happiest

blue skies, sunshine & warmth, calm seas, lots of blooming everywhere, Missy D & me

Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands,
but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is.

Maxim Gorky

Happy, happiness, happier ... happiest
am I

oliver & gus

Oliver & Gus

The boys, Oliver & Gussie, arrived here at Black Street as teeny kittens nearly 4 years ago. Oliver was 9 weeks old and Gus 6 weeks. They lived in a large kennel in the chocolate brown guest room for weeks as I gradually, gradually introduced them to Missy D (Scottish muskrat hound who's philosophy in life is - if it's furry and moves it's gotta be prey), Em & Jake, who were both still here at the time, were their usual easy going, life's a tennis ball, retriever selves and were all Cool ! kittens - the more animals the merrier. Winnie Dixon was more Cool ! Run ... I dare you.

Oliver has always taken his role as big brother to Gus (or our L'il Man) very seriously.

It's a beautiful warm blue sky sunshiny day. I'm a little late with this morning's post because Missy D and I really took our time strolling on the beach. Off now to see if I can't get things a hummin' at that darn ol' teak topped desk.

the haphazard gardener

snippets from yesterday's time spent flitting about the terracotta gardens here at 29 Black St.

Lost.

Lost in that very good way. Your thoughts gone, disappeared ... gone somewhere else and who cares where. Your mind a vacant lot.

Lulled by the sound of chattering finches. I toiled and tilled, dragged and divided, weeded and lovingly transplanted things. A flox with Burgundy leaves and pink flowers from the front garden, hostas (I now have three colours - all green, chartreuse*, and a half and half cream & green variegated - my next acquisition is the blue green variety), oriental poppies (who always protest loudly at being moved, they crumple and dry up trying to convince you that they've died- but they will come back, I'm sure of it) and a tiny half dead (from lack of sun) peony. Yesterday was a day spent, almost entirely, in a kind of heavenly outdoor meditation.

Meanwhile Doug happily mowed and mowed and then schlepped wheelbarrows full of soil to fill large ruts left by a tractor last fall (another contractor horror story bringing the total now to 14) dans the giant fenced in dog area and home of the newly formed petite pond and red winged black bird habitat. I've decided to call him Doug here, after all that is his name and I have posted his photo many times. As much as he did remind me terribly of Sam Elliot when I first met him with his handsome silver hair and very tall moustache - he is not a cowboy, he's a Prince (at least most of the time). He's the handiest, smartest man I've ever known.

Watching me gardening is like watching me houseclean (me and houseclean now that's a misnomer -yikes). I'm a flit-ter. I flit from task to task leaving my tools like scattered bread crumbs behind me and throughout the yard. Mind you it (the yard that is) is so huge, so apparently daunting (to moi at times) overgrown, neglected and jungle-ish that there are so many things that need attention I get distracted very easily. Distracted and me are the best of pals. But the times when I actually did perch for a spell–specifically at a large stone edged bed in the back garden that I'm working on. A bed situated under a large, about to bloom, flowering crab, in a patch of dappled sunshine and with a choir of birds singing to me–I was in heaven. I do love this house (I always have) and I do love this giant yard, I love the breeze, the sun, the birds, the thick expanse of greens - in every shade and hue imaginable and boy oh boy I sure do love that Prince (oATG)**

apres les beauty shots (above) I have conceded and actually pulled back my camera angle considerably so that you might see some of what we're actually dealing with (below). For all you naysayers who think I tend toward exaggeration when I declare the jungle like and tangled personality of les terracotta gardens - feast your eyes on a few of our before shots. And especially for our friend Rachel & the team from NuT, we know she'll be tickled with these views.

* chartreuse Pamela is also a favourite colour of mine in the garden
** oATG - of All Things Good

habitat

crow

I started keeping a list of birds that have been hanging around here in the lands of 29 Black Street. This old brick house is surrounded by a huge lot, a double lot and I've been told the largest yard in the village limits. And within this large lot we have several common avian habitats - small marsh and/or bog area, a petite forest and wild flower meadow like areas. The birds seem to love our terracotta gardens and I'm always trying to entice new species with a variety of seeds, nuts, suet, halved oranges nailed to trees and clusters of fat red grapes (a favourite of my Lady Baltimore's). I've been keeping track of sightings in the inside cover of my much loved and well used essential bible of bird watching - Peterson's Guide to Eastern Birds.

chickadee
sparrow (haven't nailed down specific species)
downy woodpecker
common grackle
starling
blue jay
robin
purple finch (house finch)
gold finch
vireo
mourning dove
nuthatch
sharp shinned hawk (very occasional visitor - Phew !)
American red start
rose breasted grosbeak
red winged black bird
red crested kinglet
Baltimore oriole (the famous Lady Baltimore)
hairy woodpecker
junco
cedar waxwing
bohemian waxwing
magnolia warbler
tufted titmouse
evening grosbeak
yellow throated warbler
crow
brown headed cowbird
and of course the occasional seagull

along the harbour we see bald eagles, occasional osprey, kingfishers, cormorants and an huge assortment of ducks, gulls and long legged, pointy beaked shore boards that skittle along the waters edge in summer - like sandpipers and killdeers. Oh goodness and we can't forget the tres majestic great blue herons who haven't arrived just yet but I expect to see them anytime soon.

