Mockingbird Hill Cottage

It’s already Friday. The weeks seem to fly by.

The mornings are much cooler now. I’m sitting in my chair covered by a throw.

Both Don and I saw butterflies that had just emerged from chrysalis last week. Don watched a young Monarch fly and rest, and then fly and rest. The next day I observed a newly emerged Great Spangled Fritillary doing the same thing on the front lawn. It’s such an honor to witness that. New life, instinctively flying, but still needing rest. Drying their wings. And all this being done solo, without any assistance from a mom or dad.

Yesterday, however, I was outside and I saw a dead bird on the driveway right behind our car. It was a sparrow. I come across dead birds on our property, but only rarely. So when I see one, it’s a shock. I blessed him and buried him up in the woods, marking his grave with a rock. That sadness stayed with me all day.

We’ve had a couple of very windy days, so the ground is covered in leaves. I don’t want the trees to shed their leaves too quickly.

I’m almost finished with my puzzle – should finish it later this morning. I’ll take a picture of it when it’s finished. It’s been challenging and quite fun!

Today and tomorrow, I am going to finish reading Ransom, as it’s due on Sunday. Then I’ll go back to I Capture the Castle, which I had to put down when Ransom  arrived a my local library.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Late afternoon sun hitting the limelights. They’re really beautiful this year.

Monday and Tuesday nights were very cold. Last night we had a frost advisory, so I hauled the porch plants to the shed. Usually, I bring them inside. But someone local (online) was putting her plants inside her garage for the night and I suddenly thought: the shed is our version of a garage. Why not?  So, except for a couple that are in pots that are too heavy to move, every little porch plant spent the night inside the shed.

This happens here every early October. We think it’s still warm but we have to deal with an unexpected frost. I still have zinnias about to bloom, so I’ll have to see if they’re still with us. This is the same time that my almost-ready-to-bloom morning glories would be hit by a frost and die on the vine. That’s why I didn’t plant any this year – too many years of disappointment.

The heat kicked on early this morning. We’ll soon have to bite the bullet and buy heating oil. I shudder to think what it will cost this year. The thermostat is going to be set at a lower temperature this winter.

My schefflera is coming back. This is the plant that dropped all of its leaves a couple of months ago. I thought it was a goner, but lo and behold, little tiny leaves have been forming – slowly but surely.

I’m working on my jigsaw puzzle – yesterday, I was completely immersed in it. My sanity says thank you.

Today, we grocery shop as we are out of almost everything. Next week, we get vaccinated for Covid and the flu.

Nothing new on the Beacon Hill. I have to sit down in the studio and cut baseboard molding, but the puzzle is more interesting than the baseboards, so it’s been winning the attention contest.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.