Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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P Is For Peony

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First peony to open. Gorgeous.

I’m sure the flowers on the other bush have started to open but I haven’t gone outside yet. I’m staying in as much as possible, though I hate having to do that, as my allergies have seemingly gone haywire. I had an extreme reaction on Saturday and then another one on Sunday night. It’s been windy around here (what else is new?) and I’m sure that only intensified things.

So. I’m laying low. Can’t wait to get back to normal.

The clematis has started to blossom as well, but it was hard getting a picture yesterday because it was windy and I was trying to do it quickly so I could get out of the wind and the petals weren’t cooperating. I’ll try again today.

Thank heavens for Beverley Nichols, who keeps me chuckling despite my fuzzy head. I’m reading the second book in the second trilogy – Laughter on the Stairs.

Skylight light. We moved the lab stool over by the cabinet. It used to be the side table to our old sofa but we switched it out with another table that works better there. Unfortunately, I took this picture while a pile of mail had been placed there temporarily.

Real life!

Did anyone watch Woodstock  on TCM last night? I watched that movie so many times when I was in college. It played endlessly at our campus movie theater. And the album was on permanent play in our dorm room suite. So many memories! Don had never seen it. I was stunned. He, in turn, was shocked that I – the girl who never indulged in drugs or hallucinogens of any kind – would like the movie. But once he watched, he realized that it was really about the music. And it was. Favorite moments: Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Santana, and Sly and the Family Stone.

It went until midnight and we had to cut out about 11:15 or so, but it was great fun. And now that we live fairly close to the farm where it took place, we have an even deeper appreciation for the place and the time and the scenery. We know it well.

Happy Wednesday.

 

I Feel Like a Broken Record

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What can I say? Endless rain. Lots of thunderstorms. Yours truly on the verge of a primal scream. More rain today.

I did manage to do some weeding in the garden yesterday morning, because, as you can imagine with all this rain, weeds have quickly become out of control. And I did my best to prune the big bush that sits in the big garden bed. And then, because I knew rain was on the way and the grass was already too long, I mowed the large part of the front lawn. I knew I was doing too much, but it had to be done. Don was in the city yesterday. He’s mowing the rest of the lawn(s) tomorrow, when, if it can be believed, it will be sunny.

Our thunderstorms have been big ones, going on for a long time, with rain pummeling the gardens and plants. I’ll share a picture of the bridal veil spirea taken the day before the storms started.

Now, it’s drooping on the ground and the flowers are brown. To be fair, it was about time for the flowers to fade, but what an undignified end to their beauty!

Ah well.

Let’s see, what’s on the agenda for today? I’m getting my hair cut. It’s way too long, yet again. When your hair is long and straight, it’s easy to let it go and then one day you realize it won’t do anything and it looks limp. That’s where I am. I cannot wait to have 3 inches taken off!

I may go to the Country Living Fair tomorrow. Still debating. I couldn’t go last year because my sister was in town (NYC) to see Don in Margaritaville. I usually go on Friday and I go early because it gets crowded very quickly. I’m there for two hours max. There’s a lot of variety, but I tend to concentrate on vintage and antiques.

Is everyone still experiencing excessive rain and, in some cases, flooding? Gosh, I hope June brings better weather. We’ve broken all kinds of records here.

Happy Thursday.

 

 

 

Discoveries: Trees & Books

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Lots and lots of rain yesterday – at times, torrential – culminating in severe thunderstorms during the evening. I know there were tornado warnings in some parts of New York and New Jersey, if we had one, I was unaware of it. And it looks like we’ve got more rain coming today and tomorrow and, again, on the weekend.

Ummm, Mother Nature? We’ve had more than enough rain this spring, thank you very much. I’m beginning to lose hope that the Secret Garden will ever be dry enough for us to sit there. Right now, that particular scenario looks impossible.

I’m hoping there’s a small window today where I can attempt to mow part of the front lawn. Doubtful, but you never know!

We have a beautiful tree up in the back forty. I’ve always loved its shape. One of our older, dead trees fell this year and this tree is now the star of the clearing. For years, I assumed it was some sort of ash. But the other day, I was up there to take some pictures and I saw blossoms everywhere! Have I never looked up at the tree at this particular time in the spring? Am I always looking downward as I mow the grass? Anyways, I was dumbfounded and realized it’s a chokecherry tree! And it’s gorgeous.

As I looked up chokecherries, the descriptions were always ‘modest in height’ ‘at the most 20 feet tall, rarely taller.’ Well, this guy is at least 30 feet tall. And he’s beautiful. Most of the trees up in the woods and the back forty are maples, oaks, catalpas, black walnuts, and elms. I love them all, but this chokecherry has more than a little of my heart. It has oval leaves that move gracefully in the breeze.

We’ve been here nearly 14 years and, once again, I have noticed something new which isn’t really new at all. Just to me.

Speaking of the back forty, we have some lovely wild honeysuckle there, actually we have it all over the property, but this pink honeysuckle is only found just under the chokecherry. It’s such a soft pink.

The lavender that’s in a pot on the Funky Patio.

I’m in the midst of a Beverley Nichols reading binge. I finished his first trilogy and have now started on his second. It centers on a house he bought after WWII called Merry Hall. In fact, this first book in the trilogy is called Merry Hall.

For someone who reads fiction predominately, I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction lately. Although, Beverley Nichols’ gardening books are non-fiction mixed with fictional characters based on real people. He reminds me a bit of P.G.Wodehouse, my husband’s favorite. I find them very relaxing and amusing, often chuckling out loud over some turn of phrase. Right now, they are the perfect read! I’m so glad I grabbed the first three books (that I already owned) off my bookshelf and finally read them. I was hooked. That started me off on a quest to gather the next 5 books from used booksellers, as they’re out of print. I have 4 out of the 5 and the 5th will be arriving today or tomorrow.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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