Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Birds, Bugs & Friends

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I’ve been watching this young bird, who tends to hang out on the grass right outside the window over the kitchen sink. Usually I’m in the midst of something so I don’t have my camera handy. Yesterday, I grabbed my telephoto lens and got a picture of him.

He’s a young robin. That makes me wonder: could he be one of the recent fledglings from the nest by the shed?

I like to think so.

Yesterday, he stayed in this position for a long time. And then he sat for a while. I imagine all of this flying and feeding is exciting and exhausting for a recently fledged robin!

This bug was lounging on a coneflower leaf and I loved his iridescent rainbow colors.

One more day! And a lot to do.

The winner of a copy of The Right Side  by Spencer Quinn is Vicki! Vicki, I need your mailing address. Congratulations!

In other news: My friends made an offer on the house and it was accepted very quickly. They will be moving here.

What are the odds that my dear friends would be looking for a house in the very large area that is the Hudson Valley and come upon a listing that intrigued them, which they then realized was in the same town that we live in, not only in the same town, but only six minutes from our house????

And that, after looking at so many houses all over the Hudson Valley (which encompasses several counties), this would be the one for them? It’s too bizarre! It’s been 16 years since we moved east from San Diego, leaving Rick and the Old Globe behind, and now we’ve come full circle.

I still can’t believe it. They can’t either. I think they’re in the ‘What are we doing?’ stage of this transition.

Wow.

They fly back today. I fly there on Monday. We’re all attending the same matinee on Wednesday of Escape to Margaritaville. It’s all too weird!

I’ll dash off a quick post tomorrow (most likely writing it tonight) and then I’ll be off to the West Coast. If I don’t post every day, I know you’ll understand. Though I love writing posts so I just might come up with something every day. We’ll see. I’ll also post on Instagram.

Happy Sunday.

 

Back and Forth

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There’s a hollyhock! This is a different flower than the usual, but it’s the only one I could find at my local nursery, so I bought it. Pretty, isn’t it?

I seem to catapult back and forth between despair at what is happening in this country and excitement at the thought of seeing Don. Back and forth. Back and forth. And in the midst of that, I’m making lists and trying to get it together before I leave on Monday.

It was incredibly humid yesterday with the inevitable thunderstorm coming late in the afternoon. I took refuge inside the house for most of the afternoon and then I drove over to ‘the house’ to meet with my friends one more time and see it again. They have some landscaping ideas that might bring more light to the back yard.

I don’t know for sure, but I think they might make an offer.

And in the strangeness of life, I’ll see them again next week in San Diego as we are all attending the same matinee performance of Don’s show. I don’t see Rick for years and then I see him in NYC at his retirement celebration, then I see him again this week as he looks for a house where I live, and next week I’ll see him in California.

Go figure.

Lots to do. Do you ever have a deadline and you know you have to accomplish a lot and you seem incapable of moving? That’s how I am at the moment.

Ah well.

Happy Saturday.

Flowers and Friends

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The first of the purple coneflowers has opened. I have so many coneflowers in the garden and I hope a few more open before I leave on Monday. They make me happy.

I made up two batches of deer repellent and sprayed everything in the big garden bed and the bed on the side of the house. They don’t seem to go for bee balm (yet) or catmint. This morning I woke up way too early – at 5 am – and started thinking about all sorts of troubling things including my marauding deer, so I got up and immediately checked out any activity in the gardens. So far, so good. Since it’s going to rain this weekend, I’ll reapply the repellent on Monday morning before I leave.

And that’s all I can do. Not easy for a girl who is a bit of a control freak.

I mowed the back forty yesterday and I think I’ll mow the front lawn today. Noble came by and we talked about a loose schedule for watering the plants. He brought along little Petey, their adorable dog, so I got to dote on him a bit.

Then I had dinner with my friends Rick and Doug. They saw the house yesterday and they love it, but have some reservations about the outside. Putting in a pool might be problematic and the house – being surrounded by trees that go up a sharp slope in the back of the house – might not get enough light, despite it having lots of windows at the back. While we were waiting 30 minutes or so for a table at a local restaurant very near to the house, we went back and walked around on the property. It’s really lovely, but I understand their reservations about it. They haven’t ruled it out, but they’re looking at another property today. I’d sure love to have them close by, but they’ll most likely be in this part of the Hudson Valley anyway and they need to find the right house for them. Maybe only six minutes away from the cottage was too good to be true!

I have to say how lovely it was to spend time with them. Rick and I have known each other for 30 years. I’ve moved a lot in my life and my closest friends live far away from me in Michigan and Chicago and California and Florida (my sister is also my friend.) I have lots of casual friends out here and lots of colleagues, but being able to spend time with a friend like Rick (and Doug, as well)  is a gift. I’ve missed that so much.

So we’ll see what happens.

I have to pick some more black raspberries today. Yummy.

Happy Thursday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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