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Who’s That Pecking on my Door?

May 21, 2017 at 8:31 am by Claudia

Is the guy who’s been pecking on my house? I spotted him late in the day yesterday, in that hour when the light is changing. I was standing near the funky patio when I heard a loud bird sound and tracked it way up in the branches of the catalpa.

There he was, half-hidden, but with the distinctive red cap of the Red Bellied Woodpecker. He was preening himself, calling out occasionally, and clearly indulging in some ‘me time.’

There he is – the only full shot I could get of him. Quite a handsome devil.

I ran some errands yesterday, bought a plant for the Memorial Garden – a type of Veronica called First Love, planted it, bought some more impatiens, which I haven’t planted yet, stopped at Home Goods but didn’t buy anything, and bought a couple of magazines.

Exciting, right?

Today, a bit more mulching and then maybe a trip to Lowes and/or a Sunday drive. It’s a beautiful sunny day and tomorrow is supposed to bring rain, so I’m thinking I should do something other than hang around the house. I’m looking for a hollyhock to replace the one that I was blessed with for the past two years. Hollyhocks are biennials, so I knew it wouldn’t reappear this year, but I keep looking at the empty spot in the bed right outside the kitchen door where it used to be and I miss it so much! I also need one more paver for the little walkway from the grassy area behind the kitchen up to the beginning of the back forty.

I did another Instagram story today. It’s a quick look at the big garden bed. I ran outside at 6:30 am to do it because I knew the traffic would be relatively quiet on a Sunday morning. Check it out if you are so inclined.

Happy Sunday.

Missing My Husband, Garden, & Little Z

May 20, 2017 at 9:42 am by Claudia

It’s a good 15 degrees cooler today than yesterday. I must confess, I did a lot outside yesterday, culminating in mowing the larger part of the lawn. This is tiring on an average day, but yesterday, it was extremely tiring. Maybe because it was warmer and humid? I’m not sure. But I had to stop more than a few times and hydrate myself and rest. I felt frustrated by the whole endeavor, though I did finish. I’m not one to back off of chores like this and the fact that it was harder than usual ticked me off.

Anyway, after it was all done, I came into the house, took a shower, plopped into a chair and a wave of missing Don completely engulfed me. It’s been over 2 months now, with a month and half yet to go, and I felt overwhelmed with loneliness. And I knew I couldn’t call him because he was in the middle of rehearsals, so I had to wait until later in the day to speak to him.

Most days, we both handle this pretty well. But there are some, like yesterday, that are too much. We often say, “If we could just give each other a hug, everything would be better.” Not being able to do that is just plain hard.

Today is a new day and I’m better, as I knew I would be.

So far, I see three poppy buds. There will be more. And you can see that the catmint is just starting to bloom.

Forget-me-nots in the Memorial Garden.

I received an item in the mail yesterday that lifted my spirits. It was addressed to Aunt Claudia.

From Little Z.

We spoke briefly last night. He hadn’t had a nap and he was tired. After a little back and forth, he said, “I can’t talk because it’s raining.”

Oh, that boy! He makes me laugh.

Happy Saturday.

Storms (of Different Varieties)

May 19, 2017 at 8:16 am by Claudia

This is a Martha Washington geranium that I purchased the other day. I repotted it and placed it on the bench on the Funky Patio.

Last night, we had a rip-roaring thunder storm with high winds. I was reading in bed and the wind kept hitting the windows in the bedroom, so I got up to see what was going on. Opening the window nearly knocked me over! So, I guess it wasn’t much of a surprise when I went outside this morning and saw the geranium and another plant on the ground. The wind was too much. So there I was, in my pajamas, no garden gloves on, shoveling potting soil from the ground back into the pot. I’ll have to add some more later. Then I checked out the porch and the calibrachoa had tipped over as well, but it had remained on the table, so that wasn’t so bad.

Yikes. I’m just glad there wasn’t more damage. No tree branches down, thank goodness.

The grass is very wet, so I may have to table mowing until tomorrow.

The fight against the ‘glamping’ developer continues. My neighbor went to a Planning Board meeting the other day and she was alarmed by how gung-ho they seemed to be about the project. Last night I went to the zoning board meeting (we’re appealing a decision to classify it as a lodge and trying to get it classified as a camp – because that’s what it really is. As one guy said, no one is going to stay there in the winter.) We were instructed at the last meeting to send any letters in support of our plea to the zoning board, with a deadline of May 12th. So, when the head of the board read just three letters last night, our hands shot up. It turns out many, many of us sent letters that they never saw because of a glitch in the email address. The town’s website has an email address listed that the zoning board is apparently not using anymore.

Don’t get me started.

So, we’re resending our letters/emails, which have a time stamp, of course, proving that we sent them by the deadline, and the meeting adjourned early and the next time we meet will be next month. As it was extremely hot in the room (no a/c) I was quite happy to leave.

I figure the more delays, the better.

Then there’s the story about a possible coaching job that I was in negotiations for. My day rate was okayed, I asked to see the script before I made the final decision, and then I found out (the next day) that while the person I was in contact with was sending me the email saying they’d agreed to the rate, they hired someone else because of a ‘time crunch’ they had never once mentioned to me.

I was not happy and I let them know that. Completely unprofessional. It wasn’t a big job, in fact, it was only a couple of days, so it’s okay in the long run, but it certainly has given me pause. I don’t think I’d welcome any future offers from this company. And I’ve worked with them before. (And no, it wasn’t Hartford Stage. Never!)

Happy Friday.

Who’s That Pecking on my Door?

Missing My Husband, Garden, & Little Z

Storms (of Different Varieties)

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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