That’s where I am today as I finished a book yesterday and will start another in a couple days. So today is In Between, and I’ll use it to do a few little chores, give more thought to that next book and . . . something. I’m sure I’ll find the something. [Note from Laura — title to come later.]
I have nothing special or really interesting to report, so I’m sending Laura a crap-ton of photos. She can choose which are blog-worthy and how many to post.
We battle the deer. We’ve done it all, but they persist. Looks like the got most of my lilies again this year, and even nibbled on a couple deer-resistant plants. I hope Bambi got a belly ache.
When side-dressing with compost this past weekend–and as always when gardening, scanning the area well first–I spotted the last few inches of a slithering copperhead. Fortunately, BW was just around the side of the house, and rushed to the rescue as I managed my
distress call.
Snake! Snake! Copperhead! SHIT!!!!
He dispatched said invader while I waited in the house. He said it was a 30″-er. (We’re going to need a bigger shovel!) I thereafter assigned BW to compost duty. I can handle spiders, I hope to find worms when I dig, I tell the bees just to back off as what I’m doing is good for them, too, but I have a visceral fear of snakes.
Parker continues to nose and poke into my pots–even with a variety of dog-away tricks I’ve put in with the flowers. He is the guilty party. Atticus has proven himself innocent. I had to completely redo a bed he destroyed early in the spring, but I like to think it looks like I meant it to look just the way it does now.
We cleaned the sunroom area of our pool house awhile back, repotted plants desperate for it. And my should also be re-potted bromiliad threw out three gorgeous blooms.
A bird decided the potting bench BW made me for mother’s day would be a fine place for her nest. She gets very cranky if we get too close, so I guess I won’t be using it any time soon.
Weekends continue to focus on serious house cleaning, cooking and gardening. I’m learning different vegetarian dishes to make for Kayla. This past weekend, Spanish beans and rice–which BW also enjoyed.
The writing, the domestic work, the flowers, help keep me relatively sane during this long period of global In Between. Even for a hermit like me, this wears. And I know just how lucky I am to have this place where I can work outside, or just walk outside, where we’re safe. And I know my family is staying safe.
I hope all of you are staying relatively sane, and very safe. I hope you’re finding ways to connect with family and friends during this long In Between.
Eventually we’ll come out the other side. So mask up, wash your hands, and find something in your In Between that brings you joy.
Nora
Came back in to add a photo since there have been a couple of comments on the dragon. I take shots in Nora’s garden most years — just not 2020. Took the dragon photo last July after the summer signing.
Hmmm, I don’t know, Atticus looks a little sneaky to me and Parker appears to be innocent, but then I always fall for that.
Lovely flowers . . . the garden dragon is a must on my list.
We are staying safe, but I’m still working in the office. We have been cooking up a storm every week – so that means more exercising going on and more walks with Gabe, our 6 year old boxer/terrier. We sized down and moved to a 3rd floor apartment and the balcony is overflowing with plants this year. We have to do something to keep busy . . .that’s my excuse anyway. Take care and have a wonderful summer.
I had a mockingbird that liked to nest in snapdragons I was given for Mother’s Day one year. I enjoyed watching the best from the window.
Could you please tell me where the dragon in the big picture came from? My granddaughter adores dragons, and this might be a good birthday gift for her. Thanks!
It was a gift, so I don’t know. Plus it was a gift from about ten years ago! I think it came from somewhere down in Southern Maryland. He is a beauty!
I would love to see a photo of the whole dragon and love to get one for my hubby.
Added a full length photo to the end of the post.
Laura
This is a different dragon but just as cool!!
You’re right! I think I’m more attracted to this one. Will see if I can find another in the archives. ~Laura
Mine is identical. I also got mine several years ago. It came from Plow and Hearth. My solar ball (pearl of wisdom) bit the dust, then I lost it, and now I keep looking for something just the right size for replacement. This is an awesome dragon!
Nora, thanks to you and your wonderful gift of writing the best novels, I’m enjoying reading and rereading your books.
God bless you and keep you and your family safe.
Betty
Your garden seems large enough to always keep you busy. It’s fun to poke around the various pots with you. I always love seeing the dogs. They both look innocent to me. **snicker**
Parker the Perpetrator and Atticus the Innocent! I love that! 😁
Beautiful pictures and love hearing the stories
We’ve been plagued by deer this year too. I haven’t had a single lily bloom, and our mini rose bush, which we thought had died, but bloomed this year, have been stripped of every rose. My husband is plotting murder.
Liquid Fence works, I use it for Deer, have no problems.
The days seem to drag but then I look at the calendar and it’s July already! I’m bored but know we have to keep safe, so we endure. I love your dogs! They are the cutest!!! Stay safe and keep writing for us lovers of stories….
Definitely loved the “Snake! Snake! Copperhead! SHIT!!!!” – very precise and descriptive. I’ve a friend who’s claimed the new-found ability to teleport herself indoors whenever she comes across one of the red racers that seem to love her backyard. I finally got one of the nasturtiums big enough to sample some leaves in a salad – it was quite good! Why it survived our massive hailstorm, I’ll never know, but it was part of a trio of nasties and now it stands alone and is thriving. You never know. My bromeliad gave up the ghost after struggling five years and I never did get a bloom. I think maybe the climate here is too dry. Your multi-bloom is beautiful! Stay strong, stay healthy!
Some years ago I was picking cucumbers for pickling and a copperhead was curled up in the center of one plant. I picked up the hoe and made cucumber/copperhead salad.
Gardening is so wonderful – have also spent a lot of time working my gardens in this “in between” time. After our older dog passed, we are back to puppyhood again with a new rescue pup – forgetting how time consuming it can be My evening reading has also kept me going – thanks for sharing your wonderful stories with us They take me away to wherever the story is taking place and I forget all that is going on in the world for a little while Wishing you a safe and loving summer –
Thanks to your wonderful books keeping sane is easier.
I’m with you on the snakes they scare me to death. Love the garden and the bird nest…can’t wait to see what turns up…the boys look happy outdoors with you. Hope the “staying in” gets over soon. I’m ready for some road tripping..
Two days off? You deserve at least a week, I’m thinking! Your garden is beautiful. Snakes freak me out also. Years ago I was a nanny for a little boy who wanted to own a snake. He made a snap decision when I told him he couldn’t have a snake and me too…he wisely chose “Marshie”. Guess that means I’m a rung or two above a snake in a little boy’s mind.
Your flowers are beautiful!
I think you nailed it with Parker the Perpetrator and Atticus the Innocent. Parker with his head down looks decidely guilty and Atticus’s sweet face looks like an angel.
At our house, Bambi will eventually (when old enough) end up in our freezer. Venison is essentially a fat free, healthier alternative to beef. The beef industry just put a bounty on my head. (LOL) Venison Chili and Venison Parmasen are 2 favorites in my house.
Thank you, Nora, for your stories that transport us to another place! Can’t wait for the next book!!
Hi, Nora,
So happy to see an “in between” post. Your garden is looking lovely. The dogs look pretty innocent to me, but then I’m a sucker for a sad face. Glad you are staying safe.
As for me, your books are keeping me sane. I reread The Chesapeake Bay Saga, then read Hideaway which I loved. Now I’m rereading High Noon.
Take care, stay safe. Thanks again for the garden tour.
I know that this is small comfort on the loss of your lilies, but please know that even my parents’ landscaping pro of 40+ years can’t keep lilies safe from the deer in the suburbs of Louisville. Although he also loves lilies (as do I), he said he has not managed to discourage those 4-legged nuisances and just gave up on lilies in his own personal garden altogether. I think if there were a surefire way to guard against them, he would have found it by now.
This pandemic has tested the patience of even those among us who are homebodies. In the spirit of entertainment and sanity, I just keep my Kindle charged. My hubby can keep the remote in his grubby little hands and surf away. In the meantime, I can turn the pages as quickly as I want without having to consider anyone else’s needs!
Enjoy your garden escape, the fresh air, and stay safe!
Garden snakes I can deal with but not copperheads. I have taught, I hope, my baby grandkids to never mess with a “worm” that has a yellow tail. Baby copperheads have quite a nasty bite just like their parents and nothing to play with. Scares me even though copperheads are rare here, they are still here…
So looking forward to your next books. My niece was here over the Fourth and commented that I must sure like Nora Roberts and JD Robb since those books are all over the house! Thanks!
Here we are in the 90’s…so this fragile fleur is taking refuge in the AC!
Your bromeliad is splendid!
One of the things that is helping me stay ‘sane’ is reading your books again and again. Right now it’s “The Search” and I am in puppy love with Jaws! I also love Fiona and Simon and all the others. They make me laugh and cry (Hugh and his Wooby) and sigh with happiness. Thank you NR!!!!!
While replacing a few leggy plants in my window boxes, I stumbled across a nest as well. We had a torrential downpour the other night, so I thought it was just washed out gunk from the gutters. Lifting it up, I spotted the two little eggs nestled inside. Put it right back, hoping the parents come back. To keep critters out of pots, I use the plastic spike sheets (scat mats) that I cut to shape – maybe that would work? Or did Parker already figure them out?
Love the flowers. I have lots of tropical green things to look at but few flowers. I did not plan to be here long enough to be able to plant out pots and enjoy them. The pandemic emphatically changed our plans. I’m a homebody with lots of hobbies, but I’m also high risk so I have been staying home, for what seems like forever. Luckily my usual follow up dr visits were via the internet, which I quite like.
I knit and listen to the JD Robb books on Audible. I restarted the series (which I have done twice previously) and am really enjoying all the humor and fictional mayhem because the books manage a pretty happy ending, unlike current reality. Thank you for being so amazingly prolific, keeping a sense of humor, and being so astute and wise in what your characters have to say.
We have an ongoing battle with Bambi’s family and my husband has resorted to black plastic netting set up as a fence and “Liquid Fence” that we get from our local Ace hardware, it’s a concentrate you mix and spray. I wish I could send you pictures , the lilies are magnificent this year ! Thanks for sharing your days, be well and safe.
Love the garden photos. I have a black thumb 😁. In the Inn Boonsboros trilogy you had a DOG named Atticus. Was that to honor your DOG. Can’t wait for the next book.
Nora, Thsnk Youbfor the beautiful pictures! I live in an apartment in NYC, so they’re especially appreciated. I have to admit our super has a green thumb and besides taking care of the lush guards in front of the 2 buildings (we even have 2 little pools with fish and flowing water), the side of the corner property has trees and plants I cannot name, but do enjoy! Unfortunately, I have a mild case of COVID-19. I’m being treated at home. Taking my meds, using nebulizer, taking temperature and oxygen level, monitoring coughing, etc.,but means I can only see my daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law over ZOOM! As they get upset when I cough, I prefer texting. It’s very turing, painful disease, even a mild xase. Everything tastes nasty. Ginger Ale tastes like Apple Cider Vinegar, water tastes like bleach smells, chicken soup is horrible! I’m having food delivered (great thing about NYC, at least 25 restaurants in 4 Square blocks surrounding me), plus I cooked a lot when I started feeling unwell, and had been cooking since Safe-in-Place put in effect, so refrigerator
freezer is packed! My neighbors are all helpful, as well!
Please stay safe. Tell Laura to stay safe. Post pictures of ur grandchildren.
Have read Nora for years. Love her books. Just finished Hideaway. Another home run. I also have downsized. Have a few plants outside also pots. All are doing well. Need to put in some lilies. My tomato has produced 3 already from a pot. Glad you are having a break.
