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Flowers & Pottery

June 2, 2017 at 6:55 am by Claudia

The last of the poppies opened up yesterday. So gorgeous.

Later in the day, I noticed the stem wasn’t holding it up very well (this is a tall one) so I staked it. Even though the blooms only last a couple of days, it should have its day in the sun, don’t you think?

And the bane of my existence, the brambles, have morphed into wild roses.

They’re starting to bloom all over the property. Between the wild roses and the Dame Rocket (wild phlox) it sure smells pretty around here.

I mowed the corral and the back forty yesterday, ran some errands and then I just drank in the beauty of a sunny day after so much rain. I need to appreciate these sunny days because they are all too rare lately. More rain on the horizon for Sunday and Monday.

I haven’t bought any Roseville pottery for a long time as prices have been on the high side. The other day, I was searching on eBay and saw a piece that was starting at a modest amount – a vase in the Dahlrose pattern. I don’t have any Dahlrose and I’ve always liked it. In the end, I won the auction – a bit more than I had planned on spending but still very reasonable.

It arrived yesterday. It’s in pristine condition. I really love it.

There’s a coda to this story. I felt a twinge of guilt when I bid on it and won, you know the feeling: Should I have bought this? The day after I purchased the vase, I got the standard email saying it had been shipped. And then I got a personal email from the seller in which he thanked me and said that the money was going to go toward his dog’s cancer surgery.

Guilt gone, only happiness that I can contribute to the cost of a dear pet’s surgery.

I’ve decided that I’m going to go to the Country Living Fair today and I’m heading out early. I don’t go every year and when I do go, I like to go on Friday before it gets crazily busy and crowded on the weekend. I’ll take some pictures.

I can’t even begin to talk about the despair I felt yesterday when #notmypresident withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord.

Happy Friday.

Whoa, Nellie

June 1, 2017 at 8:40 am by Claudia

Except for snow, we had a bit of everything around here yesterday. The day started out with rain. Thunderstorms were predicted, but the sun came out for several hours and the weather forecast changed to no storms. Then in the late afternoon, the sky darkened and I checked the weather app. Oh. Severe thunderstorm watch. And we got a doozy. Thunder, lightning, torrential rain, and hail. Then the sun came out. And then, at about 10 pm, another thunderstorm.

Whoa, Nellie.

From the day:

I recycled. I weed whacked. I pulled weeds. I ended up mowing the entire front lawn on a very humid day. We don’t live in an area where there are orderly plots of land with orderly grass that grows in an even, orderly way. Nope. We have different kinds of grass, weeds within the grass, buttercups in the grass, etc. So when it starts to get out of hand, it looks uneven and messy. So after all the rain, I was itching to mow the lawn. And I did.

After I took a break and showered, I went outside to take some pictures. I love a freshly mown lawn!

The dead nettle is blooming

As I was taking these pictures, the sky started darkening and that’s when I realized we were under a severe thunderstorm watch – which became a warning.

Back in the house.

After the rain, birds were everywhere, looking for worms.

This female northern flicker was in the corral.

My lonesome dove had clearly been caught in the rain.

And spotted way, way off in the woods:

A baltimore oriole.

This morning, as I was waiting for my coffee, I saw a hummingbird and a bunny rabbit within inches of each other. Alas, no camera.

I’ve seen two young mourning doves resting on the porch railing on two different occasions. Newly fledged, I imagine. And after the storm yesterday, I saw four mourning doves together, looking for food. So I’m surmising that the two young doves are the progeny of the pair of doves that live on the property.

Now, if only my lonesome dove could find a mate. The pair chases him/her away. Breaks my heart.

Happy Thursday.

Henry, Rain, & Nancy Drew

May 31, 2017 at 9:03 am by Claudia

Endless rain.

That’s all I’ll say about that.

Another Henry sighting yesterday. (Side note: my climbing hydrangea is starting to bloom. If the sun would come out and stay out, it would be in full bloom.)

Don and I have decided that Henry (and this is Henry) is like a crotchety old guy who looks around and grumbles. Here, he’s looking toward the street.

“Damn traffic!

“Tell these birds to get off my lawn!”

Though this cropped version is somewhat blurry, I wanted you to see the claws on his feet.

Eventually, he looked even more disgusted and went back to his little home under the shed.

In yesterday’s mail:

Not one, but two Nancy Drews! This is the very first book in the series, The Secret of the Old Clock. I’ve been trying to nab a copy of this one for a long time. Love, love her cloche hat, the jaunty scarf, the dress and the shoes.

And this, The Secret of Red Gate Farm. It’s number six in the series. I’ve never read this one and I’m intrigued by the spooky hijinks that Nancy is secretly observing. A cult? People dressed up like ghosts? Ku Klux Klan?

This one is in as-good-as-it-gets condition. Excellent.

The titles I’m seeking now, including these two, seem to be the hardest to find. If they’re in good condition, they often go for a lot of money. Heck, I’ve seen tattered covers which still sell well. So I have to be patient and snag one when I see a good deal. Only five more to go before I have my complete set of Russell H. Tandy covers.

Some of them, like The Secret of Red Gate Farm, have mylar covers, which protect the book jacket. I’m going to buy some of them from a supplier and cover all of the uncovered Nancy Drews, as well as the dust jacket for my autographed copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. They’re pretty inexpensive, and the books are worth it.

Rain or no rain, I have to recycle today.

Vicki, a reader of this blog, was rear ended by a hit-and-run driver the other day. Her car is totaled and she appears to have a neck injury. Understandably, she is very shaken up. Despite the shock, she managed to memorize most of the license plate number on the other driver’s car. The police are involved. If you read yesterday’s comments, you’ll see Vicki’s story. Let’s keep her in our thoughts and prayers.

Happy Wednesday.

Flowers & Pottery

Whoa, Nellie

Henry, Rain, & Nancy Drew

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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