garden — Page 217

All Creatures Great and Small

June 7, 2013 at 9:10 am by Claudia

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Just a glimpse of all the activity going on around here. For each photo that succeeds in capturing a flitting bumble bee, for example, there are about 30 where he’s a blur. Our woodpecker friend, a red bellied woodpecker to be exact, has been ensconced on the property for a while. We hear the rat-a-tat-tat of his pecking in the catalpa tree. I’ve identified his calls; he’s very talky. Yesterday I walked out the door and there he was on the shed, moving from here to there, assessing whether the shed was peck-worthy. In the end, he decided it wasn’t. But I was able to slowly sneak up on him and grab some photos. I don’t have a telephoto lens, but this kind of situation is exactly the reason I want one some day.

Don posted a photo of him on Facebook and asked for name suggestions. I think Guthrie (as in Woody Guthrie) won out. So Guthrie it is. He’s a beauty.

The shed needs painting. I don’t see it happening for a long while. I don’t like to paint walls.

Hey, it has a weathered look. I sort of like that.

It’s raining heavily and has been since last night. Knowing that rain was on the way, I ran out to the peonies yesterday afternoon with my pruning shears. I wanted to grab the fully opened flowers because I knew that the heavy rain would decimate them. Into the Ball jar they went.

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Hello, beauties.

A fellow musician friend of Don’s is coming over today – he’s driving in from Connecticut. They’re going to practice together for a gig they have on June 21st. This guy is amazing; he plays the mandolin, dobro, steel guitar, you name it. Don met him recently and they seem to really get each other’s musical sensibilities. It’s a match made in heaven.

I can’t wait to hear them play. Perfect for a rainy afternoon.

(I was going to go to the Country Living Fair but I decided not to, for several reasons. It’s rainy and messy out there. I’m not real excited about the whole thing; I wrote on FB that I was feeling rather ‘meh’ about the whole thing. We’re on a strict budget here; I can’t really justify the cost of the ticket and the gasoline to get there, and I can’t really buy anything. So why go? If it’s a success, it will be back again. Right? But my friend Heidi has a booth there and I’m so, so happy for her!)

Happy Friday.

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A Bit of Everything

June 5, 2013 at 9:47 am by Claudia

wildrose

Wild roses are everywhere on this property. Normally, they are a pain in the tush because they grow with abandon and have thorns. Normally, I curse them. But for a week or two in the spring, they bloom and everywhere I look there are billowy tufts of tiny white flowers. And for that week or two, I bless them.

Delicate. Beautiful.

Yesterday was simply gorgeous with temperatures in the seventies and a gentle breeze. I was a bit down, still am, so I comforted myself with time on the porch and the funky patio. I listened to the sound of the birds – I so wish I could identify all the different chirps and calls – and watched them flit and fly all over the property. I heard a woodpecker up in the catalpa. In fact, I hear him now. But every time I tiptoed to the tree, that little bugger took off. He knew I wanted a photo of him.

I heard the cicadas, but only for about 30 seconds here and there. Cicadas have to compete with the noise of traffic on our busy country road. I am still finding some newly emerged cicadas here and there on the property.

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A view of the house from the back forty.

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Part of the back forty.

I sat on the porch glider and looked at my gardening journal. I don’t keep it up like I did when I first established this garden seven years ago, but reading it helps me to realize how far the gardens have come. I am reminded about the plants that thrived here and the plants that mysteriously failed or simply disappeared. More on that in another post. I read my current Deborah Crombie mystery. And this girl kept me company:

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She spends an awful lot of time sniffing here and there. Her nose reminds me that other critters pass through this porch: cats, chipmunks, squirrels, bunnies, mice.

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That face. I absolutely adore that face.

By now I think you know that I am more than a bit uncomfortable with the whole idea of tooting my own horn. Fortunately, I don’t suffer from that little malady when it comes to my husband. I briefly mentioned yesterday that his new album is available for download on his website. Don has a website that covers both his acting career and his music. I have a website for my professional work. (And you thought you knew everything about me!) Anyway. His new album, Out Beyond the Breakers, was recorded in our friend Rob’s incredible studio while Don was working in San Diego earlier this year. It consists of 14 new songs. If you’re interested, you can download them individually or as an album.

Some of my favorites?

Don’t Tell Me Heart
I’ve Got a Love (makes me cry)
Adios New York
Say It Twice
Guess I Still Get Crazy
She Saves Me

No pressure. Since many of you have told me how much you like his music, I thought I’d share this with you. If you’re interested, click on the link and then click on Music/Shop on his homepage. While you’re there you can see some photos of him in various acting roles and read a bit more about him. He’s an interesting guy, that husband of mine.

This is shaping up to be a long post! Since they are here for such a short time, more peony photos:

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Love to you all on this Wednesday.

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Early Morning Garden (Sans Coffee)

June 2, 2013 at 8:55 am by Claudia

What else but my garden would get me outside at 6:30 am without having had even one measly cup of coffee?

You should be impressed.

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Dame’s Rocket, which resembles phlox, is a wildflower that grows everywhere in these parts. I know it’s considered a weed, but I think it’s beautiful. This one is growing alongside the house.

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Silver Dead Nettle in the main garden is starting to bloom.

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The Lady Elsie May roses are just starting to bloom.

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clematis

The clematis, which didn’t bloom for four whole years. Once we lost the shade of the willow, it took off like a rocket.

poppies

The poppies. The gorgeous flowers just last a day or two. Then they’re gone.

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A weed, though I hesitate to call it that, that just finished blooming.

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I think it’s beautiful.

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The wild roses, which any other time of the year I call brambles, are blooming. These are right outside our kitchen window.

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The big garden bed a few days ago.The catmint is blooming, as are the poppies.

Oh, heavens. I love my gardens. The camera I got for Christmas is experiencing Spring and the gardens of Mockingbird Hill Cottage for the first time. Camera, meet gardens. Gardens, meet camera. I could easily be outside most of the day taking pictures.

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A little overzealous weed-whacking the other day resulted in a cut peony stem. The next day I rescued it and put it in water, pretty sure that the bud would never bloom. I was wrong. Look what awaited me this morning! Hello, sweet peony.

It’s Sunday. The oppressive heat has broken. I’ve been watching the Red Sox/Yankees. I’m reading another excellent Deborah Crombie mystery. I finally cleaned up the porch, even the two bags of salt that were still there from this past winter. We have worries. We have cares. But we also have love, our sweet cottage, our little girl and the glory of spring here in the Hudson Valley.

Not bad at all.

If you’re at all interested, I was recently interviewed by Linda Huffman, who publishes an online magazine for women called Women Encouraged or “We” Magazine. If you want to read the interview, click here and then click on the Market Place page (in the column on the left.) Linda, thanks so much for the opportunity and for such great questions!

Happy Sunday.

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All Creatures Great and Small

A Bit of Everything

Early Morning Garden (Sans Coffee)

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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