And the rain continues. And continues. And continues.
The temps have dropped, it’s much cooler. I miss the sun, but I am fully aware that the rain that I am tired of is the rain that many of you desperately need. So I won’t complain.
One of the perks of rain is getting the chance to photograph rain-drop-covered flowers.
The other peony bush is about to pop.
And look what decided to bloom yesterday… the first of the day lilies. Hello.
It looks to be the kind of day where a good book and a mug of hot chocolate is in order. I have to send off the tickets to the winners of the Country Living Fair giveaway. Congratulations Betsy and Damara! Don is going with me this year (hurrah!) but since he has a wardrobe fitting on Friday for the next episode he is filming of Mr. Robot, we’ll go early Saturday morning.
I’m leaving in less than two weeks for Chautauqua. I’m looking forward to three weeks working and playing in that beautiful community. But I’ll miss my family and the cottage. That’s a given.
The winner of a copy of The Daughter by Jane Shemilt is Kim Stewart. I’ve sent you an email, Kim. Congratulations!
And the third congrats goes to my former student, Chris Nee, who is the creator and Executive Producer of Doc McStuffins. That show just won the prestigious Peabody Award. Bravo!
Happy Tuesday.
I wish my camera took photos like yours. I have a small digital one that has close-up options, but not like yours. A better camera is on the long list of someday buys.
What character does Don play in Mr. Robot? I am going to try and watch the preview tonight. I sounds like it will be a good series.
What play are you helping with in Chautauqua?
I hope you have a lovely, rainy day.
Hugs to all,
Deb
He doesn’t appear until the fifth episode and he plays the father of the female lead.
I’m working on Our Town – one of the best plays ever written – so it will be fun!
Absolutely beautiful shots of the glory of the garden! Nature is just the best! On another note……I don’t know if you receive Louise Penny’s newsletter, but in this months edition she speaks of her husbands dementia and his diminishing ability to read and how she chooses his books, one of which may be his last. Very tenderly written. I hope you can read it. Almost felt like fall here yesterday in western PA!
I do receive the newsletter and I admit to shedding a tear or two yesterday when I read her moving tribute to Michael. She was so honest about the struggles involved in taking care of a loved one with Alzheimers.
The cloudy gray skies tease me with the possibility of rain, which is not on the horizon. But at least the cool temps keep watering to a minimum. You have some fun activities coming up! Looking forward to the posts and photos!
I’m looking forward to sharing them with you, Wendy!
Lovely photos! I need to get out my big camera and do a photo shoot just because! I know you will have a grand time at the Country Living fair! I’ve started ‘celebrating’ my Birthday month and will continue for most of June!
hugs,
Linda
Once again, I’m going to be gone on Don’s birthday! I feel badly about that. It’s his “When I’m 64” birthday. You deserve to celebrate your birthday all month long, my friend!
Flowers look especially pretty when they are dotted with raindrops. I’ll bet it’ll be fun going to the country living fair with Don. I take it he’s never gone before? Enjoy your day! ;)
I’ve only been there once – last year. But I went by myself. I decided to ask him if he was interested and he was! It will be fun.
My peonies are at the same stage as your first few pics. Any day now!!
I have seen the commercials for Mr. Robot and wondered if his role would be recurring. Yay!!
Also looking forward to your pics and posts when you are once again in Chautauqua. I know how you will miss the cottage, the flowers, and Don and Scout ~ but I do hope that you know how much we appreciate you taking all of us along!
It’s such a picturesque little community, it’s fun to share the photos with all of you.
Beautiful pics..anxiously awaiting the chance to see Don on TV again..Back to Chautauqua..lucky you..except for missing Don..Scout..your home and flowers..I guess a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do..lol..
Yes. A girl has to earn some money, Nancy!
Thanks so much for the book! I have sent you my address by email.
I’m looking forward to watching Mr. Robot and can’t wait to see the episodes that Don is in!
Me too. I think the first episode (he isn’t in that one) airs on June 24th, which happens to be Don’s birthday. He’s in the fifth episode and will be filming two more.
Claudia, I checked and the first episode is 6/24 on the USA network. I also learned that the pilot is available to watch now on YouTube. Isn’t the internet marvelous!
Gee, I’d never heard of “Doc McStuffins” until today, but I checked it out online – long live the Internet – and it sounds wonderful! I’m actually going to check it out, today if I can. Your student describes it as “‘Cheers’ for preschoolers” on its Wiki-page. Doesn’t that make it sound fun? And isn’t it great when our former students do great things? When I had them, they were only 5 or 6 years old, yet you should see me puff up when I find out one of “my” little kids has done something wonderful. Like I’d done it myself – LOL! Seriously, it’s terrific and congrats to Chris and everyone involved with the show. The Peabody – that’s really something! A little sun peeking out here right now – maybe some is heading your way too!
Doc McStuffins is a huge thing in the kid world. Very, very popular. They’ve won Emmys and all sorts of other awards. I’m very proud of all my students and when they are recognized for something that makes me very happy. And my nephew Little Z LOVES Doc McStuffins. I wrote Chris to tell her how much the show means to him and she was very pleased.
