sweet breeze! thou only, if I guess aright, liftest the feathers of the robin's breast

 That was Coleridge. And oh, a day of cool air, breezing in my window, puffy clouds all over the sky! But I didn't move fast enough to record them before they drifted away. 

I heard some birds fussing in the distance. This always makes me feel bad; maybe there was a hawk around. Oh, for a world where there is none of that! Of course, the blue jays would have to find something else to occupy themselves. They are the ambulance-chasers of the bird world - well, everybody has their place. Poirot always was glad to talk to the busy-bodies of the neighborhood - they often proved helpful.

I grew nasturtium seeds, even though it's getting late. It's such a pretty plant.

I just heard a sound behind me, and there was Annie on my back window with a claw caught in the curtain. She was trying to get unhooked and couldn't, but did she say anything? How long would she have sat there, twisting slowly, slowly in the wind (so to speak)? Daisy is the same way. 

Strange. They do seem to understand the power of communication. Daisy often is telling us she wants food. Annie was really chatty the other day, telling me something. But they haven't made the connection entirely, I guess, especially when they could really use some help! Dolly would have called out, and she did, more than once. 

Well, September is at the door, and I'm looking over my fall clothes. This skirt needs reworking.

It's just not right. I cut off the waistband and picked out the zipper here. I'll sew up that seam where the zip was, turn over the top edge and make a casing for some lightweight elastic. Then I'll see how much I need to take it up - it's too long. 

I've been reading The Jungle Book - it's so charming! This is what the library copy looks like.

the slowness of hot days

 

Daisy, holding down the pattern pieces for me. Such a little helper! I am making very slow progress on this dress, basically just figuring what style to make. I keep changing my mind. I cut out the bodice, but I'm going to take in the sides - it's too loose, so I've been measuring it against a couple of favorite dresses. You want to make something that you're happy wearing!

I finished reading Slow Medicine today, by Victoria Sweet. 

She also wrote God's Hotel and I recommend them both, if you have any interest in the way doctors used to do things, the influence that government regulation has had on the healthcare system, or even how things were before it was called "health care", which, by the time you finish the book, will seem like the wrong thing to call it.

It's been hot again this week, and today the worst: not in heat, but in humidity - just awful.We're still getting lots of tomatoes, a pepper now and again, and today I snipped a big sprig of basil, keeping only the perfect leaves after removing them from the stems, and then packed them in a container, for the freezer.

I did plan to wash the floor, but I didn't.

"Over the years that Victoria Sweet has been a physician, 'healthcare' has replaced medicine, 'providers' look at their laptops more than at their patients, and costs keep soaring, all in the ruthless pursuit of efficiency. Yet the remedy that economists and policy makers continue to miss is also miraculously simple. Good medicine takes more than amazing technology; it takes time - time to respond to bodies as well as data, time to arrive at the right diagnosis and the right treatment."

                                     from the front flap of "Slow Medicine"

But don't get the idea that she is a sourpuss. She's a wonderful writer.

moving along through summer

the little landscape round was green and woody, and refresh'd the eye*

 

Summer is moving along too fast. I've worked extra a number of times; the heat has kept me in more than I would like - I think, after today, we'll have a break in the hot and humid weather. We haven't even opened the windows the past two nights, but it looks like the upcoming evening temperatures will be down in the sixties - I feel cooler just thinking of it!

There are a few youtube sewing channels I like to follow - these women like to sew all their clothes and they seem to whiz along, so even though I don't, watching them is motivating. My blue linen top just needs the hem binding, and will be done. I realized I've got a lot of blue in my summer wardrobe all of a sudden - oh, well. I think navy suits me pretty well. 

I bought a new rug for my bedroom; Daisy is often on it. I came home from work yesterday, and she was there. It's wool - can it be she has an appreciation for quality?  :D Annie also likes it, but Daisy is with me more often.

*  Coleridge, from Reflections on Having Left a Place of Retirement

"It was a spot which you might aptly call the Valley of Seclusion.......it was a Blessed Place."

a lot of sparkle

I had just shut off the a/c, opened my side window, and was watching the pretty sparkle of the fireflies, when someone on the street behind us set off quite a colorful display of fireworks. So much for the quiet beauty of nature.

Daisy is in my back window, watching fireworks set off by another neighbor - it looks like a big sparkler, or something. Annie is on the hallway chair, which is brave for her; she isn't hiding. Our town event is scheduled for Tuesday, so this sort of nightly show may happen again. For the first time in days, I don't hear the mockingbird. Well, the creatures don't know what to make of the loud noises and I feel sorry for them. 

I don't know where I've been - mentally - for the past week. I always mean to post, but something gets in the way. I am making a linen top: sleeveless and simple, and I've been researching various ways of cutting bias strips. There are many, and it's interesting! I have to bind the neck and armholes and didn't want to use the packaged stuff. 

I've been experimenting with strawberry frozen yogurt, and frozen coconut milk pops, coffee-flavored. Something cold for the mouth must be kept on hand at all times in summer heat!

summer extremes

 It’s not quite seventy degrees today. And by that, what I really mean is, it’s thirty degrees cooler than it was yesterday. 

it was not this hot - the sun beats on it in the pm

I finished my firefly dress; I was going to wear it tomorrow to work - now I hesitate. Is seventy one degrees too cool for sleeveless? Probably, especially after such a cool, damp day.

it's a maxi

I had such a time getting the armhole binding to flatten out.

Wetting it, then pressing, over and over, to gently stretch the fabric. Patience and persistence were what I needed.

Last night's sunset -

I actually had to close my windows tonight - it's cool, and damp, which makes it feel colder.

Daisy in my window

rain and sun, bless the Lord

 Oh, the rain we've been having. And yesterday it was so cool and damp I actually shut all the windows and turned the heat back up. But I didn't hear it come on, so I used the oven twice, ironed, and made a thick soup for my supper, all the help to warm up the place

Later, the sun came out!

The trees are well past blooming, but now the azalea 

and the bridal wreath, are having their turns.

My bed is waiting cool and fresh, with linen smooth and fair,
And I must off to sleepsin-by, and not forget my prayer.

But slumber hold me tightly till I waken in the dawn,
And hear the thrushes singing in the lilacs round the lawn.

RLS

The American Robin is of the thrush family, but we don't have lilacs in our lawn.

getting outside in between the raindrops

 It's pouring out now, and is supposed to continue tomorrow. But it was beautiful out earlier and I took advantage of it - I pulled up weeds in the two raised beds I'm going to use and dumped a bag or topsoil in one of them. This bed has been the repository of all kinds of raw kitchen scraps and sticks for the past year, and I usually have not bothered to chop up very much of it. So, you'll never guess what I found out there - 

This was growing out of a turnip.

Amazing. And I guess the seeds are in here 

I have never entertained the idea of growing turnips, but I should look at these and see if there are seeds in there. Don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth!

I plopped it in the hobnail "basket" on the table, and you-know-who was unable to contain her curiosity.

It was very mucky outside, around the raised beds; my brother rototilled the pathway around the beds but inside the fencing, but if the weather doesn't get drier, I don't know how he'll manage. His approach to gardening is different from mine. I spend the money to enrich the soil - yes, it's an expense and that's why I am focusing on them, one at a time. His philosophy is that a summer garden should save money, and so you want to spend as little as possible. He knows what he's doing and has gardened many more years than I have, but I want to improve the soil, not just grow things. We will also have to try to keep our rabbit friends out, but that will be trial and error. 

There is a particular rabbit who I often see out my bedroom window, eating his grass or just resting amongst the forsythia hedge. It seems that every year there is one I can watch out there, but it can't be the same each time, since I don't think wild rabbits have a long life, being a prey animal. But there's always one who enjoys this patch and I'm happy to see him out there.

I like this photo.

He has seen the starry hours
And the springing of the flowers;
And the fairy things that pass
In the forests of the grass.

- Robert Louis Stevenson, from The Dumb Soldier

I've happened upon Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses, with illustrations by Tasha Tudor. 

Delightful beyond anything, a match made in heaven. 

"The May Magnificat"

 May is Mary's month, and I

Muse at that and wonder why:
Her feasts follow reason,
Dated due to season—

Candlemas, Lady Day;
But the Lady Month, May,
Why fasten that upon her,
With a feasting in her honour?

Is it only its being brighter
Than the most are must delight her?
Is it opportunest
And flowers finds soonest?

Ask of her, the mighty mother:
Her reply puts this other
Question: What is Spring?—
Growth in every thing—

Flesh and fleece, fur and feather,
Grass and greenworld all together;
Star-eyed strawberry-breasted
Throstle above her nested

Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin
Forms and warms the life within;
And bird and blossom swell
In sod or sheath or shell.

All things rising, all things sizing
Mary sees, sympathising
With that world of good,
Nature's motherhood.

Their magnifying of each its kind
With delight calls to mind
How she did in her stored
Magnify the Lord.

Well but there was more than this:
Spring's universal bliss
Much, had much to say
To offering Mary May.

When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dapple
Bloom lights the orchard-apple
And thicket and thorp are merry
With silver-surfed cherry

And azuring-over greybell makes
Wood banks and brakes wash wet like lakes
And magic cuckoocall
Caps, clears, and clinches all—

This ecstasy all through mothering earth
Tells Mary her mirth till Christ's birth
To remember and exultation
In God who was her salvation.

                -  Gerard Manley Hopkins

oriole in my neighbor's apple tree

spring pleasures

 My brother mowed the lawn yesterday.

