Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Finally Relaxing

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From our foggy, dewy, soon-to-be-unbearably-humid garden. One more day of this crap and then we’ll have some relief.

This may be my favorite of the many zinnias blooming in the garden.

Also seen this morning, exiting after having flown into the center of a morning glory:

Love seeing the pollen on his legs.

I’m going to try to weed whack this morning before it gets too hot. Don is going to do a bit of mowing.

I’m just now relaxing after a very stressful and packed two weeks. It feels good. I officially started one-on-one coaching for the movie with a session yesterday afternoon.

I can now attend to some things around here – I haven’t painted in about 3 weeks due to a combination of things; needing a break, the whole Beacon Hill dollhouse trip, the initial email from Jim and then two weeks of wondering if I would get the job, discovering that the Beacon Hill smells musty, researching what to do about it and working on that when I wasn’t working on my interview for the movie job. And life.

Hopefully, I’ll get back to painting tomorrow when the temperature drops and the excess humidity leaves. Once again, we have a heat advisory today. August has been hellish, weather-wise.

Drum roll: yes, I’m going to say it now. I’m looking forward to Fall. Maybe August is what it is in order to have our bodies and minds accept and even welcome the seasonal change. It sure is this year.

Getting close to finishing The Woman in Blue  by Elly Griffiths. I have the next one in the series in my TBR pile. I find that even though I have lots of other books I want to start, I end up choosing the next Griffiths because I’m hooked.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Butterflies, Bees & A Little Adventure

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This little one was hanging around the garden all afternoon. He/she was quite skittish, so capturing this shot was a little miracle. He was on the small side – did he just emerge from his chrysalis? Last year’s adventures with a chrysalis were rare as they are almost always hidden somewhere on the property. I always check the bottom of the birdbath, just in case another caterpillar has decided to use that spot for his transformation. Nothing yet.

It was a gorgeous day yesterday and we are blessed with another gorgeous day today. After so much rain, this run of dry, sunny days is most welcome.

We’re going to take a drive today, headed north on the thruway to Hudson, NY. We went to Hudson, if you remember, to register Don’s ‘new’ car. Hudson is a charming old town, known for its antique shops. I had the chance to go in one while we were waiting to enter the DMV. But there’s a lot more to explore there and today seems to be the perfect day for it.

Congratulate me. I managed to talk Don into this little excursion today. Usually, he has something else he wants to do. By the way, he said he’d be willing to drive three hours to get that dollhouse but he wasn’t too enthused. I’m still thinking about it. I’m not sure if that particular house is the one I want…but I am in communication with the seller. And three hours one way seems daunting.

Heavens, the Olympics were just what we needed in this time of insanity. I’ll miss watching them. So grateful for all the stories and triumphs and tears and joy. Amazing.

Okay, my friends. I have to get moving.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Butterflies and Bees

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This guy was hanging around my coneflowers all morning yesterday. A beautiful great spangled fritillary. He shared the coneflowers with several bees.

There’s a lot of bee activity around here and I’m keeping an eye on the milkweed. I expect to see caterpillars soon.

This post will be short today because we have to mow and we have to mow early as it’s incredibly humid, there’s a heat advisory for later in the day, and we might get thunderstorms. As the next 3 days all have the same forecast, mowing can’t be delayed.

Mama robin has been sitting on her eggs for at least 10 days. I expect she will have her babies soon. (Another reason to mow the area surrounding her nest today.) Last night we were finishing up washing the dishes and the late day sun was illuminating her as she sat on the nest. Her very own spotlight. She deserves it. We are so honored to have a ringside seat and to observe this whole process up close.

I finished  The House at Sea’s End, number three in the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. I have the next one in the series on order. I’m really enjoying the plots and I’m especially enjoying the characters and their development over time.

Had a great phone conversation with my best friend yesterday. We’ve known each other since I was 12 and she was 13. That’s a long time!

Okay. Have to go.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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