Life these days has just been -- well, life. Nothing terribly exciting, nothing awful. So, just a bit of a catch-up. It sort of matches Lizzie's expression.
There has been a bit of painting -- not a lot, but I do have this one to share.
My seed starting is beginning to show growth. The lettuce is big enough now to thin and transplant and I anticipate some nice salads in the coming weeks. The zinnia seeds my friend Maryanne surprised me with have popped up in their starter trays -- still tiny, but on the way.
I'm waiting for Louise Penny's next book but found this wonderful conversation with her on BBC with a fun Q&A. While a lot of the questions focus on her first book, "Still Life," readers of Penny will enjoy this look into her life, inspirations and process. Listen to it HERE.
Not that it matters to anyone but me, but my 2021 Bunny Count is up to 13.
Are you flourishing or languishing after lockdown? The New York Times had a fun quiz to check to see if you are flourishing and some good links in THIS ARTICLE. (I'm happy to say I am flourishing -- with a little room for improvement! And yes, there are still days where languishing comes out on top.)
Rick hopes to head to the lake soon to open the cottage. He's been spending a lot of time working on things related to his mom and with his brothers plans to head to Texas in a couple of weeks to see her and do some things around the house to prepare it for eventual sale. What will I do without him around to share the Sunday NYT puzzle? Together we're a great team!
I've discovered another puzzle challenge -- the vowel-less puzzle. It's not as easy as you'd think!
Over the weekend he did a 100-mile-plus ride, captaining a tandem. After, the cyclists returned for dinner -- Rick's risotto and this wonderful three-ingredient lemon ice box pie from Marie's blog. You can make it five minutes (depending on how quickly you can zest and juice lemons) and pop it in the fridge for four hours. It's super easy and terrific. (We had pretty flowers, too!)
Do you like the film "Notting Hill"? It's one of my favorites and my favorite scene is this below, where the main character, William, walks through a year to the song "Ain't No Sunshine When You're Gone." I love how director Richard Curtis filmed it -- it looks like one long, creative shot but was it?
Nope. According to a 2010 post in FlixChatter, (quoting IMDB trivia) it was actually four different shots filmed on the same day and eventually mixed to show a stream from season to season. Plus, the music is great, too! I have watched it over and over and don't see the edits. Well done, Richard Curtis!
And in case you want to know what the real Portobello Road, where Hugh Grant is walking in this scene, looks like -- here you go!
Thanks for all the microwave recommendations. I've decided I'll go for the no-frills, micro-only version and possibly investigate an air fryer in the future if I think I'd really use one. Probably the main reason, which Mae reminded me of (and I should have remembered from past experience), combo appliances can be a problem. I've had one portion break before the other and you know the rest!
We had our first outdoor dining last weekend. Very yum. And then it got very cold!
Rick's garden is coming on slowly. All of these are early season crops so they can take the cold, but I think they wouldn't mind a little sun, too!
I'm not sure what these are or how they got in my garden but they're giving it a bit of color after the daffs and hyacinths have died off.
The strawberries are coming on, though. I was expecting an early crop -- but now I'm thinking it will be June, just like normal.
I'll leave you with Bunny #13.
Have a wonderful week!
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63 comments:
I love that song,"Ain't No Sunshine," and hadn't heard it in a long time. Great music video, it captures the mood.
Will the bunnies have access to your lettuces for nibbling?
Gorgeous pix, as always ~
Love that song, and really want to watch that movie!
Hugs ~
Beautiful painting!
The bunny-pic made me smile. And ohhh, the flowers!
Great video - I think I should watch the movie! (Shame on me... I haven´t seen it!).
Oh! My strawberries say hi to yours :-)
Bye, bunny! To a wonderful week!
Lovely photos, love Lizzie and the bunnies best! Valerie
The flowers you are not sure of are Spanish Bluebells. The pink is a mutation, which is fairly common. Be warned, though. They are Prolific! If you like them, fine, but if you don't, dig them up and burn them {don't compost} otherwise they will take over your garden in a few years. Here, we are encouraged to get rid of them as they are slowly but surely eradicating the beautiful, native English Bluebells, which form the native Bluebell woods in Springtime. Hope this helps.
I will be happy to learn what it's like after lockdown, since we are mired in our third lockdown here. It is scheduled to end on 20 May - to be confirmed, however. Some parts of the country are showing considerable improvement but others not so much, and conditions in some areas are quite dire. Oh to take a trip! I think that Miriam has read just about everything Louise Penney has written and is a huge fan. Glad to hear that Rick was able to take a road trip on his bike. You will miss him indeed when he goes to Dallas. i suspect he will not be riding his bike there!
