Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Wednesday Morning

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I’m feeling a bit under the weather with all this humidity. Since I’m allergic to molds and mildew, an extended period of high humidity takes its toll.

I’m over it.

I did manage to get out yesterday to water the plants and take some pictures. Then it was back inside with the air conditioning. And Don and I moved our morning coffee location to the front porch to avoid the mosquitoes in the Secret Garden.

A couple of monarchs have been gracing us with their presence. I think they’ve recently emerged from the milkweed. They flit, they fly, they land on things and move on as if they’re just discovering this world. It’s lovely to watch. There is something about them that is magical. And to know that the milkweed that I let grow wherever it wants to on this property is part of the reason for their existence makes me very happy.

This monarch kept flying back to the milkweed and I had to contort my body to get a picture of him in there. But it was worth it.

Then, late yesterday afternoon as I was standing on the porch, a monarch landed on my hanging lantana plant. I happened to have my camera with me.

I’ve seen a lot of monarchs this year, which is very, very encouraging.

And bees, of course.

As I looked out the kitchen door yesterday, this greeted me. So I ran for my camera.

I didn’t want to wait as I knew the heat would force them to close up in the afternoon.

Morning glories make me smile.

We’re having brunch with Doug today. Rick is out of town.

And then I’m retreating to the air conditioned cottage!

Happy Wednesday.

Just One Big Sigh

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With last night’s performance, the fact that the show has closed will – has – hit the cast. Even though it closed on Sunday, they were on a train for DC the next morning and, for the next three days everything was about the performance. And the horrendous heat. Don said: “It’s all about the heat.” They are exhausted. Today, they’ll ride back to NYC and there will be no performance tonight. Or tomorrow night.

They are extraordinarily close.

I will drive into the city in our old CR-V on Saturday morning. I’ll help Don pack and clean the apartment, we’ll spend some time wandering around and on Sunday? We move Don back home.

With the humidity and high temperatures here, I’ve had to have the A/C on 24 hours a day. I haven’t been able to do anything outside, except water, water, water. It’s been brutal.

I’m over everything.

But this happened the other day. I spotted a monarch butterfly which landed on a black raspberry leaf. She stayed there a long time. It’s the first monarch I’ve seen and I’m convinced she had just emerged and was drying her wings. I was able to get very close to her, which is usually impossible.

The monarch stayed there for about ten minutes. Later, I spotted her flying around the big garden bed, even doing a little circling, playful dance with this Great Spangled Fritillary:

The advantage of having a lot of milkweed: you get to see the monarchs when they first emerge. Maybe I’ll actually see one as  it emerges someday.

I took the day Tuesday to clean out our bedroom closet. It’s a small closet, shared by both of us. It’s tucked into the eaves, so it’s deep but not wide. It had become a depressing black hole. Except for cleaning the bathroom (which I also did yesterday) it’s my least favorite thing to do around here. I now have three bags of clothing to donate to the Salvation Army, two bags of crap to go to the dump, and countless cardboard boxes to recycle. Now Mr. Hawaiian Shirt with the Snazzy Shoes will have some room for his new clothing.

We won’t talk about the fact that very little of the clothing I had in the closet fits me anymore. That’s too depressing.

Also, I wrote about this last week on IG, but if you missed it, I was standing by my car with my iPhone in hand (I’d been taking pictures) when, for some reason, I glanced back over my shoulder and saw a full grown black bear walking across the grass on the back forty. I gasped. Couldn’t believe my eyes. For the three seconds or so it took the bear to walk across the grass and then into our woods, I was frozen. Completely forgot I had a phone which could take a picture in my hand.

Whoa Nellie.  He or she was beautiful, by the way.

As Don said, “I won’t be taking out the trash at night anymore.”

Happy Thursday.

Monarchs & Flowers

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This Monarch has been hanging around off and on for the past week. There may be two of them; I thought I saw another one in the distance yesterday. I love Monarch butterflies and as I said on Instagram, I’m not sure if these Monarchs come from our milkweed or if they’re passing through on their way to warmer climes. I’m simply happy they’re here and that I have flowers still in bloom that they like. They’re not interested in morning glories, but they love the geraniums and the zinnias.

I feel a special spiritual connection to them.

In the meantime, the bees do  love the morning glories!

I wonder what that little bug is? Such distinctive markings! The bee just ignored the bug and climbed right in the center of the morning glory.

My unofficial count today (from inside the kitchen) of morning glories is 32 in the memorial garden. I have yet to count the blooms in the chicken wire fence garden.

The hollyhock is still going strong. What a winner this one is! Beautiful.

Today: recycling, and an overdue oil change. And some errands, of course – when aren’t there errands?

Don’s got sinus problems or a cold. He’s stuffed up and isn’t feeling tip-top, but he’s hanging in there. As he said, “Better this week than next!” – ’cause I’m headed to New Orleans next week! I have a lot to accomplish before I leave next Thursday. Chop! Chop!

Happy Wednesday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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