Our neighbor down the street has this amazing Ceanothus, or California lilac, growing in the front garden. I love the way it's consuming the gatepost like a big blue amoeba.
I have another post to write about old slides, but let's take a break from that subject today. Instead, I want to show you our azaleas:
This little miniature azalea is such a great color. It's sort of buried in our flowerbed amidst a lot of other stuff -- like the blue forget-me-nots -- but I'm always happy to see it bloom each year.
We're also getting flowers on the pink spider azalea that I got for free when Homebase gave away all its plants during the first lockdown in early 2020. At first we kept it in a pot behind the garden bench, but it never bloomed there. So we moved it to the middle of the garden, where there's more light, and it has rewarded us with flowers. Ta-da!
I'm having ongoing battles with the mob of about 25 ninth-grade boys that take over the library's fiction section each day at lunch and break time. I occasionally catch them eating illicit snacks, and as I inventoried fiction yesterday I found tons of crisp packets, lollipop sticks and candy wrappers behind the books -- not to mention a fresh wad of chewed gum. Yesterday one of them left a crumpled-up assignment behind the books, with his name on it! So there's no uncertainty about the culprits. I'm taking steps to disperse that group.
I finished the inventory -- all except the professional development books, which won't take long. I'm skipping the DVDs and the reference section. Reference includes that vast collection of literary criticism books -- the ones my boss wants to sell -- and they're squirreled away in various cabinets so it's just too hard to dig them all out and scan them. And the DVDs -- well, as one of my co-workers said, "Who cares?"
It looks like we're missing about 25 books, but I'm not too concerned. Kids probably simply borrowed them without checking them out, and I suspect a lot will come back before the end of the year.
I did find this interesting gem while inventorying (and simultaneously weeding) the biography section:
This is a 1977 biography of "Bloody Mary" Tudor, which we've had in the library since 1979. It wasn't in great condition and hadn't been checked out in 13 years, and someone had taken a pink highlighter pen to its pages. And then I found this note inside the back cover:
I did a Google search and darned if that's not correct! OOPS! I wonder if someone at J. M. Dent & Sons lost their job over that little gaffe?
Apparently the artist, whose name is given here as Antonio Moro but who is also called Anthonis or Antonis Mor, did paint a portrait of Queen Mary. But it's this one, not the one on the cover of the book. (To be fair, the women do look quite similar, and both were married to Philip II of Spain.)
Anyway, given the book's age and condition and the inaccuracy of the cover, I weeded it!
24 comments:
I would LOVE to read that book. The real Queen Mary picture looks much more stern and forbidding which might explain why they used a nicer one of the wrong Queen in hopes of having people buy and read the book.
Misbehaving boys and an incorrect portrait. What a brilliant post! I am eagerly awaiting the fall out of your battle with the little buggers.
I have my money on you.
Your azaleas are, of course, just beautiful.
Nature loves you, Steve.
That's a very embarrassing mistake for the publisher.
The azaleas and rhododendron are spectacular. They tend to be beautiful, but your varieties are really something. I do miss those -- but not the climate required.
I just knew that the librarians' conference in Vienna wouldn't address the issue of awkward teenage lads, eating and drinking in libraries and big-headed disrespect. May I suggest barring those boys from the library till the end of the school year? Alternatively, for a reasonable fee, the school can call on the services of Pudding Library Control Services Ltd. and I will be down there to sort those dickheads out for you.
That Ceanothus is a beauty!
Library yobs...what else can you do? Apart from excluding them as YP says. They can always request a necessary book I suppose but not come in the library...
That was a bit of a pictorial blunder.. obviously someone looked for Wife of Philip, not exactly the lady concerned.
I've got a shy little azalea like one of yours, hiding in the ground cover. I like the species more than the ones that bloom spectacularly in neon colors next door to us.
Sounds as if the library has become the hangout place. Maybe the improving weather will tempt them outside instead, and take their garbage with them?
I love that someone corrected the book! I can't imagine how that got beyond editors when the book was published.
