Late afternoon sun hitting the limelights. They’re really beautiful this year.

Monday and Tuesday nights were very cold. Last night we had a frost advisory, so I hauled the porch plants to the shed. Usually, I bring them inside. But someone local (online) was putting her plants inside her garage for the night and I suddenly thought: the shed is our version of a garage. Why not?  So, except for a couple that are in pots that are too heavy to move, every little porch plant spent the night inside the shed.

This happens here every early October. We think it’s still warm but we have to deal with an unexpected frost. I still have zinnias about to bloom, so I’ll have to see if they’re still with us. This is the same time that my almost-ready-to-bloom morning glories would be hit by a frost and die on the vine. That’s why I didn’t plant any this year – too many years of disappointment.

The heat kicked on early this morning. We’ll soon have to bite the bullet and buy heating oil. I shudder to think what it will cost this year. The thermostat is going to be set at a lower temperature this winter.

My schefflera is coming back. This is the plant that dropped all of its leaves a couple of months ago. I thought it was a goner, but lo and behold, little tiny leaves have been forming – slowly but surely.

I’m working on my jigsaw puzzle – yesterday, I was completely immersed in it. My sanity says thank you.

Today, we grocery shop as we are out of almost everything. Next week, we get vaccinated for Covid and the flu.

Nothing new on the Beacon Hill. I have to sit down in the studio and cut baseboard molding, but the puzzle is more interesting than the baseboards, so it’s been winning the attention contest.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

It is impossibly beautiful out there. The light, the leaves changing, evidence of migrating bird activity in the birdbath – all of it is wonderful and magical.

A rather impressionistic look at the porch.

I’ve been working on a new puzzle, doing laundry, mowing part of the front lawn, feeling my nesting instincts kick into overdrive, with sneaky little thoughts of Christmas sometimes breaking through. I’m glad my jigsaw puzzle mojo has returned, as I really love working on them, and it is the best meditative process for me. Everything slows down, and my focus is on the puzzle. Everything else is eliminated for the time being. And I love the process, so I’m not at all interested in trying to speed it up.

The bookshelves in the Beacon Hill: I have now painted them 6 times. – three coats of pink, two of red, but I didn’t like that red which had a metallic quality, so yesterday I painted two more coats of another red with a bit of black mixed in.

And this is the final look.

I grabbed some books from Hummingbird Cottage, but the paint had just dried so I didn’t dare put them on the shelves. I’m going to have to make a LOT of books. That will be a good winter activity.

What else would I like besides books? Art on the walls, some pottery on the shelves, a jigsaw puzzle on a coffee table, a turntable, a stack of sheet music on the piano – maybe an ottoman for the chair – reading lamps, a rug,  A plant or two.

In my experience, it’s all the little accessories and details that take the most time and the most money! So I can’t rush this, simply because I have a nonexistent budget. But then again, it’s fun scouting for bargains. So far, a lot of the things in this house I had already, assembled from a kit that I had in my stash, or reworked in some way. That was my vow when I took on the Beacon Hill: to make, reuse, and rehab.

Okay, my friends.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

The burning bush is starting to turn red. Fall is definitely here.

I’ve been feeling under the weather for the past two days, so not much has happened. We need to mow the lawn but that has been put on hold until I perk up. Maybe tomorrow? Or today, if I eventually feel a lot better.

I did paint the bookcases red, but it’s too dark in the studio to get a good picture. I’ll share one tomorrow. Honestly, I liked the pink, but red seemed to be best for the room. I don’t know how many coats of paint there are on these shelves now, but I know there are a lot.

I’m reading Daniel Silva’s newest thriller. I’ve read every book in his Gabriel Allon series. I know I will lose myself in the story and that’s a comfort. The last two books I checked out were disappointing and I didn’t finish them. I have several on hold with the library system.

I am doing my best to distract myself from the pain of living in a country I no longer recognize. The heartbreak, horror, and anger I feel, I must  feel. But I can’t stay there. And that’s all I’ll say about that.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.