Mockingbird Hill Cottage

The first in a small series re: the Burning Bush. It was a bit cloudy when I snapped the picture this morning. I’ll get one with the sun shining on it later today. As I always say, the bush has become huge and it’s sometimes a pain in terms of the garden. But it provides shelter for the birds and nests are built within its branches. And of course, the big payoff is this glorious red. What a gift!

The sunlight hitting the dried hydrangeas this morning.

Well, it’s Friday and that means the World Series is starting tonight. I love the Dodgers (at least this version of the Dodgers,) but my family comes from Canada (except for my paternal grandmother) and I have deep ties to that country. And let’s face it – Toronto winning the Series would drive the clown mad. Anyway, we’ll be watching every game because we love baseball.

I’m in the middle of Clown Town, Mick Herron’s latest in the Slow Horses/Slough House series. He is such a wonderful writer. We watch the series on Apple+ and you know I rarely watch a television series based on books I’ve already read because I’m very protective of the characters that have been firmly established in my brain. But I made an exception with this one, as I’d read everything Herron has written in this series well before it started to air. It’s so well cast and very true to the world Herron has created. The actors are brilliant. Anyway, Clown Town  doesn’t disappoint.

Next week, Louise Penny’s latest, The Black Wolf, will arrive on my doorstop. Will I delay reading it as usual, or will I dive in?

We’ll see. I suspect it depends on the state of the world.

I’m going to do a little repair work on the Beacon Hill today. Don and I are in self-protect mode, so we’re laying low for the day.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

You get to see Lucy and her friend today. (I haven’t taken any pictures in a few days.) Lucy is always adorable.

Oh, wait…I forgot that we drove into our neighboring town yesterday to visit the antique barn. That was where we were headed on Sunday when the traffic stopped us in our tracks. I spoke to the owner and he said Sunday was insane. Traffic was backed up for miles coming into town from the interstate, going out of town, and on every road in town. And they had the best day of sales that they’ve had in 21 years. We have to remember – October weekends in the fall? Do not go into town.

I was looking for a box to corral my jars full of paintbrushes and tools and I found one:

It’s very old and you know I like old. Someone painted it and it’s one of my favorite colors, so it was a no brainer. Oh, and it was very inexpensive.

Sorry – I just ran upstairs to take these pictures and it’s still darkish up there.

By the way, if you follow my IG Blythe account, Sophieandherpals, you can see a very short video I shot yesterday of my little corner of the room – my wee little studio. I’m really enjoying that space right now. I just have to get moving on the Beacon Hill. I have all sorts of ideas, but I have to force myself to do some repairs first.

It rained all night last night and, since we are in a drought, we are very grateful. We’re on a little break from baseball until the World Series starts on Friday.

And yes, I am heartsick at what is going on with the Evil Clown and the White House and his despicable gang of pranksters, but that is all I can say right now because I’m trying to retain my sanity. Sometimes I think I’m hanging on to that sanity by a thread. I’m heartened by the fact that the two teams playing in the World Series are from California and Canada, a state and a country he detests because they refuse to “play ball” with his BS.

Okay.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Sometimes we forget how insane it gets in our neck of the woods on an autumn weekend. We have avoided going in to the town north of us on autumn weekends for years. But Don wanted to go to the nursery/farmer’s market (where we buy plants and our Christmas Tree) to get some fresh vegetables, so I decided to go along so we could stop at an antique shop.

Well. Traffic on the road to the nursery was backed up for miles. Had there been an accident? Was something going on at the Fairgrounds?

No. It was simply an autumn weekend in the Hudson Valley and the leaf peepers had landed. We had to turn around and take another route. When we finally got there, the nursery was jammed with people – I forgot about their hayrides and pumpkin picking! It was a beautiful day and all their events were extremely popular. Everyone was buying lots of fresh produce, as well.

Needless to say, after we made our purchases and we drove toward the antique store, we quickly realized that there was absolutely no parking. So we headed back home where we discovered our little town was also jam-packed. We did take a little walk around Main Street.

We have a couple of Little Free Libraries in our town and also this – a free Art Box.  “Make Art, Leave Art, Take Art.” What a neat idea!

The forsythia at the library has bloomed again. It’s confused.

Don took part in the No Kings event in our little town. The population is a little over 3000 people and at least 1400 people showed up! Isn’t that great? Our Representative in Congress spoke (he lives here) as well as several other politicians. Don felt hopeful for the first time in a long time. Over 7 million people marched in the No Kings events.

We are stronger than them. Much stronger.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.