So sorry that I’ve been late responding to comments the past couple of days. But I’m either outside all day or, as in the case of Friday, out and about with my husband all day, so I’m too pooped to respond.
It rained a LOT yesterday and certainly made our errands a bit harder to navigate. We took a little drive and ended up at Davenport Farms, a family-owned business in a neighboring town. I bought a flat of pansies and a lavender plant – the same things I purchased from them last year. Don got some vegetables for one of his crock pot creations. We really love that place.
They’ve been in business for decades and decades, as you can see by the original cooler with the art deco font. I have to take a picture of it every time I’m there.
What else? We drove around a bit, ended back in our neighboring college town where we had a late breakfast at our favorite breakfast place. We are being very frugal, so eating out, albeit very modestly, was an indulgence. Then we went to our local market to pick up some things. Oh, and we mailed the bills and stopped at our little library to pick up some books I had ordered.
Today, as seems to be the norm lately, the rain/storm is gone, but we have high winds. AGAIN. I’m so, so sick of them. The gusts are so strong (up to 40 mph) that I can’t really do any work outside. And it’s going to rain again on Sunday. And almost every day next week. I have a lot to do out there, but Mother Nature clearly doesn’t want me to do it. I’m frustrated.
All that being said, it’s nothing compared to what many of you are dealing with in the midwest today. Snow. And lots of it. I’m so, so sorry. I know I would be screaming if it were happening here. The only comfort is that it will melt quickly, but it’s a small comfort, I know.
We watched Mrs. Miniver last night. We’ve been watching movies that we now realize we’ve never seen in their entirety. Bits and pieces, half the movie, but not the entire movie.
It was very moving.
I just had to take a break from writing this post to go rescue the pansies, lavender, and Boston fern from the porch where they were in danger of being knocked over by the wind gusts. Sigh.
I read more of the Donna Leon this morning. I found myself getting into it – I only have about 75 pages left in the book at this point. I always try to give a book a chance, unless I absolutely know from the early stages of reading that it’s a no-go. And that happens. But, in this case, it seemed worth the effort. If I gave up on every book I had some minor issues with at 20 or even 50 pages, I would have missed out on some of my now-favorite books. Plots take time to develop. The author may be slowly but surely weaving the initial threads of the plot and being patient will be worth my while. I only give up on something when it’s just plain badly written or if I find I don’t like or care about any of the characters. I love reading. But I also love the process of reading.
Anyway. I’m housebound today. Take care everyone, especially those of you dealing with snow at the end of April.
Happy Saturday.
You make a good point about why you shouldn’t stop after 20 or 50 pages.
Only if it’s obviously dreadful, Brenda!
I’m taking solace this week in the photos of your lovely plants as I’ve only been able to start a herb pot indoors. Looking out the window at today’s snowstorm, I feel as though I’m trapped in a snow globe. I just hope it doesn’t damage our trees.
Good day for some reading. I purchased that miniature book you mentioned by Simon Garfield and it’s proving an interesting read. My daughter sorted out her walk-in closet the other day and found a forgotten (Christmas? birthday?) present. It’s a book called Mad Enchantment and is about Claude Monet and the painting of the water lilies, so I’m intrigued.
Enjoy your Saturday!
So sorry about the snow, Barbara! But it does sound like the perfect weather for staying inside and reading!
This spring weather can be unsettling. I got out to weed a bit yesterday and ended up with a huge sneezing fit. This seems to be allergy hell right now in my yard. Ugh. I need a day of rest and reading…self prescribed of course!
Here, too! And today is so windy that pollen is flying everywhere!
If it isn’t snow, it’s rain. If it isn’t rain, its wind. And so it cycles. I hope the weather stabilizes soon for you, Claudia, and for everyone else across the Midwest. We’re having slightly cloudy days, but warm and it’s perfect for me to garden…I don’t like gardening when the sun is beating down on me. Tomorrow, we’re going to the nursery. I need to load up on compost and mulch for the potted plants. I don’t doubt I’ll be tempted to buy more plants. The dahlias, peonies, and others are emerging. The herbs are bursting. Yesterday, I steeped some “lemonade” mint and made quite a refreshing drink. The different oreganos were chopped up and added to melted butter with lots of garlic. I won’t use the herbed butter until next week and hopefully it’ll be fully flavored to make garlic herb bread, and to use for sautéed mushrooms.
