Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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The Garden, Deer & Gypsy Moth Caterpillars

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Boy, the plants in the gardens are really taking off. Except for yet another phlox that I caught a young deer chomping on at 5:30 this morning. Darn it! It will come back but it was one of the few that hadn’t been chomped on the first time around. It will be a case of delayed gratification.

But back to “taking off” –

There’s the Annabelle hydrangea right next to the spirea. Lots and lots of blooms this year. And the roses to the right are also blooming.

We are having an outbreak of gypsy moth caterpillars in our area. They are everywhere. And they’re eating all the leaves on one of my oaks, and most likely on another one up in the woods. It’s terrible! There are all sorts of posts on our local FB pages about them and I guess you can really see the devastation up on the mountains. They’re also attacking rose bushes (I removed one from a bush the other day, but you can’t touch them directly or they’ll give you a rash.) And willows. And pines. So far, all of my maples seem safe, but damn, it’s horrendous! We’ve lived here nearly 19 years and I’ve never seen anything like it. There are all sorts of “remedies” but they don’t work consistently and many of oaks around here are very old and very tall and it’s impossible to get to the caterpillars because they start at the top of the tree and work their way down. I see them on the side of the house and one dropped on my head a few weeks back. I’m hoping we’ll soon see the end of the devastation. And I’m praying our young oaks survive this. Supposedly, they start to change into moths in mid to late June. Metamorphosis is coming. But in the meantime…

Be gone!

Harper in a new ensemble made by Hilly Rags, who lives in England. I have not been buying clothes for the girls, but every once in a while, when I have a little extra and something pops up, I treat myself. I have another dress by a different maker coming in the next week or two.

She looks darned cute, doesn’t she?

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Catalpa Blossoms and a Puzzle

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We had a huge storm yesterday afternoon, which sent some of these blooms down to the ground, but thankfully, there are still lots of flowers on the catalpa tree.

What a wild storm – rain and wind and a crazy intensity. It lasted about 30 minutes.

Here’s Maeve examining a catalpa blossom. She was quite taken by the size of the flowers.

I finished the puzzle:

It’s another Mucha and it’s called Reverie (Dream.)

I have run out of Mucha puzzles as I’ve done all of them, Sigh. So I ordered a Klimt and that should be arriving today.

We are now attempting to live without a microwave. I’ve never cared for the look of them and we were using the smallest and least instrusive one we could find, but it started to rust inside and then it misbehaved and smelled funny and we felt it was no longer safe. We really only use it rewarm coffee and make oatmeal, both of which we can do with Stella, so we added it to our pile of crap that needs to go to the bigger dump in the next town and we are now microwave-free. And we have more counter space, which we love.

I’m headed into the last section of The English Girl. by Daniel Silva. I’m not sure what I’ll read next. I have three books on hold in our library system that are being released this month but it usually takes a while to get them.

After so much groundhog activity last summer – remember all of the babies? – we have seen one groundhog a few times. Once, near the house, and once by the shed. And another time scampering across the back forty. That’s it. Maybe they had enough of life on this property and needed to move elsewhere. We do see bunnies and birds and chipmunks – and deer, of course. I loved those groundhog babies, but wrangling them all day long was a bit of a pain.

Okay.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Life, Lately

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It’s been just plain crazy around here over the past few weeks. An ant invasion, poison ivy, my hand injury and now, 1) Don’s shoulder is bothering him and very painful, so I’m doing my best to help him out, 2) after bringing home his car and using it over the weekend for 2 gigs, one of which was many miles away, with no trouble at all, the drive indicator is blinking, indicating trouble with the transmission or problems with the computer, 3) the internet has been out off and on all morning, so I’m going to try to grab some ‘on’ time to post this, 4) in the next week, I have to pay the fee to keep this blog going for one more year, and it’s higher than ever.

We have put out a lot of money for car repairs lately and we don’t have much more money on hand. So, we’re praying and trying to stay positive. But it isn’t always easy. Yesterday I was in a panic mode. Today, I’m calmer.

But I’m definitely feeling overwhelmed.

The clematis blooms, which normally face the street, are showing themselves on the porch, as well. I love that. A little peek-a-boo surprise.

Another Mucha puzzle completed. I worked a lot on it yesterday because I was trying to keep my worry from taking over, so I gave myself a task. If you don’t know French, these are the names for the seasons: winter, spring, summer, and autumn.

No puzzles on tap at the moment.

Mabel on the porch. I wasn’t connecting with her lately and I realized it was because the dress she was wearing didn’t work for her. So I changed the dress and she’s looking sassy again.

I’ve finished the latest Anthony Horowitz and now I’m reading The English Girl  by Daniel Silva, which I suspect I may have already read. We’ll see. If I have, I’ll still finish it, but I’ll also know that I’m all caught up. He has a new book in this series coming out this summer. I really enjoy the Anthony Horowitz mysteries, however, they’re so cleverly conceived that I sometimes feel distanced from the story, if that makes sense. That’s okay. I admire his skill and his ability to juggle a complex plot.

As far as what I have on my hold list at the library; the newest Sarah Perry, Enlightenment, which comes out in June, the newest James Lee Burke, Clete, which also comes out in June, and then the newest Silva, A Death in Cornwall, which will be published in July. I’ve got to pad that list even more by researching upcoming new books by favorite authors. Never want to run out of reading material!

Maybe it’s time to get out the oil paints?

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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