Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Weekend Thoughts

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The weekend so far has been nicely slow, an unhurried pace of a weekend that suits me fine.

I talked Don into making his Vegan Blueberry Pancakes yesterday morning. Need I say more?

We went to the grocery store and to our little library where a copy of The Heist by Daniel Silva was waiting for me. I had been in a long queue for this book so I was surprised and happy that it was now available. Since I had barely started The Marco Effect by Jussi Adler-Olson (which is on my Kindle) I made a U-turn and started The Heist. I also checked out two other books which I will probably talk about on Just Let Me Finish This Page. Two books written by writers about their love of reading – I love books about books, if you know what I mean.

I watered all the potted plants and The Chicken Wire Fence Garden. I read. I did a NY Times crossword puzzle (a tough one, I modestly say.) I scrubbed the bathtub. We watched Marty on TCM.

Today? More of the same. Reading, writing, a little cleaning.

Work will soon begin on Hamlet, the show I’m coaching next, but I think I’ll wait until next week.

Currently blooming all over the property:

yellow beauty

Beautiful Goldenrod. It’s right alongside some Purple Loosestrife and the combination of the yellow and purple is gorgeous. (I’m not worried about the Purple Loosestrife, it isn’t invasive here. It just blooms in the wetter parts of the property and it’s beautiful.)

I was watering plants on the porch and I saw this beauty on the Butterfly Bush.

giantswallowtail 1

Yes, it’s blurry, sorry, as the butterfly was moving its wings very quickly. The butterfly was very large in size, so I did some research. It’s the Giant Swallowtail. I had to crop this photo down from one I took from a distance. Right after I took this, I cautiously walked around the porch to the bush and got this view:

giantswallowtail 2

Stunningly beautiful. Nature is stupendously wondrous and amazing.

I don’t understand why anyone would ever capture a butterfly. They should be magical and elusive and free. I should try to take a photo and be frustrated because the butterfly moves and flits and then disappears. That’s the way it should be. Those moments, those seconds in time, where the butterfly appears and then soars into the air and over the trees, those moments make me smile.

Today is my last day on the antibiotics. Tomorrow? I can have coffee with half and half first thing in the morning. Cannot wait. And we can start hiking again this week – no more worries about the sun.

Happy Sunday.

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A Favorite Movie and Newly Favorite Author

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This is what I saw when I let Scout out this morning:

saturday-fivecrowsinthetree

Five crows hanging out in our dead tree. At first, I thought they might be turkey vultures because I saw one up in the tree the other day. But their noisy calls soon told me they were crows.

We watched It Happened One Night yesterday. It has to be one of my favorite movies ever. It makes me happy. It’s funny and sad and wise and happy and it’s directed by the great Frank Capra, with a cast of wonderful character actors and, of course, Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable (in what I personally think is his best performance ever.) It was the perfect way to end a bit of a tough day. Thank goodness for TCM On Demand. We almost went with Roman Holiday, which was airing live on TCM, but I own that movie and we knew we could see it anytime.

Have you seen It Happened One Night? I have so many favorite scenes, but the scene on the bus with everyone singing “The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze” has to be one of them, along with every scene taking place in an ‘Auto Park,’ little groups of cottages where you could spend the night as you journeyed across America in your car. Don and I watch the scene inside the little cottage as the rain falls outside and wish we were back in that time, when traveling in a car was new and exciting and full of adventure.

(I just took a break from writing this because Don got up and we immediately started talking about how much we love that movie.)

In the past week or so, we’ve watched three of our favorite movies: Ball of Fire, His Girl Friday and It Happened One Night. I could watch them again and again.

saturday-morning glory bud

I also just finished a beautifully written mystery by a new author – Invisible City by Julia Dahl. Brilliant! It centers on a reporter who investigates a murder in the enclave in Brooklyn that is home to the Orthodox community of Hasidic Jews. Absolutely riveting, fascinating and so well plotted. I can’t decide whether to officially review it on the book blog or just talk about it. But I will say that I recommend it highly. An absolutely stellar debut novel and the first in what will be a series about reporter Rebekah Roberts. (Yay!) I am not exaggerating one bit when I say I couldn’t put it down.

Now I’m starting The Marco Effect by Jussi Adler-Olsen. I read four of his mysteries in succession earlier this year. He’s a wonderful writer. I’ll write about Adler-Olsen and his books in an upcoming post on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Saturday.

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A Scrappy Little Garden

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At this point in the summer, it becomes increasingly obvious that things are changing. There’s a shift: more leaves on the ground, coneflowers looking past their prime, the yellowing of leaves after days and days of the hot August sun with no rain.

The sedum, always a spot of color in Autumn, is clearly gearing up for its show.

And then there’s my scappy little Chicken Wire Fence Garden. In this gardening zone, the morning glories don’t really begin to take off until mid-August. The zinnias start to bloom at the end of July and continue to bloom through August and September.

The Chicken Wire Fence Garden is cobbled together, planted in the soil in front of the rusty fence. It reminds me, more than anything around here, of a flower garden that might be found on a farm. It’s spare, almost utilitarian, but beautiful in its way.

Wed - chickenwirefencegarden

A landscape designer wouldn’t be impressed by this, that’s for sure.

I like it’s scrappiness. I like the bare bones quality of it.

It’s such fun. It makes the end of summer much more bearable. The morning glories will bloom until the first frost. The zinnias are always a surprise, each one different.

Like this one that just started blooming – a welcome splash of yellow!

Wed - yellow zinnia

But gosh, the morning glory vines are slow to grow this year.

We need rain. I water them every day, but we really need a good, long soaking.

Here is the latest bloom, which just opened this morning.

Wed - morning glory and vine

Another view:

Wed - morning glory number three

Sigh. I love my scrappy little garden.

There’s a new post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page – a book review of M. C. Beaton’s latest Agatha Raisin mystery, The Blood of an Englishman. Stop by!

And the winner of a copy of After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman is Lee. Congratulations, Lee. I’ve sent you an email.

Happy Wednesday.

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Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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