Knock Knock....

 

Wanna come out and play?

More like, Wanna come out and see what I haven't eaten yet?

I'm sorry I've been so long gone again but, geesh, I'm just not keeping up these days.

For those who asked, yes, the new baby arrived safely but contrary to best laid plans. (DIL was past her due date so they scheduled her for a c-section but complications arose and she ended up having an emergency c-section prior to the scheduled date.)

Baby Myla Lynne arrived in style (during a tornado warning) but both mom and baby are doing well.

And, yes, Gigi duty went fine and dandy...but, yikes, was I tired LOL.

By now most of you know that each summer I generally do a post about the summer's flowers.

This is this year's.

Because I was too lazy to make it into a couple, separate, posts, be forewarned that there a LOT of photos.

{The cream separator came from our family's farm}

{The first hibiscus to bloom}

{White Admiral Butterfly on hydrangeas}

{One of my favorite places to be: on my bench on my back porch}

{The view from said bench....}

It has been a good year for the "volunteer" plants (ones that just seed themselves from prior years and manage to grow in the bricks of my patio.) Amazing given how extremely dry it has been.

{All of the plants under the tub are "volunteers"}

{Even a volunteer phlox!}

{Morning glories and echinacea}

These plain-Jane white petunias are actually "firefly petunias"... 

At night, without any props or lights, they become magically lit as though by little fireflies:

{Word to the wise: Do not put these somewhere where one has to navigate stairs in the dark in order to see their magic.  Just saying....}

{No flowers here...just a peek looking into the cornzebo with a little "light magic" of its own.}

{A very rare (for Nod - and Wisconsin generally) "stray" Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly playing amongst the echinacea.}

{Not flowers either, and not-so-rare, trash pandas on the bridge. Yes, I was tempted.}

{Sun setting on the tasseling corn after a night of cat yoga with Mia.

There are days life is so very sweet.}

Hope you all are keeping well.

The Long Season

 

{The first full moon of 2026: A rare "Wolf" supermoon. It was very overcast here in Nod but it still lit up the night. Believe it or not, this was around 10 p.m.}

{Awful photo but, unbelievably, Jupiter was visible!!}

{"Winter 1839" design by Jenny Hoffman of Country Rustic Primitives}

The Disappearing Crow

Yes, I've been gone again.

And, like all other of my disappearances, this one was not for enjoyment.

The short version of the story is that I got sick...very sick. Hospital-stay sick.  After an ambulance ride and a day and night in the ER, I was diagnosed with a kidney infection and sent home with medications....

 But I didn't get better.

No doubt, as the hospital called me within 24 hours and wanted me re-admitted as my tests showed a "rare strain" of bacteria which was resistant to all oral antibiotics except one.

And, given my amazing luck, it was the one and only antibiotic to which I am allergic.

As a result, I needed special antibiotics administered by IV...in the hospital.

After a week of additional testing...and me being my cranky self...they decided to insert a picc (a "peripherally inserted central catheter") in my arm so I could administer the antibiotics myself and sent me home.

I am slowly recovering.  The antibiotics were finally stopped and the picc line was removed last week.

I am still compromised - incredibly tired and weak, but I'm getting there.

I have, however, missed the past several weeks.

My house is caught midway between Christmas take-down (serves me right for procrastinating in that department) and Valentine's Day and, at most times, I am still uncertain of what day it is.

There are a dozen and a half things to catch up on, missed deadlines, and unmet expectations, but they will have to wait.

Accepting that part of "this" has been difficult.

One thing that I've neglected is replying to some of the (later) comments on my last post.

For that, I apologize; however, I was literally unable to read or process things for a while. But please know that I have since read them and my lack of a reply does not diminish their meaningfulness in any way.

Miscellany

Like the thoughts in my head of late, this post is just a random tangle of things.

My streak of bad luck seems to be continuing...and I'm not willing to believe it' this charming fellow's fault.

I'm still trying to get things back to working order from the lightning that struck the end of September.... The wells, pool system, backup generator, and septic pump have been repaired or replaced and I'm (slowly) adjusting to the new pc.  I'm having problems getting the lighting on garage working though. The contractor has been here three times but was successful in getting only one of the lights working.

For every issue resolved, however, it seems a new one (or two) presents itself.  The concrete sink in the master bath cracked and now leaks...and, on Thursday, the huge vanity mirror glass in my bathroom disconnected itself from the frame and started slipping down the wall.

I seriously think I'm beyond sage and Palo Santo...I need an exorcist.

I've not accomplished much in the handwork department.

I put my needle down for a bit and picked up my hook but don't have enough progress to properly share. (OK...actually, I'm too lazy to take it off the frame to photograph.)

I am trying to focus on getting some things fully finished (ha!) and did get Lucy Nowlen (a Pineberry Lane design) framed.

I initially thought I would go with a very simple, stark, frame...but changed my mind wholly and completely.

What can I say?

While I am NOT an early Christmas decorator (I still have remnants of Halloween up), I transformed some old peach crates into Santa crates and I am (for the most part) happy with them.

(I intended to do only one but the first one, below, I did upside down on the crate, so had to do another.)

I'm not certain what I will do with them but, hopefully, something will come to me.

The weather continues to be fairly mild here - although the nights are cold and days extremely windy it seems.  Tomorrow we are to have winds of 42+ mph.

I am not fond of the wind...it makes me uneasy and make me edgy (edgier??)

Some of the sunsets, though, have been spectacular. 

And since I haven't done one in a while, an episode of what I've been reading:

When you've read as much material as I have regarding the Salem Witch Trials, you can be more than a bit skeptical about yet another telling.  But this...this was a welcome surprise.

As many of you know, Rebecca was my great aunt (7x removed) and her sister, Mary Easty (also hanged as a witch), my grandmother (7x removed).

The book is based on Mr. Gagnon's primary source research (love me a book with footnotes) and while it addresses the myriads of events and circumstances leading to the perfect storm culminating in the trials that other researchers have brought to light, it is one of the few I've encountered that traces the history and biography of the Towne and Nurse families so thoroughly.

Obviously, this is not for everyone...but for anyone with an interest in this historical tragedy, or in legal history, law, and religion, this book is a definite must-read.

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

That's all I've got....

Have a great new week ahead! 

{Oh...just a blogger note:  Like everyone else, every single commenter on my posts is now coming up as being from a "no-reply commenter" even though the commenter has their settings configured to allow replies. This means that I can no longer reply to comments personally/privately (when and if they miraculously find their way to my email).  I prefer individual/personal replies (rather than using the reply feature that appears on the actual comment list).  If I have your email, I have attempted replying that way but if I don't, I can't.  If you would care to receive a reply to your comments, please share with me your email and I will do my best to do so. (You can just click the "email me" link on my sidebar and I will keep a list for future reference so you do't have to repeatedly make it publicly available.)

I have received so many wonderful comments and I feel very neglectful when I cannot reply.}