Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Two Slugs

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We’ve been rather slug-like around here. I’ve been exhausted. Don is tired, as well. So, we’ve been hanging around the house, sitting in the Secret Garden, watching movies, sitting on the porch – that sort of thing.

We did rouse ourselves enough to take a trail walk yesterday. We stopped and said hello to our favorite horses and met a couple of new residents on the farm – two mini horses. So sweet!

I got a bit more sleep last night, so I’m feeling less ragged. In fact, I’m feeling groggy. I don’t know about you, but when I’ve been sleep deprived and I finally start to catch up, I feel groggy and out of it for a day. It’s slow going this morning!

The balloon flowers have been budding and blooming. This is what a balloon flower looks like before it opens.

And this is what it looks like after it opens. Amazing, right?

We need rain, which seems to be our mantra this summer. After an incredibly wet spring, we’re now rain-deprived. A day or so ago, we were supposed to get thundershowers and the radar showed storms headed our way. Unfortunately…nothing. Sigh.

More day lilies in The Far Side garden.

We won’t talk about the buds that ended up being dinner for a deer. Probably the same young deer who was standing in the corral the other day staring right at me and chomping on yarrow. He’s beautiful, but…

Happy Thursday.

Mating Season

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Early in the evening yesterday, Don was making dinner and I was sitting in the den. I can see the edge of the birdbath from my chair and I noticed two doves sitting on the edge.

They were grooming each other. This went on for quite a while, each dove taking a turn. Very affectionate. Very sweet. I called out to Don and he walked over to the door to watch them from the kitchen.

Eventually, they moved apart.

And started to head toward the opposite end of the birdbath. This is the pair that I’ve seen around here for several years.

One jumped down to the ground. The other followed.

I mentioned to Don that they were resting on the parking area and I moved back into the den and stopped taking pictures.

A few minutes went by.

Then I heard, “Honey, I think they just mated.”

Apparently, Don walked back to the window to watch them and saw the male get on top of the female.

I missed it.

No photos, but then again, that’s rather a private thing, don’t you think?

We googled the whole mating thing and, sure enough, that’s what they do. He gets on top of her, she moves her tail and they mate. Now that I look at the photo above, it looks like she was in position, waiting for her guy.

By the time I reached the door, it was over. They stayed together on the ground and then walked toward the shed, eating along the way. Eventually, they flew up into the catalpa tree.

Wow.

Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it,
Let’s do it, let’s fall in love. – Cole Porter

The coneflowers are opening. My favorite cottage garden flower.

And check out these beauties! The coneflower and the day lilies are in The Far Side garden bed.

We’ve moved into normalcy again. It only takes a few days to get through the re-entry process. But I’m still not sleeping enough and I’m pretty exhausted. I was having this trouble before Don came home, but adjusting to sleeping together again is not helping things.

My kingdom for some sleep!

It’s a lovely day today. Yesterday was too hot, but today is shaping up to be a perfect summer day.

Happy Wednesday.

Re-Entry

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Tired, tired, tired. That’s how I feel today. For several days, I haven’t been sleeping my usual 7 hours, more like 6, and it’s taking a toll. Plus, Don tends to stay up later than I do because his body clock is tuned to nighttime performances. Our respective rhythms are quite different at the moment and we are definitely having to get ‘used’ to each other again. Plus, we are having ‘control’ issues, which is to be expected. I am used to being in control here because I’ve had to be for the past 6 months. Don is used to being in control of his environment. So we’re having to negotiate. It’s re-entry time.

One of the hollyhocks is blooming. The other is not. It’s growing, new leaves are emerging, but the flower buds stay small and are brown. What the?? They’re right next to each other, too.

This is stonecrop and it’s growing in the memorial garden. I had to look it up because I have absolutely no memory of planting it. None. And it’s not as if this little garden bed has been in place that long. Yikes.

Morning sun.

That’s all I’ve got today, my friends. I’m really beat. Hopefully, I’ll be more chatty tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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