Sunday, August 11, 2019

A Routine Day


After our day of rough, gusty weather yesterday, I count only 19 caterpillars on our ragwort. I counted 29 just a few days ago! Hopefully the others are still around and will find their way back to the plants -- I've looked around the base but don't see any obvious stragglers. Again, nature taking its course.

I also had to stake up our red-hot pokers -- one of them was broken off by the wind -- and some of the other plants got pretty battered. Our cardoon's heavy flower heads were bent so low they were practically brushing the ground.

Afterwards, I took Olga for a romp in the cemetery. I heard the turaco but I didn't see it this time -- it was in a different stand of trees.

Otherwise, we had a very quiet day around here. I finished the book "American Bloomsbury," by Susan Cheever, about the astonishing group of writers all living in Concord, Mass. in the mid-1800s (Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau and the Alcotts, all of whom knew each other well). It was an interesting read. There was a lot of drama, as you'd expect with a bunch of smart people in a small community.

Finally, last night I watched the movie "Hampstead" with Diane Keaton. It was filmed in Hampstead and on the Heath, so it was interesting to see the streets and wooded areas where Olga and I often walk immortalized (and Hollywoodized). It's a good little movie, if a bit twee.

(Photo: A shop window in Rye on Thursday. They may not have arms, but by golly, they're wearing their lipstick!)

12 comments:

  1. If you understood Turaco, the lost bird was probably saying, "It's nearly time to go back to work Stevie Baby! Get ready to book out the chargers!"

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  2. I'd imagined that an urban garden would be more sheltered!

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  3. Why do smart people in the arts generate so much drama? Is it ego, or passion?

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  4. Nosy question- do you get your books from the library or do you buy them?
    Those mannequins are the exact same type they use in that show "Botched Up Bodies" to symbolize the idealized perfection that people seek through plastic surgery. Arms probably aren't that important.

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  5. "...a romp in the cemetary..." is a truly grand description of life on earth!

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  6. From time to time we have to accept mother nature and the damage brought by various types of storms.

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  7. Lipstick is all they are wearing! We've been having some windy days here too but, not wind strong enough to bend plants or displace caterpillars. The last two days have been grey, cloudy skies but this morning the sky is blue again.

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  8. I'm just catching up on the past few posts. It was delightful to walk with you on your little trips and see all these wonderful sights. I've never seen a monkey tree, and that house with the curved windows is just so fascinating. Who knows? Maybe someone really is living in the house.

    Your garden is still full of beautiful blooms. There's still more than a month of summer yet to come. I had to giggle about those mannequins. You have a wonderful day, hugs, Edna B.

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  9. LOL on the mannequins' lipstick!

    I hope your caterpillars show up!

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  10. I've never heard of that movie but it sounds delightful. Thanks for mentioning it!

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