perfect puttering

stormy dark skies and the big old elm across the street from 29 Black

Two days of no design work, rain in the forecast but that's OK because I've plenty of inside things that I can putter away at. First up, apres of course time spent lounging in the lands of bubbles and scent, clean up my messy TTD* and les office. Dream up some delicious thing for our dinner tonight, tape a movie or two from the movie channel, change bedding dans the nest of down & flannel (avec les enthusiasm of les Chats -of course) and I'll spend a day of perfect puttering (the thing I do best).

I had a very hard time keeping up with Missy D on this early mornings walk - you go girl !

* TTD - teak topped desk, home of the still gurgling and waitin' to bust out - Creative Empire


the tres messy TTD avec constant blog distractions - fav design blog Poppytalk

for my aunt sally

tiny blue wonders and my aunt Sally's favourite flower– forget-me-nots

My Aunt Sally reads my blog each and every early morning. She loves forget-me-nots and she loves cats. Oliver's perched in one of his most favourite spots, at a kitchen window. On the other side of the glass, not 10 inches away hangs a bird feeder which is constantly filled with finches (gold & purple), sparrows, the occasional blue jay and sad, worried looking mourning doves who are so large and heavy (and a tad clumsy) that upon landing they cause the feeder to swing violently on it's hanger - making them appear even more worried looking. All the birds love our wild, unruly gardens and petite forest like setting here at 29 Black Street and my challenge this spring summer is to attract as many varieties as is possible - with the cowboy's help of course (remember he's creating a petite pond marsh eco-system a la large fenced in dog yard - I'm hoping for tadpoles & peepers too).

We love nature, we love flowers and we all love the birds.

big, shiny brightness

a plethora of greens near the front porch here at 29 Black Street - the jungle is erupting

It's been a busy and great week. Last week was one of those wish to forget about it weeks – my mood seemingly stuck in a well worn groove of malcontent. Something I've learned, especially through these last few years, but so often forget that I do know it to be true is

time changes everything - nothing ever stays the same

Doom and gloom, sadness and ache can turn to sweetness and joy in less than a day, sometimes in only a moment - just cruise on through the darkness ... cause there's always brightness up ahead and sometimes it's big, shiny brightness. This favourite song is stuck in my head this early morning, one that's in the top 10 songs on the soundtrack to my life. A song from that makes me feel like 1971 was just yesterday.

oh and ps thank you for all the wonderful, kindred dog (cat, animal) love comments !

dog love

scenes from this mornings' walk along our beautiful harbour - Hey ! we have a new boardwalk

17 years of mad crazy dog* love vs 7 months of human love

You can see why the jury's still out on whether I could, would or will ever love the cowboy as much, as deeply, and as madly as I love my dogs. It's a different kind of love - dog love and it's the kind I'm the most accustomed to, it's the kind of love I crave. The cowboy understands ... he and I met in the park a month after he'd said goodbye to his long time love Abby, a rescued black lab who'd been his constant companion, his confidant and best friend for years and years.

I remember one visit I had with my doctor, a dog lover, a man who's very happily married with two sons who he adores. We would always end our meetings with a chat about our dogs and he said to me, this particular day his eyes watery remembering a special dog who had shared their home and life that your relationship with a dog is the only truly authentic relationship you'll ever have. I've never forgotten that conversation. Not everyone would understand what he meant ... but I did, I do.

Miss D and I had a great walk this morning. She was full of beans & trotting along way out at the far end of her retractable lead** gently tugging us along our entire walk. Happy sigh. Lower tide today and we were on the beach where we love to walk. Home again she ate her breakfast with great enthusiasm and gusto and she's sleeping now in her office under the teak topped desk.

* and cat love of course ! for Rachel
** you might wonder why Miss D is seldom off leash ... simply put - terrier mix born to chase ...

almost perfect

more snippets from the last few days

I'm feeling almost perfect.

Perfect ... that word I shouldn't use. Should. Shouldn't. Shouldn't use those words either. I feel happy. I feel tres creative. I feel content and safe. I feel very hopeful and alive. The only thing that's stopping me from feeling completely over the moon and on top of my world is a niggling sadness and concern about my best girl Dee. She suddenly, or so it seems to me anyway, these last few weeks is seeming so much older. She's sleeping more and it's that deep, sound, senior dog sleep. Snoring away in her bed under the teak topped desk. She's behaving like a dog who's in her 12th year. How dare she ?

I do love the cowboy. And in a way, deep and strong, I really hadn't thought possible. But it's still no match for the love I feel and have felt for my dogs. Dog love ... now that is perfect.