How true, that there isn't a whole lot to write about these days. Daughter and I go for a walk many days after supper, and wow, were there a lot of rabbits to spot the last time! It must be a good year for rabbits. I read the latest Louise Penny and am always looking forward to her next. I shall listen to that link later today. Have a good week, Jeanie! -Jenn
You certainly have a colorful post, Jeanie. I love the cardinals. And the bunnies are great, too.
So glad to read you are getting a microwave and not a combination. That's why I still have my inkjet printer I purchased in 2000. Yes, it's that old and still functioning. My friend Sally goes through a 4 in 1 about every two years, because something on it breaks.
Looks like you are truly enjoying eating out at your own place. And having great bulbs of spring flowers sure makes a great centerpiece.
Good morning, Jeanie. Love the expression on Miss Lizzie, she is such a personality. Your bunny is quite large. Our bunny that I had named Bugs, had to have a name change. Her name is now Blossom, as she has had several little ones and has trouble with them stepping out of her bounds.
Your spring lettuce looks yummy - new garden lettuce is always the best.
Love your painting, you need to do one of your bunnies.
Happy week to you, Jeanie.
Love your bird painting. Spring is looking nice in your area.
I pinned the lemon ice box pie - yum, and thank you! Ah yes, Notting Hill and WV's own Bill Withers singing Ain't No Sunshine. Trivia: Bill hailed from a tiny coal mining town - Slab Fork - just south of Beckley WV (home of Tamarack).
I love Notting Hill, so much so that I bought it. And now I’ll have “Ain’t No Sunshine When You're Gone” in my head for the rest of the day, LOL! I sure hope it warms up nicely by Memorial Day for the cottage!
I love seeing your artwork..fun that you do crosswords together..and loved Notting Hill..I am in need of more British crime shows!,,Marie has great recipes always!
I love Notting Hill, one of my favorites and the song, too. Thanks for the clip. Anything Hugh Grant is in is good.
Lovely bird painting Jeanie. I think your early garden is coming along very nicely. I love home grown fresh, especially lettuces for salads. It will be nice getting your lake house ready, I know you can't wait for those days. I'm sure you will miss Rick a lot while he's away, hope you find lots to keep you busy during that time. It's no fun when they have to be away. I'm off to check out the pie recipe. Have a wonderful week........
I took the NYTimes test too and I am thriving. I will go listen to Louise once I finish commenting so I don't forget what I read in this post. Sounds to me like life is good. One good thing about the pandemic, or should I say one good thing the pandemic did, was remind us of how much we have without having to do big crowd things all the time. Although I must admit one big thing I really want to do is travel. But, the little things that make us happy do seem to mean more now. Or is that just me? OK, enough of my babble. Looks like life is going well for you Jeanie. It was fun to see all the photos and hear about life. Have a great new week. Hugs-Erika
Love it.
So many bunnies :)
Love Notting Hill, I've seen it countless times.
Beautiful Spring flowers and quite a productive veggie patch.
Aww, the bunnies are so cute! Lizzie seems very relaxed and happy, I love the picture with her. <3
Your zinnia seedlings are further along than mine. Your daffodils and tulips are beautiful! I've never seen that movie but love that song. So many bunnies!
Jeanie, I am proud that you have put together a wonderful garden. You are much more clever than I am and I bet you are looking forward to some good salads this summer. Living in town, we don't see bunnies in the garden unless they are cement ones, but we did have a deer go right up our street in front of the Cottage last week. He darted off on a side street leading to the "woods" before I could get my camera..Hope you had a nice Mother's Day..xxoJudy
Bunnies are fun to watch. Lizzie is adorable.
I love Notting Hill too:)
That's a beautiful painting!
Look at that Lizzie;)
Glad you're ticking over, nothing terrible, bit humdrum but glad to be where you are. I feel the same way.
I, too, am waiting for the Louise Penney. A few years ago there was a great interview with her on CBS Sunday Morning. Love your birds painting.
I, too, am waiting for the next Gamache. There was a great interview with Louise Penney on CBS Sunday Morning a few years ago. Love the birds you painted.
I don't know if I'd use the word flourish but we definitely didn't languish in the lockdown.. I think we did pretty okay.
We visited Portobello Market when we were in London but unfortunately it was a rainy day and the market was closed.
It still hasn't warmed up enough to sit out an eat but we are thinking of firing up the grill over the weekend nonetheless... we'll eat inside.
Lovey watercolor.
Lovely painting. Bunny 13's pals hopping around will be fun to see.
Great interview with Louise Penny. Thanks for sharing with us Jeanie. It is great to hear her voice. (And learn about the new book too.)
