Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Pansies

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Signs of new life: hostas emerging from the ground, coneflowers emerging, and pansies in urns. These urns were very cheap, I got them from the Christmas Tree Shops. They’re made out of a composite material, unlike my vintage urns that live in the Secret Garden. I’ve had them for many years and the elements have done a number on them. You can’t tell, but the top of the urns are no longer attached to the base. I have to balance them on top of the base and it’s a bit precarious. If it gets worse, I’ll just set the planter part of the urn on the ground.

I have two of them in gray as well, but since they live on the porch, they’re doing fine.

It’s going to be cooler for the next couple of days with temps going down into the 30s at night. But it’s sunny and beautiful, and I have to clear the leaves out of a couple more garden beds today. Don wants to try planting a few vegetables this year. With his surgery on Friday, I feel some pressure to clean out the beds and get them prepped so he can put the seeds in the ground.

I took it easy yesterday, which was easy to do as it rained off and on all morning long. Today, my back is much better.

I’m currently doing a lot of pruning – wild roses, pricker bushes, etc. They get out of control very quickly, so I have to stay on it.

I love, love, love this time of year. My mood lifts, I love being outside in the gardens, I love mowing – I feel lighter and more buoyant.

Very grateful that Spring has sprung.

Thinking of my beloved mom on this 9th anniversary of her passing. Love you always, Mom.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

A Visitor

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I did end up buying some pansies and some calibrachoa at the nursery yesterday morning. There isn’t a whole lot of inventory there yet as it’s been quite cold lately, but I expect that will pick up next week. After I came home, I cleaned out a bit more in the garden beds near the porch – so more wheelbarrows full of leaves were carted to our pile. I potted the pansies (oh, they’re so bright and cheery!) and the calibrachoa, which I always place in the vintage plant stand.

So I did quite a bit of work and was very tired, once again. But I have to remember that the last vestiges of the virus are still with me as well as allergies and just plain tiredness from the show, etc. But I am going to take it easy today before we mow for the first time tomorrow.

But the BIG thing about yesterday?

I was standing on the porch and I heard an extremely loud bird sound unlike anything I had ever heard before. Up and down the scale, screeching and calling. I looked up and saw a bald eagle right next door in my neighbor’s tree! Don happened to be outside getting ready to take a walk, so I alerted him and then I ran in the house for my telephoto lens.

You know, you just aim at the bird and hope at least one photo is good. This one is very good. Look at that fierce face! He was very, very vocal, making all sorts of sounds. I’d love to know what he was thinking. Eventually he took off but spent quite a bit of time soaring above us.

Don has occasionally seen bald eagles near the river across the road but this is the first time we’ve seen one on this side of the road and so close!

That was the highlight of my week.

Today is supposed to be quite warm and it’s sunny. I’ll take it.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Coaching, Former Students, Cleaning up the Garden

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Found this crabapple by The Dude on the edge of the Secret Garden. This is my favorite kind of crabapple because of those pink buds. It’s just like the one that was cut down by that idiot last spring. I miss that tree so much, but seeing this yesterday helped a bit.

Well, I’m done with the show. I drove to New Jersey, checked into the motel, checked out of the hotel, took notes at the show, and drove home late Tuesday night, getting home at 12:15 am. Too long a story as to why I decided to check out, but I’m glad I did. The show is in pretty good shape, needs a bit of tightening. The actors are doing well with the dialects, save for a few mistakes here and there.

One of the nicest things to happen on Tuesday was reconnecting with a former student from Boston University who works for the Paper Mill Playhouse as Production Manager. He came up to me and surprised me, and my goodness, it’s so wonderful to see former students again and find them happy and working in the theater. Mike lives with his wife and two kids fairly close to the theater. Confession: I’m always wondering if students from that time in my life are shocked at how much I’ve aged, my gray hair, etc. I’m always slightly embarrassed and then, because I’m insecure, I make jokes about it.

Speaking of former students, I posted this recently on Instagram:

Both Maura West and Cynthia Watros were students of mine at Boston University. And both have them have been working on soap operas for years. They are terrific actresses and human beings. Recently, Maura wrote me to tell me that she and Cynthia were on set one day and were reciting a monologue I assigned to them years ago. It’s from The Caretaker  by Harold Pinter and I used it as tool to learn the Cockney dialect. 30+ years later, they both remembered every word! Maura said “We remembered and laughed together with such love for our memories of you!!”

Oh my. That fills my heart, it really does.

She also added that she’ll probably be ‘blathering it (the monologue) in the nursing home!” I get it, Maura. I still remember every word as well!

I worked outside yesterday, but I got tired fairly quickly. I’m just now coming out of that upper respiratory thing, and I was tired from my trip to NJ. Plus, every year at the beginning of gardening season, I realize I’m out of shape. I did clear a chunk of the big garden bed, annoying the robin who is adding to the nest on the shed as I traveled back and forth with a wheelbarrow.

It was also very windy. I wore a mask and sunglasses, but the pollen got to me. And my back, of course. Today, I think I’m going to go to the nursery and hope they still have pansies left. I’m about a week behind on everything around here.

Glad to be coming out of that dreadful illness. Glad to be home. Glad to finally start working outside. Grateful to have had employment.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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