I just SAW the painting of Mary Tudor by Mor/Moro in Cleveland last weekend! But they do look similar. I LOVE that someone too the time/energy/will to make a correction in the book. She had to have had one weird life, once her mother was essentially exiled (not from England but from court). Wonder if that photo editor's head rolled (no pun intended, but it works!)
Love those California lilacs and your own garden has really come on. The azalea is lovely and so are the forget me nots.
That California lilac is gorgeous as are all your garden blooms. Things are looking very spring-like.
That is funny about that book and its cover. That's quite a mistake to make.
Hi Steve,
WoW! Just WOW! to your stunning garden and I love the lilac that is blooming over the gatepost.
We once went camping in California and the scent of lilacs were so enticing and they were stunning.
Ohh what a Huge Mistake for the Publisher and Editor of that book. The first picture, the orginal Mary looks Mean! I think that the original would have gone better with the name of Bloody Mary. She looks like someone who could shed some blood, lol.
Oh you do have your hands full on the teenage boys. I would make them sit at the closest table in your view. Leave all backpacks at the door and assign them to come in on free periods to scan for trash!!! But that suggestion might get you in trouble and I wouldn't want that, but darn those kids have zero respect. On the other hand, it looks like the kids are hungry. I know it seemed like I was always hungry, but we had vending machines where we could get a snack and always had a place to throw our garbage away. Of course that was late 70's and times have sure changed.
Have a wonderful Weekend.
Oh my goodness! Both of those women looked like they would as soon have your head removed as Henry VIII! "Stern" does not cover it!
Your orange rhododendron reminds me very much of the native azalea I planted in my front yard. Gorgeous!
Your flowers are gorgeous, Steve. What a haven you've created for your little family, in London, no less! Do you and Dave spend lots of time out there?
Ninth grade boys...sigh. They can really be a-holes at that age! I've been around enough middle school kids to know that often parents of young teenaged boys are ready to strangle them about half the time! Their bodies seem to outgrow their brains for several years. I'm glad I don't have kids of my own to deal with.
what a gorgeous shrub that california lilac. and I envy your forget me nots. I think I've tried to mention getting them ro reseed with no luck. I guess our climate is wrong...too hot, too wet, too dry...take your pick. My azaleas haven't really bloomed in three years because we've been getting these arctic freezes at the wrong time.
The spring flowers there are so beautiful. It so wonderful to see this season of renewal.
Do you have any assistants at the library who could keep an eye on those sneaky messy boys? I am so surprised that they come into the library to eat their lunches.
It's a shame those boys are ruining their chance of using the library. How many more weeks of school?
Your flowers are beautiful, Steve!
Groups like your gr. 9 boys are always hard to deal with. An individual can be dealt with but the group just continues to challenge.
Lovely photos of your flowers. My favorite is the forget me nots. I've never had any luck with them. Maybe I'll try again.
I think you work in a private school, if I remember correctly. Are they entitled pricks or just normal teens, or a combination of the two? I love that someone pointed out the mistake on the cover of Bloody Mary.
Both of those women look formidable. It's bad enough that the 9th graders are taking over the fiction section, but they're littering. Who do they think will clean that up? Good luck with the dispersal.
I think that picture of Mary resembles Kelsey Grammer! LOL
Your flower pictures are always so beautiful!
I'm interested in how you will deal with those boys - divide and conquer? banishment? put them to work? The lilac is gorgeous.
Kids (or adults) leaving trash around is SO disrespectful. It makes my blood burn! I'm not just saying this, but the colors of your azaleas and rhody are some of my very favorites.
P. S. To follow up on your reply to me on yesterday's post, yes, Nova Scotia has a lot of hilly terrain and even mountains (it's considered part of the Appalachian Mountains, believe it or not!) Way back, before continental drift, the bottom half was attached to Africa and the top half was attached to Scandanavia and Scotland. When settlers arrived from Scotland the land looked very like their homeland and hence the name Nova Scotia (New Scotland in Latin). There's a good article on the geography of the province here, if you're interested:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Nova_Scotia
Ooops!! I recognize the real portrait, but will agree the the incorrect one does resemble it. Still...
I don't see red azaleas as often as other colors and think it's beautiful! (ours are all white, light pink, or magenta)
You don't see a mistake like that on a book jacket everyday!
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