Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Dreams and Drought

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Last night, I had one of those dreams where I’m walking down endless corridors looking for someone. Don and I were both working on shows that were on tour, and it was a big holiday, Thanksgiving or Christmas. We happened to be in the same city so I visited his tour’s holiday celebration where there was lots of turkey and trimmings and food and desserts. I remember talking to many people along the way and then Don appeared and acknowledged my presence. Then he disappeared and I couldn’t find him and I was wondering why he didn’t stay with me. Then he morphed into my brother.

I normally don’t remember dreams, but this was right before I woke up. It was unsettling on many levels, but especially with the appearance of my brother, who will be gone 31 years on September 4th.

I didn’t have a chance to speak to him. It wasn’t one of the rare dreams I’ve had in which I’m dancing with him and incredibly happy that he’s there. He just appeared and disappeared.

Anyway, it stuck with me and the morning, so far, has been a bit off.

It’s unbelievably hot and humid out there and I’m worried about drought. Once again, we were supposed to have rain yesterday and overnight and as I clocked the radar during the day, it kept changing. Sure enough, the rain occurred to the south and north of us.

But not here in our own little microclimate.

And I can see no rain on the horizon for the next week. I water as much as I can during the day, but I noticed that some plants in the big garden bed have died back because of the heat. I also see that next Friday and Saturday are supposed to hit 99 degrees. This is insane.

Imogen taking the little ones for a walk.

This gives you a good sense of the difference in sizes for Blythe and the two different versions of this BJD doll by eatzongzi.

I’m back to using my big girl camera when I can. It’s so easy to rely on the iPhone, which is quite good and handy, but the fact remains that my stand-alone camera is much better.

Both photos on this post were taken with the big girl camera.

I think Don is off to the Farmers Market today, but I’m not sure yet.

Meredith is still feeling miserable. She said she can’t imagine how bad it would be if she was unvaccinated.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

Garden Chores and Books

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Another day yesterday with lots of work done around the property. It was sunny and gorgeous. We mowed the lilac side of the lawn, dug out the remnants of an elm in the big garden bed – it had been bugging me for years and I also get a skin reaction every time I brush against the leaves, so it had to go. We raked up pods from the catalpa tree, and worked on the Secret Garden. The old cinder blocks (found on our property – there are a lot  of them) that I use as a little wall separating the the grassy area from the rest of the garden disintegrate over time. They’re very old. Three or four of them needed to be dug out and replaced. We found 4 blocks that were part of a bench that we made long ago and never use, so we brought them down to the garden one by one. The heavy antique pots that I use in that garden sit on the blocks, so they need to be steady and secure. Much better now!

I also grabbed my special poison ivy pruners and snipped the vines that are trying to make their way up my maple trees. Bye bye poison ivy.

Very satisfying!

The lilacs have yet to fully bloom and there are fewer of them this year. I’m not sure why, as I pruned them at the right time last year. Maybe it was the winter or our crazy up-and-down weather. The peonies are growing by leaps and bounds.

We’ll have rain today and tomorrow, so we’ll be resting up.

Zoe enjoying the glider.

I finished A Change of Circumstance  by Susan Hill and loved it. She’s a wonderful writer – the prose flows so easily. It’s a compelling mystery about drugs and drug runners invading small towns, which didn’t entirely resolve itself at the end. I liked that. Trying to eradicate drugs and the people that profit from them is an ongoing battle so to tie that part of the plot up neatly would be false.

And now I’ll start A Line to Kill  by Anthony Horowitz, number 3 of 4 books checked out of the library.

Happy Birthday to my brother, David, and to his son, Eric. I miss you, Dave.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Bittersweet Memories

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We’re getting a ton of rain today and tonight – close to 2 inches – once again, the remnants of the storm that has wreaked havoc in the south.

Yesterday, I was feeling down. Everything going on in the world – the invasion of Ukraine, the devastation there, genocide, war crimes, climate change, the GOP which is now the party of Putin and fascism – all of it was constantly in my thoughts. That’s not new, but it was particularly strong yesterday.

To give myself some sort of task, I cleaned out two drawers in the little table next to my chair. Something constructive to do.

And I came across this:

Newborn baby Claudia – maybe a little over a month old?

My dear, beautiful brother with his holster and toy guns. A child of the 50s.

My mom, clearly tired, but dressed up for the photo.

My handsome dad with a rarely seen bow tie.

Barkcloth curtains. Where did they end up?

My brother David has been gone for 30 years.

Mom left us 7 years ago.

Dad left 6 years ago.

So bittersweet. I found myself missing my brother so much. He would be 74 now, 75 next month. What would he look like today? Grandchildren he never got to meet. Spouses of his three children never met. I want to reach inside that photo and hug that beautiful boy.

It would be 8 years until another child came along – that would be L, my sister who has estranged herself from everyone in the family, including cousins, nieces and nephews.

Then another 3 years until my dearest Meredith came along. My brother was 17 years old when my mom was pregnant with Mere.

It’s Mere and me now.

I miss him. I miss them.

I’ve been thinking how horrified my dad would be by the rise of nationalism and fascism, the very evils he fought against when he went to war at the age of 18.

This little photo was designed to be put in a wallet. I don’t know where I got it – from Gram? From my parents? I’m not sure.

Yes, I look very much like my mother – except for my brown eyes, which come from my Dad.

__________________________

We’re getting our Covid boosters this morning. Times have changed – we went online this morning and got the appointments for the same day.

So I’m prepping for the nap that will come later. That seems to be my reaction to the shots – crashing in the middle of the afternoon.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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