I stepped outside in the morning to empty some trash, in time to hear a mockingbird giving his spring recital. I had seen him quietly in the hedge in earlier weeks, listening.

I set up the little greenhouse in the most perfect temperatures, and gentle breeze.

I am trying to get some seeds sprouting in little containers, and I was able to just sit outside and do some. 

I had a bedroom window open all night.

The cats have greatly enjoyed all of this. 

I made blueberry muffins.

"Humanity's task continues God's own creation, filling the realms that God established, extending and elaborating good order within the creation, and exercising beneficent rule over its creatures. Humankind both had to rule over and to share the creation with other creatures.

The original creation is good, yet much remains to be done. God creates, commissions, empowers, and equips humanity to complete what he has started; we are a means of his continued creation and providence."

                                                       -  Alastair Roberts, from Plough magazine, Spring 2025

creature discomforts

 Daisy knocked one of the kitchen curtains on the floor -

There is one squirrel who isn't baffled by the - well, the squirrel baffle.

Clever fellow.

On another note, Annie chased a crumpled paper and brought it back to me seven times, and the daffodils are getting ready to appear.

repeats

 I cut out the front and back pieces for the skirt today; I have to think about the casing for the elastic - I'm not going to fold over the top, but make a separate piece for that. It's a very pretty polyester velvet with a large floral. I sewed the side seams and was walking by a print on my wall. I got it at Goodwill; it's a bowl of flowers, mostly shades of pale to deep rose pink. The background is rather neutral, even the leaves. I realized my fabric looked a lot like this painting.

sorry about the glare

It's not easy to photograph shiny things, I've noticed. Since this is poly, the sheen is almost like a panne velvet, but not quite. The actual color is warmer than this, a little. But very pretty, and would have been festive looking for the holidays, if I'd thought of it sooner. 

There will be no snowfall today - not a nor-easter, not even a dusting. I guess it's gone somewhere else. And since nothing's predicted for the weekend, I guess we can go to church on Sunday for a change! 

I roasted a chicken early in the day, but have no desire for any of it. I hope I'm not coming down with something - stuff has been going from one person to another at work, round and round, all winter. I just want to eat light.

There's a setting on my camera called silky monochrome, or something. It's pretty. 

Is it okay to post a thing on one's blog more than once? 

"It is a comforting thought that beautiful moments never die. One can collect them, store them away, and they are always at hand to bring forth again and appreciate. There are many of them, and all one needs is an awareness to have them."

                                               -    Gladys Taber

There! I don't mind repeating that!

the two

 

I went into the spare room, and there was Annie on a dresser - that was a surprise. They stayed there, and I got my camera. I love this picture - it's hard to get a good one of Annie, especially. 

sunning

 

She managed to insert herself on the rocker, amidst the pillow and books.

just when you think things are going well

 I had an appointment today at the eye doctor; I had to go two days without my contacts! I managed around the house, but it was weird. You can easily fall into your own little world, if you're as near-sighted as I am. I had to go without the lenses to allow my eyes to go back into their normal shape. Well, I had the days off; I was able to cook, wash dishes, do laundry, read. I cleaned, but at times it felt like going through the motions, since I couldn't always tell if I was getting the result I wanted. :D I made cookies today. I worked on my dress - that was strange. Bringing it up to my face so I could see it, but it was a strange perspective. Still, I managed. But I'm behind with the Christmas cards now, since you really need to see what you're doing for something like that. And, type - I tried writing a blog post, but it was too awkward. 

There is a lesson in all this. 

Even the hour when wings are frozen
God for fledging time has chosen.*

Meanwhile, Annie got a couple of non-adjuvant vaccines yesterday, and was a bit off. Daisy seemed to realize this, and when Annie went to sleep in the spare room, Daisy stayed nearby on the bed. What a nice little buddy.

*from People Look East

new doors at last

Right after I took this picture she reached over and flipped that tree onto the floor. For the second time. I moved it.

The snow is gone. That's okay - we had it! Once it comes, the season takes on a new aura, and winter feels like it's really here. And after a dreary and very rainy and warm day, today was bright sun and chilly. And tomorrow will be around the freezing mark. 

We now have new storm doors! My brother found a fellow who could install them, and he did the front door this morning. They are easy for me to clean! I can remove the glass myself!

The glass part goes way down, and it is going to take some getting used to. I feel exposed, and Daisy didn't feel the same when I put the chair there. If they can get accustomed to sitting on the floor, then both of them could enjoy the view at the same time. But I'll keep on the lookout for a low bench, lower than the chair. 

It affords a better view of the brave little cherry tree.

That is one deep split. I suppose eventually the left hand part will just crack and fall onto the driveway. 

Frodo and Sam have achieved Mount Doom, and the ring has been destroyed. 

