Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Day Eighty-Three

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I’m writing this earlier than usual as it’s going to be a hot one today and I have some work to do in the gardens.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for your supportive comments on yesterday’s post. After a long day, I sat here in my chair prepared to write replies as usual, and I confess, I teared up. Bless you for being here.

We did watch about a half hour of Rachel Maddow, but when we switched channels about a half hour into the show, I turned to Don and told him I can’t watch it at night anymore. I can catch up during the day with snippets of the previous night’s show, but I can’t take all this to bed with me. He agreed. And I ended up sleeping very well, as if a load had been taken off my shoulders. The horror show continues and I will stay informed, but I have to take control of my waking hours, deciding just when to expose myself to the news and when to stay away. This is nothing I haven’t said before; in fact, it’s what we’ve been doing, save for the last three days when we broke our normal ‘protocol.’ Lesson relearned. (My life story.)

Nearly done. I should finish today. This puzzle is so gorgeous, it’s been a treat to work on it every day. I’ve always loved Mucha’s work and this one is exquisite.

I ordered three more Inspector Maigret novels. Two arrived yesterday. One will arrive today. They are so well written! They take place in Paris, so what’s not to love? And they’re relatively short, making them the perfect thing for me to read right now. Since Georges Simenon wrote 75 of them, I should have lots of reading matter for the months to come.

I’m so glad we have Andrew Cuomo as our governor. He is being very cautious about reopening businesses. When I see the way other governors ceased lockdown too early (and the numbers are already spiking in those states) I am doubly glad we have Cuomo at the helm. Whenever he does open things up for our little area (not all that far from NYC) Don and I will continue to wear masks, to limit our shopping. Basically, we will continue to do what we have been doing. And of course, we are fortunate that we are at the stage in life where we can do that – that goes without saying.

Okay. Have to go make that second cup of coffee. Don will be returning from his morning walk!

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Day Seventy-Five

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The view on the porch this morning as I sat outside drinking my second cup of coffee. It’s going to be a hot one but this morning it is cool with a lovely, soft breeze.

We live in a beautiful part of the country.

We have to replace one of our a/c units so we’re off to Lowes to pick it up later this morning. But we did get one installed in the bedroom, thankfully. It was very hot and humid yesterday and sleeping in that cool room with the white noise of the a/c was wonderful.

We worked outside for a long time yesterday; Don doing his thing, me doing mine, which consisted of weeding and pruning, pulling up the spent forget-me-nots, and cutting back brambles. Today I’ll indulge in a little weed whacking and maybe I’ll mow the other side of the front lawn.

I’ve found that when I’ve not had enough sleep – like yesterday – I function better if I give myself lots to do and then do it. Then I have no time to indulge in ‘poor me’ thinking. That’s what I did yesterday and it really helped. Having a task to do keeps me in the present moment and I stop thinking about anything other than the matter at hand. This, of course, is the perfect time of year for that because I have all sorts of things to do outside.

I’m about to start in on a new puzzle. It’s a beauty so it should be fun. You can see a photo of it in my stories on Instagram.

And that’s about it for today. I have to get going as we’re going to head over to Lowe’s soon. We want to get back and install the new unit, so we can tackle some other chores today.

Stay safe, my friends.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Day Sixty-Nine

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It’s a big day. The Boston fern is ready to move to its summer home, The Porch. Plans were delayed as we waited for nighttime temps to get a wee bit higher. Everything is prepared. The fern and I are just waiting for the right time, probably around noonish. Then I have to vacuum the dead frond bits that are on the carpet upstairs and which will most likely be all over the stairs as I bring her down to the first floor.

Don worked hard yesterday and I’ve finally managed to persuade him that today must be a day of rest. He did a lot of digging and hoeing and he’s tired. He was too tired (and his hands were too sore) to play his guitar. That’s not a good thing.

It’s looking increasingly beautiful around here as all the trees are in full leaf, except for the black walnuts, which are well on their way, and the catalpas – always the last to leaf out. The peonies are growing taller. The self seeding yarrow and forget-me-nots are all over the place. Where just a few weeks ago we saw bare-limbed trees and a stark gray landscape, we now see green everywhere. And it’s that lush spring-green which makes us enormously happy. Goodness, we are blessed. This transformation helps so much in these times, we’re able to dig in the dirt, to plant, to sow seeds, to prune, to watch things grow. Watching green things come back, seeing that abundance – it gives us hope in this hard and heartbreaking time.

Today? Maybe a few little prunes of the boxwood. Some sitting on the porch. Some vacuuming for sure. And definitely reading.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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