Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Late Summer Activity in the Wildflowers

September 16, 2026 at 9:10 am by Claudia

There are bees everywhere right now, especially down near the edge of our property, where there are many wildflowers, including goldenrod, asters, New England asters, etc. They love these flowers. Next year, I need to do a better job of controlling the area in which they bloom, but I’d never get rid of them. They’re beautiful and a such a gift in the fall, when so many other flowers have faded. Mother Nature clearly thought this one out, “These people need a bit of color this late in the season. I know…some late blooming wildflowers!”

There are more and more leaves falling everywhere on the property. The maple and black walnut leaves are always the first to drop. It’s shocking to me how quickly everything has changed around here! Soon, we’ll be raking and cleaning those gutters.

This is the time I pretty much give up. Leaves are covering chunks of the garden beds, as well as the porch floor, the driveway and the funky patio. There’s nothing I can do about it, so I have to let go of what was and embrace what is.

Nothing happening on the dollhouse at the moment. I’m waiting for the bathroom wallpaper to arrive. And I’m not motivated to paint and measure baseboards.

Some of you are squeamish about bugs. I am not. I’m fascinated by them and I routinely rescue spiders and flies and bugs that have somehow got inside our house and need help. Don also does this. I’ve trained him.

This next photo is one of my favorite spiders ever: the yellow garden spider, or orb weaver, They’re quite big and, to me, quite beautiful. They’re also very docile.

I look for them every year at this time, and they’re nearly always in amongst the fall wildflowers. I was particularly interested in this one because I disturbed their web the other day when I was pulling the invasive weeds. Not once, but twice. I felt so badly about that. I wanted to make sure they were alive and well. They can weave a new web very quickly, and sure enough, here it is. The web always has a very distinctive zigzag stitch. You can see it directly above and below the orb weaver.

I check in on them every day.

Okay. Time for more coffee.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

The New Normal

September 14, 2026 at 9:23 am by Claudia

I did a LOT of work outside last week – weed whacking, mowing the front lawn, yanking out lots of invasive plants. I had decided to take it easy on Saturday, but of course, I saw those invasive plants and I couldn’t ignore them. By Saturday afternoon, I knew I had to stop. My arms were sore, my legs were sore, and I was exhausted. Yesterday, we both took it easy and we’re going to do it again today.

We had a long conversation on Friday about the changes in our lives due to age. We just can’t do the things we used to do. Well, we can, but we tire out much more quickly and our bodies complain much more loudly. I hate that. I’ll admit it, I get angry and frustrated with these new limitations, most of which have hit us in the last couple of years. But I cannot deny the facts. We’re in our seventies and attaining septuagenarian status comes with new restrictions.

I napped yesterday, fell asleep during a god-awful movie last night, and slept in today. I’ll play around with the dollhouse today, write this blog, and that’s about it.

Speaking of the dollhouse: I won this table on a eBay auction. It was made by Bespaq, a high-end miniature company that is no longer in business. I have a few Bespaq pieces; the art deco chairs in the living room, the chaise longue in the bedroom.

And this:

This drop leaf table.

Isn’t it lovely?

It is now in the kitchen, where the owners can open up one leaf and sit down for a bite to eat. Or, the owners can move it into the large entrance hallway, fully open it, and have dinner parties.

It is now sitting underneath a cupboard that I made the other day.