Feeling restless while stuck inside under a poor air quality advisory...so much smoke and particulate in the air...ash falling from the sky.
The fires to the south of us continue to burn...devastation to homes, businesses and wildlife. It is difficult imagining losing eveything one owns. People have had to evacuate and leave behind many treasures and family heirlooms. It is heart breaking to see this in the news.
In the meantime, I am needing a diversion...there is only so much news that i can absorb without going down that rabbit hole! Let's start off with some roses, books, cooking and later some retail therapy!
Jude the Obscure on a sunnier smoke free day in The Humble Bungalow Garden.
HOORAY!
The local library has re-opened.
We are encouraged to put holds on the books that we want to read.
Several stands are placed near the self check out with assorted random books.
I returned a book and grabbed these 3 as I was leaving...
Everybody Rise was a fun read and I have started reading Montauk.
Dinner prepared and served to our son and the 3 grandchildren.
Heirloom Tomatoes
Salmon, heirloom tomatoes, red cabbage slaw, twice baked potatoes.
Rosemarie a long time reader from Vancouver sent me the seeds.
(Thank you!)
Here is one of the sunflowers.
Standing about 12 feet tall.
Under sunnier skies...
Rudbeckia
a giant variety
from the plant sale at Government House many years ago.
My neighbour is painting rocks during Covid.
She has a "take one leave one" area in her front garden.
I left a plain unpainted rock...
(what a trade)
I think I got the better deal though...
You never know what you might find on the boulevard in our neighbourhood.
Painted it black
that is the colour of all our outdoor wicker and metal French bistro tables.
The garden is fading as the summer season comes to a close.
There is always something to see on the street.
The deer seem to be very comfortable here.
They saunter along the sidewalk
dine in our gardens.
They sometimes even sleep in our front yard!
My husband is building a fence...he started with the front gate.
He still needs to install the latch.
Hubby had to reinforce the pergola and straighten it with beams...
he has temporary bracing on the sides as he needs to install two more hefty beams.
While hubby was busy sawing and building
I took the grandchildren back~to~school shopping.
Grammy got a couple of tops too...
a white shirt to wear with my pearls, black pants and red ballet flats.
Red lippy of course,
just not when I am wearing my mask!
The striped top will pair well with my black Yoga pants.
So this short diversion has helped me get out of my afternoon funk.
Not being able to get out and walk in the "fresh" air
has been a frustration, which leads to grumpiness.
(and baking!)
I cannot wait until the smoke dissipates...
hope those wildfires are contained and extinguished.
I'll close with another image of Jude the Obscure.
How are you doing?
What are you reading?
Have you been shopping at all during Covid?
What new purchases have you bought or are considering for Fall?
~ Be Well and Be Kind ~
17 comments:
I love your wicker chair - what a find! Your garden looks beautiful. I had one years ago that my son brought home from the neighbor's trash and I enjoyed it for years, and now my daughter has it on her porch. My garden furniture needed to be spruced up with so much more time to sit outside and enjoy the garden... spray painted a metal love seat with blue Rustoleum, and also white on a bakers rack to hold my orchids, shade plants.
I had a wicker loveseat once that i found on the boulevard and I painted it olive green and it sat on our front porch for about 10 years until it collapsed!
Painting outdoor furniture to make it look fresh is so rewarding...we have spent many hours in our garden since Covid hit...more than usual and I must confess it has been a godsend.
The air has been so smoky lately. I was astounded to be called to work in a secondary school library as the t-l was quarantined. Her son was exposed at work. I think that this will happen frequently. I'm wearing a mask full-time in schools. Fall seems to be early this year. Leaves are turning and the temperatures are dropping quickly. I like your white blouse. You will get lots of
wear from it. I just finished Girl, Woman, Other. I feel like rereading it right away. It's so well-written. I'm going to read The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante next. I hope we can get out to walk soon.
Brother in law back in Australia lives in a seaside village. During the bushfires of last summer they were evacuated three times. We truly feel for those suffering on the west coast USA. Here in France there were fewer fires during the summer - perhaps due to lockdown ?
I live in St. Louis, Missouri, and the sky has been very pale gray for days. No blue skies. At dawn yesterday the light looked the color of old nicotine stained walls, only more pale. The smoke has traveled so far. I am so sorry for the people who have lost their homes in the fires, and for the wildlife that has lost so much habitat. I wonder if it will affect our weather this winter.
Your Jude the Obscure roses are beautiful. I would love to look out my window and see a doe and her fawn. The wicker chair you repainted looks pretty.
