Mockingbird Hill Cottage

I took this picture the day before the freeze. I wanted to capture the intense color of the limelight hydrangea in case it faded to brown. It will fade eventually, but I was worried the freeze might hasten it.

The temperature did go down to 29 degrees – so when I gathered my courage the next morning to look out the window, I could see that the morning glory had not survived. The day before, there was one fat bud just about to open and I kept saying: Open up! Open up! But it didn’t. The wildflowers are just fine, however, as is the geranium. But that zinnia that was just about to open? No chance.

Don helped me bring in all the porch plants on Wednesday. The next day – yesterday – I moved them back outside mid-morning based on the forecast. Later in the day – around 5:30 – I casually mentioned to Don that maybe I should check the forecast. THERE WAS ANOTHER FREEZE WARNING! What the ??? There we were, hastily bringing everything back inside. So, I’m going to wait a bit today until I get a sense of the forecast. Don has a gig tonight, so he won’t be around to help me.

It’s looking like the Mets are going to lose to the Dodgers. Sob. We watched most of the game last night until it became too painful. I love that team. They are incredibly scrappy and fun and positive and it’s a miracle that they’ve made it this far after going through a terrible first-half of the season.

Don made a pie yesterday, though we’ve yet to sample it. Hey, if you want to see something Don filmed in the late eighties, follow this link. There were a series of Coors commercials centering on a fictional bar – The Silver Bullet – and Don was in one of them. It played during the Super Bowl. Kind of like a neighborhood/Cheers kind of bar. I remember them. He filmed it in 1986. He found it the other day on YouTube. There are certain things that he filmed that I remember seeing at the time they first aired – his recurring role in LA Law, Cheers, Three’s Company, Hill Street Blues, the Silver Bullet commercials – and it’s always fascinating to me that though I had no idea who he was at the time, I would end up marrying him.

Okay. I have to finish this book I’m reading and get it back to the library.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

 

Second – and I fear, last – morning glory.

It makes me so sad; we have a freeze warning tonight. The low will be around 30 or 31 degrees. There’s no way I can cover this vine to protect the leaves and buds. All my outdoor plants will die – just for one night of freezing weather. Though it will remain cold for a few days after tonight, it won’t freeze and next week will be warmer.

The catalpa leaves will fall, as well.

I’ll bring the porch plants inside for the night, because they’re beautiful and full and I can protect them. But I can’t bring the morning glory inside.

Maybe this little guy will open today. There are so many buds on this morning glory, something I haven’t seen for years, and they’ll die overnight.

It’s very frustrating.

This will be short as I’m not feeling well today. Some good news: the technician came and said that the leak is repairable. He has to order a part and will be back in a couple of weeks to install it. I can keep using the washer and wiping up the excess water, as I’ve been doing, in the meantime. Hang in there, washer. And the same to our over 20 year old refrigerator.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

 

This is not the current view of our house. Today is dark and damp; leftover weather from yesterday’s rain. But I did take it a few days ago, so it’s fairly timely

At this moment, I’m worrying about the predicted low of 31 degrees on Wednesday and Thursday. Does that mean I’ll only see one morning glory? Because a freeze would bring the end for those buds. And how do I protect the porch plants since, as happens every October, the nighttime temps will go back to the 40s next week.

It drives me crazy.

Thank you for all the anniversary wishes. We celebrated by cleaning out the gutters in anticipation of Sunday’s rain. Pretty romantic, don’t you think? We did have some sugar-free ice cream and chocolates after dinner. And Don gave me a card. He always sneaks one in there even though we both say ‘”No cards this year.”

Tomorrow, we have someone coming to look at the washer, which is leaking. This has happened before, but I have no idea if it’s fixable this time. Fingers crossed. We don’t need the expense of a new washer/dryer. It’s the kind that is tall and thin, all one piece, and it fits in a closet in our bathroom. We’ve been told repeatedly that newer versions of this kind of machine are not as well made. Big surprise, right? We could resort to going to the laundromat in a neighboring town, if need be. Anyway, we’ll wait and see what the technician says. It will probably be the same guy who has been here the last two times.

Just like our cars, we’re babying it along, because we don’t want and can’t afford a big new expense in our senior years. My mother used to say things like “This is the last sofa we’ll buy” or, “This is the last trip we’ll make” or, “This is the last car we will buy” and it used to drive me crazy because it sounded negative and fatalistic. But I get it now. At times, I find myself thinking the same way. I’m sure my mom is saying “I told you so” wherever she is at this moment.

What else? I finished another book by Robert Hurwitz in the “Orphan X” series. Now I’m reading John Banville’s newest book, The Drowned, set in 50s Ireland. A mystery. He is a poet. I’m not sure I’ve read anything more powerful and evocative than the way he puts a sentence together. This is the second book featuring Detective Inspector Strafford that I have read. He writes other fiction as well, but I’m always drawn to a moody mystery. After I finish this, the newest Jane Casey awaits – another Irish writer of mysteries. Then back to Hurwitz. I have to read the “10 day only” new library books first. I have a plan. I always have a plan.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.