garden — Page 185

Friday Thoughts

May 29, 2015 at 8:37 am by Claudia

I have two posts up today. In addition to this post, if you scroll down one post or click here, you’ll see I’m giving away two pairs of tickets to the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck, which takes place next weekend, June 5-7. If you’re interested, make sure to leave your comment before Sunday evening at 9:00 pm. There’s a fast turnaround on this one!

5-29 rose in bud

A few days ago.

5-29 rose

Today.

Gorgeous. Mom, this rose is for you. Heartfelt thanks again to Martha, who gave me this bush last year in remembrance of my mother.

Henry has kids. Yes, just after I posted about him on Wednesday, I saw two little ones dining on some of our grass. Sometimes the kids are out on their own. Sometimes Henry is out there with them. Adorable.

Or perhaps I should say: Henri a des bébés.

Can you imagine them in little bérets?

5-29 poppy

Oh yes. The poppies have opened.

They are so breathtaking. And their bloom time is short. So I take tons of photos because I know they’ll be gone before I know it.

5-29 poppy 2

At the same time the poppies open, the catmint is flowering as well, so there’s a lovely purple and orange combination going on in the garden.

And, as I walked around the porch, I saw this:

5-29 clematis

The clematis is blooming, too! Glory be. The garden has said yes to Spring. I planted this clematis several years ago, but it didn’t start taking off until the weeping willow came down. The willow had blocked the sun which caused the clematis to grow lots of leaves, but no flowers. Now, it’s making up for lost time. Welcome back!

Don, Scout and I sat on the porch last night and watched the sun set and listened to the birds and talked about our life and our gratitude for our many blessings. We looked around our property that not all that long ago was covered in several inches of snow and marveled at the miracle of spring. We’re grateful for our marriage and the strong love we have for each other and for Scout. We’re blessed with friends and family and work in our chosen fields. We’re living our dream. Though at times it can be a stressful struggle to make the mortgage payment or pay those unexpected bills, we’ve managed to do it and we’ve managed to do it as freelancers, never sure of each month’s income. Our parents helped us as we started out on this dream of ours. For that we are forever grateful. We’ve made our choice and are holding fast; life in the country in a lovely little cottage with our beloved animals around us, with green things growing and blooming, with music and laughter and a lot of hard work. We’re coming up on the tenth anniversary of Mockingbird Hill Cottage (in August.) It doesn’t seem possible, but it’s true!

Anyway. We’re grateful. We’re thankful. We’re blessed.

Happy Friday.

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Roses and My Girl

May 24, 2015 at 9:16 am by Claudia

5-24 scoutina2

Just because.

She’s amazing, our girl. She has good days and not-so-good days, but she’s full of spunk and she makes us laugh. In a couple of weeks, she’ll be 16½ years old. We are so blessed by her presence in our lives.

Adorable, magical Scoutie.

My rose bushes are leafing out, slowly but surely. I was worried that the brutal winter did them in, but they’re coming back. I’ve been cutting dead canes here and there, but I’m also waiting to see where leaves develop before I do much more. Right now, there are a lot of bare branches – not the most attractive look – but mother nature seems to be doing her magic. Hurrah!

5-24 rose bud

My friend Martha sent me a rose bush last year in remembrance of my mom. It’s called Remember Me. We tucked it in next to the chicken wire fence and it rewarded us with a spectacular bloom.

Here we are, almost a year later, and look what I found! It’s already developed a bud. I can’t wait to see it bloom again. Thank you, Martha. Thank you for this wonderful remembrance of my mom.

Nothing all that exciting on the agenda for this Sunday. A little trip to the nursery for some plants for the Funky Patio. Some reading. Maybe a hike with Don? We’ll see.

Something happened that I find utterly despicable. It involves both the good and the bad of being online. Thank goodness for the blog reader who alerted my sister to the situation. It’s Meredith’s story to tell, so I will direct you to her post.

As you can imagine, I want to see scumbags like this pay for their actions.

Happy Sunday.

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P: The Porch, A Pot, A Plant, And Pruning

May 23, 2015 at 9:15 am by Claudia

I pruned and shaped the boxwoods in front of the house yesterday, as well as the tall bush in the big garden bed. Do you remember my saying that the hens & chicks that I had planted in front of the porch didn’t come back this spring? Well, you never know what some pruning might reveal:

5-23 hensandchicks

Hello! I was wrong to doubt you, little one. You were there all the time.

5-23 glider

Behold our funky, rusty glider. Don found it when we were living in San Diego. He arrived home with it in the back of his Blazer. $25.00. It’s been with us for years. Some might think I should paint it, but I really love it this way. I do, however, want to find a cushion that fits the entire length of the glider.

And no, I’m not in the mood to make one.

But for now, this works just fine. For those of you who are new to the blog, the floor of the porch is made of bluestone and I fell in love with it when I saw this cottage for the first time.

5-23 gardening stuff

Caroline, the owner of the dollhouse, has her own potting shed. I do not. So this is what you see as you enter the porch. Supplies, clippers, soil, mulch, garden gloves, recycling bins. I guess you can say my potting bench is this bench, along with the picnic table which is to the left.

I got the sign several years ago in an antique mall.

5-23 deutzia

Currently blooming in the big garden bed: Nikko Dwarf Mound Deutzia. There are two of them. I planted them the first summer we lived here, so that would make them nine years old. They’re especially pretty this year.

And, I was standing in the kitchen yesterday, I glanced at the Vernors crate that is on the island and realized I had neglected to include one piece of McCoy Pottery when I did the series.

5-23 little mccoy pot

It’s a tiny little flower pot, a wee bit crooked, that I found locally. It holds all of our pens and pencils and sits in the crate. It’s from the 1940s.

5-23 nm mark

It has the Nelson McCoy mark – an intertwined NM.

I didn’t want this little piece to feel left out!

Last night, we had a frost warning. Next week, the temps are going to hit ninety degrees. This has been the strangest spring!

Happy Saturday.

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Friday Thoughts

Roses and My Girl

P: The Porch, A Pot, A Plant, And Pruning

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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