Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Day Three Hundred Eighty-Six

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Sun.

And a bit warmer. It went down to 23 degrees  last night.

I am ready for warmer spring weather. For buying seeds and potting plants. For clearing out the garden beds – but now you understand why I don’t do that until at least mid-April,  all those plants would have lost the protection of the leaf mulch if I had done it earlier.

I’m hoping the yet-to-open daffodil buds are okay.

This puzzle has been slow going. I put the bottom edge pieces together, but haven’t done that for the other three sides. Instead, I decided to assemble the flowers and leaves. I’ll fill in the rest of the pieces after I finish the leaves on the flowers in the upper right hand corner.

John Derian posted today that he has three new puzzles coming out! If you remember, I assembled that old map of Manhattan and the butterflies – both of which were Derian puzzles. I love his style, his sensibility, and his love of old images.

A couple of questions for you:

We ordered some new face masks today and I also want to order some disposable medical grade masks, as recommended for double masking by the CDC – but it’s hard to know which are the best or are from legitimate sellers. Do any of you have suggestions? Do you have a medical grade mask (doesn’t need to be N95, just a medical mask) that you would recommend?

I was informed by USPS that I have a package coming to my post office box. Since I didn’t order anything, if you’re the sender can you let me know? I’m wary of just stopping in to our little post office (only because of COVID) and it helps me to know if there is a specific sender. Then I’m more likely to go pick it up. Hope that makes sense.

I was still quite tired yesterday, but I slept a long time last night and feel better today. Don is feeling better today, too. Our reactions were quite mild, so we’re not complaining!

It feels so good to know that we’re fully vaccinated. That, combined, with the onset of gardening and outdoor work and sitting on the porch – all of that will be coming soon – feels like a big light at the end of the tunnel.

In the meantime, I’ve been watching Gardeners’ World on BritBox. It’s good for my soul.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Day Three Hundred Eighty-Five

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I was a little late getting them out but here they are. They really work beautifully with the Fiesta compote. I can see myself sitting at the round table in my housing in San Diego (I was working away from home for 6 months) cutting and then sewing them on my friend Ingrid’s vintage Singer Featherweight. It had belonged to her grandmother. She generously let me borrow it so I could make a quilt while I was away from home. My experience with that wonderful little machine led me to search for, and eventually find, my very own Featherweight. I found it in a local antique shop.

These little eggs are full of memories.

Later in the day yesterday, Don starting feeling achey and tired. Every muscle was sore. So he did have a reaction to the vaccine. He’s fine today. I was quite lucky and only had a sore arm and some fatigue. I felt very fatigued with the first dose, as well.

I ordered this little item for the fun of it. It was in the Etsy shop of Tiny Doll House NYC.

A miniature bust of Queen Victoria. The owners of the shop found it at The Kensington Dollhouse Show in London – the big miniature show in England. (How I’d love to attend it someday!) I thought it would be fun to find a place for it in the English Cottage. I’m not sure where, but I’ll figure it out.

I started reading The Shell Seekers  last night. You know that you can relax and just let the words pour over you when you’re reading Rosamunde Pilcher. It’s pure pleasure.

I’m plugging away – slowly – on the puzzle. It’s a botanical chart and the hardest parts are the many leaves and stems that are somewhat similar from plant to plant. I can only do a bit at a time before I want to tear my hair out. I’ll finish it, rest assured.

I’m anxious to get outside and work, but the temps went down to the mid-twenties last night and the same will happen tonight. It’s too cold out there. Hopefully, I can start doing some outside chores next week.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Day Three Hundred Eighty-Four

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We are now fully vaccinated, save for a two week period that will end on April 14th. I have to say that Walgreens does a good job of it, very gentle, efficient, and there are no crowds. Also, everyone in the store was masked and keeping a good social distance. Don went first and then me. We were very happy to have it done but the actual shot was sort of anticlimactic – a tiny prick and it was done. It wasn’t until I had been home for a bit and took a nap (I was tired) that I realized upon waking how enormous this was. After a year – 54 weeks to be exact – we were finally vaccinated. A whole year. And then I thought about the over 500,000 Americans who were not so fortunate, who were taken from us before a vaccine was available. It’s heartbreaking. As I said to Vicki in yesterday’s comments, I am humbled by the enormity of what yesterday means to us and by the incalculable loss of life in the past year – all those who weren’t so fortunate.

We had some sparkling cider on hand and we toasted each other in the evening, stopping to remember all those lost, especially my colleague Terrence McNally and the late, great John Prine.

As of this morning, the only side effect I have is a sore arm. Same with Don.

More egg cups, this time on the folk art shelf in the den: a gentleman egg cup (they were usually sold in a pair and the heads were salt and pepper shakers,) a red transferware cup, a little egg and cherub, a goose egg cup from France (found here in the States,) Humpty Dumpty with a hand painted egg from Prague, two wooden egg cups with salt and pepper egg tops (sent by a reader of the blog,) and a glass egg cup I found a couple of years ago. And my little family of wooden ducks in the foreground. The shelf itself was found in a shop on the other side of the river when we were living in our rental. I really love it.

I just finished Snow  by John Banville. Beautifully written. It’s a haunting mystery that takes place in Ireland in the late Fifties. Banville is a Booker Prize winner and I can see why – he’s a poet. I loved the book. Now to decide what to read next.

I have a few other things to share with you and I’ll do that tomorrow.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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