Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Split Personality

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My husband snapped this photo of me the other day…I had been working for hours cleaning up parts of the property. Covered in dirt, tired and seemingly missing my eyebrows, I was not a candidate for a beauty shot. Despite my husband’s assertion that I looked cute, I knew I looked just plain grubby.

I walked inside the house and found a package waiting for me. This was inside:


One of Lori’s beautiful puffs.


Besides being thrilled to receive this gorgeous, handmade, silken, feminine indulgence, I also laughed out loud. I guess that grubby girl in the photo has a pretty, frou-frou side. We all have contradictory sides to our personalities…I sure do. I think that makes us so much more interesting, don’t you?

I should have had Don take a picture of me in the grubby clothes holding the puff!

Much to do before my 7:15 AM flight on Saturday morning – I’m a bit under the weather today but I have to keep at it.

Have a wonderful day.

Pretty Blossoms and Kelee’s Giveaway

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This Weigela bush came with the cottage – it is on the far side of the property, near our shed. It blooms in the spring…sometimes. We’ve been here five springs and I can usually spot a few blossoms buried in the depths of the bush. I pruned it a couple of Junes ago, hoping it would eventually bring more flowers. At last – this year it is blooming up a storm! I love the color of the delicate blossoms, a sort of pinkish-orangeish -red. That’s my professional name for the color.


When we moved in at the end of August in 2005, this bush was big, overgrown and green. That was it. The next spring, I happened to spy a few blooms…I went into detective mode until I figured out just what kind of bush it was. I am so happy to see it really take off this year.


Have you stopped by The Katillac Shack yet? What’s stopping you? If you’re just now catching up on my posts, I am featured as a Shackster, along with Heidi. That means I get my own room at The Katillac Shack. Kelee, the amazing woman behind this fabulous blog, is having a giveaway in our honor. Swoon! Look at those cottagey colors! And that vase on the right is McCoy. Oh yes. Quite frankly, I would love to win this giveaway, but that would be a mite too grabby, don’t you think? But you can win. So go on over, read all about us and leave a comment!

Okay, my friends, I have so much to do this week before I leave on Saturday that I am in a bit of a panic. Not to mention the fact that every time I look at my husband and my dogs and my garden, I get very, very sad.

Have a great Monday.

The Garden

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Yesterday it was 89 degrees here. Yikes. Today it will be at least 80 degrees. Then the temperatures will fall to the normal 60 degree range over the weekend. One perk of the unseasonably warm weather is in the garden. Plants are growing by leaps and bounds. I’m thrilled because that means I get to see some action here before I leave in a little over a week. There is much more going on than there was last year at this time.





Yes! This last photo is of my little lilac bush – planted 2 years ago. I didn’t get to see any blooms last year because I was on the west coast. Don, bless his heart, took some photos and sent them to me. Maybe it will be more fully in bloom before I go.

Next week I will mulch the gardens and plant some pots for the porch and the patio. Then I will give detailed instructions to Don: when to water, how often to water, what weeds to pull. I would much rather be doing all this myself – I get such joy from it. Oh well – it is what it is.


The hyacinths are getting top-heavy…I’ll plant them outside next week. I retrieved these silver candlesticks from my hutch today. They were given to us as a wedding present from our beloved friend Craig who died last weekend. He was such a lovely man. His home in San Diego was absolutely wonderful – quirky, beautiful, full of memorabilia. And he had the most wonderful, lush tropical gardens. His taste was impeccable. These beautifully tarnished pieces will be a wonderful reminder of our lovely friend.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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