Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Discoveries: Trees & Books

May 29, 2019 at 8:15 am by Claudia

Lots and lots of rain yesterday – at times, torrential – culminating in severe thunderstorms during the evening. I know there were tornado warnings in some parts of New York and New Jersey, if we had one, I was unaware of it. And it looks like we’ve got more rain coming today and tomorrow and, again, on the weekend.

Ummm, Mother Nature? We’ve had more than enough rain this spring, thank you very much. I’m beginning to lose hope that the Secret Garden will ever be dry enough for us to sit there. Right now, that particular scenario looks impossible.

I’m hoping there’s a small window today where I can attempt to mow part of the front lawn. Doubtful, but you never know!

We have a beautiful tree up in the back forty. I’ve always loved its shape. One of our older, dead trees fell this year and this tree is now the star of the clearing. For years, I assumed it was some sort of ash. But the other day, I was up there to take some pictures and I saw blossoms everywhere! Have I never looked up at the tree at this particular time in the spring? Am I always looking downward as I mow the grass? Anyways, I was dumbfounded and realized it’s a chokecherry tree! And it’s gorgeous.

As I looked up chokecherries, the descriptions were always ‘modest in height’ ‘at the most 20 feet tall, rarely taller.’ Well, this guy is at least 30 feet tall. And he’s beautiful. Most of the trees up in the woods and the back forty are maples, oaks, catalpas, black walnuts, and elms. I love them all, but this chokecherry has more than a little of my heart. It has oval leaves that move gracefully in the breeze.

We’ve been here nearly 14 years and, once again, I have noticed something new which isn’t really new at all. Just to me.

Speaking of the back forty, we have some lovely wild honeysuckle there, actually we have it all over the property, but this pink honeysuckle is only found just under the chokecherry. It’s such a soft pink.

The lavender that’s in a pot on the Funky Patio.

I’m in the midst of a Beverley Nichols reading binge. I finished his first trilogy and have now started on his second. It centers on a house he bought after WWII called Merry Hall. In fact, this first book in the trilogy is called Merry Hall.

For someone who reads fiction predominately, I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction lately. Although, Beverley Nichols’ gardening books are non-fiction mixed with fictional characters based on real people. He reminds me a bit of P.G.Wodehouse, my husband’s favorite. I find them very relaxing and amusing, often chuckling out loud over some turn of phrase. Right now, they are the perfect read! I’m so glad I grabbed the first three books (that I already owned) off my bookshelf and finally read them. I was hooked. That started me off on a quest to gather the next 5 books from used booksellers, as they’re out of print. I have 4 out of the 5 and the 5th will be arriving today or tomorrow.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: books, flowers, garden, reading, trees 22 Comments

Much Better

May 16, 2019 at 10:11 am by Claudia

The lobelia that I’ve planted in several porch pots is taking off rather nicely. This is a quick pic that I took when I ventured out to the porch, walking slowly and carefully, favoring my back. My back, which I’m happy to report, is much better today! Glory be!

Though it will probably be a mixture of sun and clouds today, it’s sunny right now and I’ll take it. I never made it out to the porch yesterday, other than to water plants. No sitting on the glider. But I will remedy that today.

The grass is way too long due to all the rain. Don will have to mow this week. I think I should wait a week to tackle the lawn and so does Don. So, I’ve given him his instructions: the front lawn has to be mowed today because it’s going to rain tomorrow. And if we wait until after tomorrow, it will be impossible to mow.

Carol, a reader of this blog, sent me something in the mail, all the way from Alberta, Canada.

Another copy of Mockin’ Bird Hill,  this time with Patti Page on the cover. Isn’t it lovely? We have two now – the other one has Les Paul and Mary Ford on the cover. We’re going to frame them.

Thank you so much, Carol! We love it and very much appreciate your generous gift.

I’m having the best time reading Beverley Nichols’ A Thatched Roof.  It’s absolutely charming and I’ve lost track of the times I’ve chuckled out loud.  Lucky for me, I have another one in this particular series waiting on the shelf, and there are four more ‘house in the country’ books that he wrote, as well. They hearken back to a seemingly simpler time, though we know that nothing is ever as simple as it appears, and the combination of an eccentric mix of characters and life in the countryside is right up my alley.

Happy Thursday.

Filed Under: books, flowers, gifts, reading 26 Comments

Rain, Reading & Rest

May 14, 2019 at 9:37 am by Claudia

And so it continues. Yesterday afternoon, I stood up from my chair, thrust the phone between the slats of the blinds, and took this picture.

Rain, rain, go away. You won. Most days this spring have been rainy. Our well is full. Please move on.

Now.

It’s actually not raining at the moment, but it will start up again this afternoon.

One comfort: our cold temperatures will move on tomorrow. This is the last day of this nonsense. Our neighbors who live at higher elevations have woken up to snow for the past two days. So, I’ll only complain a little bit. I’ll be quite happy to see somewhat higher temperatures and I’ll be even happier when I can move around enough to brave the outside and check in on the gardens.

As Don said this morning, “Well, if you have to be resting your back, it might as well be on a rainy day.” He’s right.

More forget-me-nots appearing hither and yon. This time, between the pavers on the funky patio. One of my favorite things about gardening is the magic of self-seeders. Coneflowers are that way – for years, they have appeared in unexpected places on the property. The same with yarrow, which self-seeded from the big garden bed (and subsequently disappeared from that bed) to the little patch where I plant my seeds. For the past two years, they have self-seeded in the corral. Big patches of them! I love that. So, now I mow around them, letting them grow and flower.

This year, the forget-me-nots have moved to surprising places; the above-mentioned pavers, the gravel, the little hill that leads to the corral, and there are several in the memorial garden – fitting, I think. It’s as if they know where to go.

I’m reading several books at the moment; continuing with Paris in Winter,  adding in some Beverley Nichols books that I had waiting for me on the shelf. Have you ever read Beverley Nichols? He wrote the most delightful books about gardening in England. They were written in the thirties and forties. Nichols was a prolific author; writing fiction, non-fiction, children’s stories, plays – he counted Noel Coward among his friends – and had a flat in London along with a country house. The first country house was a thatched cottage. He eventually wrote about three different country cottages.  The first in the Allways (the fictional name for his cottage) trilogy is Down the Garden Path. The next – which I’ve just started – is A Thatched Roof.  

I should be living in England, you know. I’ve always thought that. If not England, then Paris, please. Both Don and I are about as British (ancestry-wise) as you can get and both of us started our careers acting in British plays. Don excels at British farces, especially the plays of Alan Ayckbourn; I was very good at Noel Coward. Both of use just knew in our bones how to do those pieces. I could do a cracker-jack of a British accent when I was in junior high school.

Let’s face it, we’re both Anglophiles.

Anyway, another day of back rest and rain. So books to read and some hot chocolate should come in handy.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: books, flowers, garden, rain, reading 39 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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