Tag Archives: “morning glory”

First Monday in August

rocks-deemallonIt was very hot here today. Fortunately, there’s been a temporary ‘fix’ to the van’s AC. Better yet, the horrible traffic that has plagued Route 128 between here and Salem all summer took a break today. Wahoo! Made it home in 50 minutes instead of the 1.5 hours that it’s taken the last four trips.

My sister and I went around North Salem to look at some of the low-income housing units that she is on the wait-list for. Before that, we sorted through some piles of things. Cleared off a few surfaces. I showed her how to use her Netti pot and took out the garbage and dusted a little. But only a little. If I get going too much, it sets her off. We went to the ‘Dairy Witch’ for soft-serve.

And now, a week with few commitments stretches ahead. AAAAAh. I hope to post about Portsmouth and the Hearts for Charleston Quilt.

In the meantime, here are some pictures from the weekend. It was a clear up, settle back, relax kind of time. Busy — but at my own pace with large swaths of quiet, so time took on an expansive quality.IMG_2244The rabbits devoured one Rose of Sharon transplant; left the other alone. I watered like mad because it’s been so dry and because the son I asked to do so in my absence did not 🙁

IMG_2252 IMG_2257 IMG_2255Removed a long-useless soaker hose.
IMG_2282Pruned away most of an ailing laurel bush (something I’ve wanted to do for, oh, three years?), and used the old branches to supply support for morning glories.
IMG_2260As the years cycle by, I find that my attitude toward plants change. You know? Same plant. Different attitude. This year, the echinacea strikes me as so sturdy and pretty. And the morning glory is blowing my mind. Besides producing drop-dead beautiful flowers, the strength and delicacy of their climbing tendrils is something to behold. How can something be so strong and so delicate at the same time?!
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IMG_2163Off now. It’s “So You Think You Can Dance” night, but before I go, just wanted to follow up on last week and brag about successfully sharpening three pairs of scissors — including these two pair of Ginghers.

summer passing

Wow, the season can really slide by. Today? I am going to go swimming! Have to. Have to.

a beautiful surprise

a beautiful surprise

It’s been a quiet week.  By that, I mean fairly unscheduled (there were nine yard crews and a morning of limb removal on our street).  The light and air were pretty the day I took two of the Star Maps outside.
IMG_9980 IMG_9981 IMG_9989 IMG_9992 I had time to weed, clean, visit my sister, get our rugs cleaned.  Boxed up the old tape players from the Perkins Library to return them.

end of an era

end of an era

Both of my boys qualified for audio books and machines from the Braille and Talking Book Library.  What a great service that has been! Tapes delivered to your door, free postage to return, a large library to choose from.  With my older son, in particular, it made a huge difference.  Some months in middle school, he listened to six or seven books on tape, which meant that he entered high school more literate than some of his better-reading peers.
IMG_4586Me? I am slogging through the excellent novel, “Cloudsplitter” — by Russell Banks.  I don’t really recommend reading THREE 800 pages novels in a year (“Our Mutual Friend” by Charles Dickens and “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt, being the other two).  To get through this one (even though it’s SUPERB), I had to take breaks to read six shorter novels and Stephen King’s wonderful, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft“.

Earlier in the year, I read another historic novel about the radical abolitionist, John Brown:  “The Good Lord Bird” by James McBride. Have learned a lot about Kansas and Missouri and how the battle about slavery played out there in the years leading up to the Civil War.

 

What do you WANT?

Iraq-WANT

What do you want?

I have been asking myself this lately with renewed desire for clarity…

More on that later, perhaps, as it relates to my craft work, but for now, let me say, I want a couple of days of sunshine.  The photos below were taken in my garden at midday, after a grey morning, and before an afternoon filled with thunder and some spattering of rain.

morning-glory

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I want to go to the beach.  I want to wander into the backyard and not get wet.  I want the driveway beds to smell fresh, not like rotting vegetation.  I want to be able to dash out the door in short sleeves, unencumbered by umbrella or slicker.  I want to use the grill again.

Happy July 4, everyone!  I’ll be attending Newton’s fireworks tomorrow, which are always great.  And guess what?  I hear it’s not going to rain!

What do YOU want?

PS  The quilt shot above is from a piece called “Valentine to Iraq” — in the brief spasm of sunshine today I managed to take pictures of a number of quilts.  Look tomorrow for images.