Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

You are here: Home / Archives for butterfly

Mini Monday

at by

This Eastern Swallowtail loved the thistle – as do the bees. I swear, that beautiful butterfly drank from every blossom. He was there a long time and didn’t seem to be afraid of me. Don had already observed how many bees were attracted to the thistle as well, and there’s one in this photo. This is a screenshot from a little video I posted in my stories in my main IG account.

I mowed the lilac side of the lawn yesterday and weed whacked. I also cleared out the entrance to the culvert drain pipe which had been blocked. Why? Because the county came by one day and re-dug the culverts – too much, according to me – and then left behind all the debris (consisting of tree roots and branches.) All the heavy rain we’ve had pushed everything toward the entrance to the pipe that runs under our driveway. The culvert is not our responsibility but this is about the 6th time I’ve had to clean up after the county has made an ‘improvement.’ You would have heard some cuss words coming from that general area.

Do you remember this cupboard?

I got it for about $5 when miniatures (dot) com went out of business. It originally came with fleur-de-lis designs on the sides of the cabinet and drawer. Not my cup of tea, but I knew it would be good to have in my meager stash. I’ve had it sitting on the first floor of the Beacon Hill for a while. You can see that I put a coat of paint on it to cover up the designs. But that’s all I did.

On Saturday, I decided to transform it. And I just dove in – which is my favorite way to do this type of thing.

I wanted it to look like my favorite kind of furniture – old and weathered with multiple layers of paint. I’ve always envisioned the owners of the house loving folk art and antiques.

Here it is in the hallway. I staged it a little just for fun. Right now, I have some books in there, but I’d love to have a collection of crocks on the shelves. I think that would be fun.

I’m really pleased with the results. In fact, I love it.

One more mini thing:

I have this tile on hand and I’m wondering if it might be a good choice for the studio. Easy clean up, no worry about the floors. I might paint the walls white so that the artist can display paintings-in-progress on the walls. (I didn’t glue it down yet.)

Okay. This has turned into Mini Monday, I guess.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Butterfly and a New Tenant

at by

Yesterday, I followed this beautiful black swallowtail around the big garden bed. I don’t remember seeing one last year. This week has brought an eastern swallowtail and a black swallowtail. Magical creatures!

We’re in the midst of air quality warnings because of the wildfires in Canada. The sky is very hazy. I’ve limited my time outside because I have respiratory issues. It’s just as well, as I have to do some prep work for my coaching job.

Although I vowed my collection was complete, I saw a particular Blythe on my feed a little over a week ago. I couldn’t stop looking at her. She was the creation of a Japanese customizer. I left a comment on the post asking if she was available and was told she was being sold on Yahoo Auctions, which operates in Japan. I went to the listing and poured over all of the details. But I was uncomfortable trying to use the auction site because non-citizens of Japan have to use a proxy to bid and then, if you win, the item is shipped to the proxy first, then the proxy ships it to you. It seemed very complicated and potentially problematic,

Honestly, I spent two full days pouring over the auction listing.

Much to my surprise, the auction ended without anyone bidding, and I received a message on IG from the artist saying she could sell her to me via PayPal and shipping via EMS which is the priority mail of Japan. I talked it over with Don. He loved her, of course. Should I? Shouldn’t I? I knew I’d never see anything like her again. So, I bit the bullet and purchased her. She arrived here in less than a week.

I promise to give you better pictures, but she arrived late in the day on Monday and this is the best I could do.

The tips of the hair are dyed a darker green. She was listed wearing this kimono and I’m a sucker for kimonos, especially red ones. The eye chips are glass and they’re mesmerizing. And the face up is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.

Look at that face!

(I need to comb her hair. Oh wait, I did, you’ll see it in the following photo!)

In honor of her Japanese heritage, I named her Myoshi, after one of my favorite actresses, Myoshi Umeki. Umeki was the first Asian to win an acting Oscar. She won it for the movie Sayonara, directed by the great Josh Logan. (Don had the honor of working with Logan late in Logan’s life.) I have watched her in Flower Drum Song  over and over again.

Some rearranging of the shelves ensued as I had to figure out how to fit her in. There’s not a lot of available real estate. Mabel is now sitting in front of three girls on the bottom shelf.

Miyoshi is on a stand, asI don’t want to  crush the bow on the back of her kimono.

Lucy’s reaction to her new shelf-mate is troubling…

Anyway, I’m really thrilled to have her here. I will most likely have to sell a doll in the near future, but I dread doing it, so I’m going to wait on that decision.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Flowers, Monarchs & A Puzzle

at by

I’m not sure they could look any prettier and it’s going to be 78 degrees today (too hot) but next week it will be much, much colder and I thought I’d take a moment to salute this year’s limelight hydrangeas while they’re still here.

Gorgeous.

This bush is much younger than my Annabelle hydrangeas, but you’d never know it. It is huge!

And one of the many reasons, but perhaps the most important, for growing zinnias from seed – they bloom late in the summer into the fall and a newly emerged monarch butterfly flying southward can stop and dine for a couple of hours. They provide much needed sustenance for the trip and are one of the few flowers available at this time of year.

This beauty was hanging around the zinnias for a few hours and didn’t seem to mind my presence. When you’re really hungry, things like that don’t matter. Hydrangeas don’t do it for monarchs. The coneflowers are gone. There are a few stray roses, but giant zinnias provide lots of surface on which to dine and I will make sure to sow those seeds again next year.

Things like this make my week. Having some food on hand for a hungry monarch makes me very happy.

I finished the puzzle.

The World of Virginia Woolf.

It’s quite lovely. Next up, something a bit more intense: The World of Frankenstein. Perfect for this time of year, don’t you think?

I’m currently retreating from the world and news of the world.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives