Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Monarch Love

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Slightly blurry, but I couldn’t get closer or I would have spooked it.

I don’t think this one is from our milkweed, but you never know! I try to keep an eye on the leaves to see if there’s a caterpillar hanging out, but with the crazy weather we’ve had, I haven’t been able to monitor them as much as I normally would. Speaking of weather, the humidity is going to be back today and we’re headed into 4 days of very hot weather with temps in the 90s. More time spent indoors!

I’ll have to check out the forecast and see if I need to take a whack at the front lawn. If there’s rain in the forecast for the next few days, it will get too long. We had a big storm yesterday afternoon.

Do I want to mow today? No. But it will be the least humid day of the rest of the week. I just checked and there is definitely rain in the forecast.

I did a lot around the house yesterday – Don was gone for a chunk of time and I’m always more efficient at getting things done when he isn’t here. The studio has been attended to, with lots of ‘stuff’ put away, I vacuumed upstairs and down, I washed the bedding, watered the houseplants, emptied the dehumidifier bucket, and then – just for me – I read a chunk of War and Peace and a chunk of The Deptford Trilogy.

Okay. Short, I know, but sometimes I just have nothing more to say!

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

 

 

Butterflies and Fawns

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Two eastern swallowtails. There were three – I saw them from the bedroom window – but by the time I got downstairs, one had departed. It’s rare for me to see more than one at a time.

Yesterday, I saw a monarch laying eggs on the milkweed. I tried to get a picture, but that butterfly was on a mission and moved very quickly.

I also saw another fawn outside the kitchen window. He/she was alone, so I gently urged him to go back to the woods, not down toward the street. The mission was successful until I went out on the porch about ten minutes later and saw him running across my neighbors front yard (very near the street) toward their pond. Maybe Mom was over there?

The humidity is back and it’s so oppressive. I have to limit my time outside because a) I hate humidity, it makes my brain feel foggy, and b) I’m allergic to molds and mildew and humidity is not my friend. I must admit, I’ve always hated humid weather. I could never live in the South.

Don asked me to send him a copy of the butterfly and bee that I posted yesterday. Later in the day, he ran some errands. When he got home, he gave me this:

I love seeing it enlarged and frame. Love you, husband.

Also yesterday; I couldn’t stand my long hair one more minute, so I enlisted Don in z “I HAVE to have a haircut!” venture. We took at least 4 inches off! Heaven.

Meredith still feels absolutely miserable and she was running a fever yesterday. Little Z is getting more computer and tv time than he is usually allowed. Mom needs rest.

Okay, my friends.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Butterflies

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From the other day:

An eastern swallowtail.

And a blurry red admiral, taken from a distance. I’ve never seen a red admiral on the property. I had to google to figure out what kind of butterfly it was. Very striking! Thank you for visiting!

The news that the monarch butterfly is on the endangered species list is heartbreaking. We do our part here by letting all of our milkweed plants stay in place, wherever they pop up. Currently, they’re hiding a lot of the flowers in the big garden bed, but that’s the way it is. I’d rather provide a habitat for monarchs.

The fact that the honey bees are back in the catalpa is good news. I realize that the eco system on our property doesn’t reflect the rest of the country and the planet, but I take heart when, right here on our patch of acreage, a caterpillar transforms into a monarch butterfly and honey bees fly in and out of their nest in the catalpa.

Speaking of the catalpa, we had a storm last night with unbelievably high winds. While Don was outside, a limb from the catalpa fell to the ground. It’s a smaller limb. Nevertheless, my heart breaks a little when any tree limb falls.

We’re supposed to get more rain today. I welcome it. The ground and trees and plants and animals sorely need it.

The phone call from my sister yesterday was to let me know that Little Z tested positive for Covid. He was exposed earlier in the week at camp and started to feel poorly on Saturday after a morning at the beach. But he tested negative. By Sunday morning, he was feeling miserable and Mere tested him again. Positive. So she’ll have to stay home this week to be with Z. He’s been vaccinated, of course.

Poor little guy! At the age of eleven, he’s not quite so little anymore.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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