Lily of the day/July 14

Two Sunday Strolls/July 12

You may visit Aisling's blog to see who else did some strolling yesterday.




The first Sunday Stroll actually took place on Saturday evening, and indeed takes place every day the weather is good. In the morning the animals make a trek from their home pasture, the south pasture where the barn is, across the road to the north pasture. In the evening they come back; they like to be in the barn at night. This Sunday Stroll was Tom's idea, and they are his photos.

Lining up at the north pasture gate 5 pm Saturday

Coming through

Stopping for a snack

Heading across the road (not a main road; essentially 'ours' though the town maintains it)

Stopping for a snack on the other side before heading into the south pasture

On the way to their barn

The second Sunday Stroll is also a 'further afield' entry (other f.a. posts on the sidebar under letter topics). We traveled to New London, New Hampshire to stroll among the gnus.

gnu |n(y)oō|
noun
a large dark antelope with a long head, a beard and mane, and a sloping back. Also called wildebeest . • Genus Connochaetes, familyBovidae: two species, in particular the abundant brindled gnu or blue wildebeest ( C. taurinus).
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from Khoikhoi and San, perhaps imitative of the sound made by the animal when alarmed.

Please do read the link to find out what this is all about. These works of art are beautiful and creatively named. They are all along the streets of this lovely town. Here are a few examples of the over twenty gnus we visited. I've put the sign first and then the gnu.

Yes, THE Tomie de Paola!

Lily of the day/July 13

Lily of the day/July 12

Years ago I ordered a 'pink collection' from White Flower Farm, and this beauty was one of them.

Progress Report/Mission Accomplished

It has now been six months, and eleven days into the seventh month since I have entered a library or bought a book. Last night I realized I have accomplished my goal to read my own books. I am quite surprised. When I wrote my progress report on the first third of the year, I thought I had plenty to last me until January. But no. I still have a lot of books on the shelves, but they are mostly nonfiction. I'm just not so interested in reading biographies or histories these days. I want a good story, and I own only a very few which I haven't read: a couple Miss Reads, one Laurie Colwin, and some Barbara Pym. The other fiction books are those which are waiting for Tom.

Thus, I announce that today I visited a library and borrowed Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith, and am happily spending time with Mma Ramotswe in Africa.

Housework/Tale of the couchless living room

Have you ever made a big purchase and afterward regretted it? This is the case with my couch. Years ago, we were in need of a new one. It was the only one in the store that was vaguely suitable, and so we bought it. My children think it is the best couch in the world. Tom seems to be able to take naps on it just fine. But I don't even sit on it. I find it uncomfortable. I hate the foamy, boing-boing cushions. Plus, I didn't like where it was in the living room. I thought it made the whole corner crowded. I couldn't really have a coffee table in front of it because it was even more crowded that way.

So the other day I had a brainstorm. What if we removed the couch from the living room? Neither of our kids is in a position to take it right now, but there was some room in the study, so we hauled it in. That's what the kitties in the blog header are lying on. They too seem to think it is great.

I then arranged the chairs in the living room to form a little visiting/watching television area. I brought in the big plant for the corner. The couch used to be on the far wall and filled the whole space. Taking very little time, and just a little work, my living room is utterly transformed and I love it.

Lily of the day/July 10

During the summer, for a couple years now, I've been offering a daily 'bowl of daylilies.' There are 38 pictures which you may find under 'letter topics' on the sidebar. This year I've decided to do something a little different. I'm going to take a picture of a different daylily each day. I don't know the botanical names, so if you see one you know, please feel free to leave me a comment.

Today's is the common, but uncommonly beautiful, orange daylily.

Mrs Bale spoke too soon

Almost as soon as I posted that we weren't getting the rain that the rest of New England was inundated with, it began raining nearly every day. We haven't had to water the garden at all. Most days it has been cloudy and rainy, but yesterday we had a beautiful, warm sunny day until early evening when we had a deluge of rain: 1 1/2 inches in an hour. For quite a while it was raining through the bright sunshine, but gradually the sun disappeared. And strangely, there was only a hint of a rainbow.

You can see the raindrops against the bark of the locust tree. The sun is still shining.

Wouldn't you swear this was in some tropical jungle?! Sun is gone.

And this morning all is bright and clear again. I love weather.

Tulpan

Tulpan is the name of an unattainable girl we never see. The film begins with Asa, a young man fresh out of the naval service, meeting with her parents, hoping to convince them of his merit. He tells them amazing stories of the ocean while the girl peeks in through a curtained doorway. She is not impressed. She thinks his ears are too big. They do stick out somewhat but are not overly huge. He takes to wearing a cloth strap around his head trying to flatten them. After a couple visits, the parents make it very clear to him that she does not want to marry him. Still he perseveres; talking to her through a door when he thinks she is in a shed. (She isn't - but there is a sweet listening goat).

The man is living with his sister and her family in a yurt

a circular tent of felt or skins on a collapsible framework, used by nomads in Mongolia, Siberia, and Turkey.

on a Kazakhstan steppe.

a republic in central Asia, south of Russia, that extends east from the Caspian Sea to the Altai Mountains and China; population 15,143,000; capital, Astana; languages, Kazakh (official) and Russian. The Turkic tribes of Kazakhstan were overrun by the Mongols in the 13th century, and the region was eventually absorbed into the Russian empire. Kazakhstan formed a constituent republic of the Soviet Union and became an independent republic within the Commonwealth of Independent States in 1991.

They are nomads who pick up their house and leave when the time comes.


The children in the family are each very much individuals. The only girl sings and sings and sings. The older boy listens to the radio news and repeats it verbatim to his father. The little boy, maybe three years old, rides his wooden horse around and around, getting into little boy trouble while being utterly adorable. The life is very earthy and naturalistic. The father works hard as a shepherd, battling strong winds which stir up incredible dust and dealing with the troubles that come with such a job. Lately lambs have been dying, and he is told it is because the mothers are starving. We see there are only tufts of grass on the steppe - no real forage to speak of.

Asa loves this life deeply. In fact, the movie viewer is pretty sure the only reason he really wants to marry is because a man who does such work must have a helpmate to do the cooking and to keep the home.

Oh my goodness I loved this movie. Everything in it was a revelation to me: the life, the locale, the camels, the language. I felt like I was being allowed into the life of these people. It is not a documentary but felt like it in some places. This is natural because the director, Sergei Dvortsevoy, makes documentaries. There is an amazing sequence of a lamb being born. This is a huge event in the movie because of the way lambs have been dying. It is so important that there be new life in the flock. Yet, the movie is also very enjoyable as just a regular movie about people. There is a humorous character, a friend of Asa's, who is wild about modern life (and women) and wants to move to the city. We see the difficult yet very close-knit life of the family. Their home is one big room where all facets of life occur. This is a truly wonderful movie. You may watch a trailer, and learn more about the movie here. It comes out on dvd in September.

Today's picture/Snakes on the Fourth of July