Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for groundhogs

White Blossoms Everywhere

June 8, 2015 at 8:29 am by Claudia

We’re in the midst of a frothy sea of white blossoms here at the cottage. It only lasts a short time, but it sure is beautiful while it’s happening.

I’ve mentioned the wild roses that bloom this time of year. Since the brambles/roses are all over the property, so are the white flowers.

6-8 wildroseseverywhere

On the edge of the woods, in the area between our neighbor’s property and ours, climbing up trees.

6-8 wildroses1

From a distance, you just see white dots. But up close, what perfect little flowers! And the pink buds are making my heat beat a little faster.

6-8 wildroses2

At some point, when the blossoms have vanished for another year, I’ll be cursing these very same wild plants. They will be called brambles or prickers. They just might be cursed a few times. But now….oh, how beautiful.

To add to the sea of white, the catalpa has bloomed.

6-8 catalpatree

Do you see the white blossoms scattered among the leaves?

6-8 catalpa 1

This is what they look like. Perfect white flowers with streaks of purple and yellow. And they smell heavenly. But alas, their bloom time is even shorter than the wild roses.

6-8 catalpa 2

They fall to the ground within a day or two. Since it’s raining today, I suspect I’ll find many of them on the ground by the end of the day, which makes me sad. I always want to shout to the heavens: “Don’t rain for a week, okay? The peonies are in bloom, the catalpa is blooming. They’re fragile. So hold off!”

But invariably it will rain. And rain. And I’ll try to rescue the peonies. But I know I can’t rescue the catalpa flowers. It doesn’t work. I’ve tried it.

Last year, I missed the catalpa bloom entirely. So I’m grateful to witness it this year.

Oh, by the way, their are at least four groundhog babies. Maybe five. Yesterday morning, I watched them playing outside the shed. They ran back and forth. They climbed up on the picket fence that leans against the shed, weaving in and out of the pickets. They hid behind and under the hostas. They had a grand old time, just like baby animals everywhere.

Mom was nearby, probably saying to herself, “Maybe this will tire them out and they’ll take a nap!” I’ve learned that the babies start to leave home and dig their own tunnels to live in after about three weeks of eating and foraging outside the nest. Where will they go? I’ll miss them. And then Henry/Henrietta will be alone again. Sigh.

Don and I stood inside the kitchen and watched the frolicking brood for the longest time. They are adorable.

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: animals, flowers, groundhogs 26 Comments

Off To The Fair

June 5, 2015 at 6:00 am by Claudia

Since Don’s fitting was changed to Monday, we’re taking off early this morning for the Country Living Fair. I’ll be sure to take lots of photos for you. It can get very crowded, so I like going on a)Friday and b)early. Since I have Early Bird Admission Tickets, hurrah!

6-5 babies sunning

No telephoto lens, remember, so not at all the best quality, but the two babies were sunning themselves on the ramp to the shed yesterday and I knew you’d want to see that. That climbing plant that is hiding their entrance hole is a Climbing Hydrangea. I’ve had this plant for years and the information I read about it said it could take up to 5 years to finally bloom. Last year was the first time I saw blooms – and that was six years after I put it in the ground. There are even more this year.

6-5climbinghydrangea

This is what they look like as they start to pop.

Finally, I was the lucky recipient of another present – this time from longtime reader, Trudy.

6-5 from Trudy

Look at all that gorgeous crochet! There’s a bag, some dish cloths, a back scrubber, and that little yellow bag holds face scrubs. Trudy tells me you can put the dirty scrubs inside the bag, cinch it shut and throw them in the washer. Along with all the beautiful handwork is a bride and groom to add to my cake topper collection. This one is made by Royal Doulton. So elegant.

Thank you so much, Trudy, for such a lovely gift! I’m so impressed by your crochet and by the time and care you took in putting all of this together. You are such a sweetheart.

This is a short one, as I’m writing it on Thursday evening. I’ll have some pictures of the Fair on Saturday.

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: country living fair, flowers, gifts, groundhogs 23 Comments

The Vocal Bob and Weave (& Henry)

June 4, 2015 at 8:18 am by Claudia

6-4 baby henry

Meet baby Henry.

Don and I happened to look out the window and both Henry and baby Henry were chomping on food rather close to the house, and running back and forth under the car. At one point, Henry was in Scout’s little corral. Then they both got scared by something or other and ran back to their home under the shed.

About five minutes later, who did I see but Henry in my garden, dining on something that wasn’t on the menu we have provided for him. I opened the front door, went out on the porch, and of course, he scrambled for the shed. He stopped on the ramp and stared at me.

We had to have a talk. I firmly told him that he was welcome to dine on the grass and on all the vegetation in the woods, but that the garden was a NO. He continued to stare at me. NO, I repeated.

That scamp. Do you think he understood? All I know is that later in the evening, he was seen in what we call his ‘pasture’ eating the grass.

I’m going to have to keep an eye on him.

Yesterday was a sunny, beautiful day, very welcome after all the rain we’ve had. I weeded. I weed wacked. (I’m alternating the spelling of wacked/whacked because I’ve given up trying to figure out which one is preferred. Last time I wrote about it I used ‘whacked.’ Hence, ‘wacked’ in this post.) Later on, when the grass was dry, we mowed. I watered the plants on the porch.

It was just so nice to be outside!

6-4 gardenfromtheporch

I’m reading Disclaimer  by Renée Knight (scheduled for a book review) and it’s very good! Rather chilling, in fact. More on that in about 10 days or so. And it’s not at all like Gone Girl, thank goodness. In fact, when I grabbed it from my shelf, I noticed the blurb on the front is from Lee Child. Okay. Now we’re talking!

Don may or may not have purchased donuts yesterday. I may or may not have eaten two, which was one too many.

And speaking of language and communication, I really dislike this sort of thing:

“Do I wish I had done things differently?”

“I do.”

“Did I experience regret when I made that choice?”

“I did.”

Commit, for heaven’s sake. Don’t circle around the subject.

I’m rewriting the dialogue.

“I wish I had done things differently.” Or, better yet, “I was wrong.”

“I regret that I made that choice.” Or…”I was wrong.”

Asking the question and then answering it for oneself keeps the speaker one step away from taking full responsibility – just over the border from clear and unvarnished truthfulness.

I’m tired of people not taking responsibility for their actions and using language to dance around the subject, all the while bobbing and weaving, when a direct hit would be much clearer.

“I was wrong.” “I’m sorry.”

Simple, right?

“Don bought donuts. I ate two of them.” Nothing unclear about that.

Sigh.

6-2 peonies in mccoy

McCoy reporting for duty and providing a nice little home for my rescued peonies.

Don’t forget to stop by Hanging Out With Bloggers: Enabling the Change – the post I wrote about a great discussion I had with four other bloggers. There’s even a video of us! If you leave a comment you will be eligible to win a $100 Visa Gift Card.

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

 

Filed Under: animals, groundhogs, life 25 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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