I’m treasuring these days when the milkweed flowers are in bloom. The scent is intoxicating. Just now, on the porch, we got another whiff of them. We also heard another strange and loud bird call – repeatedly – and saw a hawk being chased by tiny little birds. One of those birds circled back and landed in our maple tree, giving a warning call until all was safe. Amazing.
Yesterday was a strange weather day. Perfectly beautiful for much of the day until suddenly, out of nowhere, we had a big thunderstorm. Don was working at the farmers market and he said that it turned into a deluge. Everyone was scrambling to take cover. They eventually folded up and went home, losing another 90 minutes worth of potential income.
I just finished The Salt Path. It’s an amazing story. What happens when your life is pared down to a tent, sleeping bags, basic supplies and nothing else? When you have lost everything else and are faced with serious illness as well? The journey that the author and her husband take – the grueling walk on The Salt Path over the course of a year and half, pitching a tent in some secluded area (wild camping is illegal in Britain and they can’t afford paid campgrounds), the people they meet, the fears they face head on – is a story of struggle and loss and, ultimately, renewal. I really loved it.
I have no idea what I’m going to read next, but I do know that we’ll be mowing this morning, that’s for sure. Afterward, I’ll do the usual staring at the bookshelf, gauging my current mood, and hopefully, find the perfect book to read.
I haven’t replied to yesterday’s comments. I will now. Sometimes, I give myself a day off. I shut down the laptop after writing my post and I don’t open it again until the next day. Yesterday was one of those days.
Happy Monday.
Loving all the flower photos! It was a lovely sunny day yesterday, but now the dark clouds are rolling in. Hopefully they’ll roll on by as we’re supposed to go to a big house party tonight to watch the Canada Day fireworks. I had to buy a new wireless keyboard for work yesterday, so took a moment to run into Indigo in the same mall and picked up a copy of The Salt Path. My favourite childhood home was in West Bay and we used to walk for miles along the coastline. I had always hoped to one day retire there, but a well-known film director bought the cottage. I have to content myself with recreating it in miniature and occasionally catching a glimpse of it in Broadchurch. Enjoy your day!
Darn that film director, Barbara! (Love Broadchurch!)
Well..those flower pictures are simply gorgeous…such detail. If you spend enough time, you can definitely hear the birds talking to one another…sometimes it’s a warning of danger…other times it’s a message of great food at the feeders. At least that’s the way I interpret it.
We were treated to a hummingbird mating swoop this morning. The male flies in a giant swoop back and forth several times courting the female. So fun to watch. That was my excitement for the day. Enjoy yours! ;)
They do communicate with each other and it fascinates me!
So, so cool to hear about the hummingbird mating swoop! Wow!
Wild camping is legal in Scotland now and has been for a few years.
The book sounds good, I’ll keep an eye out for it. Although the cost of books in the USA is very high so I try to buy fewer here, I’m guessing they are subject to sales tax?
Guess what my poor husband is having to lug back from the UK this week? I have promised that they won’t be that heavy.
I wonder if it’s legal in England by now? Or only in Scotland?
I don’t know, the books I bought when I was in London last summer were the equivalent of prices here. I really didn’t notice any difference!
Enjoy your new books, Rue!
Only Scotland.
Ah.
I just cam in from mowing my front lawn. My sister and me cleaned up a lot of the back, the weeds are growing wild. There is a lot of work left to be done.
Marilyn
The weeds are out of control this year, Marilyn. So much rain!
lovely photo with great detail. i am now wondering where i can find a garden with milkweed flowers in it so i can smell their scent!
what is that reddish flower in the bottom photo? it’s pretty, too.
“the salt path” sounds like a well-written, but bittersweet book (even more because it’s non-fiction, right?). might have to pass on it … needing more sweet.
too bad about the unexpected rain. hope none of don’s cameras, photos, etc. got wet and that business will be better next time!
more hot and sticky weather here so am staying indoors.
today marks 20 years at my job. my boss said nothing (even though she should know … she started there six months after i did) so i told her. her reply was “what? today?” and to laugh. i don’t get my social needs met through work, but even a teeny mention of 20 years of hard work would have been nice. another reason i need a new job.
thanks for listening!
hope you have a good night!
kathy in iowa
That’s bee balm.
Yes, it’s non-fiction. It has a lovely, uplifting ending, Kathy.