Even with the rain, it seems you have much to make you smile and your life is interesting/busy. Obviously, being in SoCal and obsessed about lack of water, which permeates our ‘everyday’ here and causes a lot of stress, I have rain envy. Two ugly things which have come out of our drought emergency is, 1) neighbors pitted against neighbors; harassing those who choose to water their landscaping (which we’re still allowed to do to a limited degree and are so within the law) and, 2) the spectre of ‘stealing’ to where it might have to happen that we ‘lock up’ our front-yard garden hoses/faucets to prevent somebody else from helping themselves at 3am when most of the world is asleep. Never thought I’d see the day, not that such a thing has happened yet, but people are talking about it; a prediction. It dawned on me, too, that I haven’t seen the street sweeper for a really long time. I think they’ve stopped doing it, probably too because there’s no stagnant water sitting in the sidewalk gutters. But we’re just getting so dirty, with no rainfall to wash things off and not being allowed to hose off any surfaces.
So, we were without access to ANY water yesterday from 7am to 3pm due to the street leaks but it was quite intriguing to see how the city workers tackled the dilemma; I watched a lot of the process (our problem was just the aging infrastructure, five feet under, and disintegrated old pipe which is now replaced with a nearly-indestructible brass fitting at the main line). However, at one point, I just had to get out of there, if nothing more for the noise, so I went to Goodwill and got 3 things: a heavy, heavy, medium-sized, clear-glass glass bulb vase which feels and looks like Steuben (I couldn’t carry it very long in one hand…thought it was just me, but the yogurt/salad shop girl said, “You could seriously hurt someone with this vase!” [horrible thought]); a gorgeous, large(!!) Limoges bowl which could hold 6 salad servings; a 14″-tall glazed ceramic goose and also her 8″ tall baby in natural, earth-toned hues with terracotta-clay beaks and feet…which I will use for patio-covered garden decor (LOVE them!). It must have been “my” day to go, with all in ultra-perfect condition and under $10 in total. (And, of course, I need these things like a hole in the head, but the retail therapy calmed my nerves after listening to jackhammers.) I’ve found I like going to Goodwill and now choose it as almost my sole shopping place; I’m staying far away from the box stores these days, even Target (I have fun with their dollar bins) or the dollar store. I thought I’d read in former years of some sort of controversy about Goodwill; maybe something about low wages. But at least in the location I frequent, the employees are so super-nice and don’t seem at all troubled with anything…and the inventory is well-organized and constantly changing. I recently found three perfect glass measuring cups of different sizes, like 1-cup, 2-cup, etc. which are so handy to have for kitchen and garden; one dollar. They seem to always have things on sale. ..good sales, like 50 percent off. Beautiful, new-looking, spotless leather wing chair for $70 lasted about one minute; I turned my head and, poof, it was already gone. I wished I’d discovered and been ‘into’ secondhand ware in all the previous years when I’ve spent top dollar for too many things and was a snob about thrift stores. The only thing my shopping for ‘new and shiny’ did was deplete my bank account!
Love the raindrop photos. How is Scoutie girl doing these days, by the way? I noticed yesterday after her bath, how white/graying my shepherd’s ‘snout’ /muzzle is getting. I want her to live forever and I’m reminded about how ‘time’ with her is precious.
Our Goodwill and Salvation Army are pretty pathetic. I’ve tried. But most things are pretty cheap looking. I read about other Goodwills and have Goodwill Envy. Ah, well.
Scout is doing okay. She has good and bad days and some days I get very worried about her. Then, she’ll snap right back and be full of the devil. I guess that’s the way it’s going to be. She still has a lot of spunk, thank goodness.
Quite wet and chilly here at the other end of the state. The last two days the temp inside my house has been 62, but I refuse to turn the heat on in June just for a couple of degrees (normally heat is set to 64). I threw a blanket on top of my bed which I had stripped down to sheet and bedspread last week. I hope the weather is good for your Chautauqua stay!
Yes, it’s been cold here, too. I think it was 63 this morning. We threw on the blanket last night, too!
Beautiful peonies – even before they bloom.
Judy
Thank you, Judy! They are pretty in all their stages.
Lovely, lovely photos!
I wish there existed a day timer illustrated with your photos (just a thought) – a glimpse of beauty every day is good for the soul.
Aw, you’re very sweet, Barbara.
It seems you are getting the weather we had on Sunday & Monday. Today is lovely, sunny and 70 degrees……my favorite kind of day!
Gosh, I hope tomorrow brings us the weather you’re experiencing today, Debbie!
I’m not going to say the rain has stopped around here because that will jinx it. However, the sun is out and the plants are beautifully green and healthy. Makes me realize how much water they need that they don’t get unless there are flood conditions.
Lovely. I miss rain. When it rains here, it is messy. Now everything is just dusty. And hot, Extra hot. Take care, Tammy