Never Alone

During this spring stay at the little house in the city, I have not been alone. Because I am organizing, the house is in a state of chaos, I have exterior doors open frequently as I am in and out constantly, so I have not had Diesel here to visit. I have other company. Grackles. After I caught the squirrel in the live trap and offered her a new and improved environment in which to raise a family, the grackles moved in. Mama grackle produced a nest full of baby grackles, right inside our roof. They are hatched now, but won’t leave home. They are in and out of the roof all day long. This provides me with constant awareness of other, so that I do not feel alone, although they take no notice of me whatsoever.

The grackles and robins have eaten my wild strawberries! When I last mowed the lawn I was amazed at how many wild strawberries were ripening. I gave them a day or two to finish ripening, then headed out to pick them. They were gone. Those baby grackles gobbled them right up, with the odd robin hopping in for a snack on occasion.

I have discovered that dental work wears me out. Odd, because I have not been in a lot of pain. Since my dental challenge began on Thursday last I have been feeling drained, and sleeping deeply. I like the sleeping part of the equation.

The antique dresser is staring me down, defeating my efforts to move forward in organizing the little house in the city, for another load of belongings that Attila will bring with him on his next visit, later in the month. I cannot lift the dresser myself, or even help another person to lift it, it is too big and too heavy. Attila cannot lift or move it by himself, it is too big and too heavy. It is a lovely piece of furniture, solid hardwood, dovetail drawer fronts, a new mirror in the original frame. It is just too big for such a little house.

Another beautiful day is dawning. The temperature was 5C when I looked out the kitchen window at 6:00 a.m., and it was about 17C in the house. I felt a little chilly, but the sun, streaming in through the windows, brought warmth with it.

My genealogy book is coming along nicely now. I have just added a bibliography of the 342 references that provided me with data for the book. The bibliography needs work. When I started researching the book in 1995, there were few online sources, and there were very few standards for entering references from new forms of reference material. Over the years I used a variety of conventions, which wasn’t a good idea, because now I have a list of 342 references in a variety of formats. This will take a while to sort through, or I may decide to just leave it, as it is, a mish-mash of formats, providing invaluable references. The information is all there, and is easy to understand.

I did not include inline citations, because they are so numerous that in some cases they occupy two lines. This destroys the flow of the text, making it virtually unreadable.

I have been enjoying my walks, here at the little house in the city. Although there are mosquitoes here, they are a mere irritation, so few are their number. On the other hand, at the country house, they are in full bloom, and Attila tells me they are fierce and many. I would not enjoy going for a walk there, without chemical enhancements to provide protection from the hordes.

Speaking of the country house, there is another showing today. Two weeks ago I was excited by every showing, dreaming of the possible desired sale. Slowly that hope has dulled, so that now it is just another showing, nothing other than a slight inconvenience for Attila. My feelings about the showings have no bearing on their outcome, thank goodness.

I am off now, to go for my walk, wearing my super walking shoes, on this beautiful sunny day.

Taken in the garden this morning. I can see these Lilies from the kitchen window. I frequently pause there, looking out at the trees, and the flowers. This makes me happy.
2015lily7June
The last of the Irises. They bloom next to the Lilies in the garden.
2015irisJune7
This Columbine grows out of the roots of the Lilies in the garden. A welcome addition, I am glad this plant snuck in there.
2015Columbine7June

Worldly Distractions

Weather

12°C
Date: 9:00 AM EDT Sunday 7 June 2015
Condition: Partly Cloudy
Pressure: 102.0 kPa
Tendency: falling
Visibility: 24 km
Temperature: 12.3°C
Dewpoint: 9.2°C
Humidity: 81%
Wind: S 20 km/h

Quote

“he serves his party best who serves his country best.”
U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes
Inaugural Address, 1877

[A part of my extended family history.]

10 Comments
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Joan Lansberry

You have some beautiful flowers there!

Kate

Has Attila been able to take advantage of that old real estate cheat, baking or cooking something right before a showing? Bread, they say, is a scent that encourages buyers to see themselves living there. For me, one time, the former owners had had roast beef for supper. Maybe he could leave something cooking in the slow cooker when he leaves in the morning?

Reenie

What full days you have! What a shame about your strawberries. If not mistaken, I believe Nina lost a lot of her crops to critters at the farmette.

I’m on my phone and not good at typing here, but wanted to touch base. My studio is installed on my screened porch – so are some pesky mice. Johnny Ray is going to set traps for me. I was on my porch the other day and it was divine.

NORA

Hi Maggie,

So you have opened a bed and breakfast!

The antique dresser sounds very nice. What will happen with it? I remember years ago having to leave a beautiful breakfront behind due to a move. It was huge and heavy and didn’t make sense to drag it along. Still miss it though.

How long have you been working on this book?

The flowers are lovely and warming. One of the treasures of life.

TopsyTurvy (Teri)

Grackles. Hopefully they won’t need the nest much longer and you can close up the opening(s) to the roof. Sorry they were quick to snap up your wild strawberries. (Wild strawberries can be so cute! Some I’ve seen are so tiny that they’re nothing but seeds, but they’re so fun to watch grow.)

The last 3-4 days I’ve been sleeping deeply, too. Hopefully it’s just good weather leaving both of us this way.

We’ve had the heat turned off in the house, too. Last night it got down to about 18C, which really didn’t feel that bad as I’m always warm at night. It’s nice to have the weather so comfortable that neither heat nor a/c is needed!