Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Mid-Week Snapshots

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What’s happening here at MHC?

Lots of painting. Two coats of primer and then at the end of the day yesterday, the first coat of Ivory White. A day spent in paint clothes, with paint in hair – no shower until the evening. Sore back (I have chronic lower back problems) from crouching and contorting my body into strange positions in order to paint the legs and base of the table. Today: another coat of paint (hopefully the last) and then onto a protective coat of something or other.

The fabric pumpkins have been brought out for the season. Hi Scout and Riley. Speaking of Riley:

This is the kind of thing we celebrate lately. Poor baby – as his hips get worse, so do his muscles and sometimes he just can’t make it outside. Practicing patience.

Loving one last surprise burst of blooms from my rose bush. Thank you, thank you.

Endless rain = soggy leaves. Everywhere.  I like crisp, pretty fallen leaves. I don’t like soggy ones. And we have a huge amount of them. Rain? Please stop. I know that sounds strange from someone who was worried about her well going dry just a couple of months ago. Nevertheless, I’m tired of you.

The sun has been teasing us a bit this morning. I’m hopeful.

Flora and Fauna Around MHC

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Do you see the dark brown clump of leaves in the center of this photo? This morning, I let Scout outside and she took off like a bat out of hell because she thought these leaves were a bunny rabbit. Granted, they were outside the ‘corral’ where bunnies often can be found munching. She did the same thing 2 more times. The irony is that on the other side of the fence on the far side of the corral there was a real bunny, cottontail and all, munching on the grass. Scout was oblivious.

Let’s take a little tour of the grounds:


These are the honey bees that live in our Catalpa tree. They appear every year and never bother us. This year, there are more than ever – I’ve never seen so many. No colony collapse here and that’s good news.


Goldenrod is appearing all over on the edge of our property. Beautiful…but ah-choo!


The bees sure like it.


I think this might be purple loosestrife. It’s pretty and is not invasive in our yard, thank goodness. Do you see the heart shape?


Poke Weed – its growing everywhere. The birds love it.


Stitching update: I’m finding this very relaxing and goodness knows I need some of that right now. I took a cue from Rebecca Ringquist, who uses a piece of fabric to back the sampler. So I added a piece of the fabric shown and then added to strips to the sides. I might add more or I might add some lace or crochet on the top and bottom. We’ll see.

Autumn is almost here. I’m more than a bit sad to see summer leave, probably because I missed spring and part of summer here at the cottage. The crisp, cool air the last few mornings and the spiders appearing with regularity inside the cottage tell me it’s time to say goodbye to Summer 2010. I hope you’re enjoying summer’s last hurrah!

NOTE: Garden of Daisies just left a comment that enlightened me. Goldenrod is often confused with Ragweed as a cause of allergies. But it is Ragweed, not Goldenrod that is the culprit. I can breathe easier – thanks!

The Last of the Roses

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Standing on the porch the other day, I spied these blooms, plus two as yet unopened buds. I think these are the last of my roses. I suppose this could be either good news or bad news. The bad news is saying goodbye to these beauties for another season. The good news is that I thought this particular bush was completely finished with its blooms and then I found these. Glass half-empty vs. glass half-full.

Today I am, unfortunately, feeling half empty. Or more than that – about 3/4 empty. The stress in my life seems overwhelming. Everything seems to be more difficult, scarier, impossible and heartbreaking. I feel like my shoulders and neck are holding enormous tension – that my head won’t stop thinking fearful thoughts. Do you ever have days like this? This year has been a very, very hard one for us and it seems to be continuing. While I often stop to count my blessings and I know there are many blessings, there has been loss, financial stress, loved ones in pain and suffering, fear.

Yes, I’m usually cheerful – especially on this blog. But sometimes it just seems impossibly hard to maintain my cheerfulness. Oh, I’ll get it back. Writing about it helps; and knowing my friends will be reading this and sending positive thoughts my way. This blog/journal is such a wonderful way to share things, usually exciting and good but occasionally sad or scary. I’ve just got to get back to the half-full mentality. Thank you for listening to me.

One positive thing: our own little Lazarus, Mr. Riley, is feeling better. He is almost back to his old self. I am deeply grateful I can leave for Florida with that resolved for the time being. I will try to post while I am in FL. I will also be sharing a book review with you on Thursday. I’ve started to work with TLC Book Tours. Oh, I’m not reimbursed in any way – I’m supplied with a book and encouraged to write an honest review. Since I love reading so much, this is a joy for me. So once a month or so, I’ll share a review with you. I’m reading a few books that I might not have found otherwise so my reading horizons expanding.

Thank you for being the listening eyes and ears that I’ve learned to count on. You are the best.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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