Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

You are here: Home / Archives for Claudia

Random on Monday

at by

Random photos today, as I was too tired from mowing yesterday to do much of anything else. The grass was about 7 inches long in some places and it was still damp from all the rain. More today. As of tomorrow, we’re getting rain every day again.

The robin perched on this pole for the longest time. I don’t usually see that with robins.

Needs no explanation.

I’ve showed you Hickory Moth Tussock caterpillars before, but this one, along with about 50 more, was on some of the older milkweed the other day. They were fascinating to watch. I looked it up and found out that it’s a Milkweed Tussock Moth. In one night, they annihilated three leaves on a milkweed plant that had fallen due to a broken stem. Apparently, these moths and Monarch butterflies share the same coloring due to something in the milkweed plant. I can’t remember what it is at the moment.

We’ve seen the Hickory Tussock Moths coming down from the trees, rather like spiders, or rock climbers. They repel down. They appear suspended in midair, but they’re actually descending to the ground.

Calibrachoa blooming on the porch.

In the garden.

I am not one for animated movies as a rule. I was the kid who didn’t really like cartoons. But I’d heard great things about Disney’s Coco, so we watched it last night. Have you seen it? It’s simply wonderful! We were completely entranced and want to watch it again. It takes place in Mexico and centers around the Day of the Dead. Great plot, incredible animation – a truly beautiful movie with a powerful message. It’s on Netflix.

More mowing, some weeding, and some pruning are on the docket for today.

Happy Monday.

The Shop

at by

The humidity broke in the early evening yesterday.

Hallelujah!

I know there will be more ahead, but I’m grateful for two days without rain and a chance to get out in the garden and weed, mow, and weed whack. It’s sunny this morning and we finally have the windows open and the air conditioner off.

Today I’m sharing some photos of Milne Antiques and Design. It’s such a beautiful shop, situated in a historic building near the waterfront in Kingston.

The front of the shop where many of the pots and garden decorations live. Obviously, I’ve spent a lot of time here!

Hello! I’d like this table and chairs, please.

The other side of the front of the shop. I hadn’t even noticed my little blue chair at this point. I was literally taking in the bigger picture!

That’s Don talking to Jasmine as he examines some vintage suitcases.

Rebekah loves vintage signs and graphics. Another reason I’m drawn to this shop.

A view toward the back of the shop.

And toward the front of the shop.

Love this wardrobe.

The zinc barrels. Want one.

The chair. I love this chair. It’s so charming, so Adirondack camp-ish. And the colors, of course. It’s a bit fragile and I have no room for another chair, but…

I could have taken many more photos and will when I next visit the shop. But visiting the shop is dangerous for me! As you know, I’ve purchased quite a few treasures in the past few months!

So yesterday, as I was working on the dollhouse, trying to melt the glue that is everywhere – the assembler, whoever he/she was, used hot glue and never cleaned up any of the excess – I got a message from Rick. He and Doug were driving back from the city and he’s just received a text from another one of Rebekah’s great staff saying they had the perfect garden table and chairs for them. (Rick and Doug had asked them to keep an eye out, as they have a new patio outside where they want a round table and chairs). He wanted my opinion. It’s a lovely dark green table with 4 very comfortable chairs and as soon as I saw it, I said “Yes, get it!” And so they did.

Another satisfied customer.

One other note: Last night, after dinner, I was cleaning Stella’s cooktop. (I’ve never been so rigorous about cleaning up grease and spills on a stove in my life!) I lifted the griddle and cleaned underneath. I polished the chrome. And then I turned on a burner and observed the blue flame against the chrome and was immediately taken back to the day the propane was hooked up for the first time and, after years and years of not having a gas stove, we saw that beautiful blue flame. It was such a strong sense memory.

We’ll be celebrating her first anniversary with us on August 29th.

I commemorate everything.

Happy Sunday.

Saturday

at by

We have reached our sixth day in a row of high humidity, storms and torrential rains. Every time I think I might be able to weed or mow or weed whack, I am faced with a wall of humidity or a sudden storm. Everything is waterlogged. More rain today, then a break for two days, then more rain.

We’re not used to it being this humid all summer long. We usually get a day or two here and there and August always tends to be humid, but from the get-go this summer we’ve been dealing with a lot of high temps and humidity. I can see the effects of it on my potted impatiens on the porch – the leaves on some of the plants are discolored and look mildewy.

The only plant that really likes it is the big fern that sits on the former kitchen island on the porch. He’s digging it, for sure.

We have had a few sunny breaks, like the one we had the other day when we were out and about. And I’m very grateful for them.

Speaking of that trip:

This is the little chair that I bought. It’s quite heavy. As Don said to me when he saw it, “The color!” He knows this is a favorite color of mine. Actually, it’s one of his favorite colors, as well.

It almost looks Mexican with its chunky, boxy design, but no, it has a fleur-de-lis.

Perhaps a plant of some sort should adorn the chair?

It will definitely come indoors for the winter.

It’s been a frustrating week for Don in terms of photography, simply because conditions have not photo or camera friendly. We finally got outside yesterday for a little session, which was eventually halted because of inclement weather. But he did really well, figuring out F-stops, apertures, and all of that stuff that I should have a command of but don’t. I’m real proud of his progress.

This was shot on the porch:

(I’d been pulling weeds and you can see the dirt under my fingernails!)

This is tricky work. It’s a very heavy camera with a polaroid back. Everything is manual. Nothing can be easily deleted as with a digital camera or phone. The viewfinder isn’t aligned with the lens, giving a parallax view, so framing a shot is also very tricky. Much adjusting has to be done. Eventually, all of it will have to be done rather quickly, but now is the time for figuring out what works and what doesn’t. He did a real good job on this one.

The zinnias (grown from seed) are really taking off this year and are the healthiest bunch I’ve had in a long time. Cheery zinnias are one of Don’s favorite flowers. Mine, too.

I’ll share photos from Milne Antiques tomorrow and some photos of the vintage suitcases. It’s a little too dark in the house right now to get a good photo of them.

Happy Saturday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives