three happy things

First thing:

This little postcard-size oil painting arrived from Scotland today.

The artist is a Canadian landscape painter, Roberta Murray.

My snap does not do it justice - it is a gem!

It was one of the donated postcards in the Twitter Art Exhibit 2019, which each year moves to a different location around the world, holds a gallery show followed by online sales, and each year donates the proceeds to a different charity. The postcards are all priced at 30 pounds, or 4 for 100 pounds, and this year I decided to treat myself to one by skimming the requisite $48.01 from the grocery budget.

Bonus: a week of innovative eating! I cleaned out the bottom shelf in the cupboard where many interesting things had been hiding, and also indulged a serious fondness for jello, which I had sort of forgotten about. So it was a big win, all the way around.

And I am giddy with delight at this painting!

Second thing:

If you've been following this blog for a while, you may remember one of the (supposedly) perennial plants I bought a few years ago - a rudbeckia with velvety almost-brown petals.

The plant did not survive the winter, unfortunately. I loved it so much I've tried to replace it each year since but have never seen it. Until today! One of the many nurseries that kindly emails hard-to-resist offers on what seems to be an hourly basis alerted me to a major sale on perennial plants today. For some reason, I decided to scroll through all the plants, pages and pages of them, even though many of them were already marked "Sold Out." And there, at the bottom of the last page, the very last plant in the perennial sale, was a plant that looks exactly like that marvelous brown velvet rudbeckia. It had originally been priced at $20, and the sale price was $6, so...I ordered four. I will plant them in different locations to see what conditions they will enjoy most, and I will try to keep at least one alive as a potted plant through the winter. I am so excited about this!

Funny note:

after placing the order I thought sternly, 

"I've got to get a hold of myself.

These self-indulgent weekends could become addictive!"

Then I realized it's Wednesday.

Third thing:

By some kind of miracle, I was able to buy another 30 bales of hay and put them in the roundtop today. It's first cut grass from 2018, and should see me through until first cut 2019 is available.

$245.

Makes the rudbeckia and the painting seem like quite a bargain, doesn't it?

~~~~~

a week of kerria

The Kerria japonica began to bloom a week ago.

This is my favorite phase - simultaneously displaying all stages of buds and blossoms.

This shrub was here when I bought the place, and has grown and grown.

This year it is vast: an intricate, wind-dancing marvel.

After one week, most of the buds have now opened.

The entire shrub appears more gold than green,

and glows even on a rainy day:

The flowers are rather delicate.
From now on, every rain and strong wind will leave petals on the ground.

I wanted to share it with you before that happens.

Daily Markmaking last night: Kerria japonica, 2019.

~~~~~

looking to the east

Simple snaps.

Sunrise this morning:

Moonrise, tonight.

~~~~~

postcard: piper

Greetings, faithful readers and also anyone who just happened upon my blog.

The laptop is back.

It is working just about as well as it did before it was sent for repair.

This is a tad discouraging.

Actually, it's very discouraging indeed.

Also, the hard drive was wiped, so everything has to be reloaded and reset.

It's taking a while.

I'm not rushing. I really can't rush.

Because every time I try to do one of the things I used to do routinely,

I hit a dead end and have to download software first,

then consult or reload saved files from my external drive back to the laptop.

This does not always go smoothly, and it never - literally, never - goes quickly.

That said, I will keep plodding along in my spare time, and hope to be back writing actual blog posts soon. Meanwhile, I will at least continue to post a snap or two just to say "hello."

Speaking of which, during my laptop-less period, I've tried to read and comment on your blogs via my phone. Sometimes it worked. Many times, I laboriously tapped out a comment only to lose the whole thing, including the page itself, when I tried to post! I don't know if my clumsy fingers were at fault, but it's quite likely. So, if I haven't said hello via your blog comments, please know it wasn't for lack of interest - 

or for lack of trying.

Piper says, "Smile! Might as well!"

~~~~~

postcard: sequoia

~~~~~

postcard: bloodroot

~~~~~