Friday, October 6, 2017

polyphemous moth

Found this giant cocoon in my impatiens. Deciding whether to bring it in. I had Dilly the swallowtail butterfly -to -be inside for 6 weeks before I kept it outside. I assume he died

View from my cabana

Steve's mom turned 93  the other day

back to collecting. Cute oil painting

another doll for my folk doll wall

And my first pepper. I think it is an ancho pepper. Butternut squash will soon be converted to soup
Downy woodpeckers are coming back (see photo behind squash)

Time marches on. Days are getting shorter and shorter. As the sun set last night, I took Ms, Maya for a bike ride. Going through all the cul-de-sacs of our neighborhood is 1.4 miles. Despite the seat being too low, she kept up a good pace. She is a strong little girl. This has been an uneventful week. I did not see any friends though I talked to a few on the phone. I continue to exercise every day. I did a thrift shop run and got the cutest suede jacket. Steve was able to meet his new doctor and get Lyrica for his neuropathic pain. The rash itself has mostly healed. I've been reading the Goldfinch during the day and listening to podcasts at night. I am up to 54% competency in my Spanish lessons. Do I need the future imperfect or subjunctive tenses? Probably not. Just hoping that the Catalonians aren't battling the Spaniards while we are there.



3 comments:

Sandi said...

What program are you using to learn Spanish?

“Just hoping that the Catalonians aren't battling the Spaniards while we are there.”

Isn’t that a shocking turn of events? I had never heard of Catalonia until just recently. Who knew they wanted to be their own country? I am not sure I understand why this is happening.Actually, I don’t. At all! Do you?

Elephant's Child said...

I will be interested to hear what you think of Goldfinch. I thought it would have benefited from some more vigorous editing.
Love that you continue to exercise.

Sue in Italia/In the Land Of Cancer said...

Sandi, I am using Duolingo, a free app for my phone. They have about ten other languages too which I might use after my trips. To keep it free, you have to look at advertisements. It is fun though doesn't explain why the grammar is like it is. I knew some of the grammar already from tutoring Naomi but tried to erase the language from my mind as it interfered with my Italian. Fortunately the grammar is a bit simpler than that of Italian.

Catalonia was a country years ago which included parts of southern France and had its own language. Franco banned the speaking of Catalan but now the region is semi-independent and all the signs are in Catalan. It contains a lot of the wealth of Spain and feels like it is supporting the rest of the country. There seems to be no love lost between them. Years ago, I met a Spaniard on a train who asked if I ever had been in Spain before. I said I had been in Barcelona. That's not Spain! I was told. Two thirds of our time will be spent in 'real Spain' but I was most looking forward to Barcelona where I have been twice before but didn't see everything. Steve has never been to Spain and wants to see it for our anniversary.

My Spanish should come in handy when I go this winter to Costa Rica with a friend to bird watch.

So far EC I am enjoying The Goldfinch. Half way through. I used to read a lot during my sleepless nights but have switched to listening to podcasts which does not disturb Steve

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