Meanwhile, Back in Nod...

It's a rainy, gloomy, day here in Nod with areal flood warnings posted...and extended.  But I am not complaining...we do need the rain and, while I have more outdoor work to do than I will ever accomplish, the rain gives me a guilt-less excuse.

I thought it would be a perfect time to squeeze in a post and then saw my half-hearted, half-started, post from last week.

So, I thought I would just trash the words and dump the photos...

A look around Nod, if you will.

This photo is a bit dated, obviously...last month's full "Flower Moon."

It was truly dazzling.

Like most full moon nights, I did not sleep well.

I gave up around 5:15 a.m., and the moon was just going down.

Guess it's a night owl like me.

The magnolia's fragrant blooms:

The flowering crabapple trees: 

{Pretty even at night...}

My very favorite:

The rabbits are, once again, more than plentiful...

...Wait...there are more....

(...and actually, 2 more out of range of the above photo.)

...of all colors and sizes....

{This guy looks like he needs a smoke... Hmmm, wonder what he was doing.}

{The fawn was still wobbly on this day...}

{Nothing special to most of you, I'm sure, but, around Nod, black squirrels are rarer than white deer...}

And because someone asked....

My Little Jungle

I have never been to a true and proper jungle. The closest I have come is a few hours in a tropical rain forest in Puerto Rico.

I never did see a monkey there, though, and that disappointed me.

(No, monkeys aren't native to Puerto Rico but in the 1950's, some escaped a lab and, well, now there are monkeys in Puerto Rico...you know, that "lab leak" thing.)

Anyway.

We skipped spring here in Nod and leapt directly into summer.

We have been unusually hot and unusually dry, at least for this early in the season.

But for someone who dwells in a land with 7+ months of winter, my complaining lips are duly and properly buttoned.

Come along for a peek at my little jungle here in Nod.

{House Wren hitching a ride on the witch's cat's head on the cornzebo's weathervane}

{Weeping Tina Crabapple}

{Magnolia and Rhododendron}

{False Indigo}

{Miss Kim Lilac}

{Lupines}

{Baltimore Oriole}

{House Wren residence outside my front door}

{Resting hummingbird}

I wish you could hear the cacophony that goes on at times in my little jungle.

I did not receive the family gene that enables me to tell one bird song (or even one bird by sight) from another, but Miss Marly of Samplers-and-Santas introduced me to the Merlin app and I feel like a blind person who can once again see.

These are some of the birds that have serenaded me in my jungle the past few days:

And no jungle would be complete without critters.

Some less desirable than others...

and far more plentiful...not only slithering on the ground but dropping out of trees and bushes.

Gah!

  

My little jungle desperately needs rain.  Several days the sky has darkened with promise, but it seems the promise always goes unfulfilled.

I realize I have not posted about any "projects" of late...I have done a little stitching - no hooking, no finishing though.  But for those of you who are gracious enough to follow me for those types of things, I promise I will update soon.

Magnolias on Monday

 

Happy Monday, Happy May.

The Magnolias are finally blooming.

They are such odd little things to me - putting out their beautiful blooms long before their leaves.

There is not much new here.  The days have been gray and gloomy.

{Rajah Roo}

I fear that soon that everyone here will soon melt into a morass of grayness.

I finally finished (?) hooking Early Bird (design by Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm).

The question mark is there because I am not thrilled with my background hooking and the longer it sits about unbound, the more the urge to do some reverse hooking takes hold.

We'll see.  For now, it is keeping the other unbound rugs company on my table. 

I have also made progress on "Sepia Sampler," another design by Lori from Notforgotten Farm. 

For some reason, this has been a really soothing stitch - except that border.  Believe it or not, the stems are a different color than the leaves on the "clover" (at least they look like clovers to me) so there is a great deal of starts and stops.  I probably should have changed out one of the colors so the difference was more noticeable, but it's too late now.

And I'm not certain why I'm bothering to tell you this since the colors are not showing properly on the photo.

Have I mentioned it's gray and gloomy here?

*************

In the reading department, this is one I finished a few months back already.

I had enjoyed another book by this author, Anxious People, which I mentioned in this post so, of course, I had to read another by him.

Like Anxious People, this book does not fall within the genre to which I generally gravitate.  It is quirky and different and, again, I find the author's wry humor irresistible.

It is the story of young Elsa, whose grandmother is, well, nuts.

When Elsa's grandmother dies, Elsa is charged with tracking down people her grandmother has wronged in her life and apologizing to them.

It turns into an adventure of fairy tales and imaginary kingdoms and all-too-real heartbreak.

And like any good fairy tale, there is a lot of wisdom packed inside if you're open to finding it.

It's about grief, forgiveness and, most of all, embracing being different - something some of us can relate to too well.

*************

Well, I'm off to get some bread in the oven.  After a week of thinking I need to break my hermitage and get some groceries, I decided it's easier to bake.

Here's hoping your Monday has some Magnolias and fairy tales in it.