Life in our little cottage in the country
They’re fading from the deep purple that they were. And we’re going to get a lot of rain this weekend. So I thought I’d take one last group of photos.
I love you, lilacs.
My niece and great-niece are seeing Anastasia this afternoon. I’ve arranged for them to meet Christy backstage after the show. I hope they have a great time!
Happy Saturday.
I was the lucky recipient of a package from Barbara. Inside were presents for Caroline and Mini Don and a couple for me, as well.
For Caroline: two Petite Princess chairs, a lovely wooden tray (looks like tole!), three pieces of china in a sweet bird motif, a pillow and a Maxfield Parrish!
A clearer shot of the Maxfield Parrish.
Also in the package for Caroline:
Three Nancy Drews with cover illustrations by Russell H. Tandy. It took me a while before I realized that they actually open.
The famous orange silhouettes inside the cover.
More illustrations and text. Amazing.
Mini Don received some treats as well:
British-themed pottery (perfect for a Beatles fan) and a metronome.
And two beautiful Swarovski Crystal bunny rabbits for me. Aren’t they sweet?
It ain’t easy taking a good photo of faceted crystal!
Thank you so much, Barbara! We are thrilled with our gifts and humbled by your generosity.
I finally got a shot of the violets that grow under my sedum. It’s actually larger than this, but this is all I could capture without trying to lift the sedum branches and handle the camera at the same time:
Today, I’m buying mulch, more potting soil, impatiens and maybe some other plants. Then weeding and mulching, which will continue through tomorrow, potting and planting.
Happy Thursday.
A pox on this cold and rainy weather! February was like May. May is like March. My frustration grew yesterday, so I put all the cushions back on the porch furniture…if it rains, it rains, they’re indoor/outdoor anyway!
Then I got in my car while light rain was spritzing my windshield and I drove to our local nursery. I was craving flowers. Surprisingly, there were quite a few people there, despite the weather. I find that everyone is as antsy as I am. We want to plant. We want warmer weather (coming next week, apparently.)
If it was going to stay unseasonably cold, I had just the solution:
Pansies! Confession: I’ve never planted pansies before, though I love them. Due to my frugal gardening nature, I usually plant all my pots once a season and that’s it. So I would normally plant these urns with something that would last through the summer.
But I threw caution to the winds yesterday and went with the pansies. And they cheered me up!
I have other plants-in-waiting. They’re currently waiting on the kitchen table.
And that doesn’t include impatiens, hanging plants, plants for the galvanized bucket, etc.
And mulch, which I will buy today or tomorrow.
In the meantime, it’s cold.
As happens at least once every spring, I looked outside to see a bunny inside the corral, running around in a panic because he/she couldn’t get out. After going outside and to open the gate, I went back inside and watched for a while, hoping he’d figure it out.
Nope. There was another bunny on the other side of the fence waiting for him. So I finally went outside, walking around the outside of the corral, hoping to nudge him toward the open gate. Didn’t work. Knowing he would be even more scared, but also knowing it was the only way to ‘rescue’ him from the corral, I stepped over the fence into the corral – staying far away – whereupon he panicked, running up against the fence a couple of times before he saw the gate and ran out.
Poor baby. But better that than an entire day stuck in the corral, getting more and more upset. I’m not sure why these guys can’t see the opening in the big corral that leads down to the house and the open gate. Let’s hope that’s the last time that happens. I saw him run around the house to the area just outside the kitchen window, where he stopped, collected himself, and proceeded to clean his paws. He’s okay.
Mowing? Mulching? I’m not sure.
Try not to get too excited.
Happy Monday.