A pox on your boss for not remembering your 20th anniversary! She needs to learn people skills, I fear. Congratulations from all of us on your anniversary, Kathy!
bee balm … thanks, claudia.
glad that book has an uplifting ending. :) it won’t be up to the top, but i will add it to my list.
as for my boss’s response to today, i had a twinge of disappointment and more than a twinge of irritation about it, but let it go. not worth it, you know? thanks, though, for the work-anniversary wishes. :)
kathy in iowa
You’re right. As my mom used to say, “Consider the source.”
Oh Kathy….Congrats on 20 years! (And good luck in finding a new job!) Enjoy your evening! ;)
to donnamae …
thanks for your good wishes, too! especially about getting a new job (i am 61, which doesn’t make it easier).
hope you have a nice night, too!
kathy in iowa
and sorry about the rant. i am grateful to have a job.
kathy in iowa
No apologies necessary. We all need to rant now and then!
definitely! thanks for listening to mine!
kathy in iowa
kathy, 20 years on a job is a special thing; many congrats and well-deserved; you hang in there!
to vicki …
thank you!
kathy in iowa
xo
My two cents… you should give yourself time off a little more often, Claudia. I just don’t know how you do it. Posting AND commenting – to EVERYONE. EVERY day. It never ceases to amaze me. I know I couldn’t do it. Even with things I absolutely love, I need some time away from it every so often. YOU are an animal… And I mean that in the very BEST sense of the word. Much appreciation, my friend…
💻 ❤️
Thank you so much, Janet! I appreciate your kind words.
agree!
kathy in iowa
We had a period in the very-early 90s, a Calif recession, when my husband had lost his job and just couldn’t find work despite his specialty and experience. We had an old fixer-upper house with a new mortgage and didn’t really have much to fall back on because we were newly-married and an ex-wife had wiped him out. (It’s what led us to eventually find work for him out of state. ) I was perpetually bewildered to know what to do except to keep working at my own job as hard as I could, but it just wasn’t enough for us to live on. There was an article in the newspaper about a couple who’d sold everything and were sleeping on the floor of their living room, but then they too got ousted and were living in their car. These were years when the word ‘homeless’ wasn’t as common as the post-Recession times of the more recent years here in the U.S. (like 2008-2009). It’s one of only two times since I’ve been with my husband that he was literally brought to his knees, but he curled up into a ball and just sobbed, so afraid it would happen to us as what had befallen that other couple.
Only after I’ve been in forced retirement due to premature illness (not on disability; was between jobs myself when it happened) have I really fully valued the gift and importance of steady work, paid benefits; a regular paycheck. If I could return to the workplace now, despite my age, I’d do it in a heartbeat if I had the physical strength and a paying skill for today’s job market. To work is an honorable and noble thing. But I don’t know if I could read that book, Claudia; it hits too close to home. The difference for my husband and I at the time was that I’m sure my parents would have provided shelter and a sort of bail-out as they were in a paid-for house and, before each was ill themselves not too far on the horizon, had enough means to temporarily help but, you know, my husband and I would have only leaned on them as a very, very last resort. Fortunately, as much as it was life-disruptive to relocate, we were able to stand on our own although it took years and years to get on a sound financial footing (although wealthy we’ve never been, not even close). Like you, we were older when we got married and the years-on-hold had life-altering consequences. I had to wait too long to start a family, and that was the end of it.
I’ve read how you and Don suffered the similarly-lean times and wow, Claudia, how I relate to what you say about it. My husband and I are, at present, both looking at some fairly-large dental bills but, for a nominal premium as part of his retirement benefits, we pay nothing for the work. And I’ve known of people with thousands of dollars of dental work needed that they can’t possibly afford so I, too, sometimes feel like dropping to MY knees in gratitude of my husband’s good fortune in landing a job in the ending years that resulted in those kinds of perks even when, on the last job, he often never got a salary increase and the hours could be pretty awful. Point being, he kept the job; he stuck at it; the longevity paid off. I just wish I could have been working alongside him every step of the way.