Enjoy your weekend, Wendy!
glad you found some goodies yesterday … including a look at that very cool old cooler (pun wasn’t intended, but i’m leaving it there … ha)!
glad you are now enjoying that book.
and yes, you make a good point for not giving up so quickly on a book (my standard’s been ten pages … must work on my patience!)
happy weekend, everyone.
kathy in iowa
Have a great weekend, Kathy.
Mrs. Miniver is one of my all-time favorite movies…love Greer Garson. Last night we watched another favorite; Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream Home. We can almost quote the lines because we have seen it so many times but we still Love it.
BTW….97′ here in AZ today.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Too hot! Thanks, Lynn!
Davenport farms reminds me of one in Massachusetts that I would stop at when we lived there. Today is such a beautiful day, you wouldn’t have thought we had storms yesterday. Because of the storms “Something in the Water” was cancelled last night. There are two more nights of it.Of course a lot of the ‘artists” I am not interested in so didn’t affect me. Seems to be a lot of rap which I don’t understand and from what my husband has told me about what some of the words are, it is a blessing not to have good hearing.
Went to Barnes and Nobles today. Saw two books that is of interest–Women Talking (about a group of women getting together in the loft of the barn talking about what happened to them) A mystery. And the other book—The Stranger Diaries (another mystery) Going to see if our library has them.
Mrs. Miniver is one of my favorite movies. Did you know that it is based on a book by the same title? The movie is better. There is a second movie about Mrs Miniver (can’t remember the title) I think I recall that it isn’t as good as the first movie.
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
https://www.amazon.com/Women-Talking-Miriam-Toews/dp/1635572584
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
Thanks, Trina!
Yes, I knew it was based on a book. And second movies are rarely as good as the first – there are some, but not many!
Well…fingers crossed…all we’ve gotten so far today is a few flakes of snow. No screaming yet…hope that holds!
It’s still cold outside today, so no outdoor work. There was a shredfest this morning, close to our house…so we waited in line in our car so they could take our paper bags of papers. It was surprising to me how many people there were. Now…cleaning is on the agenda….then I can relax.
Hope the wind subsides for you. Enjoy your day! ;)
So glad you haven’t had snow yet! It’s unbelievably windy here – relentless. All day long.
Well…that was then. Now…all outdoor surfaces are white….roads still good though. It’s just unbelievable…you know? (I decided not to scream….didn’t want to disturb my cat!). ;)
It sounds like quite a weekend or day at least. I love days like that, market, eating out. All fun.
I’m in the midst of giving a Lynne Truss book a chance and half through I’m not sure I’ll make it! So I get what you mean.
Hope SUnday is lovely!
Love that old Deco-era cold case!
Well, I’m one of those in the Midwest that has the snow. And yes, I feel like screaming. I feel so depressed and pi**ed today, all at the same time. They had originally predicted 5-8″ for our area but they were wrong – in a “good” way. It’s now 7:45 PM and it looks like we have about 3″. Supposed to go another few hours though. And then the extended 10 day forecast is nothing but rain. I just want to run away about now – somewhere warm. But not too hot. Guess I’m searching for Utopia. ;-)
I am hanging on the the motto April showers, May flowers…etc. But then I don’t have a pile of yard work to do. However, my bed is tucked under an eave upstairs and when it rains it feels so cosy to cuddle up with a book (OK, my NOOK) and have the cats on me purring until they fall asleep and before you know it, I’m asleep too. Books are such reliable friends. Nowadays, however, if I’m not invested in a book by page 25-50, I don’t go on. I hear what you say about books developing, but I have to have a character or a place or a plot or something. Leon’s books are interesting but like most long-time series, by maybe book 5 or 6, the juice is gone, and she does seem to take her protagonist at sort of arm’s length. But I’m glad you kept going and are getting satisfaction from it. So much to-do about the recent Where the Crawdads Sing and I must say there were many things I enjoyed about it, but I felt about 100 pages could have been edited out. However, the sense of place that I know nothing about and the love of plants and creatures was quite wonderful. The story was interesting. It might be something you’d like from the library. Your small plant/produce store looks like a treasure!