Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Happy Birthday

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Today is my youngest sister’s birthday. She is 11 years younger than I am. We are best of friends with a closeness that we treasure. She is a wonderful person: kind, funny, compassionate, loving, a talented knitter (she taught me), a great decorator, a fantastic mom and wife, a wonderful occupational therapist – the list goes on and on.

She and I can fall down laughing (literally). We can talk for hours about anything. I don’t know what I would do without her. We can confide in each other and know there will be no judgement, only love. That is very, very precious. Everyone loves her.

So Happy Birthday little sister. I love you.

Our paper towel holder

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Thought I’d share a picture or two of our unique paper towel holder. We got this at a local auction right after we moved here. We were attracted to the graphics, it was only $20, and we figured we would come up with something to do with it. Its previous existence was a store display for chains. After staring at it, I thought we could cut some dowels and insert them in the slots on the sides and ta da! We had a paper towel holder.


Its a bit funky, but we love old signs and graphics – and we always have plenty of paper towels on hand!

Have a great day!

What’s happening in the garden

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I have a fairly new garden. We’ve lived here slightly less than 3 years. When we moved in there were very few plants established. Of course, the peonies were here and some lovely hostas. But, that was about it. We fell in love with the 4 beautiful trees in the front yard: a shag hickory, a weeping willow, a sugar maple and a catalpa. I also saw the potential for a garden, but didn’t do any planting until the following summer. Since then, its been trial and error in this rocky soil. Some things do well, others don’t. I tend to stick to perennials which means I have to be patient until they get established. I’ve been trying roses, with limited success. The bugs certainly seem to like them. Some scenes from the garden:

These are my rose bushes. The yellow rose is the Julia Child rose and it has a licorice-like scent. The deep pink is Lady Elsie May. I’m pleased that it has really taken off this year.

A close up of the Julia Child rose

A view of the shed


One of the shed window boxes

A close-up of a Lady Elsie May rose

My creeping geraniums


Coreopsis

Hostas, sedum and day lilies

One of my potted arrangements on the porch

I will post more photos as the summer progresses. I missed the blooms on the Catalpa tree – they appeared and disappeared when I was away. If you’ve never seen a blooming Catalpa, you must. It is a glorious sight – snowy, fragrant white blooms all over the tree. They only last for a week or two and I think the heat this year shortened their bloom time. We have three Catalpas; one in the front yard and two up in the wooded portion of the property.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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