Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

You are here: Home / Archives for birds

A Bit of Everything Today

at by

This morning I opened up the blinds and saw the trailer bird house tilted downward, looking precarious. It was raining, but I went out and got the ladder from the shed and proceeded to try and prop it against the tree, which involved unlocking certain sections of the ladder.

Then, I thought I should wait for Don to help me. Of course, he lectured me about carrying the ladder. He was right, so I can’t challenge him on that one. I can only say in my defense that I have no idea whether mama is sitting on eggs yet, and I was worried. I was also worried that they might not come back if they saw the house in a dangerous position. So we went out there, and Don put it firmly back in place.

You know, the other day I saw a squirrel run up the tree and pause by the house, then jump on top of it and continue up the tree. Maybe that kind of thing caused the house to tilt downward? Who knows?

I just hope my Carolina wrens were in blissful ignorance of this morning’s change to their property and will never know the difference.

For Vicki, per her request:

Fabric Easter eggs, made by yours truly many moons ago.

That will most likely be the extent of my Easter decorations…maybe a Vintage by Crystal figurine.

I ordered a dress from my friend LenaLittleDresses long before the war started. Lena lives in Russia. I gave up hope of ever receiving it.

It landed in my mailbox on Thursday, much to my surprise.

Here it is on Madeleine. Isn’t it lovely?

I sat in my blogging chair yesterday and watched the opening game of the baseball season. Sadly, the Red Sox lost. But it was so nice to sit there in the afternoon listening to the game, quilting hoop and thread in hand. I love baseball.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

 

Reading, Sun, and Birds

at by

In the interest of truth here on the blog, I haven’t done any more quilting since Thursday. But, I will.

What I have done is a lot of reading. As you know, I finished Bewilderment – see yesterday’s post for my thoughts on that exquisite book. I’ve now tucked into another book from my TBR pile. This one is by Jane Gardam, perhaps her most famous – Old Filth.

I read Gardam’s Faith Fox  a few years back and that was my introduction to Gardam. It turns out that she is deeply loved. When I mentioned that book on IG, it was clear that many of my followers loved her writing. I found Faith Fox  at Oblong Books, purely by chance – one of those moments when you pull a book off a shelf, having never heard of the author, and you buy it. I instantly fell in love with her writing and the ease with which she told a story. You know you are in good hands.

Fast forward a couple of years. I had researched Gardam and knew that I should read Old Filth. I also spotted the third book in the trilogy in the On Sale bin at Oblong and snapped it up. After joining the TBR pile, both books sat there for two years. (I have yet to purchase the second book in the trilogy.)

And now, entranced yet again by Gardam’s amazing gift with words, I wonder why I denied myself this pleasure for so long? I’m nearly 100 pages in and I’m hooked.

By the way, Jane Gardam is British, has an OBE, and is 93 years old.

Shortly after we got up this morning, Don said “What bird is that I hear?” I had my ear buds in, so I had to take them out to identify the song – it was the Carolina wren. I looked out the window and saw one of them entering the birdhouse. As I hadn’t seen or heard from them in several days, I was getting fearful that they might have moved on to another nest. Happy sigh to see them again.

It’s sunny today, but still coolish. After yesterday’s rain, the sun is welcome. We have three days of rather heavy rain coming up midweek, so we’ll enjoy this sun-filled day.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

A Bird and an Egg Cup

at by

This morning, I heard the carolina wren singing and I opened the blinds to see him standing in front of the trailer. After Don and I watched him sing, both of us so happy that he’s back, we noticed that both  of them were on site.

I grabbed my big girl camera to take some shots with my telephoto lens. I haven’t used it in so long that the battery quickly died – but I managed to get a couple of shots.

If you look closely, you’ll see he’s got some nest-making material hanging from his beak.

Peeking out from inside his reclaimed home.

We are over-the-moon that they are back again. Spring. Carolina wrens. A nest. Shoulders dropping. Happy.

I also got something special in the mail yesterday. It was a great deal on eBay. As you know, my egg cup collection is pretty big and the figurals that I love so much are harder to find these days. So I rarely buy a new cup and when I do it’s usually a more traditional egg cup. Once in a blue moon, I look at the listings on eBay. I did just that a week or two ago and I saw a lovely little Spode egg cup.

The pattern is Chelsea Bird.

I was taken by the design of the cup; that flower and the wonderful combination of spring green and a deep, rusty red. That’s a pheasant on the inside, which I’ve since discovered is the predominant feature of that Spode pattern.

But my delight quadrupled when I saw that there were two dragonflies and a bug on the inside the cup.

I think that’s a dragonfly…

Beetle? Something else?

And the other side of the exterior:

It’s quite detailed and tiny. Those special touches on the interior make it a treasure.

It was only $12.00 – a steal. Spode made this pattern from the late 1800s until 1927 or 1928. So we know it’s at least almost a hundred years old – probably older.

I really, really love it.

It’s sunny right now, but it will be chillier today. And then we have rain starting tomorrow.

I’m so glad that spring has sprung.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

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