Mockingbird Hill Cottage

The vibrant yellow goldenrod around the property is keeping me going in the midst of all rest of the flowers and plants fading away. (Impossible to get a clear photo of it – sorry.) On one hand, I’m ready for autumn and the seasonal change. On the other, I’m mourning the last days of my gardens. This change is never easy for me and – I’ll be honest – it leaves me feeling melancholic.

Because it’s been so rainy, I haven’t been able to mow the largest part of the front lawn. I had to wait a day for it to dry out and I tackled it yesterday. The aim was to cut the grass, of course, but also to chop up/mulch all the leaves on the front lawn. The new lawn mower is too low to the ground, no matter how much we adjust the height. So I used the older mower without any front wheel – or is it rear wheel? – drive. I ended up doing the entire front lawn all the way up to the entrance of the secret garden. Needless to say, I’m feeling sore and congested this morning, though I’m pretty proud of myself for tackling it. There will be more leaves, of course, and I’ll have to do it all over again, but for the moment, it looks better out there.

I didn’t watch the debate last night, though I kept up with it via Threads. (Smarmy mansplaining liars aren’t my thing.) We watched the baseball game instead.

The Canada geese are flying overhead much more often these days. The sound of their honking is one of my favorite things. I often see them in the river when I drive to the library. I saw one catch a fish the other day. I haven’t seen the Great blue heron lately. Is he still there or has he moved on to another fishing spot? To be determined…

To those of you who love Louise Penny, her newest book, The Gray Wolf, will be published on October 29th. I will buy it – an exception to my No Buy rule. I have all of her books in hard cover and I want to continue that. I’m on the hold list at the library for Michael Connelly’s newest but it’s a long  list. So I also reserved it in the Large Print edition because that list is much shorter. Frankly, my eyes will probably thank me for it.

Okay. Have to make our second cup of coffee. I desperately need it this morning.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

 

A little blurry, but a monarch visited us on Saturday afternoon. He was feeding on whatever zinnias were still viable. I don’t know whether he came from an egg laid on one of our milkweed plants, but I like to think so. I’ve only seen about 3 monarchs this season. That doesn’t mean there weren’t more, but if there were, I missed them.

Don’s gigs went well. He had great, attentive audiences, so he was jazzed when he got home.

The hurricane damage and flooding in North Carolina is heartbreaking. I didn’t mention it on Saturday because I still wasn’t fully aware of how devastating the situation was. Who would have thought a hurricane could cause such flooding at such a high elevation? Entire towns gone. So many lives lost. I pray for all who are impacted by the flooding. The loss is unfathomable.

We haven’t walked in a few days because of other commitments and rain, so we hope to get back to it this morning. I found myself missing that exercise, and for someone like me, who can be a slug, that’s a good sign. We’re mowing less and less, though the front lawn needs to be mowed this week, so we can’t count on the exercise we get from that little task. We have to walk consistently. And we’ll definitely be raking a heck of a lot this week. You wouldn’t believe much of our property is covered in fallen leaves.

I’m really enjoying Playground  by Richard Powers. It took me a bit to get into it, but it was worth it. Powers is one of my favorite authors. Now only does he write beautifully, but he takes on big issues in his fiction. The Overstory, the first book of his that I read, remains one of my favorite novels ever. I think this one is going to be equally beautiful.

I’m working away on the jigsaw puzzle. It’s a difficult one, but I’m making progress. Don made an apple pie yesterday, so we’ll have a piece this afternoon. We’re cheering on the Mets, as they try to get into the post-season. They’ve become our team as we don’t get to see enough Red Sox games in the course of the season to have any sort of relationship with them. Plus, I love the guys in the booth – they’re excellent at what they do and they don’t talk incessantly. And they’re funny. Anyway, I have my doubts as to whether they’ll move on. (I hope they do, of course.) We’ll see today.

That’s it for this Monday,

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

There are three times as many leaves now. Yikes.

I wanted to speak about Maggie Smith. She was and will always be my favorite actress. I first saw her in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which came out in 1969. With that performance, she became my ideal. Years later, in 1980, I saw her onstage at the Stratford Festival in Canada. Those were the years when Robin Phillips was the artistic director and Maggie was there for at leasts 3, maybe 4, seasons. I saw her in 1980, when she played opposite the late, great Brian Bedford in Much Ado About Nothing. She took my breath away. She was brilliant, with perfect comic timing, great wit and style, yet she was able to convey great longing and heartbreak. I was particularly fascinated by her elegant hands and the way she used them onstage. She could say more with a flick of her fingers than most actors could say with a slew of words. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. Or her. I was a young actress in my twenties and that performance had such an impact on me. I have treasured the memory of it for years.

To me, there is simply no one better. She is irreplaceable. Rest in Peace, Maggie.

To so many people she is known for the Harry Potter movies and Downton Abbey. But, as a very young actress she worked with Laurence Olivier in his acting company. She played Desdemona to his Othello. Her resume consists of so much more than those movies. There’s a photo going around online of Alan Rickman, Maggie, and Michael Gambon from Harry Potter. They’re all gone now. I realized that I have been blessed to see all three of them onstage, to hear their voices, to watch them work in the moment. Brilliant actors, all. I saw Alan Rickman in Tango at the End of Winter at the Edinburgh Festival. I saw Michael Gambon in London in The Caretaker. And I saw Maggie doing Shakespeare in Canada. I’m deeply grateful to have seen them onstage, to have felt their energy, and I miss them.

Last night, Don had a gig, so I watched Tea with the Dames on Amazon Prime. I’ve seen it before but it was even better the second time. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s an extended conversation between Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and Eileen Atkins. They’ve all been made Dames for their work in the theater. Four incredible actresses swapping stories, sharing their experiences onstage and in movies, laughing uproariously, and talking about aging. It’s simply wonderful. They’re all friends, but Judi and Maggie were especially close – a 60 year friendship. This must be a profound loss for Dame Judi.

And – my father’s birthday is today. Happy Birthday, Dad. I miss you.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.