Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Flowers and a Giveaway

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Ever so slowly, the limelights are turning pink. Just a tinge here and there. My limelight bush is huge this year – I’m sure that’s due to all the rain we had this spring. The flowers are bigger and fuller than ever.

I’m happy to inform you that the whiteflies have been absent for a few weeks now. Thank goodness. Yesterday, I made up a batch of  homemade deer repellent and sprayed it on the remaining morning glories. Fingers crossed! I found the recipe several years ago on a blog called Turkey Feathers. Here’s a link to the recipe.

It’s worked for me in the past. So let’s hope it works this time. (I don’t use pesticides.)

Another gorgeous day filled with golden light and a gentle breeze. It doesn’t get much better than this and I’m soaking it all in. Tonight we go to dinner at Rick and Doug’s as one of Doug’s daughters is visiting. We love seeing her, so it should be a fun evening.

Okay. Barbara, one of the readers of this blog, wrote me to say she has an extra paperback copy of the Overstory  that she would be happy to give to one of you.

If you remember, I raved about this book. It’s truly one of the most powerful novels I have ever read. I cannot say enough about this story and the heart and mind of its author, Richard Powers.

So, we’re going to have a giveaway today. The same rules apply as usual: If you’re interested, leave a comment on this blog post, NOT via a response to the email version of this post, and not via a direct email to me. Only on this post. I will pick a winner via the Random Number Generator on Sunday evening.

Barbara is willing to send it to anyone in the United States or Canada. If you win and you live in the States, you will have to give me your phone number as it is required for Customs.

Thank you, Barbara, for this generous giveaway!

(I won’t be answering comments as it makes it too difficult to tally up the numbers.)

Happy Friday.

Groundhog Sighting, Dollhouse & A Question For You

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First groundhog sighting – not Henry, this guy was far too spry for Henry. In fact, I’m not even sure whether he lives on our property. I happened to look out the kitchen window and saw a groundhog on the ramp to the shed. Then he ran around the shed. (There’s another entrance to their home back there.) Then he ran around to the front and, to my surprise, jumped up on our overturned wheelbarrow.

Blurry. Taken through the window with my iPhone.

He was on the alert. He did this a couple of times, then he proceeded to follow the chicken wire fence toward the back of the property, stopping several times to stand on his hind legs and scout some more. Eventually, he ran across the back of the property toward my neighbor’s shed. And I know some ground hogs live there, as well.

Did he just wake up from hibernation? Is he looking for his friends? I’m not sure. But it sure was fun to watch him.

I worked a bit on the dollhouse yesterday. My English cottage concept involves stones. So I cut up some egg cartons (used by miniaturists for the texture) and played with paints.

Pretty good, but I think they need to be lighter in color.

And can you imagine how long this will take me to do? I woke up this morning feeling daunted at the very idea.

I also got about 2 hours of sleep last night, so that didn’t help. I went to sleep just fine. I woke up, went to the bathroom, and that was it for the rest of the night. Just dreadful. My sleep has been really off lately. I’m feeling ragged today, so I’m just going to take it easy.

A question for you: Don and I have been tossing around the idea of doing a podcast. Something that we would do every couple of weeks or so, where we chat with each other about the theater, our lives, life at the cottage, music, groundhogs, whatever. We’re sort of intrigued by the idea, but the big question is: Would anyone listen to it?

What are your thoughts? We wouldn’t inundate you with episodes, we might not even keep to a rigid schedule. Don could play a tune on his uke, we could swap stories about our careers and who we’ve worked with, and we’d be funny, to boot.

We’re going to research the whole thing because we haven’t a clue how to do one. But it would be fun for us and maybe fun for you?

Let me know.

The winner of a copy of How to Know the Birds  is Susan. Now, there were several Susans who commented, but I’ve sent you an email, Susan, so you’ll know if it’s you. Please respond with your mailing address. Thank you to everyone who commented!

Also, I’m playing with the size of my photos? Are these too big?

Happy Sunday.

 

Book Review: How to Know the Birds by Ted Floyd

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Today I am sharing my review of How to Know the Birds by Ted Floyd. Thank you to National Geographic and TLC Book Tours for supplying a review copy of this book.

About the Book:

Become a better birder with brief portraits of 200 top North American birds. This friendly, relatable book is a celebration of the art, science, and delights of bird-watching.

How to Know the Birds  introduces a new, holistic approach to bird-watching by noting how behaviors, settings, and seasonal cycles connect with shape, song, color, gender, age distinctions, and other features traditionally used to identify species. With short essays on 200 observable species, expert author Ted Floyd guides us through a year of becoming a better birder, each species representing another useful lesson: from explaining scientific nomenclature to noting how plumage changes with age, from chronicling migration patterns to noting hatchling habits. Dozens of endearing pencil sketches accompany Floyd’s charming prose, making this book a unique blend of narrative and field guide. A pleasure for birders of all ages, this witty book promises solid lessons for the beginner and smiles of recognition for the seasoned nature lover.

My review:

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I am a lover of birds, that I am endlessly fascinated by them, and that I love to photograph them. I wouldn’t have thought to classify myself as a birder, but maybe I am! I only know that I love them.

I have several bird identification guides that I consult regularly. This book, however, is different. It’s not a traditional identification guide, however, you will learn so much about identifying birds through the absolutely delightful essays written by author Ted Floyd, who is the Editor of Birding  Magazine.

Divided into six sections, the books designed to teach us over the course of a year. “Spark Bird”!  which covers the first of the year, speaks to those birds that birders call Spark Birds – the ones that sparked an interest in birding. “After the Spark” covers March through May and speaks to birdsong and migration. “Now What?” moves into summer, studying nesting, courtship, molt and bird conservation. “Inflection Point” corresponds to the last half of summer when most birds aren’t flying because they’re molting (I didn’t know this!) and more time is spent on bird conservation. “What We Know” moves into autumn and covers sources for birders, and “What We Don’t Know” speaks to where we are in our knowledge of birds and what we have yet to learn.

If all this sounds technical, it shouldn’t. Floyd’s writing is very accessible; straightforward, entertaining, and educational at the same time. Each essay is short – one page only. This is the kind of book you can pick up at leisure to read a random essay, or read in chronological order throughout the year.

In each essay, Floyd focuses on some point, using a specific bird to illustrate that lesson. For example, the essay entitled, “How do Nocturnal Migrants Know Where to Go?” concentrates on the Indigo Bunting, who flies mostly at night, and who “learns to recognize the rotation of the night sky around the North Star – and to fly south in the opposite direction.”

Amazing.

Sprinkled throughout the book are pencil illustrations by N. John Schmitt.

If you love birds, want to know more about them, and want to read a book that is entertainingly written, this is for you.

About the author:

Ted Floyd is an internationally recognized birding expert and Editor of Birding  magazine, the award-winning flagship publication of the American Birding Association. He has written four books previously, including the Smithsonian Field Guide to Birds of North America.  Floyd is a frequent speaker at bird festivals and ornithological society meetings. He and his family live in Lafayette, Colorado.

Good news! I am giving away one copy of How to Know the Birds.

All you have to do, if you are interested,  is leave a comment on this post. You cannot leave a comment on the email version of this post. You have to leave a comment here on the blog. I will pick a winner, using the Random Number Generator, on Thursday evening.

Since I have to keep count of comments, I am unable to respond to comments on this post only.

Enjoy!

Happy Monday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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