Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

  • About MHC
    • Disclosure
  • Dollhouses/Minis
    • Hummingbird Cottage
    • The Studio (Formerly TSP)
    • Dove Cottage
    • The Lake House
    • The Folk Art Dollhouse
    • The Modern Dollhouse
    • Dollhouse Source List, Information and Tutorials
  • On the Road
  • Collecting
    • Roseville Pottery
    • McCoy Pottery
    • Egg Cups
    • Bakelite
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / Archives for flowers

Scrambling

July 16, 2014 at 8:21 am by Claudia

Today might be the last day of several days of rain. Fingers crossed. I’m really tired of it, though I know there are those of you out there that would give anything for some rain at this point. And I would gladly send it to you if I could. Everything is soggy. It’s humid. It’s dark. It’s depressing.

Again, when I ventured outside yesterday for a few short minutes…bam! Another mosquito bite. In the same place on my arm. The other day, I was bit on my eyelid. Lovely. I don’t really miss living in California, but I do miss the lack of mosquitoes there. For eight years, I was mosquito-free. Sigh.

new dawn bud

The Japanese Beetles have chewed on most of my New Dawn roses, save this bud. I’m pulling for it. A quick examination  yesterday of the roses that border the porch revealed no beetles. Dare I hope that they have left the premises?

One of my day lilies had exactly two blooms on it, ready to open. Had is the operative word here, as they are no more. My friends, the deer, decided to dine on them.

moth on coneflower

These coneflowers really are this color. No adjustments to the saturation of the photo. This is how they look. Hello, little moth.

The other day, when I mentioned my few kitchen accomplishments, one of them being fluffy scrambled eggs, Kathleen asked if I would pass along my secret. So yesterday, when Don requested scrambled eggs and I immediately responded with “No. I have a headache,”  I reconsidered my response, thinking that it might be a blogging opportunity. Don got his scrambled eggs, thanks to you  guys. I hope he appreciates you.

By the way, I really did have a headache.

I read this tip years ago and I couldn’t tell you where at this point. Here’s the tip:

Mix together your eggs and milk, whipping them with a fork. Pour the mixture into a frying pan.

scrambled eggs1

And here’s the trick: as the edges start to solidify, push the solid eggs toward the middle of the pan. Constantly.

This means, my friends, that you really can’t leave the eggs to attend to other kitchen duties, like making toast. Assign that to someone else. Because the eggs cook quickly, you need to use that spatula to push the eggs toward the center.

scrambled eggs2

See? More of the solidified eggs have been moved to the center. Keep doing this, never letting the eggs stick to the pan, occasionally flipping them to ensure even cooking. I don’t flip them until the end of the process. If you leave the pan unattended, you risk scrambled eggs that have browned, which is okay if you like that, but not as pretty. Or fluffy.

scrambled eggs3

Here they are, just about done. Don’t overcook them. Trust me, they are light as a feather. Don loves them. Add some salt and pepper, have your child or husband or partner or niece or nephew or dog butter the toast, and you’re all set.

What the heck am I doing giving cooking advice?

The winner of a copy of Elizabeth is Missing is Shirley Elliott. Congratulations, Shirley! I’m sending you an email as soon as I publish this post. (And I love your name. That was my mom’s name.)

And there’s a new post up at Just Let Me Finish This Page. It’s a book review.

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: flowers, food, Just Let Me Finish This Page 40 Comments

The Garden & A Walk in the Woods

July 14, 2014 at 7:15 am by Claudia

white coneflowers plus a purple one

Gosh, I love coneflowers. I deliberately planted white ones in the big garden bed, but as you can see a purple coneflower snuck in there this year. The more the merrier, I say. This is the part of the bed that was impacted by the falling of a huge limb from our maple tree, so I am very grateful that these beauties came back. I was sweating that one.

purple coneflower & hydrangea

There are lots more in the garden beds at the side of the house.

annabelle hydrangea

I took this photo of the Annabelle Hydrangea yesterday afternoon. We had a severe thunderstorm last night, so these beauties are drooping from the barrage of water. Same thing with some of the milkweed. I ran out and tried to straighten them, but I couldn’t get some of them upright again. Makes me sad.

Yesterday, Nancy said in a comment that the photo of Don next to the mullein had a timeless quality. That got me thinking. Here it is in black and white:

don and mullein b & W

What do you think?

Continuing in my current video vein, I managed (after three tries) to film a little video of our woods. I kept having to delete some photos and old videos in order for there to be enough storage to film the new video. Again, some jerkiness to the film quality. It isn’t easy to keep an iPhone still while you walk, especially in the woods.

As you watch, keep your eyes open toward the end for the bunny rabbit that I didn’t even see when I was filming! He’s to the right of the mullein. I was so busy trying to get everything in that I didn’t notice him until I played the darned thing back. Life in the country.

Enjoy.

A Walk in the Woods from Claudia Hill on Vimeo.

There’s a new post up on the book blog, Just Let Me Finish This Page. Stop on by!

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: Don, flowers, garden, life, woods 52 Comments

The Moon & Mullein

July 13, 2014 at 7:43 am by Claudia

How is it that I can be trying to read in bed, nodding off from exhaustion after a day of digging and weeding and mowing, decide to turn out the light, and then not be able to go to sleep?

I don’t get it.

Needless to say, last night’s sleep would be rated with one star out of five. I got some, but not enough.

Getting up at 5:15 am has its perks. In the space of about 30 seconds I saw the moon go from this:

sunday-morningmoon

to this:

sunday-morningmoon2

to this:

sunday-morningmoon3

I was shooting so quickly that I didn’t realize the moon had disappeared. Poof! Gone.

sunday-mullein-one

Earlier in the week, I showed a photo of one of the plants that grows in the back forty. I didn’t know what it was, but you did, thank you! It’s mullein, which is used in herbal medicine, often for respiratory problems. The flowers are used to treat minor wounds and scrapes.

It grows wild around the property – I must have seen 10 plants yesterday.

sunday-mullein & fly

sunday-mullein-flowers

It’s amazing how many wild plants there are here on the property. The space between the cultivated and the wild contains fleabane, milkweed, wild blackberries, mullein, wild honeysuckle and wild roses. And that’s just what’s blooming at this moment. I love my gardens, but I find I’m loving these beauties just as much. We’ve deepened our friendship, especially as I have become more knowledgeable about just who and what they are.

Mullein grows very tall. The first year, the leaves develop. The second year, the stalks grow and beautiful flowers appear. To give you an idea of how tall this plant can grow, check out this photo of our tallest mullein with Don at its side.

sunday-don-mullein

Don is well over 6 feet 4 inches tall. That would make this particular mullein almost 6 feet tall!

I love learning about plants. There is always something to learn, isn’t there? We’ve lived here nearly nine years and I keep finding out new things about our land and the plants that grow here.

I’m glad you enjoyed my little video yesterday. More will be coming.

Don’t forget to visit my post entitled A New Path (In More Ways than One.) Oxytrol for Women and More Magazine are launching an Open A New Door contest for women over 50. Go on over and read the details and enter!

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: flowers, life 31 Comments

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 256
  • 257
  • 258
  • 259
  • 260
  • …
  • 309
  • Next Page »
  • Email
  • Instagram

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.

Thanks for stopping by.

Searching?

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

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

All Content © 2008 - 2025 Mockingbird Hill Cottage · Log in