Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Vaccines, Finishing War & Peace, and the Girls

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First of all, we got both our RSV and flu vaccinations yesterday. I was checking the availability of appointments at our local pharmacy and there were slots available in the afternoon. We were just planning on getting the RSV, but the pharmacist encouraged us to get the flu shot at the same time.

So we did. He was a nice guy but not the gentlest in terms of inserting the needle. Ah well. I felt a little funky in the afternoon and wondered if it was a reaction, but thinking back on it, I just think it was my sinuses/allergies. If it was a reaction, it was incredibly short and no big deal. Today, I feel fine – except for the fact that Don woke me up with a big snore at 4:15 am and that was it for sleeping. By the way, the snoring issue is much better as Don found something to insert in the nose to keep the nostrils open. This morning’s snore was a rarity.

Anyway – Covid next month and then we’re good to go.

Done; with one caveat – I didn’t finish the Epilogue. It was about ten chapters long, very dry, and was basically Tolstoy’s musings on historians, the path of history, etc., etc. By the time I was halfway through, I finally realized that I had indeed read the entire novel, plus many pages of the epilogue which were making my eyes glaze over, so I was allowed to stop.

It was a gift, this readalong. I don’t think I would have attempted it otherwise. I’ve read several novels that were over a thousand pages, so it’s not the length, necessarily. It was Tolstoy’s WAR AND PEACE and everything it symbolized that would have held me back and maybe the thought that it would be boring, as well. Of course, it was anything but that. An incredible, beautifully written book by a master.

I spent the afternoon on Wednesday redressing all of the girls. I was dealing with a little anxiety. I’ve found that grabbing one of the girls when I’m stressed helps to ground me, if that makes sense. I fell in love with them all over again. I thought it was high time to remove their summer ensembles and get them ready for fall and the start of school.

Here is group one. I’ll share more pictures tomorrow.

Holly, Zoe, and Katie.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

 

Garden Surprises

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Garden surprises:

I thought this endless summer hydrangea was not going to bloom at all this year, There was absolutely nothing but leaves all summer long. But a week or so ago, I noticed two blooms developing. And here we are.

Never give up, I guess!

And yesterday, as I was walking by the memorial garden, I thought I spotted something. I quickly went back and way up in the garden behind another plant was a tiny rose. I had a little bush up there that had died. In fact, I removed most of it – all of it, I thought. But there, in its place, was a tiny plant with some leaves and this:

An unexpected delight!

It’s been such a strange summer for the gardens and the trees. As I write this, it’s raining again. We had to snatch the opportunity to mow yesterday because a dry day is rare around here. Once again, the grass had grown way too long because it rains every day so we can’t mow. Mowing was exhausting, as we had to constantly stop to remove the grass that was clogging the chute. We might resort to cutting that section of the front lawn more frequently so we don’t have deal with so much tall grass. Of course, you can only do that if it doesn’t rain.

The good news: after today, we have over a week of dry weather in the forecast.

Woke up at 4:30 am this morning. So did Don. The a/c had shut off because I forgot to put it on the correct setting, It was too warm for me. Don says it wasn’t too warm for him, he just happened to wake up too early. Needless to say, we’re tired and a wee bit cranky this morning.

The enormity of the losses in Morocco and Libya is heartbreaking, I can’t stop thinking about these horrific tragedies within days of each other. Those poor people. We are seeing the evidence of climate change in hurricanes, fires, floods, drought, excessive temperatures (I’m sure I’m leaving something out of this list.) What kind of world are we leaving behind? And what are we doing about it? Not enough, and whatever we do now may be too late.

I’m in such a dark mood this morning that I could go on and on about the state of the world and our country. But I’ll stop there. Older and, hopefully, wiser.

Sometimes.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Soggy Monday

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Hickory nuts from our shag (or Shagbark ) hickory  – nicknamed Junior. Junior was a baby when we first moved here. A sapling. His father, one of the four magnificent trees in our front yard that we fell in love with when we first saw the property, mysteriously died several years ago. We have no idea why. We also had to take down our weeping willow, which was one of the trees that sold me on the house, because its roots had invaded our septic system. Now, there are only two of those four trees left – the catalpa and the maple.

Junior started producing nuts a few years back. Between Junior and several black walnut trees on the property, we have a lot of nuts on the ground. (Some might say that there are two nuts living in the house, as well.)

They’ve really weighed down the lower branches this season.

It rained over the weekend and rained all night long – torrential rain. More to come later today and on Wednesday. Sigh. I wish I could describe how waterlogged this property is. After I finish this post, I’ll go downstairs to empty the dehumidifier bucket.

Oh, for a cool, crisp and dry autumn!

I am now reading the epilogue of War and Peace. It’s long and rather dry, with Tolstoy talking about war and historians. In my younger days, I would have skipped it, saying I had finished the book. But really, if I skip it, I haven’t finished this book. I’ve just stopped early. So I will finish it, knowing Tolstoy was very wise and that I am sure to glean some gems from his musings.

Then I’ll be done!

That book I reserved from the library – where I am number one in the queue – is still not on its way to me. So maybe I am #1 in line, but the book itself hasn’t been returned yet so it cannot travel to my library. Our branch isn’t open today, so I won’t get an update until tomorrow. Can you tell I’m anxious to read it?

Don just left to grab a few things at the grocery store. I threw all the towels in the wash. I need to find the subject matter for my next painting. Don is writing a new song.

That’s kind of it, my friends. Not at all exciting. We need to work, but there’s nothing on the horizon for me. Darko has two productions coming up, but neither of them need a speech/dialect/acting coach, as far as I can tell.

Don can’t work because of the strike.

In keeping with the theme of the post, we’re going a little bit nuts!

Yes, I know it’s September 11th. I’ve talked about it many times over the years, so I’ll leave it at that. At some point, repeating what has been said before is unnecessary. We all know.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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