I'm Back

I've been distracted the last few months.  We had the spring shows to prepare for, and  Cairo, our 14-year-old Jack Russell has been suffering from chronic rhinitis for a long time.  It is getting worse.  I had more than a month of sleepless nights because of his coughing and panting and sneezing.  The vet and I have finally come up with a concoction of medications to keep him comfortable and to allow me to sleep.  The lack of sleep really threw me off my game.  Writing used to be almost like breathing for me, but the habit disappeared when my foggy brain struggled to stay awake.

Summer is in full swing here in Greenport.  Yesterday I had to reprimand a tourist in the Shelter Island ferry line who wanted to go through a stop sign.  He thought I was going to take his place in line when I was just trying to get home.  The crowds are the difficult part of living in place so lovely that tourists flock to it.  That said, Pete and I took the canoe out to Hallocks Bay the other day for the first clamming expedition of the season.  We grilled some and I made stuffed clams, added some fresh- picked lettuce from Pete's vegetable garden and we ate until we were sated.  This is one of the things I love most about living here -- we can grow or forage for our own food for a large part of the year.  

I am going to do some housekeeping this morning, then set up my hooking on the front porch.  A thunderstorm last night left a clear, bright sky today, and I am going to take advantage of it.

Summer is Here!

Summer is in full swing -- sunny, sticky, sultry, sizzling.  After the long, cold spring the heat and humidity have hit us hard.  While I wish we had a screened porch to loll on, I am ever so glad we put in central air conditioning when we renovated.  The air conditioning means I can continue to hook, and it helps with the dog's allergies.  ( He has a tendency to keep me up at night with his sneezing and sniffles.)  I think this afternoon we will head out for our first dip in the bay.  The water has been warming up quickly, if the jellyfish I found on the beach this morning is any indicator.

Our yard is looking great.  We planted a new, large crepe myrtle outside the kitchen windows and the dappled sunlight through its leaves is lovely.  The Annabelle hydrangeas have gone crazy, what with all the rain.  I will have lots of bountiful bouquets around the house for months.  The damp, however, has made the mosquitoes proliferate, which prevents us from spending a lot of time outside in the evening.  We did sit in the gloaming a few nights ago and watched the bats swoop and flutter in their quest for bugs to eat.  They are a delight to watch, and such beneficial creatures.  Pete put a bat house up on the garage a few years ago and it seems to be doing the trick.

I have been working on some interesting stuff, including rugs for a high-end hand-made in America catalog for babies and toddlers and a new kit in a really fun package which I'll post about soon.  Right now I am taking things slowly, since we don't have any more shows until September.  I want to enjoy all the things summer brings: swimming in the bay, fresh picked flowers and veggies from the garden, visiting with friends and neighbors, maybe a short trip or two.  And I am going to read -- a lot.  That's my treat to myself.  I started with Edna O'Brien's The Country Girls a few weeks ago, which I loved, as sad as it was.  I'm starting the second book in her series today: The Lonely Girl.  You can find them as audio books on Audiogo, with Edna herself reading them, which is just wonderful.  

I'm off to get an iced coffee.  Enjoy this summer day!