Windy, windy and windy. Yesterday, we had a thunderstorm that was incredibly intense, with everything that can be part of a thunderstorm thrown at us. I was standing in the kitchen watching the rain pour down when I suddenly heard it intensify. I swear, I have never seen (or heard) it rain that hard!
What a weather system! As with all these intense rain systems lately, the day it moves out is filled with crazy wind. As I am one who does not like relentless wind, I’m trying to stay present today and not get tense. I just had to run out to the porch and rescue the pillows on the glider, as they had just been blown off by a gust of wind. They are now on the sofa until things calm down. The rest of the week, in true Northeast-crazy-spring fashion, will have temps in the eighties.
Go figure.
But right now, despite the wind, the sun is out and I am very happy about that.
Don’s show has been extended to July 9th. We were pretty sure that would happen. Sigh. Hey, it’s another couple of paychecks! He’s having fun, but yesterday was a two-show day after a long, long week, so I imagine he’ll be very grateful for his day off today.
I haven’t been reading novels lately as I’ve felt compelled to do some spiritual reading. I’m pretty private about my spirituality, so I’ll just leave it at that. But that’s why you haven’t heard any novel ‘updates’ from me.
Other than that, there’s not a whole lot to report. I’m laying low because of the weather, talking to Don when he has a spare moment, talking to Little Z and my sister, watching old movies, keeping up with the debacle in Washington while trying to maintain balance, and waiting for the warmer weather to arrive! I have a bit more planting to do.
Happy Monday.
A little “me” time is extremely important for all of us. As far as I’m concerned, without it we wouldn’t have the capacity to retain our sanity, especially these days. Your photos, as usual, are lovely!
Sanity is the key, Kay!
These storms lately have been so strong and then the wind. Right now we are back to warm days. I’m going to have to water the plants more often now. Take care of yourself and enjoy some down time. Hugs!
There has been so much wind this spring. I’m over it! Enough already.
Trying to maintain balance is so very hard. I thought when I hit this point in my life ~ without the kids at home, being retired, no real schedule except my own ~ that it would be so much easier, but it surely isn’t the case. I think the world/ country situation is keeping a lot of us out of balance.
We had a beautiful weekend here. Sun and temps in the upper 70’s. We got a lot of work in the yard completed. The kids came home to help, so it was fun (or as much fun as weeding, repairing, mulching, etc. can be). Still a lot of planting to finish up, but that is joyful for me to do, so I don’t hurry it up or dread it in any way. I like to make it last until June 1 or so. The process for me is a big part of the fun. I know others who like to buy it, and then get it in the pot and in the ground right away. Whatever make us happy and works!!
Well, I hope you have a trip to visit Don in the works. I am sure this separation has been hard on both of you. The work that has to be done at this time of the year helps. It would have been so much harder in the dead of winter, but still difficult no matter when. Hope you have a marvelous Monday in the sunshine!
Still waiting for the chimney to be fixed. I’m sure all of their work has been delayed a lot because of the endless rain we’ve had. I have to be here when that occurs. Therefore, I can’t make any plans to visit Don yet.
I’m confused. What chimney? I thought you didn’t have a fireplace?
You still have a chimney even if you don’t have a fireplace. The furnace or boiler needs to vent. I grew up in a little bungalow with no fireplace, but it had a chimney.
Okay, I get it; I just have lived in different sorts of houses, maybe. My furnace doesn’t have a chimney; it has a round roof vent. A small kind of thing as opposed to the MUCH larger, square, brick chimney for the fireplace. Same for my last house, the little 1920s cottage; massive hearth/fireplace/square chimney on the roof. I think it’s just different names for the same thing but thanks for the clarification! I’ve always thought if anyone was more suited to a fireplace, it’s you and Don (very romantic couple!).
No, it’s not a round roof vent. It’s a brick chimney. All houses have them. Especially older houses like mine. It’s a square, brick chimney. I’d say it’s about 4 or 5 ft. high, coming out of the roof.
Sounds expensive. Our tall chimney re-do for the little cottage…bricks were not secure, coming loose up there on the roof…was a quote of $25,000 for repair, and that didn’t even include what was in what I think the firebox (condition of the actual insides of where the sparks traveled from the wood pile up thru the chimney into the sky). No way we could afford to fix it. Had to cap the chimney and make sure our buyers knew to NEVER start up a fire. They, as it turns out, are wealthy, so I’m hoping by now that they fixed the chimney because it was a gorgeous hearth and fireplace…raised hearth and a beautiful, carved, wood mantle above a hand-“pounded” (I don’t know the right word for that) metalwork piece. I just don’t think they make stuff like that anymore. The cottage was small except for that big, open, living room (beamed ceiling) and the fireplace/hearth took up almost an entire wall…and, very cool, it had a woodbox (I think that’s what you call it) in a cabinet with doors, right where you needed it for wood, adjacent to the hearth although, nowadays, with such a termite threat in California, you wouldn’t really want to store wood logs inside the home. Sigh. It was our family home, belonged to my great-aunt and great-uncle and they burned a fire in that fireplace twelve months out of the year, their comfy chairs side by side in front of it. A fond memory for me I couldn’t duplicate with my husband due to that darn crumbling chimney from 1923!
Just some masonry work at the top – about $3000. That’s expensive for us, but it was causing a leak in our bedroom. It’s had a tarp on it for three years, so we’ve had no more leaking, but it’s time to fix it.
It feels so much better to get these lingering projects done. It can nag at you, knowing something needs attention; I have about ten things like that right now in my own home and I’ll be so glad when I can quit thinking about it but that’s also just one of the aspects of home ownership is the constant maintenance.
We have several of those things hanging on as well, but in our case, it’s usually hinging on funds.
Enjoy your quiet time. I’m sure your outdoor tasks will come soon enough. Have you made plans to visit Don yet? Or have you decided that you’ll just meet him in San Diego and drive home together? Planting for me today. I just carted all of my Mom’s pots and planters from her house to mine. She’s too busy to care for plants. Last month, I brought all her succulents and orchids to my house. They have adjusted and are doing well. So with the new to me pots, I can finally finish my bulb planting….I’m a little late this year.
I hope to plant tomorrow but it’s way too windy to do any of that today. Can’t make plans to visit Don until the chimney is fixed, which is supposed to be sometime this month, but I’m sure rain has delayed a lot of their work.
That’s great news and sad news at the same time that Don’s show has been extended. Will you be able to go and visit?
X Chy
Hopefully. I had planned on going twice but I don’t think that’s going to happen because of a some work that needs to be done here that keeps getting delayed because of the weather. I will definitely go out near the end of his time there because we’re going to drive back together.
When I lived on the Gulf Coast, where we also had some pretty intense storms, what would really get to me was when the sky would turn green and the rain would turn to hail, so it would pelt against the window glass HARD and I’d be afraid it might break the windows. Of course, with this, would also usually be loud cracking of thunder and lightning, which would petrify my dogs (one dog in particular, to the point where she could do herself harm in her extreme fear; I ‘d worry so much about her when I’d be at work and couldn’t get home to her; one time she clawed through a hollow-core interior door in the house, as if she was trying to escape [to anywhere but there], poor little girl). And it was the worst when I’d be alone at home, my husband away on business, feeling very uneasy with the weather, and whether or not things would turn into a tornado although I tried to keep tuned in to The Weather Channel all the time. Being from California where we never have weather like that as a rule, I’d never, in those years, ever paid much attention to weather reports but, man, in Houston? We sort of ‘lived and died’ by the weather; it totally governed one’s plans for a day. And I don’t miss it one bit. The problem with Houston is that it can also flood and I had two experiences with that I don’t like remembering either…so, yeah, relocating back to California, we traded it for years-long drought (and earthquakes) but, I dunno, it seems like the weather is crazy all over the U.S. now. As singer Eddie Vedder said at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2017 in his Pearl Jam induction speech, “Climate change is real. And that is NOT fake news.”
Yes, I heard that speech. Good for him!
