Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Daffodils and Pollen

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The daffodils that popped up by the porch a few years ago bloomed for the first time this spring. We have more of the same in the woods and at the top of the big garden bed. I love it when daffodils spread.

Friends,  I’m not feeling well today. I’ve been working outside every day, even on days I had planned on taking off. When I came in the house yesterday, I told Don I had to take today off and to hold me to it. I needed to rest my back. But when I woke up this morning I felt absolutely miserable, grit under my eyelids, lots of congestion. It’s allergies, of course. There’s pollen everywhere and it’s been rather breezy every day.

The result: Mother Nature has told me to stay inside today. (Except for watering the pots, of course.)

We also have 4 or 5 days of rain coming up, starting tomorrow. Nothing I have to do at this point is urgent, so it can wait until the middle of next week.

So, if you don’t mind, I’m going to stop here today.

I’m tired!

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Potting, Gardening, and Mowing

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This was taken a couple of days ago. I’m sure the blooms are fully open now. Even then, the scent was so intense. I’ll take some more pictures later today.

Day of rest today. Time to take a break.

Yes, we did mow on Monday and it was so satisfying! And miraculously, the lawnmower never clogged, even though the grass was very long. We were pretty tuckered out afterward, but it was such fun tag-teaming the job. We had just enough gasoline on hand. We need to get more.

Yesterday, I visited the nursery and all the plants I still needed to get were there. Whoo hoo! So I came back home and spent the morning potting everything. I also planted two more catmints, as my original catmint plants in the big garden bed were planted 19 years ago and are thinning out a bit. The heavy vintage planters for the secret garden were loaded one at a time on a dolly and wheeled to the entrance, then I walked them the rest of the way to that little cinderblock wall. It was windy, which means pollen was everywhere, so today I’m feeling the impact on my allergies.

Speaking of pollen, the trees have filled out so quickly! Suddenly, there’s green everywhere. The black walnuts and the catalpas will be the last to leaf out. Have you noticed the same thing where you live? Amazing and wonderful and a miracle. The hydrangeas have leafed out, the hostas have emerged from the ground, the daylilies, bee balm, baby zinnia leaves are all thriving.

Yesterday was in the 80s, but today will be cooler.

We watched Hoosiers  on TCM last night. I love that movie so much. It’s one of my favorites. And, as you know, Gene Hackman was my favorite film actor. Both of us were in slightly edgy, irritable moods, and that movie lifted us up. It took us to another place. The look of the film, the slightly retro tint, the period look to everything – it’s a beautiful film about redemption and triumph.

Okay. I desperately need more coffee.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Potting on the Porch

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Mother Nature has determined that I need a day of rest. It’s been raining since last night and we’ll have thunderstorms today. To be honest, I’ve known this was coming and boy, oh, boy is it welcome! We really need the rain and I really need to rest.

I’ve been working on clearing out the garden beds on a daily basis as well as driving back and forth to the nursery to see what is available. Yesterday, I cleared the garden beds on the far side of the house. Later in the day, I took a run to the nursery and another plant on my list was available. I’m still waiting for the final 3 and then I’ll be done.

Just the beginnings, as these pots will look very different once the plants take off.

This is lobelia. I have it in the pot in the first picture and in another pot on my little blue chair, which I’ll show another day.

Nothing has been officially arranged yet, but it’s the usual; big pots of impatiens on the benches, as well as my geranium which I overwinter every year. It’s on the bench near the porch entrance. I have two hanging pots of impatiens and two hanging pots of scaevola – those beautiful purple flowers that are super dependable. The impatiens will last until the first hard freeze, as will the scaevolas, lobelia, and calibrachoa. I can’t afford to change out the contents of my hanging pots from spring to summer. What is there is there, and it has to last for the next 6 months. Oh, and the pansies, in pots just outside the porch entrance – they last the longest of all of the flowers.

I’ll take more photos after a little time goes by. Hopefully, I can get everything potted by sometime next week. I also sowed the seeds for morning glories and zinnias.

It’s tiring, but necessary. Don is so adorable. He knows how much I look forward to spring and gardening and every time I come back from the nursery, he greets me with “Did you find anything??”

Today, some rest for my back, some household chores, and an episode of Gardener’s World. Don has a gig at a winery this afternoon.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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