Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Is That The Sun?

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I had to remove a nearly completed bird’s nest from the hanging plant that is straight ahead in this photo. I heard some chirping yesterday morning and the day before which, when I finally put two and two together, sent me outside to check those plants. Sure enough, there was a nest in one of them. (I’ve only had them for about 5 days!) But I had to remove it because these plants need a lot of watering, which would endanger little babies. I’ll check it again this morning. Sorry, mama and papa bird!

We did a lot outside yesterday, including mowing the entire front lawn, the corral and the area near the shed. We wanted to get it done before the predicted thunderstorms arrived later in the day. Happily, those storms never came. I yanked a lot of weeds and repositioned the stones that make up the borders of all the garden beds. I cut down a sapling that was not in a good place. All this on four hours of sleep! (Patting myself on the back just a bit.) But, when mid-afternoon hit, yours truly collapsed into her blogging chair.

Today, a rarity of late, will be mostly sunny. So I’m going to the nursery to get some top soil, more potting soil, a few more plants, and some more seeds. I’ll soak the morning glory and moonflower seeds overnight, and tomorrow I will sow them.

Forget-me-nots are tenacious little things. They’ve self-seeded all over the place including here, smack dab in the middle of some gravel.

The hostas are growing by leaps and bounds. This is that time of year when a single day makes a difference, when I look at the plants and wonder how they could have grown so much in twenty-four hours. It’s truly amazing.

I’m reading a lovely book by British author Penelope Lively called Life in the Garden. It’s just plain delicious reading. From the book jacket: “reflections on gardening, art, literature, and life.” It’s less than 200 pages long and I recommend it for all you garden and plant lovers.

We watched It Happened One Night last night. It’s truly one of our favorite movies and we never tire of it. Gable and Colbert at their best, a cast of wonderful supporting actors, and Frank Capra guiding the whole thing. I love Capra. I want to live in that world; a world where character matters, where having a strong moral compass is required, and where the bad guys get their comeuppance.

I have yet to answer yesterday’s comments. By mid-afternoon I was so tired and sleep deprived that I just couldn’t do it. But I will now. Thanks for your patience.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Tulips & Lilacs

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Our lone tulip has opened. Such a pretty yellow!

Since it hasn’t bloomed in a couple of years, I was very happy indeed to see it yesterday morning. Some long-ago owner planted this. Perhaps the same owner who planted the peonies down near the road.

I worked my tush off yesterday, battling brambles, mulching garden beds, trimming rose bushes. I was tuckered out at the end of the day. Too bad I woke up at 4 am this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, which is part of the reason I’m writing this so early. I want to get going outside before thunderstorms roll in during the afternoon and I collapse in my chair.

I’ve done a lot outside, but every time I stop and take a look around I am reminded of how much more there is to do.

As for the day yesterday, it was sunny before I went outside to work, turned cloudy as soon as I started gardening, and the sun did not return until I was done for the day. But whenever it emerged, I was so happy to see some sun! Today? Doubtful, as we have rain coming later in the day.

Almost all the lilac buds have opened. The small bush I bought several years ago has grown and both Don and I were impressed by its size yesterday. I’m so glad I planted it. A cottage in the country – climate permitting – should have a lilac bush. Our neighbors across the street inherited some huge lilac bushes, easily 12 feet tall. One white, one purple. I remember Laura coming over to greet us after we had just moved in. She was carrying lilacs and chocolate chip cookies. We felt then, as we do now, that we had been blessed with good neighbors.

Happy Tuesday.

Some Sun on a Monday

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We have a partly cloudy day today, but there have been some stretches of sunny. Hurrah! In fact, I’m going to post rather quickly so I can go outside and get some work done in the sunshine. As we have learned around here this particular spring, sunshine is fleeting. And true to that, tomorrow will bring thunderstorms. With sun such a rarity, I’m vowing to lap it up whenever I can. I’m also hoping there will be another dry day this week because we need to mow the back forty.

I took a quick picture of one of the vintage pots. I can’t get very close because the ground in the secret garden is so waterlogged that you can hardly walk back there. The secret garden is at the back of the house, at the foot of a hill. That makes it lush, but it also makes it very wet, especially this year.

Anyway, here is one of the pots:

Just the beginning. As you know from last year, the coleus and the vines will grow and grow. These vintage pots are made of cement and, let me tell you, hauling them back and forth to the porch is tiring. In better weather I would have done all of the potting back in the secret garden, but it was too wet back there.

Today, some weeding and mulching – hopefully, the last of it – and whatever else seems indicated. I’ll try to take some more pictures today.

We watched Ninotchka last night. Don had never seen it. The combination of Ernst Lubitsch (director of my beloved Shop Around the Corner ), Garbo, and Melvyn Douglas is perfect. Also, one of my favorite character actors, Felix Bressart, appears.

That’s all. Our days are low-key nowadays. With Darko leaving Hartford Stage in June, Anastasia closing, and of course, the closing of Margaritaville last year, work has been a rare commodity. We’d both like to be working; it keeps us sharp, is satisfying, and we need the money. But that’s the way it is right now. Hopefully, there’s something exciting on the horizon for both of us.

Happy Birthday to my dear brother David, who died in 1991. I miss him.

Happy Monday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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