Here's a view of our patio from our bedroom window. Yes, there's a patio under all that, though you can barely see it. It's been so damp I haven't weeded and swept it like I usually do when the weather dries out a bit. Maybe after school ends I'll get around to it. I'm sure it horrifies the Russians.
For those interested in the plants: The purple flower in the right foreground is toadflax, and progressing back from that you'll see an agapanthus (not yet in bloom), a pink geranium, an orange Peruvian lily, the stolen citrus tree and our banana. A foxglove is beside the geranium.
Mrs. Kravitz surprised us last night by making us a dinner of Indian food. (Remember that Kravitz is not her real name -- that's just what I call her, after the nosey neighbor in the TV show "Bewitched." If you knew her real name, it would make sense that she's cooking Indian.) I don't know what motivated this sudden burst of neighborliness. I said to Dave, "What does she want?"
She asked to borrow our hedge trimmer the other day, and I said yes, but then she never came to collect it, so it couldn't have been in thanks for that. Unless it's thanks in advance. Anyway, the food wasn't bad but it was so hot that we had to get some yogurt -- on Mrs. Kravitz's recommendation -- to tone down the peppers. I'm sure it did wonders for my gastritis. It was nice of her, in any case.
Also yesterday was the end-of-the-school-year picnic for our LGBTQ employee affinity group. I felt a sense of obligation to go, since the group's coordinators bothered to organize it. It began in mid-afternoon when I was still working, so I missed the first hour or so, but when I finished work I went to Tesco, bought a bottle of London Pride and joined the group in Regent's Park. We sat on some blankets in the sun and chatted, and I had an ice cream, which conflicted with my beer but what the heck.
As I was lying in bed blogging yesterday morning, I heard an ungodly sound outside the bedroom window. "What is THAT?!" I thought. It sounded like a cross between a bird and a dinosaur. (And birds are dinosaurs, I suppose, so that makes sense.) I dangled the phone out the bedroom window and made the recording above, which my Merlin bird app promptly identified as a green woodpecker. I don't think I've ever seen a green woodpecker in our garden, though I've seen them on Hampstead Heath, in Hyde Park and in other large parks. What brought it to our garden is anyone's guess. It didn't reappear this morning.
I dealt with an e-mail yesterday from my mom's attorney in Florida, and I noticed his assistant's name is "Hallie Justice."
Your patio garden is lovely. Ignore the Russians, it's your garden not theirs. Interesting bird.
ReplyDeleteMy copies of Little Women and Good Wives have arrived, Little Women is a rewrite, a re telling, without most of the boring detail and I read the whole thing in one day. Good Wives is also quite a thin book, but the print is TINY, so I guess the whole story is there and I'll begin it tomorrow after I find my magnifying glass.
I like your wild looking garden, with so much of interest within it.
ReplyDeleteAh, so Mrs Samira Kravitz. And being of south Asian heritage, cooks a mean vindaloo. Trivia: An English couple visiting Australia said our Indian food is very good, but it is better in England. I've had plenty here but English Indian food was sublime.
As far as I know, Australia doesn't have woodpeckers. They must be interesting to watch.
Everybody should have names that indicate their lines of work. For example, you should be Steve Fine or Steve Dewey-System. By the way, is there a heterosexual employee affinity group?
ReplyDeleteThat was nice of Mrs. Kravitz but, yes, I would wonder what she wants ...
ReplyDeleteIce cream and beer to celebrate? Um, okay? An actual Beer Float instead of a Root Beer one?
Mrs. Kravitz made you food? Goodness. That's rather unbelievable but very sweet.
ReplyDeleteI love your dinosaur recording. I'm listening to one of ours peck away right now but he's not talking about it.
I will not deign to comment on Mr. P.'s comment. Surely he is joking, right?
Your garden is an oasis and a glory.
Every spring our local woodpecker likes to bang his head/beak against the shiny metal of our vent stack on our house. It is loud enough to wake the dead and will last for about a week or so before he stops trying to attract females anymore and goes back to his trees. I sometimes shoo him away but he will just come back ten minutes later and start up again.
ReplyDeleteSo I would take your woodpecker over my woodpecker anytime!
I imagine the Russians enjoy seeing your lovely flowers and don't care at all about the patio. ;)
ReplyDeleteYour garden and patio provide a lovely space. Time in the garden is always enjoyed. The green woodpecker is unusual to me. The hot spicy Indian food sounds pretty good after some cooling. I also wonder what is motivating Mrs. Kravitz.
ReplyDeleteBy referring to someone as "Mrs. Kravitz" you are showing your age! Of course, I know very well of Mrs. Kravitz. I can still hear her yelling, "Abner! Come here and look!"
ReplyDeleteThat woodpecker has a sort of jungle sound. When you mentioned the Indian food I wondered if it would be hot. I have to be very careful when I order it to tell them to make it mild.
ReplyDeleteThat attorney's assistant has a great name for that line of work.
I've had a woodpecker racket start up, sounded like a motor being revved in the living room. Flicker drumming on the chimney two floors up. It was quite a surprise until I figured it out.
ReplyDeleteI love your patio and who cares what the Russians think. every spring I wish I had thrown out toadflax seeds and every fall I never remember to get them and do that.
ReplyDeleteoh, and beer and ice cream. Marc and I learned erly on that was a bad combination. the farts were noxious.
ReplyDeleteThe patio looks so beautiful and blooming to me too, maybe it's not worth working hard and changing it.
ReplyDeleteBeer and ice cream would be a strange combo. I like the English garden style which is usually random and colorful.
ReplyDeleteLol. I have the vision of Mrs Kravitz realizing she added the hot stuff with too heavy a hand, and muttering 'well I know exactly who I am giving that to!' Was she watching from behind a curtain and having a hearty laugh?
ReplyDeleteHappy summer break!
Beer, ice cream and Mrs. Kravitz... No wonder your gastritis is a little edgy! Still, that was nice. Merlin is the best. And so is your garden. I could imagine waking to that view every day -- but not maintaining it!
ReplyDeleteYour garden is gorgeous, lush and colourful. I love it. I didn't realize Mrs. Kravitz was an Indian lady, this changes the picture of her in my mind, now she is in a sari and not a tweedy dress with sensible shoes:)
ReplyDeleteYou overgrown patio looks sort of poetic. I always notice how so many people's names correlate to their chosen work. Life's serendipity.
ReplyDeleteI love my Merlin app. That green woodpecker sure has an interesting call!
ReplyDeleteRiver: Hmmmm...I don't much like the idea of a re-write. I prefer to stick with the real thing, even the boring stuff!
ReplyDeleteAndrew: England is famous for its curries! Queen Victoria would be astonished. LOL
YP: I think being "Mr. Reed" is pretty close! As for the hetero affinity group, that would be basically the WHOLE SCHOOL.
Bob: We talked about that -- how this was a sort of float! I recommend sticking to root beer.
Ms Moon: It WAS unbelievable. I couldn't fathom what made her do that!
Ed: We have woodpeckers here who attack the metal chimney surrounds for the same reason. Gotta call those mates!
Ellen D: I hope so, but who knows. Mrs. Russia doesn't like birds, after all. They like everything very neat and sanitized.
Susan: Yes, the yogurt made all the difference!
Michael: Ha! YES! Abner!
Sharon: I don't understand how Indian people aren't plagued by all kinds of gastric ailments, eating all those peppers! (Maybe they are!)
Boud: Ha! I bet that sounded weird from inside!
Ellen: Time to make a note on the calendar, maybe! (Do you still use a calendar?)
Yael: I'm learning to live with it in this state!
Margaret: Yeah, we do have kind of an English garden jumble going, though I'm not sure English gardeners would approve of how unkempt it is.
Debby: We considered that! LOL!
Jeanie: Well, as you can see, we maintain it only in a minimal sense.
Pixie: Actually, I have never seen her in a sari. She's more assimilated than that!
37P: A librarian named "Mr. Reed" springs to mind. LOL
Kelly: It sounded like something from a Tarzan movie!