Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Under the weather

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I woke up this morning with a definite head cold. Drat! I suffer from bad allergies, so I’m usually feeling some kind of congestion, but this is different. I feel just plain yucky. Try as I might, I am unable to do much of anything but putter with the blog and put a coat of paint on the cabinet. I planned to mow, but who am I kidding?

I had to delay plans to have my niece and her family here for the day on Sunday. We’ll have to do it next weekend. In the meantime, here is a picture of one of our peony bushes (from last year). Right now, the buds have formed but none have opened. They will flower in a couple of weeks. I love my peonies. They are planted down at the edge of the property, near the road. I’m sure they have been here for years. How I wish their bloom time was a bit longer…they are such lush, beautiful flowers. Have a great weekend and a wonderful Memorial Day.

Busy, busy!

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It has been very busy here since I returned. Much time spent mowing our grass. We live on very uneven and hilly ground, so pushing the mower takes a lot of muscle and endurance. Since I’ve just spent a winter sitting and not moving, I need to GET IN SHAPE! I’ve also been working in the garden, lugging bags of mulch and compost to various destinations in our yard, digging holes, planting, cleaning the house and working at the store. I am tired! I’ve also begun work on this:

I bought this cabinet at auction for $5! Its very dirty, and the paint needs to be stripped and there are dirty cat footprints on the side; but my plan is to strip it, repaint it and shabby it up a bit. It will become the cabinet our television rests on and the cable box, dvd player, etc. will be on a shelf inside those doors.

I started stripping it yesterday and it is much harder than I thought to get that paint off! I am using a citrus stripper, supposedly healthy, but maybe the terribly strong chemical strippers work better? Anyway, between scraping away on this cabinet and putting down mulch and planting my new lilac bush, Mothers Day was busy.

My dear husband suprised me with a beautiful brunch, flowers, and cards from each of the dogs and him! I also received a wonderful box of chocolates. I hope all mothers had a wonderful day. I called my Mom, who hadn’t received my card yet, and told her what a great Mom she is. I also called my sister and my niece, great mothers, also.

This week I plan to drive down to see my niece and her kids. They are getting ready to move to Amsterdam this summer! Her husband’s employer is transferring him there for two years. What a fantastic experience for them! We will miss them but hope to visit.
More later.

Garden Dreams

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Oh, I am yearning to start gardening! I’m reading every gardening article I come across, looking at catalogues, reading favorite gardening books. I’m doing what I always do at this time of year – planning, dreaming and making lists. This time of year in the Northeast is a tease. The sun shows itself a bit more, snow and ice begin to melt, the garden soil becomes visible again and the smell of spring is just beginning to fill the air. You start to think, oh good, spring is here. Oh no. It might be, but it may just as likely snow again. There are no buds on any trees, no sign of daffodils beginning their push toward the sun. There’s just the possibility. The possibility of green, of rebirth, of warmth on one’s face again.

I want to clean up the twigs and sticks that are strewn all over the yard. I want to rake the gravel that has traveled from the driveway onto the grass and into the garden back to its proper place. I want to prune where necessary and prepare the soil. But its only March 16th and that is way too early. Around here you are told “don’t plant anything until the first week of May.” Of course, I usually cheat a little, but not by much.

I read so many blogs and I admit I am jealous of those bloggers whose gardens are already being planted – how lucky you are! I used to live in California and I know what that feels like.

For now, I’ll keep reading and dreaming. The lovely pictures in the book shown above are from “down-to-earth gardener” by Suzy Bales. I recommend it highly.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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