Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for flowers

Buds and Blooms

April 1, 2024 at 8:53 am by Claudia

Yesterday was a lovely sunny day, so I took a few pictures. Unfortunately, both Don and I were under the weather, so we basically did nothing all day long. We’re due for lots of rain over the next four days – that’s depressing – and a bit of snow on Wednesday night. It will be gone the next morning. But I did get outside on Saturday to do some much needed pruning of some of the bushes. There’s more to be done, but frankly, I was tuckered out. I have to get back in my ‘working outdoors’ shape!

Robins visited the birdbath, some critter has been chomping on my day lilies (grrr!) and there’s lots of bird song every day. And my beloved peepers are especially vocal in the evenings, as well as all night long.

The daffodils on the edge of the woods.

Drat! Both of these photos are a bit blurry.

Anyway, these are crab apple buds. There are also buds on the lilac and the hydrangeas. We lost a few trees up in the woods over the winter – we had such high winds! Lots of branches down as well. I suspect the trees were ash trees – they’ve been weakened by the emerald ash borer. Plus, we’ve had an excess of rain over the course of several months which doesn’t help. Some of the fallen trees we can move ourselves, but at least one or two will need a chainsaw. I also had to move three saplings that fell near the secret garden. Losing trees always makes me sad.

I also had to cut back the limelight hydrangea where it was covering one of the boxwoods. That limelight is huge, so a little cutting back is a good thing. I’m anxious to do more, but the rain will delay any more work until next weekend.

I hope you had a lovely Easter, if you celebrate.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: flowers, garden 11 Comments

Daffodils and Egg Cups

March 25, 2024 at 8:54 am by Claudia

Our first fully opened daffodil. Unfortunately, I’m sure it got pummeled by the torrential rain we had all day on Saturday. We got at least two inches, maybe more. My activities that day were accompanied by the sound of the sump pump turning off and on every 3 minutes. It’s still cold, but I think, as of today, there will be no more lows in the 20s. I’ve missed the sound of the peepers, as they hide when it’s too cold. Hopefully, they’ll come out to play in the next couple of days.

We are winding down on our egg cup tour. It will end either on Wednesday or Friday.

I love these so much. They are new cups and were a gift from dear friend and reader, Judy. Aren’t they delightful? They are displayed on the top of the egg cup cubby, along with the next egg cups that I’ll show you.

These are double egg cups in the Harlequin line by Homer Laughlin pottery, the manufacturer who also made Fiesta. For some reason, the turquoise and yellow cups aren’t showing the same band of lines as the other two cups, but they’re there. Something to do with lighting. Anyway, small cup on the bottom, bigger cup on the top. I found two of these cups locally, and reader and friend Margaret sent me the other two when she was remodeling her kitchen.

I truly love that so many of these cups were gifts from readers, my mom, friends, and Scoutie/her dad. They all have a story, either of how I found the cup or how the cup came to me via a gift that arrived in the mail. (You know I love everything having a story.) The egg cup cubby is pretty full, but there’s still some room there and I do keep an eye open for anything that really interests me. But, at this point, it has to REALLY interest me. I have two coming sometime next month from my cousin. I have a few bookmarked on eBay. And I’ve been fighting the urge to take a look around the local shops, but I may give into it this week. Easter is the time when every antique dealer pulls out the egg cups.

It’s sunny today. I’m in the midst of rediscovering the spy novels of Daniel Silva. I read many of them several years ago, but I stopped at some point – I don’t know why. I read about his newest and it happened to be on the shelf at my local library. I forgot how fun they are to read and, most importantly, how engrossing. Right now, I need books that really capture my attention, where the words flow easily and I’m taken along for the ride. I’m working my way backwards to wherever I was when I stopped reading them.

I didn’t get around to answering Saturday’s comments. I hardly ever do that, but I’ve decided that’s okay every once in a long while.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: collecting, egg cups, flowers 25 Comments

Potpourri on Saturday

December 16, 2023 at 9:21 am by Claudia

My dears, I’m under the weather today with some intense sinus stuff, so I’m going to keep today’s post on the short side. I just need to hunker down and wait this out. A little dolly companionship is my prescription.

♦ The outside of the vintage dollhouse – the ‘Lake House’ – has been decorated. This year the owner used white wreaths found at Target. She discovered that they were larger in size than the green wreaths previously used, so they make more of an impact.

A sweet little deer is visiting on the porch. (An ornament from – once again – Target.)

Alas, the interior has not been decorated as I need to either make or find a tree that will work there. I would love to find a white or pink tree because the interior is so dark that one of the trees I make would be impossible to see. That’s for another day/year.

♦ An outfit that I ordered 2 months ago arrived in the mail the other day and Lucy volunteered to be the model.

Alas, after I posted it, I realized they were on backwards. Though they work either way. However, the pockets are supposed to be on the tush. (By the way, I would like to have a tree up all year round because photographing the girls by the tree is the best.)

The correct way:

♦ And a quick jaunt to the library yesterday revealed this:

Forsythia buds opening because the poor bushes are confused by this weather.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, Christmas, decorating, dollhouse, flowers, miniatures 15 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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The Dogs

The Dogs

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.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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