Beautiful painting!
I also enjoy reading Louise Penny's novels :)
Hop Hop Cute Bunny!
Sometimes days with not much happening are the best days I think. The painting of the red birds is wonderful, Jeanie. That picture of the farmers market is charming. Oh, how I miss just browsing through craft fairs and farmers markets. It's been awhile. Hello there Lizzie. : )
~Sheri
So glad I wait until Memorial Day for veggies and annual plantings. Have had frost the past 2 nights. Love your red bird painting. Never heard of a vowel-less crossword puzzle. Might be challenging. Janice
Glad you're seeing signs of spring growth. I bet you're really looking forward to those strawberries. A nice fresh salad followed by some fresh strawberries is perfect for a hot Summer's day.
Interesting about the bit from Notting Hill. It's not a favourite movie of mine exactly, but I do enjoy it enough that I've watched it a couple of times and wouldn't object to doing so again.
Good morning Jeanie. Your painting is lovely of one of my favorite birds. I used to love crossword puzzles, I am not sure why I abandoned them. Thirteen rabbit sightings and you might not have any lettuce for yourself. Have a wonderful week!
Lovely birds Jeanie! I'm not familiar with Louise Penny, I must check her out...the lemon pie sounds lovely and a crossword with no vowels, wow, I bet that is tough! I do the daily crossword in USA Today paper online every day, while I'm having lunch, my daily treat!
Jenna
For someone with "nothing new" you have A LOT new in your colorful life! I loved that film scene, thank you. Time to watch the film again. Nice little painting. Enjoyed reading it all, Rita
What a great post! You might want to fix this typo: "he Did a 100 mile plus..." Not "he Hid."
Love your painting of the birds, and the flowers are so beautiful.
Life goes on pretty much as always for us. Well, living in the countryside, we couldn't really expect any changes. Our gardens are WAY WAY behind yours. My tulips haven;t bloomed yet. They have lots of buds though so I'm hoping they will put on a good show this year. The one thing I am really missing is seeing the family. We are bubbled with Mike's elderly parents, but four of my five children are near Toronto, in the hot zone. My daughter here is vaccinated but we still keep our distance.
13 bunnies. Wow. I saw a baby in the front yard yesterday. So cute:)
Take special care.
Love Notting Hill! The Julia Roberts ‘just a girl, standing in front of a boy’ line always gets me! I haven’t seen it in so long so might need to rewatch it soon!
I decided to give up my garden plot this year. I am so bummed but it was hard getting over there last year and this year will be even harder! But I am hoping to go to the farmers market on a regular basis. I avoided it last year due to Covid but would like to return this year and support the local farmers!
Our beans are starting to slow down, production-wise, and we have so many tomatoes and so much kale that we have to give some away. Your husband's garden looks great.
Thank you so much for the wonderful Lemon Icebox Pie recipe. I just learned how to make Key Lime Pie using a recipe that is very, very similar to this one. I love easy.
All the green and growing things! The gardens look great. I get excited every time I see a bunny too. :)
I love to hear that you are flourishing - that is fantastic!
I know the song but I haven't seen the film.
We have quite a few squirrels visit the garden but no bunnies.
Enjoy your week.
All the best Jan
It looks like a great week Jeanie. Relaxing and enjoyable. Your new painting is so sweet. How funny that there are non vowel crossword puzzles! I have not watched Notting Hill in years. It is streaming on one of my favorite apps and I need to watch it again.
hi there Jeannie, loved all the pictures and that garden is looking real good!! What all y'all got planted there? Ours is growing fast too. Gosh, I remember that old song....remember when it played on the AM radio constantly back in the 70s, ha ha LOL! I think it was a big hit, I'm sure I had it in my stack of 45's. Love the pretty art you did, you are so talented. I can't even draw stick people, ha ha! I can't wait to get my zinnias planted, I bought about 5 or 6 packs of seeds the other day! Hopefully a hurricane won't blow them out like last time I tried. I think zinnias are so pretty.
Looks like you are embracing many aspects of spring.
Enjoying sightings of bunnies and growing food. Puzzles and art.
Sweet parts of good living.
It's amazing, the way you managed to capture the intelligence and look of inquiry in that bird's eyes. Well done.
Looks like a calm and peaceful time, wonderful not to have that constant threat of maybe catching an infection hanging over us, isn't it? Those flowers, as others have said, I think, are bluebells. At least I am pretty sure they are. They grow wild in England and are one of the sights of spring. https://vervegardendesign.com/blog/are-these-the-uks-most-beautiful-bluebell-woods But I didn't know they grew in your part of the world - I'd have thought it was too cold. Anyhow, they're pretty!
Nice to read from you Jeanie and see what you are up to. It looks like all is well in your world. I've been very busy but not on social media. I have been enjoying time away from trying to keep up on line though I have been super busy with my digital project. I'm finally getting to the end of this next part. Then hopefully have a rest from it for some time. In the meantime I'm just enjoying day to day things and reading. Not much else. Take care until I read from you again. xx
You're right... that's one memorable scene, well edited with a wonderful song accompanying. A memorable day for me is my visit to the Portobello Market a few years ago and yes actually taking a pic of that blue door, the place where William lived with his crazy flatmate. FYI, Notting Hill is now on Netflix. :)
Used to have bunnies, from time to time in the other house but I have not seen any here. Skunks, we have those! It is amazing the animals that are being run out of their homes by people, and building. When we moved here in 67 we might see a snake or two because their was a field area behind us. Now I see deer, skunk, coyote, a bobcat here and there and of course the day I stopped to let a opossum with babes on her back cross the road here in the sub. HAHA....oh well. Painting, I have not been doing a lot of that lately. Loving your birds. Beautiful. Rick stays busy. Do you ever ride with him? Me...HAHA....HAHA...I used to live on my ten speed when I as younger. Now, I would prob peddle out of the garage and be out of breath! I understand about life being just life. Actually mine has been busy, but since COVID, still different. I am not sure things will ever seem the same. If you know what I mean, I think Lizzie knows.
Love, LOVE Miss Lizzie and of course the fact that you and Rick to puzzles together. What fun! Its a great way to keep the mind agile. Can you believe I have never seen Notting Hill? I know! I must have been living underneath a rock! Do love that song however. Have done since I was a teenager. I have been very busy this past week, settling into my new place. Just when I think I am done, I see something else that needs doing, but it is fun! Happy weekend, love and hugs, xoxo
PS - It makes me happy you like the pie. Its a real favourite. I think I will make one for Sunday this week as the family is coming for Sunday lunch. xoxo
Yes to the Notting Hill movie clip Jeanie, anything with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts is a fun rom-com romp and Richard Curtis is one of my favorite current directors. Of course, Hitchcock remains my absolute favorite as he was doing things with shadow, light and angles sans special effects used today.Looks like life is returning to some semblance of normality for you and Rick and that's good news. Hope all goes well with the sale of his mom's home, never an easy task.
Have a beautiful day. 😀
Such a lovely song. Your painting is wonderful. One cannot have enough bunnies. The garden looks great. We just planted some things. Happy weekend.
I enjoyed your painting! What loveliness!
And bunnies make me happy as long as they stay out of the garden.
Happy Weekend!
I really enjoyed your painting! What loveliness!
And bunnies are so cute as long as they stay out of the garden! Lol!
Happy Weekend to you!
Loved seeing what you're up to, Jeanie. Your spring has definitely sprung! You have gardens, and I still have snow. I like the idea of opening the cottage. Bob may start biking soon if the rec path stays clear of snow. He hasn't biked for over 2 years but wants to get back to it. He's been using the exercise bike to build stamina. I pinned that lemon pie - we like anything lemon.
Last year I had one large bunny and one or two small ones. I usually see one only when it is flushed out of its hiding spot. They love the wild clematis patch, where the Polish Spirit Clematis grows like a weed and keeps them happy with leaves to eat, although I think if my count reached 13, I would have no garden left :)
This is a lovely post Jeanie :) Such a lot to see and enjoy. I am not languishing either but I enjoy my quiet times too. Always seems a lot to do, or not says I smiling. Thank you for all the splendid photos and happenings. Also for Louise Penny's link. I have read many of her novels and will look forward to this interview. Happy Sunday to you :)
A lovely rambling post of the kind I particularly like. Isn't it good when life is like that, with no dramatic ups and downs, just pleasantly flowing along?
The flowers you say you don't know what they are look like Spanish Bluebells to me.
Here, I rarely see rabbits, but I spot hares on the fields every now and then. In the big city (Stuttgart), colonies of rabbits live in the park, but it's been a long time since I last walked there.
Love that you are having bunny sightings!
Aren't they the best to see out and about?
Are the flowers scilla? I have some, transplanted from Nick's grandmother's yard years ago, and the shape looks the same. Mine are white, but the shape looks the same. Ours bloom earlier, but I think with the climate difference between us and you, it's about the same time in the season.
I love the Portobello Road picture. I've only seen Notting Hill once, and I don't remember having very strong feelings about it. I always think of Portobello Road from the movie "Bed Knobs and Broom Sticks" when Mr. Brown sings the song about it. My four year old self was obsessed with that movie!
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