I took this picture yesterday morning from the railway bridge in West Hampstead, right by the tube station. The sun was rising, the air was clear and cold. I think it was our last frosty morning for a while -- it's about 37º F (about 3º C) this morning and it's only going to get warmer from here, at least in the immediate future. Starting tomorrow we'll be in the 50's pretty much every day (40's at night).
This was the garden yesterday morning, everything crunchy beneath a thick rime of ice.
My poor brand-new hellebores are not happy. They're cold-tolerant so I think they'll bounce back, but they certainly look like they're losing the fight.
I think the tender outdoor plants -- like the geraniums, the plectranthus, the Amistad sage -- can go back outside tomorrow, when temperatures have risen and the frost has vanished. I'd love to get them out of the house because it's crowded in here and they're dropping leaves and looking generally miserable. We're supposed to get rain, too, which will give them a boost.
Last night Dave and I were in the mood for a documentary, so we started one about Jeffrey Epstein on Netflix. We were about halfway through the first episode when it dawned on me we'd seen it before! I think we watched it three or four years ago when it first came out. Does this ever happen to you -- starting a book or TV show expecting a novel experience, only to realize you've seen or read it already? Sometimes I think I'm losing my mind.
My grandfather used to keep a stack of Erle Stanley Gardner "Perry Mason" novels at his country house in West Virginia. He'd write "read" inside the cover when he finished one, so he didn't try to read it again. I always thought that was so funny -- who wouldn't remember that they'd read a book? Well, now I get it.
I am having all sorts of anxiety about our tree-trimming project, which is supposed to happen on Feb. 19, right when we get back from California. I've even taken the day off to supervise. Why I am so nervous about this I'm not sure, given that they're not really our trees. I just want to strike the right balance, keeping enough greenery for the wildlife while also making the caretaker at the apartments behind us happy. (Remember, he started this whole thing by complaining about the state of the vegetation at the back of our garden.) Why do I care whether or not he's happy? Well, that's a good question. Maybe I'm too much of a pleaser. Maybe I should tell him to take a flying leap.
24 comments:
It seems to me that you are simply a good and considerate person, this is not a disadvantage. And also a bit unfortunate that you have an annoying neighbor.
The houses in the second and fourth pictures appear to be leaning over. Has there been an earthquake in West London that I had not heard about? I must phone Ian and Sarah. While you are in California you won't be "California Dreamin'" you'll be "West Hampstead Dreamin'" - mostly about tree surgeons and chainsaws.
I’d be just like you about the trees. Oh to be one of those people who can say Take a flying leap. The sunlight in that first photo is beautifully vivid. SG and I just started watching Elvis the other day. It turns out we watched it last month.
We once got cheap tickets to an off-Broadway show and when we got there and saw the set I said to Jack "Oh s==t we've seen this". He responded "Did we like it?". I said no and we got up and left before it started. And, yes I have started several Netflix series only to realize that I had seen it.
Cheers Peter
A flying leap would be good...having dealt with bad folks recently, trying to be civil to them, work with them, finally came to the awareness that their lack of happiness is not any one else's problem. You are a deeply caring person, a sweetheart of all sweethearts- but I think you may need to take a day off ....a flying leap for the guy is a gentle nudge for them to take responsibility for their own boo hoos.
I watched The Big Sick on Netflix this week and it was only three-quarters of the way through that I suddenly thought I have seen this before. As for the tree trimming, my view is that stuff always grows back and that if it looks a little too drastic immediately after the cut it will soon green over and be ok. I have a neighbour who took some major stuff down, came and asked me first, and I said do whatever you like, it will all grow back and fill in. His wife was amazed and worried about it all and then lo and behold one year later it is all hunky dory and everyone is happy. Worry not.
Yes, I think maybe you're extending a bit too much consideration to other people, at your own expense. I bet Dave won't be losing sleep over the caretaker and the trees!
Well, you are too much of a people pleaser, to be sure, but that is just part of who you are. I have always thought the Russians were behind all this. It is not bad to be there to supervise. You don't want the gardener or the Russians stepping into that position because you are not there. In the end, I imagine you will be happy with the results. It is also in your your nature to see the worst case scenario...you told us that yesterday!
It's audiobooks that I have forgotten I've listened to.
No. I do not think you should tell the caretaker at the apartments to "take a flying leap". I think you should tell him what I told that person in my dream yesterday which was to "f**k off."
But that's just me. And in real life, I doubt I've ever told anyone to do either of those things.
I agree with Rachel that whatever happens with the trees, it will all grow back and be fine or it won't and you will plant something else. My brother says "things have a way of working out". Worrying won't change anything as we were were talking about in your post yesterday.
We had our last below freezing night last night for the foreseeable future as well and I'm ready for the warming trend. nothing blooming in my yard now though I do have four pots of things I brought in that are or will soon be flowering. everything else in the yard is black or laying on the ground.
I understand your concern about the tree trimming. we hired a guy to cut the dead limbs and branches out of the two tallows beside the driveway, just the dead wood. when I went out to check on his progress he was cutting lower small branches with green leaves. stop I hollered, what are you doing. dead wood only. said he was just trying to neaten it up. well, don't I told him.
I'm glad you'll be there for the tree trimmers and I'm glad you care. Who knows what the landlord told him so a little supervision is a good thing. Here they are trimming trees like crazy to avoid power failures and they look so grim. Unfortunately there is nothing the homeowner can do. I see the point but some of the trees are very disconcerting to look at!