I must add a Girl Woman Other to my reading list. That’s a fabulous recommendation when you want to read it again after just finishing it!
The white shirt will be a new staple in my wardrobe. I can pair it with most everything I own. I love to pop the collar up to showcase my pearls! Still way too smokey to walk outside this morning. Hope for some rain to help extinguish the wildfires
Australia got slammed with those fires last year and it was so hot! We watched the news and were horrified by the vast areas that were affected. Such a tragic loss of wildlife and homes. Good to hear that France has not had many fires.
I have shopped on-line throughout COVID, especially with Kettlewell which I discovered early in the pandemic. Our library is still closed and I miss it terribly. But we can still obtain Kindle books through the library. COVID had shut down our search for a new home, but we have begun again. We suffered a devastating flood last Oct. 31st and determined to leave our home of 38 years. Easier said than done. I’m trying to look upon it as a new adventure.
I am waiting patiently for Louise Penny’s new Gamache novel. Can’t wait to see how they fare in Paris.
The smoke seems to travel far but the fires are huge so it is to be expected. I read that the area burned in one of the fires is the size of Rhode Island. It’s hard to imagine.
You raise a good point about our weather this winter...it may be affected by this atmospheric change. Take care.
Stay well Susie
I too find the smoke oppressive. We keep the windows closed and it all gives me anxiety as I am claustrophobic. I walked to the library and back ~ to pick up a book on hold, and yes, yay for the library being open ~ and by the time I got back, my throat and lungs hurt. It is a 4-minute walk each way. I can't be outside. I put a couple books on hold ages ago, pre-Covid, and one was called "The End of Suffering," a blend of Buddhist philosophy and Quantum Physics. I got so much out of this book, as both subjects are long-time interests of mine. I love how they come together in this tome. The other book was a cookbook, Fraiche Food. So, stuck inside, I cook and bake. Your shopping finds are superb, just my style! Thanks for cheering us up with your snippets of home and garden. Stay well and safe. Violet.
I also meant to say, that as much as I suffer from the smoke, I remind myself that our neighbours to the south have it so much worse. My heart truly breaks when I see the stories of devastation and homes and lives lost due to the wildfires. It is tragic. I have no right to complain of a little discomfort (and yet, I do, for shame.) V.
So sorry to hear there are fires near to you, in what I always imagine is such a very green part of the world. When we had the fires in Australia last Summer the smoke came into the city and I also had to keep indoors, could not go out walking. Fingers crossed this Summer is better. Covid still restricts our movements too, and I have shopped online for months. At last people are wearing masks - I do not know why so many Aussies have resisted masks for so long. Whatever it takes to be safe, I think, as I make a few more. Jude the Obscure always makes my day - what a star it is! Your sunflower is fabulous, like nothing we see in our gardens. As for the garden chair, it is gorgeous, and something like one I found just after we were married. It has been painted white, purple, fuchsia, and pale pink over the years. Needs to be white now, I think. Or perhaps black :)
Lovely post, enjoying the smaller things in life. Good food, time in the garden or with a book, and of course some shopping! In enjoy your blog.
My daughter in Langford has sent photos of her neighbourhood. The mountains behind her are no longer visible, and little ones are advised to stay in.
I hope the situation improves soon.
I just finished Louise Penny's book and it was brilliant! I hope that you enjoy it too.
Hope that you will find a lovely home soon. It is an adventure...and one that will be exciting. Our local real estate market is surprisingly brisk.
Take care Kristien and stay safe.
We have cleare skies now and I am SO GRATEFUL.
I just read Louise Penny's latest in the Armand Gamache mystery series...what a fabulous book! Set in Paris too! Places that I know and it was fun seeing them through the eyes of Louise...she went to Paris several times and most recently when she was researching this book.
Take care Violet
The smoke has abated for now...we have blue skies and fresh air and we can enjoy being outside again...with Covid the outdoors have taken on a bigger part of our everyday living. It feels so safe to be out in the garden and walking. One freedom that is helping us maintain positivity...and our sanity!
We are seeing a spike in cases here and are being asked to keep our bubbles to about 6 people...hope that you are enjoying your garden and with warmer weather on its way I am sure that you'll appreciate getting out and about.
Take care.
We are enjoying fresh air and blue skies...it has been quite warm this past week and rain is coming soon.
Hopefully your daughter has a better view of the mountains now.
Fall is definitely on its way...many leaves are turning golden and falling from the trees.
It will be time to pull out the wooly sweaters and socks pretty soon!
Take care and stay safe.
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