Thanks for the stories and pictures, love your gardens. Stay safe.
Some time ago I did not stop to read something … that was not important, but that relaxed my mind from the confusing and hard moments that I think we are all going through, no matter where in the world we are, no matter the color of our skin or what and who we believe in. A moment of escape that has transported me to a small private paradise, yours, and that you have graciously shared, as you do with your books. Keep it up, I think it is the best compliment anyone can do.
When I read “we’re going to need a bigger shovel” I heard “we going to need a bigger boat” from jaws. Made me giggle, the bigger boat, not the copperhead…
Ha ha we don’t have deer or snakes in New Zealand gardens. Some deer in the bush but you don’t see them anywhere close to here. My problem is rabbits they are the bane of my garden. Winter now and looking forward to spring.
Well I’m in the UK and back at work looking after children. It feels good to be back and I missed the productivity. My garden has been my sanctuary and its never a hardship to buy more pretties! I’m able to see my parents and i found it very hard not to be able to give hugs as we are tactile people. Cannot wait to get my hair cut lol!
Be safe peeps and thank you Nora for your bloody marvellous books as they are a blessing. Xx
I’m very much like you and tend to let animals rule my garden… I’ve given up the “perfect” garden a long time ago. Now I plant, water and everything and they enjoy it, plenty 🐦 🐾🐌🦋🐞 even pest control became an adventure in order to not bother the visitants 😉
I had an encounter with a snake this summer too… I not even want to learn its names, species… called husband (he’s working already, I am still working from home – dogs and animals at the garden are loving it 😉) and asked him to bring some mothballs so we disperse it around the garden (they say snakes hate the smell… guess what? so do I but preferable to this Jurassic Park meetings when watering the garden 🌱
Atticus does have inocent eyes 🐶 and so sweet. Mine (dogs) are getting old and no longer “help” 😀 around the garden.
Here in Portugal it will be a long In Between as Tourism doors are open and we expect a new wave on the infection after Summer. Yes please do stay safe. And Happy. And Centered 💖
Beautiful pictures! Great culling job, Laura! Parker does look guilty and who could resist Atticus’s innocent face! Nora, your garden is lovely, thank you for sharing. The last visit the deer made to my Dad’s, they couldn’t find a plant they liked to eat, so they just uprooted several plants instead. The only snakes we get are gardner snakes, but we have one or two black widows lurking about. I understand the getting stir crazy even though you have a hermit-like existence; I used to just pop down to the mall or the store to just browse or shop whenever I wanted, but with our current situation that is no longer possible. Stay in good cheer – this, too, shall pass.
The deer have laid waste to my Asiatic lilies. I even tried protecting them with tomato cages — nope! The deer just nudge the cages aside.
Let me join the chorus and just say that Dragon is magnificent! Has anyone named him/her?
I’ve had asthma all my life so am high risk for COVID-19. I have worked at home for years now but I have only left my house twice since February 25 both times for doctor visits. I know the only things that have saved my sanity are my work, my dogs, Nora’s books, and OnDemand TV. For this avid reader, the books are a blessing and thank the Lord I own every one including all the In death. Currently rereading “Memory in Death” and a new book “14 Miles: Building the Border Wall.” by DW Gibson. He tells an amazingly rich narrative of the wall, the border, San Diego history, and the immigration story that has dominated the local, national, and international news for the past several years it factual and honest which warms my liberal soul. It’s Taco Tuesday at our house and we’re going to rewatch Hamilton on Disney+ this evening. Thanks for the blog and for the gift of your stories Nora! Thanks, Laura for your videos, Facebook posts, and everything else!
Love the dragons and I am a bit in awe of people who have gardens like yours. I kill plants usually with very little effort. I’ve only ever had 4 or 5 plants in my almost 68 years that I managed to keep living more than 3 months. (I’m not counting azalea bushes, etc. just potted plants.) Our current house has a few flower beds but that is my husband’s area. Now that he can’t bend over to weed etc either (both have back issues) he hires it done. They do a lovely job!
