Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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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.

 

Blooms and Miniatures

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In just a few days, everything has taken off around here. All of the crabapples are blooming or about to bloom. There are wee little leaves appearing on the maples. My neighbor’s flowering trees are in full bloom. It’s so healing.

Last year, we cleaned up the area in the front lawn where the weeping willow used to be. There was a sapling coming out of the ground – maybe around 5 feet tall – and we debated whether we should leave it or remove it. About 4 days ago, it suddenly had flowers – it’s a crabapple! It looks so lovely in the middle of the front lawn. I’m glad we let it be. At the time, I suspected it could be a crabapple because it had very smooth bark, but I wasn’t sure at all.

After haunting my local nursery, I was finally able to get some impatiens yesterday, as well as one of the hanging plants I always buy. So I spent the afternoon potting the flowers. As I was walking through the nursery, a woman saw me looking around and said “They said there is more coming tomorrow.” I guess I’ll be back there today or tomorrow. I still have to get some calibrachoa, lobelia, geraniums for the barrels, and some coleus for the pots in the secret garden.

I have to say it felt so good to see the porch starting to take shape.

My allergies are out of control, of course. Pollen, pollen, everywhere.

We’re going to have to mow the lawn in the next couple of days. Hurrah! I love  to mow the lawn.

I was online yesterday and I saw an announcement from my favorite online shop – miniatures.com – that they were closing. I couldn’t believe my eyes! I have been ordering from them ever since I started working on dollhouses – which was around 2010. They have everything, especially building materials. I also got the kit for Don’s miniature music studio from them. They are a family-owned business of 50 years and they’ve decided to retire. They’re based in Georgia.

Well, the shock has reverberated around the American mini world. I’m not kidding when I say I was stunned. The news caused me to really think about the Beacon Hill, which I had been considering selling. I just haven’t been able to get motivated to do anything with it. Renovating a dollhouse can be expensive, though I certainly could aim for doing it on a budget (like I have any choice!) That shop is the place I go to get things like baseboards, moldings, strip wood, and wallpaper glue. Knowing that there is a deadline for orders – June 9th is the last day you can order and everything is on sale right now – I decided to place a modest order, including Victorian style baseboards. I’m sure I’ll place another one before they close. The closing notice put me  on notice.

So I guess I’m hanging on to the Beacon Hill. As I said to Don, since it seems I’m being forcibly retired, what else am I going to do with my time?

I will miss miniatures.com so much. They were always so helpful and kind. It’s a gigantic loss for miniaturists.

Okay.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday,

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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