Month: August 2022

Leaving August Behind #weekendcoffeeshare

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld
Common Evening Primrose

The end of August is fast approaching, and I am sorry to leave it behind. This week saw the clearing of the garden plots, with the exception of my fenced-in chives garden. The seeds from this year’s flowers have been carried away with dead branches and fading flowers. Next week I must order some more wildflowers seeds, looking toward next spring’s planting. I have hopes of tending the garden better, as I am feeling much better and getting my allergies under better control.

I would have hoped that we could sit in the sun and visit, but time has gotten away from me. We must settle for indoors. There is fresh tea, if you would like some, as well as the makings for a couple cups of Toddy coffee. Al overbought for his camping trip, and so there’s a lot of different cheeses to sample.

This week, finally, I am getting back to work on my “Quietude and Tea” WordPress blog. I will miss daily outings with my camera, but as the temperatures begin to drop along with the autumn rain, I am finding myself hungry for writing and for new directions in non-recreational reading material before the snow arrives.

I hate to think about getting out and about, even though it’s for dental appointments and the Scampers’ grooming appointment. I will welcome the return of the online Zoom editions of Poetry Heals on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. As the climate changes and continuing COVID-19 outbreaks continue, it’s important to me to find outlets for tension and enjoy heavy sprinklings of humor. Speaking of which, I am planning to use National Novel Writing Month (November) for the self-challenge of writing and posting at least one poem for each day. I am now contemplating several possible themes for those thirty days of writing.

Looking back over the decades, it seems to me that Novembers have been troublesome in general and in particulars. Don’t suppose that “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” would be an appropriate theme…

My thanks to Natalie “the Explorer” for so ably hosting Weekend Coffee Share each week (Loving Life in August 2022).

Hugs & best wishes,
Lizl

Cool breeze, raindrops, thunder #WeekendCoffeeShare

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld
Charlie

Welcome! I am happy that you’ve stopped by for a visit, today. Grab a cup of coffee or what you will. What’s happening? Here, the weather has been iffy, and ragweed season is in full force. The scattered rain showers help clear the air a bit, though.

Al is shopping, and I am waiting for an order to arrive this afternoon– electronics for one of his projects. I got some photos of raindrops. I must remember where I left the photo flash drives, so that I can add a few pictures from Thursday.

.

I participated in Ronovan Writes Poetry challenges, this week: a haiku for Monday and a sijo for Wednesday: Wild umbrellas| Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 423 and Different Paths | Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Poetry Challenge #23. I also went back for the sijo challenge prompt for the previous week.

Our older (by 3 days) Cocker spaniel, Charlie, took his turn with the vet for tooth extractions and a cleaning on Wednesday. Threw off everyone’s sleeping schedule. Both of them are currently enjoying canned beef stew with gravy, not wanting Thaddeus to be left out of the feast during Charlie’s recuperation. A couple weeks before they both return to dry food.

With the new mixture of allergens at this time of year and my spending much time in the backyard and barefoot, I think I’ve got hives on my legs, now. Contact dermatitis, I suspect. Or allergic dermatitis. Or both.

I read Modesitt’s Councilor for the third time and have gone on to others in my to-be-read list before the third novel (Contrarian?) in 2023. Mercedes Lackey’s next is the one that I wait for with anticipation. That novel that is coming out toward the end of this year.

Theoretically, Saturday and Sunday the grass will be dry enough for mowing the lawn. Hoping that we can get down another application of grass seed rooted during the rainy spell to crowd out more of the weeds, like happened earlier in the summer.

The usual weekend Zoom get-togethers on Saturday afternoon and Sunday over the meeting for worship, social time, and then meeting for worship with a concern for business, also via Zoom. (The Scampers get long naps on my lap, on Sundays.)

Best wishes for you this weekend and the coming week!

Hugs & much love,
Lizl

P.S. Our host Natalie’s weekend coffee share post for this week can be found here: Postcard from St. John’s.

August weather and flowers #weekendcoffeeshare

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld

If we were having coffee together, I would show you pictures of my changing flowerbeds and their inhabitants. Many of the normal insects from the back yard are scarce and scattered. But more are emerging as the season progresses. After the heat, rainstorms, and winds have modified, the days have been cooler with low temps at night, often in the 50s (F) and accompanied overnight by rain. Not much ragweed, yet.

Welcome! As the summer wanes and the allergy index climbs towards the upper echelons of discomfort, Toddy coffee and filtered water are the beverages of the day and evening. Gluten-free crackers, cheese, and mixed nuts are what’s left of the snacky things.

Continue reading “August weather and flowers #weekendcoffeeshare” →

From my archives: 2014

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld

Prompt: The first sentence of a spam email.–“I’d been stuck found in the big apple in the course of every one of the environments.”

“Stuck in a Big Apple”
by Lizl Bennefeld

Stuck in a big apple,
gnawing my way toward
warm skin, a way out
into a broader world than this.
A world with light and movement
beyond the muffled sounds
of solitary chewing
in the core of my cradle,
this sweet prison.

Copyright © 2014-10-28, Lizl Bennefeld. All rights reserved).