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Muggy and a Monarch

July 15, 2024 at 8:41 am by Claudia

Wouldn’t banning assault weapons be a good thing to do?

Just thinking.

Heavens! I’m either completely lethargic, like I was Saturday, or I’m on overdrive, as I was yesterday. Maybe yesterday’s energy was due to my not venturing outside until later in the day. The a/c was on and I dusted, vacuumed, did a load of wash, straightened the slip cover on the sofa in the den (always a pain,) took many photos of the things I wanted to add to my Etsy shop, listed all the items (which means measuring, weighing, etc.) and then watered everything outside.

I wish I had that kind of energy on a daily basis.

It’s completely crappy out there; hazy, hot, and humid. I am doing my best to stay positive. Gratitude: working a/c units, my husband, who keeps me laughing, and the knowledge that this will break on Wednesday. Hopefully.

The day lilies on the far side of the house are blooming. As we sat down for the evening last night, Don said “Oh look! There’s a deer right outside the window!” I knew that meant trouble, and sure enough, he was ready to chomp on the day lilies. I knocked on the window and he took off. Sweetheart, you’re beautiful, but stay away from my day lilies! This property is full of green things you can eat. Head on up to the woods.

My first Monarch sighting was yesterday.

I followed him around as he dined on every one of the coneflowers. But he was skittish and it was hard to get a clear photo.

At this point, I was on the porch leaning over the railing trying to catch that second when he would open his wings. A bit blurry, but I got it. I take that back – ‘she.’ She doesn’t have the black dots that the male has.

Don’s gig on Saturday was cancelled at the last minute. The owner of the bar (which apparently has a terrific menu) called Don because she hadn’t had any customers the night before and she was panicked about money. (She pays the performers, unlike a lot of other venues where the only money comes from tips.) She was very apologetic. Bless her heart, she’s trying to make a go of it and that’s very hard these days. I hope things pick up for her.

And, yesterday, I reached the point where I could I could not stand my hair any longer, so the team of Don and Claudia whacked 3 inches off. So much better!

There are a few new items in the Etsy shop.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Flowers in the Garden

July 13, 2024 at 9:22 am by Claudia

One of the Rose of Sharon bushes is full of blooms. The other is a bit behind. I got the cuttings from my friend Noble at the same time, but “Junior” was not quite as big a cutting, so he’s grown more slowly. I actually like this because I’ll have blossoms on the other bush when this one is fading.

Thank you, Noble, for these sweet little cuttings you gave me several years ago. Noble and Tina have since moved to another house, but in their former garden he planted several Rose of Sharons flanking a path and they were magnificent.

I weeded for quite a while yesterday, mostly by hand, because the battery died on the weed whacker. I didn’t get to mulch this year, so the big garden bed is full of weeds and I’m just now able to ruthlessly pull them out. The mulching didn’t happen because of my hand injury, as well as a flat tire on the much needed-for-mulching wheelbarrow. So the weeds are a bit of a pain. I’ll weed whack a bit more this morning and then, on Sunday through Wednesday when we’re hit with another round of heat and humidity, I’ll stay inside. The long range forecast shows temps dropping into the eighties after this next blast. Fingers crossed.

The gift that keeps on giving. I have to say it: right at this moment, our gardens are darned charming. And now that the brown-eyed/black-eyed susans are flowering, there’s a wonderful splash of yellow and brown, along with the red of the bee balm.

I contacted my friend who has Wren. She said the delay for the replacement body will be 8 months! So we chatted about the broken finger, which she had glued back on, and I decided I was fine with that. So I’m going to sell a few more things on Etsy to help with the funding – have to work on that today – and I should have her within a month.

I have to help Don with a self-tape audition this morning. He’s got a gig tonight.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Stay Playful

July 12, 2024 at 8:48 am by Claudia

I mowed yesterday – all of the front lawn and up the hill to the secret garden. It felt great to get some exercise. But then I did some weed whacking (more of that this morning.) I probably should have stopped at the mowing. Anyway, long story short, I took a long nap in the afternoon, slept well last night, and feel great this morning. I’m going to do a bit more weed trimming this morning before the predicted rain comes this afternoon.

But it sure looks nice out there. With these hot and humid days (more predicted for Sunday though Wednesday) we have to grab whatever pockets of sane temperatures there are and do some work.

Meanwhile, in the midst of political insanity, I do what I always do; find moments to escape inside the covers of a book, or put together a puzzle, or play with my dolls. A troll who appeared on the blog the other day when I referenced he-who-shall-not-be named said something they hoped was disparaging: “an older woman who plays with dolls.”

Of course, it wasn’t at all disparaging! It was a compliment. I seek joy. I don’t always find it when I need it, but I usually do. I have never lost the playful, imaginative girl I was. She’s still here, always with me, always ready to create, always ready to play.

Here we have two playful things that delighted me this week:

This jigsaw puzzle from Shakespeare and Company in Paris. I follow the store on IG and the minute I saw it, I had to place an order. It’s so whimsical! Animals and birds are everywhere, perusing the books that are displayed inside and outside the shop. If you can zoom in on this, you should. It’s absolutely delightful. Note the little mice in the lower right hand corner with their own mini displays of books.

Shakespeare and Company in Paris and John Sandoe in London are my favorite bookstores. I wish I could teleport to them right now.

And then I pulled this girl off the shelf, where she’s usually sitting next to Pru.

She and Bertie are about to set off on a walk.

Lily is what is called a BJD (ball jointed doll) and there’s a whole world of them out there, small and large, realistic and fantastical. There are collectors who only collect BJDs. They’re usually made in resin and made in small quantities because they have to be hand assembled and strung. This is usually done by the designer. The designer in this case is Eat Zongzi, who lives in China. She does lovely work. Anyway, Lily is probably about 6 inches tall and she stands on her own and I sometimes forget what a great little doll she is to have by my side. She’s sturdy, as well.

She has little teeth!

Her sister, also made by Eat Zongzi, was Wren. Last year when we needed some money, I sold her to a doll collector friend, who told me if I ever wanted her back, she would sell her to me. She’s a lovely person. At the end of 2023, I was really missing her and asked Tania if I could buy her back. Of course, she said, but she had to be honest; her cat had just knocked some of the dolls from the shelf and one of Wren’s fingers broke off. Tania was going to order a new body from China and hoped it would be in the USA by February or March, but so far…nothing. If the delay goes on much longer, I may buy her, missing finger and all.

Just to remind you, here she is:

I really miss her.

Okay, my friends. See you tomorrow.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Muggy and a Monarch

Flowers in the Garden

Stay Playful

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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