Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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The Frog and The Dude

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In an effort to bring a brief smile to your faces, I’ll share an encounter I had with a frog the day before yesterday when I was weeding the area near The Dude.

I saw him as he jumped away from me as I worked.

Soon he started to scale The Dude.

He rested for a while.

Meanwhile, I kept working.

The next thing I knew, he had scaled the Dude summit.

He stayed there for the longest time – a safe place to get away from the big human pulling weeds. Occasionally, he would look my way, but the moment I tried to to take a picture of his face, he turned away. I did take a little video, which I sent to Don (who was sitting no more than 20 feet from me inside the house.)

A lovely bit of nature’s magic helping to make the chore of weeding a bit less tedious.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and emotions yesterday. I find I am still unable to reply to your comments and after thinking about it yesterday and this morning, I feel they are more powerful without my intrusion into the conversation.

Both Don and I are heartsick and furious. Today, I think I’ll try to take a break from the coverage, if only for my sanity. Don is going to do the same.

I did some unplanned yard work yesterday. I think I need to keep busy and distract myself.

Much love to you all.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

It’s Those Decade Markers

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I have never seen so much fleabane on the property as I have this year. This photo was taken in the secret garden. The flowers cover the both sides of the stepping stones and the entire area bordering the back of the house that faces the garden. It’s amazing. I have to do some hop-scotch type moves to navigate the stepping stones. (That’s the rain barrel in the distance.) The petals are a combination of lavender and white. If I observed them more, I might notice if they start out as lavender and then change to white. I’ll try to figure that out.

It’s time to mow again. I’m not sure when we’ll do it, but it looks like we haven’t mowed in weeks when, in fact, we mowed less than a week ago. That’s the way of the world in the spring.

I’m starting to work on the finishing touches on Dove Cottage. I’ve been playing with the same mini pea gravel that I used in the rooftop garden on Hummingbird Cottage. I like it, but as much as I try to glue it down, it’s sort of impossible. And now I’m thinking that I need some stepping stones leading up to the door, with pea gravel around them. This pot of mums arrived yesterday. I have a few other things ordered as well. I need to finish this up and move it elsewhere so I can start in on the Beacon Hill while I’m still “young” enough to do all the work.

A glimpse into my mind right now: I’m headed toward my 70th birthday in November, and like all decade markers for me, it’s a time full of introspection. My posts about being an introvert come from that. I wake up some mornings panicked about how little time I might have left. Or panicked about how much stuff I have and realizing I need to make lists, provide information about all the things I collect (prices, provenance, etc.) in some big notebook. At the same time, I want to keep growing and learning and playing and creating – I don’t want to fall into the trap of thinking that possibilities are disappearing or fading. And all of that is up to me.

Thanks. I needed to share that so I could get some perspective.

Livvy: all set for summer.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Sunday on the Porch

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I’m sitting on the glider this morning, enjoying the porch before it gets too hot to be out here. So much bird song! We’re due for another day of temperatures in the 90s before storms roll in. Actually, while I’ve been sitting here, the sky has clouded over. But there’s a nice breeze and my goodness, I love the sound of birds.

Yesterday, I watered twice, simply because it was so darned hot and humid.

I am so much happier at this time of year. Green everywhere, wildflowers popping up, bunnies, birds, groundhogs, chipmunks, my porch once again becoming an extra room. Don was out here with me for a while this morning and I said to him – yes, money is extremely tight, the world has gone mad, we’ll be paying this mortgage for the rest of our lives – but this porch, this view, this peace we feel when we get to work and enjoy our property, that’s what we wanted and thought we’d never have. And we have it.

Here’s what is happening with my Annabelle hydrangea:

A lot of new shoots are coming up from the ground and they’re growing taller every day. I want to give them room and cut back more of the old stalks, but then I see something like this on a stalk I thought was dead:

Do I still cut some of it back to give the new shoots room to grow?

And ideas would be welcome!

We just had a wee bit of rain. One of my favorite childhood memories is sitting on folding aluminum chairs on our porch, watching the rain come in, and seeing just how long we could stay out there without getting wet.

There’s a quick little video of the Secret Garden on my IG this morning.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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