But, I had great news today. Green light again for no return of cancer. That’s the kind of day to cherish, so we went to the beach with our budget meal and felt rich in the sunwashed, clean ocean air, beautiful blue Pacific stretching wide, squirrels and gulls (and kids and dogs) frolicking, summer tourists taking a break in their motorhomes and trailers, all of us enjoying a gorgeous SoCalif Monday/4th of July week. It just doesn’t get any better!
to vicki …
sorry about all those difficulties, but so glad for you to get the good “no cancer return” health news! your dinner celebration on the beach sounds perfect!
kathy in iowa
thanks, kathy; it was a VERY good day.. !!! …
First and most importantly, I’m so happy with your news! What a relief for you, Vicki. xo
As for the rest, we’ve been there. Wondering if we’d have to eventually foreclose on our house, where would we go, what would we do? I spent many years when we first moved out here working at a Veterinary practice because we needed money and I didn’t have most of the skills needed to get a job nowadays. Mercifully, they understood my coaching career and worked around that. I left only because the commute from our cottage got to be too much. I’ve worked all sorts of filler jobs, as has Don, to pay the bills. And still we worried. And still we worry. Now. We can pay our mortgage and most of our bills, but neither of us has worked in a long time. We worry about that. Don has auditioned for a couple of jobs that he really wanted and didn’t get. It’s always so hard. With Darko leaving Hartford Stage and Anastasia closing, I have no work. We’re trying to rethink our budget and make changes. But I always worry – the only time in many, many years that I didn’t worry was during Margaritaville. We didn’t have a huge paycheck, but what Don was earning enabled us to relax for the first time in years. Ah, well.
My dad saved us a couple of times when unexpected expenses occurred that we couldn’t afford; a new leach field, a new oil burner. Bless him.
xo
Yeah, Dad would slip me some money here and there; God Bless our good parents. Oh, Claudia; I was SO sad about Margaritaville; I did KNOW what that meant to you and Don, not just for his creativity with the role but of course the ‘regular’ incoming money; knew it wasn’t permanent but if it had JUST lasted awhile longer in NYC with the great apartment and the private garden; killed me like I’m sure it did your other readers; we were right here with you every step of the way on the saga.
My husband has also ALWAYS been a freelancer (since his 20s, just out of college) and still is, so I do KNOW how much that extra income ‘on the side’ helps. We had such a diff year planned for 2019; were going to try to fit in some domestic travel; was a good plan. But he’s gotten so much opportunity to work since retiring from the day job that we just can’t turn it down; we still need that new roof on the house! Rethinking it, I really don’t know how we can do the big cross-country trip we had envisioned; everything is just too expensive; so, I dunno, will rethink it. But the problem with waiting is that we’re getting older and, so disturbing, I’ve lost not one but THREE cousins in the past year as we’re ALL aging and time waits for no one. I’d needed to see those people.
We have constantly, over the past two or three years, looked at several scenarios for our future. We’ve even considered selling the house and returning to apartment living in order to not have to deal with the continual expense of maintaining an old house. Other than proximity to the shore, I’m not enamored with the town I live in although my husband minds it less than I do. We have friends in various parts of the country where the price of housing is far less expensive than SoCalif. We analyze if the place is tax-friendly; really tried to do our homework. Everything always points to us staying put. We can make accommodations (minor) to age in the house although our community has virtually nothing for an aging populace except Hospice although a better town is only 20 minutes away. Like you, we have a huge yard; what are we gonna do when we can no longer do the work ourselves or afford to hire it out on our fixed/limited income with no freelance money to boost the budget? (My husband’s ability to freelance will at some point run its course; he’s not getting any younger.) I hear you; I do hear you, Claudia!
Thanks for your words about my good news yesterday. Had to share it here.
Yes, I completely understand. Don has been a freelancer all his life, that’s what actors are. And I’ve been one for the past 18 years. Sigh.
Totally an aside: Noticed in the TCM line-up on TV that I just missed by one day: “Claudia”, a 1943 film, b&w, starring Robert Young and Dorothy McGuire, whom I’ve seen paired before in the older films. I wonder what it’s about, this movie??!!!
Ah, how can you not love it?!! It was first a Broadway play; then they took it to film such that she starred in it both on stage and in the movie: (Wiki) “A child bride who almost destroys her marriage through her selfishness.” Early 1940s!
“McGuire and Young made a third film together, Claudia and David (1946), a sequel to Claudia, which was less well received.”
And why do you think my brother and I were named David and Claudia?
OH MY!!
Because my mom liked that movie and, even more, liked the names.
Yep!
Fun!
xo
Yes, I know all about that. I have a framed program from the Broadway production in my office.
I remember your framed program; you’ve shown photos of it. I just didn’t make the connection!
It’s a rare program from the Broadway run. A friend of mine who is an antique dealer gave it to me.