Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for garden

Potpourri: Garden, PicMonkey, Etsy & Parsons

June 16, 2012 at 7:30 am by Claudia

Okay. The time for frolicking is over, Claudia. Your friends have departed. Back to work.

You know what’s pathetic? After the four of us spent our first day together on Wednesday, I couldn’t get to sleep. I was just like a kid that has been overstimulated. That gives you an idea of how exciting my life is on a daily basis. Two friends come to visit and I get overexcited.

Yikes.

Have you noticed that my Etsy widget isn’t up? Meredith and I are taking a break for the summer. There’s not much happening at the moment and we figure the break will give us some time to make new inventory. And rest our aching wrists and hands. And in my case, feet. But that’s from too much mowing with not enough arch support. I have to do something about that, pronto.

By the way, I took the above photo at our local nursery with my iPhone. This gorgeous butterfly was hovering over a hanging plant and I had to get a picture. What a beauty! And do you see the way it’s framed? I noticed that PicMonkey has a new frame available and I had some fun with it. It’s called Craft Scissors. There are a lot of different options. Here’s one:

That’s our shed, framed with one of the Craft Scissors options. The window boxes are planted with impatiens and vinca. The climbing plant is a Climbing Hydrangea. I’ve had it in that bed for over 4 years – maybe five – and while it grows like the dickens, it has never bloomed. I read somewhere that it takes 3 or 4 years to bloom, but I suspect it simply doesn’t get enough sun. I added some baby hostas this year in the bed on the right. Clearly, the shed needs a new paint job, but it’s not on my priority list.  I sort of like the weathered look.

Every year some of that vinca that’s growing in the window box on the left gets so long that it seeds itself in the ground.

This year it bloomed. Thank you vinca! This photo has been given another Craft Scissors frame.

And this yarrow that has started to self-seed all over the property (this one is between the big planting bed and the funky patio) is framed in another Craft Scissors cutie-pie frame.

Go check it out. PicMonkey is adding new options fairly frequently.

We’ve had some beautiful weather the past 3 days and it looks as if (crossing fingers) it’s not going to rain for several days. I know many of you would give anything for some rain and I wish I could send some your way. Nonetheless, we’ve had quite a bit of it lately and a wee break is welcome.

By the way, next week Don and I are going to see my former student and good friend Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory) perform on Broadway in Harvey. Jim and I have been chatting back and forth via email and I can’t wait to see him again. I have an enormous soft spot for Jim. Okay, I’ll be honest: I adore him. It should be fun!

Filed Under: blogging tips, etsy, garden, Jim Parsons, theater 26 Comments

Between the Cracks

June 14, 2012 at 8:53 am by Claudia

My little volunteer impatiens are blooming! Yes, right there between the pavers on the funky patio where the usual volunteer is a dandelion, I get to see this delightful surprise. Don’t you love it when something unexpected bursts into bloom? Maybe it’s in a secret place in your garden or on your patio that only you can see. It makes the experience all the more special.

We’re having such a wonderful time with our visiting friends – old friends of many years standing, both in the theater – who now live in Toronto. They know us so well. We can just be ourselves with them, warts and all. The rainy weather broke into sun just as they arrived in town yesterday and today is equally beautiful. Scout and Riley are in heaven as our friends are true animal lovers and have been doting on both of them.

Meanwhile, the spirea and hydrangeas are blooming like crazy. I snuck outside yesterday and took some pictures of the garden.

It’s so nice to see the sun. Hope you’re having a wonderful day.

Happy Thursday.

Filed Under: friends, garden, Riley, Scout 18 Comments

MHC Before & After

June 11, 2012 at 9:30 am by Claudia

I ran across this photo yesterday, taken in the autumn of 2005, a few months after we moved into Mockingbird Hill Cottage:

When we moved in, the two bushes on each end of the area in front of the porch were the only bushes there. Since we moved in at the very end of August, we didn’t do any planting. We did buy those 4 teeny tiny boxwoods to fill in that yawning empty space in front of the porch. I dug out a bed and planted the boxwoods. Then winter came and once we hit the spring of 2006, I started planting in earnest.

Here’s the cottage now. I tried to get a view from the same angle:

I not only pruned those boxwoods this year because they were so big, I made an attempt to prune them into a pretty shape. Ignore the little picket fences leaning against the porch. They’re holding something up until the hydrangea I just planted (just to the left of them) fills in the space. And the rocks on the right are maybe going to be used in a rock garden. Not sure yet about that.

Anyway, what a difference almost 7 years makes! The roses have grown by leaps and bounds. I added two planting beds just around the corner from that rose bush, where there are more rose bushes, an Annabelle hydrangea, spirea, purple coneflowers, the New Dawn rose, liatris, white coneflowers, day lilies, and a butterfly bush.

I hope I can find a photo of the big planting bed in its forlorn 2005 state. I know we have one somewhere from the day we first saw the house. If I find it, I’ll show you a before and after. Of course all the before shots were from my pre-blogging days. If I had been blogging, you can be sure I would have documented everything!

The great thing about being home this spring, beside the obvious pleasure I get from seeing everything burst into bloom, is that I have time to plan, to add, to tweak. I’ve added plants here and there. I’ve planted some seeds in a little area by the dog corral. I’ve pruned. I’ve weeded. I’ve added plants to the patio. In previous years, I could only prep the beds, mulch and cross my fingers until I came back home in July.

How are you on this Monday? What are your plans? (Yesterday I mowed, did laundry and caulked the tub. Today, I’m mowing again – it’s endless. And cleaning. And eating Rhubarb Snacking Cake. )

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: garden, Mockingbird Hill Cottage 23 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

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