That's what it looks like here at the moment. Many if not most of the leaves have fallen; the sidewalks are strewn with them, the grass invisible beneath a leafy blanket.
I don't have much to report today. Yesterday was pretty chill and I actually got some reading done in addition to all my regular duties. I have 280 pages left in "Bleak House." I'm going to do my darndest to finish it this weekend, or at least Monday. I'm getting a little more enthusiastic now that I'm within striking distance of the end, and I do have some curiosity about how (or if) Jarndyce vs Jarndyce, the interminable lawsuit at the center of the plot, is going to be resolved. Will Lady Dedlock's secret be revealed? Will Esther marry her benefactor or the dark, sexy doctor who's just returned from India? Will the purposeless Richard sink farther into debt and dissipation? Will I ever figure out how all the other characters are connected? So many questions.
Here's the crazy girl, in case you're wondering what she's up to. This was on a walk up to the corner last Sunday. Just a day or two after I took this picture, the occupants of that blue-and-white shopfront put up a huge blue canvas awning over their front forecourt. It's a shop that specializes in cleaning supplies, which seems very specific, and it's one of many businesses around here whose viability I doubt. And yet they hang on.
These days not much to tell can be a good thing. I love the Fall leaves and seeing Olga up and about.
ReplyDeleteI agree -- no news is good news, as they say!
DeleteMy eyes lit up as I read, "dark, sexy doctor whose just returned from India".
ReplyDeleteOlga is looking as grand as ever.
Yo Brother Drew , Its Travis From Colorado
DeleteAs you know , most of my blogging disappears in this digital landscape. Unfortunately , I just discovered / update. My sincere condolences!! I had no idea and I wish I was a better friend. Sending positive vibes your way.
Also , dig the Flinders photo
Cheers
Brother Steve , whenever I post , poof. Its gone! For whatever reason , I can comment here. So this message is for Drew and thank you for being the conduit. Who would have imagined that this would be a message board blog.
Thank You
Andrew: Ha! Well, the doctor is not Indian. But he was there for a bit. :)
DeletePadre: No problem using my blog as a message board! I assume you mean your comments disappear on others' blogs? They're probably going into the spam folder, in which case bloggers can still see them if they think to look.
This Would Be Correct - Comments Disappear On Other Blogs When I Click Submit/Publish - I Definitely Don't See My Comments On Andrews Aussie Blog
DeleteBe Well Brother Reed ,
Cheers
You are not selling "Bleak House" to me. It sounds, well, quite bleak. It seems that thousands of Victorian readers lapped it up in serial form between March 1852 and September 1853.
ReplyDeleteIt's considered one of Dickens' best novels, as I understand it, but I am finding it quite a challenge.
DeleteI'm with Yorkshire ... bleak! It sounds like I'd need to make a diagram on a dry erase board of who the players are and how they relate just to keep the story straight.
ReplyDeleteI remember back in the day a new business opened in the US called The Box Store and they just sold boxes/storage stuff. Seemed a bit too specific but they lasted a a while.
That's exactly what I need -- a dry-erase guide to characters. Or a bulletin board with pictures and pieces of string to show connections.
DeleteOlga Girl , Such A Character
ReplyDeleteCheers
She is that, for sure!
DeleteNice to see Olga so pleased with herself after her recent health ordeal.
ReplyDeleteShe seems quite confident, doesn't she?!
DeleteOlga's looking very good, very chipper! Love her! I remember watching Bleak House on PBS. A good production but even that seemed to go on forever (and I'm sure it was well edited!)
ReplyDeleteIs that the one with Gillian Anderson? Someone else was telling me that was a very good production. I can't imagine trying to put this sprawling story on film, even in mini-series form!
DeleteOlga is looking good...is that expression saying Photo session over, let's go?!
ReplyDeleteSmall businesses are just hanging on everywhere.
That's pretty much her attitude when it comes to photos, for sure!
DeleteThat's an adorable photo of Olga. And, those fallen leaves speak volumes about the season we are in.
ReplyDeleteIt's November!
DeleteTime marches on for businesses, leaves and books.
ReplyDeleteAs it always does for everyone and everything...