What a magnificent bromiliad. I tried one, never got a single bloom, but i do very well w/all my other plants. When u say BW dispatched the snake, how? if he didn’t kill it, it can come back! And my hats off to you- i run inside when i see bees!
What a beautiful dragon. i’, glad you have your oasis to turn to. You need it after working so hard. It sounds like there isn’t a lazy bone in your body.
The copperhead won’t be coming back.
Garden looks great, I am a re-reader and during our time of isolation have re-read a lot of trilogy’s. Taking a break from them I am half way thru Obsession. A question, I know when you change publishers that some of your characters belong to that publisher. I would love some books on extended family of those you can still write about.
A couple of things to note. We were going to take a trip and stay at your inn, but then The Vid hit and that was that. So instead, I’m re-reading The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy and loving it all over again! And, what kind of bird nest has taken over your potting bench? I’ll live vicariously through you as my indoor kitty has become homicidal, sneaking out the dog doors and, well let’s just say that we had three bird feeders. We’ve since taken them down as it doesn’t seem fair to our feathered friends. Stay healthy and safe!
Nora, I agree with you about snakes! I hate them! Worms and bees are good, and I can deal with grubs but snakes no!! Your dogs do look kind of guilty, hopefully they will leave the gardens alone the rest of the year. I’ve got masses of hydrangeas going on now in my garden which are in a variety of color. Just finished reading River’s End which was excellent. Your books have been a life saver during this pandemic. I hope you and the family all stay well! Thank you for all the good reading!
Thanks for the update on your busy life. Spouse and I gave up veggie gardening years ago as the cost of water in our west Michigan town became prohibitive when coupled with our traditional dry hot summers. Silly me. I decided at the last minute to put in a small garden of just our favorites so now we are experiencing a heat wave with no rain in sight. I get up every morning at 6:30 to go out and hand water so I won’t lose my precious plants. Love your coleus grouping. I have some potted up and scattered on my shaded patio (also love the pot collection).
Thank you Nora for the glimpses of your beautiful garden and your guilty and not so guilty dogs. Glad you continue to stay safe and well. Your books continue to keep me sane and give me an escape during this so not normal time.
I have Hideaway up next (I’ve been hoarding it). Then it’s on to The Chesapeake Bay Saga, which I love to re-read during the summer.
try shaving Irish Spring soap and spreading that among the lilies. It has worked for me so far and doesn’t seem to harm the soil around it. Worth a try
Each fall I plant an assortment of spring bulbs in some of my ceramic planters. Mostly tulips and hyacinth, then I plant pansies across the top. 2 yrs running something ripped out the pansies, dug up and ate the bulbs. One yr while recovering from knee replacement I wobbled out with my cane and caught the culprit! A fat groundhog stood on his hind legs with his back to me propped up against my planter. Ripped up pansies lay scattered on the ground as he stuffed his face with my bulbs! I yelled at him to get away and the little shirt looked over his shoulder at me said “Meh”, kind of shrugged it’s shoulders then went back to munching. Forgot I had my cane & started looking for a switch. All I found was a 6 inch stick which I brandished while I yelled at it. We argued back & forth until my husband came out broke up the fight and told me to get inside before it got mad.
Thankyou Laura and Nora for the great garden pics The lil red wagon is precious. I do so like the dragon too! Thank you for this blog as I really enjoy it. You folks please take care and enjoy the rest of summer!
Being InBetween since March has taken a heavy toll on all of us. Like Nora, I am a homebody, an almost hermit. But the solitude is wearing thin. I am a high risk Septuagenarian and miss hugging my daughter and family. I did get to see my grandson (26 and living in AZ) last week after 3 trips home were COVID canceled. We got to meet his “serious” girl and found her lovely and well suited to him. Virtual hugs are not very satisfactory. I am passing the time reading, but have only limited funds and find my library wait list is long. I still haven’t read Hideaway and it looks like another 3 months on hold.
Love your gardens. All the beautiful potted flowers. I also really love your dragons and other garden accessories. So pretty. Glad you got to get some gardening done. The snake sighting is pretty darn scary. Thank goodness for BW.
Having run into a Copperhead in Potomac I understand the “Shit” comment.
I love your garden and only wish I had your space but with my own little patch of dirt I am growing 2 types of tomatoes lots of basil 🌿 I can’t wait to make a batch of pesto trying to grow squash and thyme and rosemary and I have a beautiful Hibiscus 🌺 that is blooming pretty pink flowers constantly. Now I am going back to being read HIDEAWAY I can’t wait for the next IN Death book!
Cooking, baking, and gardening are my go-to In Betweens in the best of times. And lots of reading. But, wow, my writing is dead in the water these days. Too much COVID distraction. I’m grateful that you can continue wording.
We don’t have deer around my neighborhood but we do have iguana and they love plants and flowers. They can wipe out a whole garden area in a couple of days. Your gardens are gorgeous. I love all the planters.
A new book and another in the way! That’s a big help in getting through this global in-between. I remote work, work in the yard, do little projects around the house, and crochet a LOT. Blankets, hats, grocery bags, mask holders, baby Yodas 😊 , and my latest, a llama.
I am a huge dragon fan, and yours is beautiful! He has a great home in that fantastic garden, wish I had a spot to have one. Sending a huge thank you for the pictures and for your books. We are all suffering a bit these last few months, but reading has always been my escape from reality and I am so glad I have plenty of books to keep me going. Stay safe, happy and healthy everyone.
My husband and I are avid readers as well as homebodies. The one thing we have found most difficult about this lockdown is that we can’t go to our library. Here in Michigan, many things are still locked down. My husband is a high-risk person with Asthma, COPD, and Asbestosis, so we’re being careful. We’re fortunate to live in a rural area where extreme social distancing is the norm anyway.
I’m not typically someone who re-reads books, but as I finished the 27 library books I checked out months ago, I have been going through our home library and enjoying visiting old friends like the “Chronicles of the One” trilogy, the “Born In” trilogy, the “Cousins O’Dwyer”, the “Circle Trilogy” and others. I’ve begun re-reading the JD Robb books, though I don’t have about 1/4 of them. I’m not sure how I missed collecting those.
Having 3 large dogs here on our farm seems to be keeping the deer at bay. At least so far this year. The deer are more than welcome in our hayfields and at the pond, but we’ve replaced too many dwarf fruit trees they’ve damaged over the last few years, even those which are inside fencing. I have shiny and glittery pinwheels from the dollar store throughout my veggie and flower garden, and that’s working well as long as I remember to relocate them every few days.
What we’re REALLY having trouble with this year is a bear. We’re having to get creative about storing our horse feed, and have stopped filling bird feeders – though s/he has destroyed several beyond refilling anyway.
Hope everyone is being careful and staying safe in these challenging times!
I use those pinwheels also! Helps with keeping rabbits away.
Thank you for writing the books which have helped keep me relatively sane while hunkering down at home. Your flowers are gorgeous. Have you tried sprinkling hair around the plants to keep deer away? My friend is a barber so he brings hair clippings home and scatters them through the flower and vegetable gardens. It is very effective since th ey never have problems with wildlife which is very plentiful in our area.
I’m currently rereading the Born In trilogy. I love Maggie. I think we could be friends or at least cordial acquaintances. I’m adding a new occupation to my days-transcribing documents from the Smithsonian as a virtual volunteer. It’s pretty cool since you can work at for very short periods of time of most of the day. I want to feel like I’m doing more than taking up space while I am home.
Take care. You, BW, Laura and the rest of the gang stay safe.
