisters..unfortunately they have very complicated personalities..sigh..
I’m very fortunate to have Meredith for a sister, but we also have a sister who is estranged from us and most of the family. She hasn’t seen my parents in 11 years. She only talks to them via the phone and has not talked to me or Mer for at least 9 years. She’s very troubled. I wrote about it once on the blog. You can search for it: the post is entitled, The Lost Sister. And of course, we lost our brother almost 22 years ago. So you can imagine how important our bond is to Meredith and me.
Your sister L sounds like my oldest one..She will get angry about something and not talk to us for years at a time..no explanations..no discussing it..I have gotten way to old and tired to try and figure out what I did wrong..I just half to let it go even though it hurts..I also think that she has a mental or medical problem but you can’t force anyone to get help..especially when they don’t even see that they have a problem..My other sister is an alcoholic as was our Father..Dad was not the one that exploded though..Mom did that and she could be quite scary….This sister has been so detached from family for so many years it is hard to feel anything there anymore..She treats her friends like her family and her family like outsiders that she would rather not bother with..this is even with her own grown children..Funny..we think we are the only ones with a certain problem and then find out that there are many more like us out there..Thanks for letting me know that I am not alone..Hugs
Maggie is so adorable in her little outfits. I love your small round table. Does it have a drawer in front? I was eyeing one similar to it recently and they wanted way too much money for it. Yours is perfect!
It’s actually pretty big – a former round dining room table that was cut down. No drawer. Our friend refinished it for someone else who decided against it – so we got it for $75.
Our pups often do that when the guitars come out in our house too!
Love how nice Maggie looks with her new dress and apron. I’d love to order a kit one day but have too many projects on the go. Maybe after our holidays when I plan to finish one quilt and some scrapbooking pages that need my attention. One day!
Maggie looks so cute in her new togs! What a sweet sister! Your roses are so pretty.
Judy
Would’ve loved to be there to hear the music! I love folks music…I’m a vocal performance drop-out, and back in the day I used to lead a band on my guitar….such sweet memories :)
Music … definitely soothes the soul. I loved when we would have family get togethers and my cousin and others would play guitar and we would sing. Your Maggie is so sweet in her new duds from Meredith. You did a good job on her blog revamp. I knew that hydrangeas changed color depending on the soil, but never knew that roses could change colors. Amazing! Have a wonderful week. We have dust again and it is very depressing. Bleh! Best wishes, Tammy