Your frost is lovely (short term!). I bet you'll be glad to get the plants out. As for revisting media accidentally -- I have done the same thing. I think we all have after a certain time. We see and read so many things that our brains just get too full! I like your grandfather's method!d
Yes, I've blundered into books I've read. sometimes it takes a while to catch on.
Pelargoniums won't be happy outside now..and going in and out might unsettle them? I know mine take a bit to settle when going in or out
My husband have done that too, start watching a series, or even an episode and then realize we've already seen it.
The frost is lovely. You'd think that the apartment building would want the greenery to give them a screen of green to look at, rather than another house.
We are re-watching Vera on Britbox on purpose. We saw it quite some time ago, so we recognize some of the scenes, but we don't remember who did it. So, it fills some time until Amazon puts some new stuff on Prime.
Your tree guy should be able to tell you exactly what he plans to remove and why it is necessary. This gives you the opportunity to approve or disapprove. It is ice/snow covered in Massachusetts but next week is predicted to warm to 40 degrees F. The temperature swings are shocking. Hopefully, all our plants survive the shock.
I've kept track of everything I've read since 1996 and I wish I'd started doing that sooner! But even if I do read something again, I've found that's not always a bad thing.
Sounds like the temperatures might be perfect for some long walks. Speaking of walks, I was looking at Google Earth a few days ago and saw that roof top garden we got to experience when I was there. I could see it all, the planters, the seating places and that sort of greenhouse in the middle. It was fun to see it from that satellite view.
And, yes I've started watching something only to realize part way through that I've seen it before. But, I often watch shows over and over again because I like them so I guess it evens out.
If it weren't for my blog, where I can check whether or not I have read and reviewed a certain book or anything else by a certain author, more than half of the time I am sure I wouldn't know!
Of course I have read tons of books long before I started to blog about them, but somehow I seem to remember those better - must be an age thing...
Frost can look so pretty, but some plants are anything but happy with it. My hellebores (a gift from my Mum sometime last year) have so far only produced good green leaves, but almost no flowers. There are two planted in a tray on my windowsill; one should be white, the other one red. The white one has managed to show a few rather sorry looking buds, but that's been all so far.
I usually (usually) remember that I've read a book, but I hardly ever remember much about it, so I can cheerfully reread & enjoy it again (I try not to reread books I don't think I liked). I would worry about the state of my memory, but I've been this way my whole life. I could win trivial pursuit, but not remember which sister did what in Little Women. Ha!
"This part seems familiar" --how many times have I said that? I won't admit how frequently! We are coming out of our cold spell too but swinging too far the other way, eventually hitting low 60s. That's not good for mountain snow and causes avalanches and flooding. Why can't we just have 30-50 degrees in the winter?
Yael: He's not too bad, really. In fact we never heard from him at all until he raised a protest about the trees.
YP: I tried to straighten the angles in the second photo but doing so cropped the edges of the picture, so I left it!
Mitchell: OK, it's good to know I'm not alone!
Peter: Ha! I don't think I've ever forgotten I've seen a play, but I can see how it would be possible! (Some of them are definitely forgettable.)
Linda Sue: I just have a feeling that no matter what we do back there, short of removing the trees entirely, he's not going to be happy.
Rachel: That is a very sensible view and I've been telling myself that too. Everything grows back, often more rapidly than we think it will!
Boud: Nah, Dave is giving any of this a second thought!
Debby: Ha! Yes, that's true. My worst-case projections are influencing my thinking! You may be right about the Russians, but I don't see what they stand to gain. The privacy barrier is good for them, too.
Ms Moon: I just don't want to have hostile relations with any neighbor. It's much more my style to be nice to their faces and then bitch about them on my blog. LOL
Ellen D: And I suppose, at this point, this train is too far down the track to do nothing.
Ellen: I think tree guys have a way of getting a little too enthusiastic.
Jeanie: Oh, I used to hate seeing trees after the power companies trimmed them. They BUTCHER them! Fortunately all our wires are below ground here.
Red: And then you've invested the time, so do you just keep going?!
GZ: I've done this in the past and they seem OK with it. They don't look very happy indoors at this time of year either! But I know some people bring them in for the whole winter, so I guess it works either way. (I don't much care if they die, to be honest.)
Pixie: I know! He's concerned about the integrity of the brick wall, which separates our garden from theirs. But I wonder how the residents feel. They might miss the greenery!
Allison: I've never watched "Vera"! Maybe we should try it?
Susan: Yeah, he gave us a detailed estimate and I'll be here to give specific directions, so I think we'll be OK. As Rachel said, it will all grow back.
Kelly: I love re-reading, but only when I KNOW I'm re-reading!
Sharon: I'll have to check out that Google Earth image!
Librarian: I also remember books I read many years ago much better than ones I read last month! As someone else said, I guess our brains get "full." The hellebore in our garden -- in the ground -- looks much better than the ones I put in pots.
Bug: Doesn't Beth die? That's all I remember! (To be fair, I've never read "Little Women," just absorbed some sense of the plot from pop culture!)
Margaret: I know! The extremes are worrying, aren't they? At least we're not getting THAT warm.
It doesn't happen with books but it does with movies more often than I care to admit. Usually I'll be watching and get an inkling of what will happen next and after a few times of being right, I'll finally know that I probably watched it before. I usually continue to watch it all the way to the end... again.
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