This has been the strangest summer. We’ve had two rounds of dangerous heat – both several days long. We’ve had and continue to have smoke from the wildfires in Canada. Yesterday, we had thunderstorms all day long, big thunderstorms with lots of lightning and thunder, along with massive downpours that looked like solid sheets of water. And we’ve had long stretches of drought-like conditions.
It’s been exhausting. It’s also been maddening because everything out there is overgrown and very wild looking and I haven’t really been able to tackle it because of all of the above. I’m going to start pruning and cutting and cleaning it out today. Both Don and I feel like we haven’t been able to spend as much time outside as we normally do.
I’m taking a little break from the dollhouse renovations. I’ll eventually work on the floor for the second floor stairs/hallway. After that, I’m not sure. I have a very limited budget, as you know, so this will be slow going.
One good thing, I’m reading a lot again, which is lovely. I’m currently reading Ironwood by Michael Connelly, the second book in a new series for him that takes place on Catalina Island off the coast of southern California.
We watched Oppenheimer last night, something we’d put off because its SO LONG! We ate dinner a bit earlier so we could watch it and still not be up too late. It was quite well done and the acting was terrific. There were sound issues, which seems to happen a lot these days. The balance between the soundtrack and dialogue was really off and I spent the first hour constantly turning it down and then having to turn it up again. It’s really annoying and inexcusable, really. So we missed some of the dialogue. Something is or is not happening in the mixing process. Cillian Murphy was wonderful in the title role and Robert Downey Jr. was absolutely pitch perfect.
But it was too long and would have benefitted from some cuts.
That’s it for today.
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.
I’m glad we have a cool day today – only in the 70s! I’m watering my brother’s vegetable garden this week so it’s good to get a reprieve, although it will be 90s again next week. It’s a good workout for my arms as it involves carrying the watering cans back and forth from the watering station to the garden plots. Oh well, I get to take produce and zinnias so that’s a good reward! Stay cool and don’t overdo!
Thanks, Ellen.
Stay safe.
stay safe in the heat. we have basically the same weather here. ugh(!!!), with two exceptions: it was 58 degrees on this morning’s walk, making it extra-lovely, and monday night we had a lot of rain … nearly three and a half inches in two hours! that was much appreciated after a cloudless day of 96 degrees and brutal humidity. don’t want to wish away time, and it’s an unpopular opinion, i know, but i am ready for fall or, better yet, winter.
glad you have other interests to enjoy, and can let percolate your ideas for the beacon hill. i switch between knitting, reading and working on a couple children’s picture books, and try to do some of each every day. need to do more cross-stitching!
hope you, don and everyone else have a great day and stay safe.
kathy
Thanks so much, Kathy.
Stay safe.
Downey was awesome. Never would have expected it of him and don’t know why — he’s been good before. That sound issue is when the closed captions come on (that and Brit-TV!) Not always needed but sometimes just to clarify or when the mix is off.
I’m headed back north tomorrow — it’s really cooled down so today I will hack through my yard at home, or at least part of it. It’s always something!
We don’t use closed captions. Whatever the reason, I’ve got good hearing and I lost a lot of the dialogue. I’ve actually read a different explanation for that. I’ll look it up but it came from a sound mixer.
Thanks, Jeanie.
Stay safe.
Oppenheimer is a long film, glad I didn’t see it at the cinema. I never find cinema seats especially comfortable at the best of times and certainly not for almost three hours. We rented it for New Year 2025 and I remember thinking that Florence Pugh who played his lover Jean Tatlock seemed to be used as sexual titillation in an otherwise worthy film.
I’ve just started an American novel called Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. It seems to be about an influencer living the perfect country traditional wife lifestyle on her ranch with her cowboy husband and brood of children except behind the scenes there’s cooks, nannies, filming crew.
She wakes up one day everything seems off kilter and it would appear it’s now about 1855.
It’s certainly not light hearted but dark and gripping.
Happy Wednesday
We were saying the same thing last night. It WAS for sexual titillation and was totally unnecessary. Offensive, even.
I bet that book’s character is inspired by The Pioneer Woman – an influencer here in the USA.
Stay safe, Dee Dee.
Weather everywhere has been a nightmare! (Good thing the government has global warming in hand—grrr>)
That is a stunning lily! Haven’t seen one quite like that before.
I’m so sick of this crappy weather, Shanna.
Thanks so much.
Stay safe.
What flower is that? It’s gorgeous. Our weather has broken if only for a day or two…I’ll take it. The predicted thunderstorms either went north or south of us. We escaped…and I am grateful.
I’m planning on doing some weed pulling today….if my cold permits. In the meantime, I’ve opened the windows to let in all the cool fresh air.
I really enjoyed Oppenheimer when I saw it several years ago. I thought it was well done…along with interesting storytelling. Glad you got to see it.
Enjoy your day! ;)
It’s a day lily, Donnamae.
Thank you!
Stay safe.