blogging — Page 15

Wild Roses, Bees, Flowers & A Gift

May 30, 2015 at 9:39 am by Claudia

5-30 wild roses

Please take note: we are celebrating the one time of the year when the thorny plants that live all over the place on this property, which I call ‘brambles’ for lack of a better term, become what they actually are: wild roses. The view from my kitchen window is gorgeous. Fragrant white roses are everywhere.

I think I need to start calling them wild roses, period, no matter what time of year. Because that’s what they are.

5-30 depetaled poppy

I told you that the poppies are short-lived. I walked out to the garden late in the day yesterday and most of the flowers had shed their petals. But isn’t this de-flowered poppy beautiful as well?

5-30 bee and catmint

The catmint is blooming, as well. I have lots of catmint in the big garden bed and also in the side garden. It’s so dependable. I planted myself, camera in hand, snapping countless pictures until I got one of this bumble bee. Those bees are loving the garden.

How are you all on this Saturday morning? It’s beautiful here; sunny, less humid. The lawn has been mowed. The peonies are about to bloom in the next few days. Scout is in the ‘tunnel.’ Don is humming to himself in the living room. I’m drinking my coffee, which tastes especially good this morning.

You know, I am blessed by the lovely people who read and comment on this blog. I almost never get a comment that is questionable or offensive or rude. But I do get them. In the past week or so, there was a rude comment left on one post. Then, the other day, another one on a different post. Not the same commenter. If you’ve ever read the footer of my blog, you’ve seen my commenting policy: I reserve the right to delete any comment I find offensive, in poor taste, or is bordering on spam. (My spam plugin takes care of all the actual spam.)

In the case of these two separate comments, my first impulse was to respond to the comment, as I do to all comments. And in each case, I came up with a response. Initial response: a sarcastic comeback. Not good, Claudia. Sinking to their level. Edit. Next response: try to be kind. But why am I even taking the time for this nonsense? Finally: I just said “Screw it” and deleted them, along with my responses. I refuse to engage. When someone is deliberately rude or offensive, the right to any sort of debate is forfeited. Gone. Bye bye.

Thank goodness, 99.9% of the comments here on the blog are lovely, intelligent, wise, kind, funny and helpful, to boot. The debate can be lively, but it is always from the heart and respectful.

So, my friends, a big thank you for contributing so much that is good to this blog.

One of my readers sent me a package. Kathy is from Iowa and the contents were Iowa proud:

5-30 kathy's present

From the heart of Iowa: roasted corn, apple butter, candy coated soy nuts, along with a CD and some treats for Scout. What a lovely gift! Don was popping those candy coated soy nuts yesterday. We’ve had the apple butter on some toast (yummy!) and Scout has found her new favorite treat. Kathy thoughtfully chose soft, easily chewable treats and Scout is very grateful.

Thank you so much, Kathy. I love Iowa. I’ve been there more than a few times and it is a beautiful state.

And one more note: I realize that most of you live far away from NY and Rhinebeck, where the Country Living Fair is going to take place next weekend. But if you know of someone who might be interested in attending, please let them know about my giveaway. I’m giving away two pairs of tickets – a really great value – and the deadline for leaving a comment is tomorrow night at 9 pm. Thanks so much! Here’s the link.

Happy Saturday.

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The (Not So Little) Garden That Could

April 28, 2015 at 9:26 am by Claudia

Spring is here, yes. But we’ve had unseasonably cold temperatures for more than a week, so it doesn’t seem like the end of April. It seems more like early March. I’m afraid that once the temperatures get back to normal, we’ll have about a week or two of spring and then it will be summer.

But there is growth in the garden. It’s just happening slowly.

4-28 garden 1

The chartreuse ground cover is slowly making its way through the soil. The perennials are inching their way out of the ground: sedum, day lilies, catmint, poppies, phlox. The hyacinth leaves are showing, but no flowers as of yet, and normally they’d have bloomed by now. The tulip that has been here since we moved in, and probably for many, many years before, has not come out of the ground at all. For the first time. Did this extreme winter finally do it in?

4-28 catmint

My dependable catmint is filling out and it’s everywhere in the gardens. The hydrangeas have tiny leaves. The rose bushes? I can’t tell yet. Nothing is happening and I’m sure I’ll discover damaged canes, but I’ll have to wait on that until some sort of growth appears.

The peony shoots are coming out of the ground, though I’ve yet to clean up their beds. The lilacs are budding, just waiting to bloom.

4-28 lilac 1

4-28 lilac 2

Impressionistic views

In the meantime, I’ll do some weeding today in preparation for laying down some mulch in the garden beds. Last year, money was tight (it still is) and I didn’t buy mulch. Never again. Weeds were out of control. Mulch is a must buy this year.

Yesterday, I got an email informing me of a security vulnerability that had just been discovered in this newest version of WordPress and it had to do with the WP comment system. So I had to shut down comments until WP issued a patch for the problem. That meant that for about 5 hours, no one could leave a comment.

To say I missed reading and responding to comments is an understatement. One of the true joys of having this blog is the daily dialogue we share with each other and yesterday….I couldn’t partake. I couldn’t talk. If you spoke to my mom or my first grade teacher who was constantly sending home notices that I talked too much, you’d know that would be a problem for me. When the patch was finally issued, I turned everything back on.

Remember:

solitary

Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again!

From yesterday. This piece that I said I had decided wasn’t McCoy?

4-27 vase

Danged if I didn’t see it on eBay in another color with the McCoy mark. It is McCoy. I was right in the first place!

4-28 mccoy basketweave vase 1

Oh, hello!

The newest member of the Mockingbird Hill Cottage McCoy Team has arrived for training. I’ve said this before; in that case, it was the egg cups – I blame you. You encourage me to do these series and then I research and study and look at photos of McCoy and then I browse through the offerings on eBay and in the shops and then, before you know it, I’m staring at new-to-me pieces of McCoy.

I’ve purchased three since the series began.

This one I’ve had my eye on for a long time. It’s from the 1940s and is in McCoy’s familiar basketweave design. I so love the way the glaze settles into the grooves on the piece, creating light and dark contrast.

4-28 mccoy basketweave vase 2

From the side. It’s 8 inches tall.

I’ve become obsessed by McCoy pottery once again, but as my husband said yesterday, “There are worse obsessions.”

The winner of a copy of Behind Closed Doors by Elizabeth Haynes is Monica. I’ve sent you an email, Monica.

New post on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Tuesday.

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Random on Sunday

April 19, 2015 at 8:45 am by Claudia

4-19 lilacbuds

• Oh boy. Those lilac buds give me hope. Yesterday was unseasonably warm and everything outside took off like a shot. (Dare I say it was too warm? Would that make me ungrateful?) I picked up more rocks on the grass that were thrown there courtesy of the snowblower. I put the cushions on the glider. I watched baseball. We lost. I took more photos of McCoy. I read my book. I took a bath.

Exciting stuff, right?

• May I be honest? Blog posts that consist of lists do not interest me. At all. This is the current trend and the fact that it’s the thing of the moment is because someone, somewhere said that readers love lists. And they probably do. I’m sure everyone’s stats say that those are pretty popular posts. Maybe something to do with shorter attention spans? Or is the idea of a list just inherently attractive?

I am not a fan. I’ve never been, even when the lists were in the form of magazine articles. When I scan my daily reading list, if the words “10 Things You Can…” or “15 Ways to…” come up, I move on. No visit that day.

The posts usually consist of ideas pulled from other sources on the internet, stuff I’ve already read or am aware of anyway, so there’s really nothing new there. I also feel a certain pressure, in a strange sort of way, when I see a list. Does that mean I have to read every item? Do I have to give everything equal time?

I know. I’m probably the exception here. But I wish this current trend would quietly take a hike.

Oh, and the word “trending” as in “Currently Trending on Twitter”…? Every time Don and I hear it, we groan. Stop with the trending.

4-19 buds

• I know several of you have seen this series on Netflix, but if you haven’t – think about watching Derek. Don’s been trying to get me to watch it for a while now and this week I caved in. Oh my goodness. I am so, so glad I did. Conceived, written, and directed by the brilliant Ricky Gervais (who also plays Derek) it is the most wonderful, life-affirming, funny and deeply moving show I’ve seen in ages and ages. Ricky plays Derek, a man who is challenged – whether he has learning disabilities, is developmentally disabled, or autistic, we don’t know, nor does Gervais ever give it a name. Derek works in a nursing home and sees the good in everyone. My favorite thing he says is that it’s more important to be kind than clever or good looking.

Amen to that. That’s what we’re here for; to love and be kind.

Gervais is amazingly talented. This series is a blessing, my friends. If you get Netflix, I urge you give it a try.

All that, and Gervais speaks out for animal rights – vociferously – online via Twitter and Facebook. Bravo. I’ve got a major crush on this guy.

4-19 mccoy books

• I have six different McCoy reference books. You see four of them here.

What happened to the one on top, you ask? Well, many years ago when we were living in our rental cottage in Westchester County, we adopted our Riley. Riley had not been socialized, had been kept outside on a chain for most of his life, and was eventually found living on the streets of a city in New Jersey. He was very much like a wild dog. On his first night in our house, he ate some of my yarn. A few nights later, he found this book. Riley apparently liked McCoy Pottery.

Oh that boy. I miss him so much that it hurts. I’ve never replaced the book because I love seeing this talisman of our first days together. It’s a tangible memory of my boy. And it makes me smile.

Years later, in this cottage, a much gentler and happier and socialized Riley surprised us one day by chewing on a book about birds.

I still have that, too.

Happy Sunday.

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Wild Roses, Bees, Flowers & A Gift

The (Not So Little) Garden That Could

Random on Sunday

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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