Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Two Fawns and a Rose

June 19, 2022 at 8:28 am by Claudia

If you’d hadn’t known better, you’d have thought it was a fall day yesterday. Very, very cool and windy. A strange one day occurrence. This morning is still quite cool but it’s going to reach the 70s, unlike the 60s of yesterday. I’m going to head on out later this morning and pull the enormous amount of weeds that have popped up everywhere. It’s supposed to be sunny all day long.

This morning I heard a car honking and knowing that usually means animals are crossing the road, I looked out. There was Mom with two  fawns. I thought there was just one, but there are two. One had taken off into the woods but a few minutes later, I saw all three of them walking in the back forty. They sure seem to like hanging out on our property. Stay safe, little ones.

What else? I filled three large bags with books, then redid that particular bookcase which is in the bedroom. All three bags were unloaded at the library. That’s a very satisfying feeling. For those of you who say you could never part with your books, know that if I had more space, I’d probably hang on to all of mine as well. But we have over a thousand books here. Here, in our little cottage, which also holds lots of furniture, 7 dollhouses, and 15 musical instruments. There is only so much space. When you’re faced with that, you know something has to go. I have a lot of books I would never part with. But I read a lot and there are many books that are okay, but once I’m done, I’m done. I can easily part with them.

And what is better than donating those books to my small local library? They’re a source of badly needed income for the library. I’ve also seen some of books end up on the shelves. Pass them on to another reader.

Time to make another cup of coffee before I start in on my weeding.

Happy Sunday.

Filed Under: books, deer, flowers, garden 27 Comments

Around the Property

June 2, 2022 at 9:27 am by Claudia

A big, fat bumblebee obligingly stopped long enough for me to get several pictures.

I love bumblebees.

We mowed a heck of a lot yesterday. Not that this is a contest, but I mowed more than Don. That’s only because I started out mowing the corral – without telling him I’d started – and then moved on to the front lawn. Then he joined me and we tag teamed the rest of the lawn and the Secret Garden. We still have to do the back forty but that was enough for the day. Good exercise, satisfying, and a lot of work!

We had lots of rain and thunderstorms later in the day, so we got it done just in time. More rain today and maybe a bit more rain tomorrow.

Came inside, showered, checked for ticks, had some lunch and worked a bit on the puzzle.

Then, a nap in my chair.

I finally did something I’d been thinking about for a long time. I moved the old piece of picket fence from its former position leaning against the shed to the area right outside the kitchen door. We used to have a short section of chicken wire fence there, but we took it down. So there was nothing coming out from the side of the house and connecting to our old gate. It bugged me.

I leaned it up against the fence posts that supported the gate and ran the idea by Don. He loved it.

When I realized it was going to rain and storm, I attached it to the posts with wire.

I’m pleased with the result. Now, the connection of fence to house to gate looks intentional. We have a proper enclosure outside the kitchen door. Such a simple thing and an idea I’ve had for a while. I’m glad it’s done.

I’d love nothing more than to have a picket fence along the edge of the corral so that the memorial garden and chicken wire fence garden backed up to the pickets. But fencing is expensive. This little section is chippy and weathered, as is the gate (which we found on the property,) as is the door frame, which needs to be repainted. I think it suits the look of our place. But I do have to repaint that door frame sometime soon.

I’m enjoying Elizabeth George’s The Punishment She Deserves. I read a big chunk of it this morning. I’m also reading Quiet  (the book about Introverts.)

And we’re watching the new season of Stranger Things, after having finished The Bridge  (our second time watching that series, which is one of the finest I’ve ever seen.)

Okay. Time to go.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Filed Under: bees, books, reading 28 Comments

The Secret Garden, Books, and Pippa

May 23, 2022 at 8:51 am by Claudia

Yesterday morning in the Secret Garden. Wildflowers are springing up everywhere. There’s lots of fleabane and some wild phlox. It’s very, very wet there as we’ve had so much rain!

Wild phlox popping up in the rock garden.

Aside from mowing and planting the vintage pots, I haven’t done much else in this space. I’m debating whether to pull some of the weird grass that pops up in the path that leads to The Dude. Do I get in there and get rid of it, or do I just leave it there? No one can answer that question but me. And I’m feeling lazy at the moment.

It was incredibly hot and humid yesterday and, after some great time on the porch in the early morning, we stayed in. Both of us said that the combination of heavy humidity and pollen was making us feel tired and foggy-brained. I know that I felt completely out of it on both Saturday and Sunday. Later in the day, while talking to my sister on the phone, a big storm rolled in – though thankfully, not as big as the storms last weekend – and today it is much cooler around here. Hurrah!

I was reading one of my other books by Elizabeth George while in bed last night and I suddenly realized that I’d read it before, even though it was in my To Be Read pile. So I grabbed the other one that was also in that pile and started in….already read that one, too! Whoops! I think there’s only one Elizabeth George that I haven’t read and I’m going to order it from the library.

So this morning finds me looking around trying to decide what I’m in the mood to read next. In the meantime, I’m reading a short and delightful book from Slightly Foxed/Foxed Quarterly  – A Boy at the Hogarth Press  by Richard Kennedy. Kennedy worked for Leonard and Virginia Woolf for a while when he was young. It’s a lovely memoir of his time there, complete with his pen and ink drawings. Kennedy went on to be a well-regarded illustrator.

I grabbed a few moments outside yesterday and took Pippa with me:

Here she is in the memorial garden.

And in the secret garden:

The girls are enjoying the opportunity to explore the property.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, books, flowers, reading, secret garden 14 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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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

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