Deleteglad to see Olga looking well. and Bleak House is sounding just that...bleak.
ReplyDeleteIt's really not THAT Bleak. It's just complicated. In fact I'm not sure why the house is called Bleak House, unless I'm missing some element of Dickens' wit.
DeleteI'm definitely putting off Bleak House as long as possible now. Thanks, Steve. At least Olga's looking good.
ReplyDeleteHa! You might love it! Don't let me talk you out of reading it!
DeleteWell, you have probably talked all of us out of ever reading Bleak House, Steve! ;)
ReplyDeleteI've been watching a Netflix series called "The Diplomat" and it is set in London. I keep seeing buildings and I think, "Steve showed me that"! I'm always wondering if the show goes anywhere near your neighborhood when they are zooming around...
Happy to see our sweet Olga!
Oh yeah, "The Diplomat"! We watched the first season but we have yet to start the second. I'll watch it and report back on familiar locales!
DeleteSounds like small niche businesses around here, tax shelters really. Olga still looking ready for anything!
ReplyDeleteIt must be nice to have so much money you don't need to make a profit!
DeleteOlga now looks like she’s taken to posing for photos. “Wait. Let me give you my better side!” I often wonder about these businesses. I have a friend who insists every one of them is money laundering. I don’t think he really believes it, but he loves to say it and stir up arguments.
ReplyDeleteWell, some of them are, no doubt -- but as Boud said I think others are tax shelters, designed to lose money to lower people's tax bills.
DeleteI feel like I started reading Bleak House YEARS ago - back when I first got a Kindle. I think it was a free book I could download. But I'm pretty sure I never finished it. I don't know - will I go back & try again? Seems doubtful!
ReplyDeleteIf you had finished it, you'd remember, because it would have taken you AGES! (And that is not a comment on your reading speed, which I obviously know nothing about. :) )
DeleteThe Jarndyce case was based on the arguments about the fortune of Charles Day, the boot blacking manufacturer, who was a brother of two of my wife's direct ancestors. Sadly, none of it came gown to us! I wrote about it here: https://taskerdunham.blogspot.com/2023/10/a-family-history-mystery.html
ReplyDeleteFascinating! Thank you SO MUCH for that link and all the information. It's great reading how you made that genealogical breakthrough. And it's also very cool that I'm connected to someone who's personally connected to "Bleak House" and Dickens! (Like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.)
DeletePerhaps those small businesses have a side hustle. Many people do nowadays. Olga is looking good!
ReplyDeleteIs it a LEGAL side hustle? That's the question!
DeleteJust reading in another blog about how leaves are nature's mulch. Still we clean them up. I'll bet Robin Hood didn't do any raking.
ReplyDeleteI actually don't clean them up anymore. I do reposition them, though, raking them off the grass and into the flower beds.
DeleteOur trees have largely lost their leaves too. It is looking more like Winter.
ReplyDeleteSweet Olga is looking very good.
Isn't she? I'm impressed with how well she appears to have bounced back.
DeleteIt is good to see Olga back to her old self! The days are warmish here, but the nights are FREEZING. 26° last night!
ReplyDeleteYikes! We are nowhere near that cold yet.
DeleteI asked this before, but neglected to come back to see if you'd answered. Why do you force yourself to finish books you don't like? I'm not being negative about it. I just find it interesting that you have such 'stick-to-it-ness'
ReplyDeleteI have always been a "completer." I do give up books, very rarely, but generally when I start something I make myself finish it -- particularly when, as in this case, the challenge is part of the appeal. I'm the same with TV shows. I almost never quit a series (to Dave's great chagrin). I guess I always feel like it might come together or turn a corner and then I'll LOVE it!
DeleteThe triumph of hope over experience!
DeleteWhen you finally finish Bleak House, think for a moment and let us know if all the effort was worth it. I would never be able to struggle though so much if I wasn't enjoying it. I reached to my screen and gave Olga a scratch by her ears.
ReplyDeleteShe appreciates the scratch! I transferred it directly to her head. :)
DeleteI am PRAYING for no-news days.
ReplyDeleteYou know, people always need cleaning supplies. Right?