If we were having coffee

I believe humans get a lot done, not because we’re smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee

~ Flash Rosenberg

A frog in the rain garden.

If we were having coffee, I’d be very happy to see you again.  I truly do enjoy our coffee chats.  How are you?  What have you been up to this week?  Have you read any good books?  Seen any good movies?  Listened to any good music that you’d recommend?  Traveled anywhere since we last got together?

By the lagoon. There are a pair of Green Herons living by the lagoon. You might not see them, but you’ll have no trouble hearing them.

I finished reading The Longings of Wayward Girls, thank goodness.  I even stayed up late one night to finish it.  Not because I was enjoying it so much or because I couldn’t wait to find out what happens, but because I just wanted for it to be over.  I kept hoping it would turn a corner, that the lackluster plot and characters were leading to something.  Sometimes a book that is slow in the beginning will do that, and I find myself gratified that I stuck with it.  That was not the case at all with The Longings of Wayward Girls.  I could have, and should have, applied the 50 Page Rule (if I’m not into it by page 50, I give up and get rid of the book).  It was slow, plodding, and I felt like the author didn’t care much for the characters, and the characters didn’t care much for themselves, so why should I care?  The ending, I felt, was lame, but then again, it was true to the main character.  A character I didn’t care about one way or the other.

Spring flowers.

I’m currently reading The Magician King: A Novel (Magicians Trilogy), the sequel to The Magicians, which I read a few years ago.  I wish I could find (or if I gave it away, had kept) my copy of The Magicians because, even though I don’t think it’s necessary, I don’t remember a lot about the first book.  Flashes of it come back from time to time, but other times I’m feeling a little lost.   It’s necessary, I think, to have read the first book (meaning it’s really not a stand-alone).  Even though my recall of the first novel isn’t great, I’m still enjoying this one.  Maybe someday I’ll come across the first one.  I’m pretty sure it’s in a box in the attic.  When I know there is going to be a sequel or two (or eleven), I save the first book(s) in the series in case I need to refresh my memory with some re-reading.

As for movies, M and I recently watched The Station Agent.  I don’t know if someone recommended it or if I put in on my Netflix queue for some other reason.  It was a good movie, and I enjoyed it.  Worth a watch if you like indie films.  You can see the trailer here.

Soft and fluffy.

If we were having coffee, I would invite you out to the porch or the deck.  We are having lovely weather here on the Eastern Shore.  Summer-like.  It was in the 80’s today, and it would have been nice to go to the beach.  The ocean water temperature is up to 47°F now.  Not warm enough for swimming yet, but I wouldn’t mind dipping my feet in.  M and I have been busy around the ranch so we didn’t have time to go to the beach.  We’re working on getting the gardens ready for growing vegetables and flowers.  Seeds were started a few weeks ago, and the baby plants are coming along nicely in the greenhouse.  Lettuces are almost ready to pick.

Let’s take some bread out with us to have with our beverages.  M has been baking this weekend, and he made some wonderful bread and rolls.  We can have butter from a local dairy (where the cows are grass fed) and/or preserves on our bread.

A few drops.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that it’s been a slow week.  Not much has been happening and I’m not even sure I have anything worth telling you about.  I’m still recovering from the Cold From Hell, and fed up with being sick.  I have taken a vow of wellness.  When this cold is played out, I am finished with illness.

Loblolly reproduction.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that tick season started early, and I got my first tick bite this week.  I found the tick fairly quickly, but not quickly enough.  The tick was firmly attached.  Studies show that a tick doesn’t begin transmitting Lyme Disease (if it is carrying it) for 36-48 hours after it is attached to its host, and I know it wasn’t more than a few hours so I’m not particularly worried about that.  It’s a good thing I got into the habit of immediately showering after I’ve spent time outdoors during the warmer months.  I’ve washed two of those bloodsuckers down the drain.   I’ll be donning full tick-repelling regalia from now until the dry days of summer (ticks prefer humid weather), including spraying my clothing and shoes.  We’ll be safe on the porch or deck.  The ticks hang out in the taller grasses and in the woods, and I’ve been slow to get all the mowing done.  M and I took care of most of that today.

Cleaning up after winter.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that we had our first spring bonfire of the year today.  A lot of brush gets dragged to, and piled in, a place where the critters can use it for their homes, but there is so much to clean up around here (still!) that we resort to burn piles occasionally (because we grow weary of dragging and piling).

Yellow flowers near the scrounger’s garden.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that the tide was rather high today, probably because of the new moon.  Did you know this new moon is the start of the shortest lunar month in 2015?  According to Earth and Sky, the typical lunar month is 29 days, 9 hours, and 16 minutes long.  The current lunar month, from today’s new moon until the new moon on May 18, is 3 hours and 28 minutes shorter.  I’m not sure I’ll notice the difference.  Do you think you will?

I don’t know what these are. Probably weeds. I’ll mow them down when they finish flowering (unless I find a reason not to).

If we were having coffee, I would guess it might be time for you to go.  If you want to stay a little longer, you’re certainly welcome.  We could take a walk out to the dock.  You will want to use the insect repellent spray to keep the ticks away.  We keep a couple cans of the stuff out here on the deck, over in the corner.  You probably saw it when we first came out.

Toad in the scrounger’s garden.

Thank you so much for visiting, and having coffee (tea, whatever) with me.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Dogwood.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

Another look. Just because.

This post is in response to Part Time Monster’s #WeekendCoffeeShare.  Grab a cuppa of whatever your preference is and join us.  I’d love to hear all about what you were up to this week.

Honk.