I’m 81 and a little on the poor side. However I have a wonderful and beautiful Granddaughter that makes sure I get your books as soon as they come out. Love your books and hope I get to keep reading them as long as I can. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing photos from your lovely garden. I also have an unreasonable fear of snakes and while I was pulling some overgrown ivy out of the back yard today, I was keeping a very watchful eye out for one. Fortunately no slithering critters today just a sneaky golden retriever who kept sneaking up on me.
I look forward to reading whatever you just finished! Your books are ones I read over and over!
Love the dragon and the bromiliad. What is the one after that and after the potting benche nest called? It too is lovely. I think I had one in my apartment before an plague of mealy bugs killed everything, Not that full though, but I really loved it. When one of my cats was still a kitten he used to sleep in it.
That’s coleus.
Love the dragon and the bromiliad. What is the one after that and after the potting bench nest called? It too is lovely. I think I had one in my apartment before a plague of mealy bugs killed everything, Not that full though, but I really loved it. When one of my cats was still a kitten he used to sleep in it.
Love, love, love the dragon! And all the glorious blooming going on. I’m definitely incapable of dealing with plants of any type (they never survive around me) so I enjoy other folks’ gardens vicariously. And I’ll stay up north, I think. Couldn’t handle copperheads. I’ve also got a visceral fear of those poisonous ropes.
Didn’t know how much I needed to read this until I did. Thank you.
Living in a condo now, I have only a couple of plants left from my late mom that I have not killed (yet). Love seeing your garden. so peaceful.
We had a deer issue one year at my parents house in suburban Chicago. My Dad was on his last months, battling terminal prostate cancer. With the weight loss and lack of sleep he had been having what I like to call waking daydreams or mild hallucinations. The last one was some people from University of Chicago were coming to show him how to grow better potatoes. Heartbreaking when you know it isn’t true.
Anyway, I came down one morning, and he said 3 deer were in the neighbors yard eyeing our garden. I could see nothing, but there was an area of tall grasses, so I walked outside, just to make sure, but I thought it wasn’t really happening. I was startled by 3 deer peaking around the grasses eyeing both the fence, grasses and flowers! How, they got there past all our busy roads, I’ll never know, but they went away when I yelled and barked at them. Could have used your dogs! Needless to say, this time it was definitely REAL DEER. Only time we had a deer problem in over 50 years in this town.
Keep up the good work until you get tired of it, which I hope is a long time from now. I really enjoy your books.
I have a junco nest in my fuchsia plant. So exciting!
My God, that Nora Roberts woman is endearing. She is clearly very feisty and stubborn and occasionally cranky but somehow it’s all just so charming. I don’t even read her books that much — I just love the blog!
You need to read her books!!! I’ve been reading for 30+ years and can’t get enough!
Rereading your older series. Really enjoyed Born In …. Maggie was such a refreshing character! In these days of independent publishing there are so many great stories, unfortunately not as many great storytellers. You continue to stand out in that regard. As to gardening, I am lucky to live in Florida where you can literally stick a branch in the ground and watch it turn into a tree. However, I tried putting in a food garden during covid and had it stripped to the ground by the cutest little bunny. Thumper had thumperettes and I will have to strategize if I want to grow anything remotely edible.
I also battle the deer every year. I thought dogs automatically kept them away!! I’ve recently seen in catalogs that it’s not “deer-resistant” but “deer generally don’t touch”!! They eventually try everything!! I don’t know how you can give up your lilies!! We protect the lily garden with deer netting. Not pretty but at least I get the flowers – unless the red Asian lily beetle get them!! We managed to put in a pickle ball court at the top of our driveway so I’ve really enjoyed people coming over and commenting on the gardens. It’s very rewarding during this awful time! Stay safe!
I enjoy your posts, thank you. We also have trouble with the deer eating everything. They even ate the rhubarb this year. We’ve about decided to just enjoy the deer. We have 2 sets of twin fawns in the yard this year and 2 single babies. They are very cute now but I know my yard will suffer even more as they grow.
Thanks again for your posts.
Rose