I don’t agree with every opinion of his, or every stance on politics he takes, but I totally love Eddie Vedder! AND Pearl Jam. And I know, I know; I’m too ‘old’ for that kind of music (call it grunge if you must). Whatever. I like a variety of music. It’s really all about the music. Always. I can go days listening to nothing but Frank Sinatra. Or Vivaldi. Or a cast album for “Oklahoma” (or “Brigadoon”). Maybe some George Strait. Or Beausoleil (or Coteau) when I’m hungry for bayou sound (Cajun/Zydeco music, although the two are different, yet similar, sort of…). There are bands/musicians/singers I discover much later, even after their heydays. I had years where I didn’t listen to the radio; didn’t buy music; life too busy with other things; didn’t even pick up a book to read or see current films. A lot of catching-up to do. My current obsession is Leonard Cohen, whose music I haven’t known, which I consider a loss (and which is now unbelievable to me, to be so uninformed of him) so I’ve been buying a lot of his music.
ANASTASIA (ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST RECORDING) pre-order on Amazon; I think it’s available in early June. Really looking forward to hearing this music, Claudia; you’ve sold us on it!
Yes, I know it’s coming out in June. Get it – you’ll love the music.
I always love watching the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because I learn something about groups that I didn’t necessarily want to listen to years ago – like Yes and Rush.
Wasn’t that a great show?!! I’ve watched it more than once now. I’d never heard of Geddy Lee (Rush) and, wow, can he play that bass. I became reacquainted with Yes when their music was featured in excerpts on that Sarah Jessica Parker/Thomas Haden Church (new) show on HBO called ‘Divorce’ (Season 1) and it hooked me immediately.
My brother loved ELO (so it played in the house a lot!) and I thought the lead singer, Jeff Lynne (age 69), sounded as good in 2017 as he did in the late 70s.
I’d read in advance that it was highly unlikely that Steve Perry would reunite onstage with Journey and, true, it didn’t happen.
And I learned something new…that I have been mispronouncing Joan Baez’s last name my entire life. She pronounced it as “Buy-z”; all one syllable.
I love them. Every year. Geddy Lee was incredible. Amazing. I made Don watch it on YouTube and he loved it. I love Steve Perry’s voice so much, but the guy who has replaced him sounds remarkably like him!
I trimmed some of the bushes today. The wind was awful.
Marilyn
It IS awful. I’m not doing anything outside today!
Just take the time to do the reading you need to do for yourself. I so hope you can start to plan a trip to see Don…you need that. The weather is one thing…the political climate now, is quite the other. I don’t know what to think from one moment to the next. Chris K was describing my planting perfectly this year…it’s kind of a hurry up method. I need to get things done before we leave. I bought some Russian sage today….been wanting some for awhile. But, it’s thundering quite a bit, so that will have to wait til tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your day! ;)
The political news seems to change by the hour, Donnamae. And not for the better.
I hope to finally plant my impatiens tomorrow. They’ve been sitting on the porch for four days now. Winds are way too strong today.
Hi,Claudia! After reading your thoughts about musical theater a few days ago I thought you may be interested in an article from yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle:Roman Holiday on musical stage. If you can’t access it on the web I would be happy to mail it to you if you have a P.O.# There is a note to see clips from a regional run:youtube.com/watch/v=4WiMvl97LJ8 xo Annette in CA
Thanks Annette. I’ll see if I can find it online!
I’m with you- I get very nervous when the winds pick up.
The wind in Illinois is unbelievable! We can’t have a sunny mild temp day without the crazy wind!
I potted a bunch of flowers this weekend including Impatiens based on your remarks! I needed low maintenance.
Stay safe and positive.
I want the wind to stop! It’s still going strong!
I absolutely love your pics of your yard and flowers…we have nothing here so far, except for a few straggly plants. I have high hopes for my lilac bushes, however.
And don’t get me started on Trump. I am sitting here, at 1 in the morning, working while listening to MSNBC and CNN. If I wasn’t sure I was awake, I’d think I was having a nightmare. Giving out classified information to Russian “visitors”? Even if it is only partially true, it is beyond the pale.
Truly beyond the pale. I think I cannot be surprised by anything he does and then…