Sunday, March 15, 2020

More Primroses and Harper Lee


Olga and I visited the cemetery yesterday, where the primroses are blooming among the headstones. I don't know if these are wild or escapees from someone's planting years ago, but they come back every spring.


The Ravenous Camellia Monster has demonstrated that he's not just ravenous for camellias. He's also coming around and digging through our flower pots. Can you see the dirt on his nose? We go through this every spring, and it's so exhausting. I don't know whether the squirrels are burying nuts or digging them up, or just looking for grubs and slugs and other snicky-snacks, but they wreak havoc on our plants. (They've already been digging around the foxgloves I planted Friday.)

We've learned that there will be no classes at school next week. I think I still have to work, though -- students will be coming in to collect belongings and take care of business before switching to online learning the following week, so I expect I'll be needed to take care of library stuff. I haven't yet heard otherwise, anyway. After a week of online learning we'll have Spring Break, and then the powers-that-be will re-evaluate to see whether we can return.

Aside from our trip to the cemetery, we stayed home again yesterday. One side benefit of social distancing is that I get lots of reading done. I'm working on a book called "Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee," about a murdered fraudster in Alabama and the efforts of author Harper Lee to write a true-crime book about his case. It's no spoiler to say she didn't succeed. The book provides not only an interesting look at the fraudster but also at Lee and her debilitating struggle with the runaway success of "To Kill A Mockingbird." Truman Capote, of course, plays a supporting role. I'm really enjoying it.

17 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

You need to invest in a squirrel trap! When captured you can feed them to Olga. By the way, were you in the cemetery choosing a plot? Slightly pessimistic I feel. Sing like Gloria Gaynor..."I Will Survive!"

gz said...

The culprit exposed!!

The primroses and primulas are beautiful, a visual breath of fresh air

Marty said...

Difficult when a monster is disarmingly cute.
Keep your hand sanitizer at the ready when those germ-laden books cross your desk.

Alphie Soup said...

Don't forget to collect all the chargers before the school closes....
As for the cute little squirrel, it's just trying to stay alive. As you belong to the Homo Sapiens group surely you can outwit a l'il old squirrel
:)
Alphie

Ms. Moon said...

Those primroses are about the sweetest thing I've ever seen.
And dammit, that squirrel is cute. But a menace to your garden. You might need to let Olga hang out in the garden more.

e said...

Loving the primroses...the last true crime thing I read gave me nightmares.

Red said...

It was many, many years before I read To Kill a Mocking bird. I always looked at it but never took it home to read.

Colette said...

I just love the primroses. I also like knowing they have spread among the headstones.

Sharon said...

I think you need to frame that first photo. Olga looks very good admiring all those flowers. I'm supposed to go to see a film today at the art museum but it has been cancelled. I did go to a family party last night. My friend David's family actually but, they treat me like a member of the family too. It was fun to see a few members I haven't seen in 8 or 9 years. But, there is that little bug in the back of your mind about getting too close to people.
Couldn't you solve that squirrel problem by sending Olga out in the yard? I hear she is a great squirrel hunter. ;-)

Catalyst said...

Two great photos.

Moving with Mitchell said...

Never heard of that book. Sounds wonderful. Thanks! I wondered why we never had squirrel problems in our gardens and then I remembered they were too busy at our bird feeders. (We did win that battle.)

The Padre said...

The Olga Pose - A True Definition Of Priceless

Cheers

Elizabeth said...

I imagine all of London will eventually go into a sort of lockdown. I can't imagine what's going to happen in America. It's already so strange and surreal. I noticed yesterday that the squirrels were behaving oddly -- coming too close. Do they sense what's happening? In any case, stay well, friend.

ellen abbott said...

I didn't have any trouble with squirrels eating my camellias but they do like magnolia flower buds. it's about time for me to go around and dig up all the pecan and oak trees the squirrels planted this winter.

jenny_o said...

Both photos are aww-worthy!

I've read that the experts say by the time the first case of this virus ends up in the hospital, it has already been circulating for two weeks in the community. I'm taking the approach that too much social distancing is better than not enough. My husband and I both have bronchial issues, my mom is 90 (and I'm her only close family contact), and extended family have a variety of health issues. I imagine a lot of families are facing the same.

My life so far said...

What Yorkshire Pudding said, OMG!

I love squirrels even though they're a nuisance. They don't bother us much here, not enough trees. The primroses are beautiful.

Edna B said...

The flowers are beautiful. I love the squirrels too, as long as they are not in my house. We make sure they have plenty of food so that they don't need to eat all the plants. Lots of changes here too, but we'll get through this. You have a wonderful day, hugs, Edna B.