I'm at a bit of a standstill with my dress; the back keyhole facing is not laying flat, and I'm going to put in a few handstitches to do the job. And so I plod along, decorating a little, sewing a little, cleaning a little, reading a little, preparing for the Child to come.

Make your house fair as you are able,
Trim the hearth and set the table.

late November

 We had plenty of wind yesterday; today, most of the Japanese maple's leaves are down. I was wondering when that would happen.

A few hang on, trembling in the chilly breezes. While I took pictures, Leo came through - he's often coming through.

Something caught his eye.

Then, I guess I caught his eye.

keeping it all together

 Well, my time off has been lovely; a friend was over for lunch Wednesday. But then yesterday I felt like I might be coming down with something and I've been resting a lot these two days. It could be allergies, or even resulting from too many late nights and still waking up early - it does catch up with one.

I've grabbed a Jane Austen mystery for entertainment, the fourth one. I tend to forget the murderer's identity when I re-read a mystery, and just enjoy the writing. 

I desperately needed a new bedspread or quilt - whatever. I ended up getting a duvet cover. I don't have a duvet - all these European words that we didn't used to use; I always called it a comforter, or puff - I've got plenty of quilts, throws and blankets, and don't need or want one. My intention in buying this was to stuff it with quilt batting and machine-stitch it. When it arrived, I gave up the idea. It is so tightly woven, like a quality sheet, that it would be a pain to work with in that way. I love it as us, and just lay it over the bed. It's so pretty, and I got it on sale.

The colors blend harmoniously with the overall scheme of the house, which I'm trying harder to stick to.

"One can do nothing, you know, without one pays homage to the genius of the place."

                                           -   from Jane and the Genius of the Place, by Stephanie Barron

work

 It's Labor Day over here in the U.S. It doesn't have a lot of meaning for the residents as far as I can tell, but it's a holiday, which is always nice. 

 I was finishing up my reading of Esther de Waal's, Seeking God: the Way of St. Benedict:

"...Christ is to be found in the circumstances, the people, the things of daily life. St. Benedict hopes that if we are continually aware of this we shall life our hearts to him and in this way our whole life will become a prayer in action. 

The work of God has two senses: our offering to God and his work in us. ... that we live open to grace. 

Daisy oversees my washing of the table

it fades

 Well, it's the Labor Day weekend, and there was just now a lot of noise outside. I had no idea of Labor Day warranting a firework display, but we had it. Well, I was ironing and too busy to look out the window. I have no doubt poor Annie was hopeful it wouldn't last very long. 

a different day, watching a bug on the ceiling

My little knitting project is coming along now; I had switched to a larger needle size, but switched back, and now I'm ready to decrease and bind off the bear's body. I can hear the katydids out the window, with the tree frogs singing in the background. It's strange to think there are actually frogs in the trees, since I don't anybody who's ever seen them. But they provide background music at nights in late summer.

It fades - this green, this lavish interval,
This time of flowers and fruits,
Of melon ripe along the orchard wall,
Of sun and sails and wrinkled linen suits;
Time when the world seems rather plus than minus
And pollen tickles the allergic sinus.

- Phyllis McGinley

solutions

 I've been wondering if my butternut squashes out in the garden will rot from laying on the often-wet earth. I went out today and realized there are four squash there!! That plant, which I grew from a seed, by the way, has spread over the whole place out there. It's leaves are shading everything else, so I don't think the red onions are going to do anything. But I do love butternut squash! I think if I just go out and lift up each one every day, they should get enough air all the way around. 

I finished reading The Yearling this morning. Before, when I looked ahead, it was quickly done and I didn't get the peripheral descriptions and details surrounding the - well, I'll call it the tragic event. Reading it carefully gave a context and a "good" ending to the story. I mean, not happy, but right. And it was so well written, everything and everyone lifelike. 

And now, when I see Daisy and observe her liveliness, her antics, I remember Jody's fawn, Flag. These creatures are what they are. They live in our world but they're outside of society, they can't always understand how to operate within it. (well, Dolly could, but we won't go there). Daisy has her fun, she looks for something new to do, she gets into things, she causes problems we have to solve by altering this and that in the house. Anyway, I feel that now I'm looking at her in a different way, and when I'm tempted to get impatient, that fawn in the story comes to mind. Daisy is just happy to be alive, and when she looks into my eyes at length the way she sometimes does, is she wondering why we're buddies some of the time and why I yell, at others? 

our little "yearling" - it's important to be Earnest, and she is

It was a beautiful story. I wonder why she wrote it.

I machine-stitched my blue skirt hem today. I'm not sure I like the way it looks, and I think I'll chop off the whole hem and just have it a little shorter. Since it's practically a maxi, it will still be plenty long, but it won't be catching in my sandal buckles. The never ending skirt.