Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for morning glory

Morning Glories and A Dollhouse Question

August 8, 2021 at 9:50 am by Claudia

I don’t remember choosing purple morning glory seeds, but here we are! I’ve only had a few blooms so far. I love morning glories, no matter what color, so welcome! It’s been very hard to train them to grow on the fence this year. For some reason, the seeds I carefully planted in a furrow right next to the fence have emerged further away from the fence and they’re curling around everything but the chicken wire. Also, in one section of the chicken wire fence garden, nothing came up – no zinnias, no morning glories – which leads me to believe that the birds got all the seeds. Ah well. It’s always a bit of a crap shoot, isn’t it?

I cleaned like a madwoman yesterday, yet another spurt where I ended up doing too much. But the dreaded bathrooms are sparkly clean, the house has been vacuumed, the towels have been washed, and the houseplants have been watered. This morning I will water all the porch plants and some of the garden, as it’s been hot and humid here lately.

I wrote a post on Instagram yesterday about the Beacon Hill dollhouse. You might remember that I bought the kit last December. Needless to say, I haven’t started it yet, partly because I want to finish Dove Cottage before I take on something new, but also because of real qualms about having enough space in which to build it. It’s huge. It has a lot of parts. It needs sanding. And the only space I have is our shared office/studio that not only has my things, but also has all of Don’s guitars and other musical instruments. The more I think about it, the more I realize that it’s just not practical for me to attempt to build it in this small cottage. Also: no habitable basement, no attic, no garage.

So, I’ve been thinking about trying to find one already built that I could rehab. You know I love doing that sort of thing to a dollhouse. In fact, except for Don’s mini studio, which I built, every house has been a rehab. I’ve been checking Facebook Marketplace and Craig’s List in my general area, but the only one that came up was one that a guy was asking $1200 for! My IG post asked everyone to keep an eye out for a finished Beacon Hill within sane driving distance from the Hudson Valley. If  you could do that, too, I’d so appreciate it. One reader shared a listing from West Chester, PA and the house looks pretty good. West Chester is near Philadelphia, my old stomping grounds, but it’s about a 3 hour drive from here, which begs the question: do I want to drive that far and/or can I talk Don into driving that far? Because we’d need his car. I’ve had no experience with FB Marketplace. Have any of you? What are your thoughts? I’m itching for a new project as I’m about to wind down work on Dove Cottage. I’d then sell my kit at a discount.

After a year’s drought of any bunnies, we’ve seen this one twice lately:

It’s blurry because he was taking off, but hurrah! We’ve really missed bunnies around here. Don hasn’t done any heavy duty work on the trails this year, so maybe they feel safer here now. Last year, he was constantly up in the woods, hoeing, shoveling, carving out spaces, and probably scaring bunnies off.

Okay.

Happy Sunday.

Stay safe.

 

Filed Under: dollhouse, flowers, garden, morning glory 25 Comments

Flowers, Ferns, Friends & What Are You Reading?

October 11, 2019 at 10:27 am by Claudia

Soon it will be time to bring the fern inside for the winter. I’m not sure where the heck I’m going to put it  – probably upstairs in the office. The ideal place for any plant in this house is the kitchen table, but now Don is no longer allowed to eat lunch on the sofa in the living room, we eat at the table. Last year, if you remember, we had the fern on the table and it took up most of the surface.

Just for comparison, here’s how the fern looked when I first put it back outside in the spring. And when it had fallen twice due to high winds. It’s come a long way.

We won’t mention what’s happened to the sideboard.

Although, to tell you the truth, I really like it this way.

Yesterday I was out running errands and I stopped at a favorite antique center. I’ve mentioned Fox Run Antiques before, as I have purchased several things from her – including the egg cup cubby. Well, I met her yesterday! She happened to be working on her booth. So nice to finally meet someone I admire. Sydney has excellent taste. Her first words to me, after I introduced myself, were “Kindred spirits!” And we are.

Seven morning glories were in bloom yesterday on this little patch of vine. I love my morning glories and I’m so grateful that they survived the deer onslaught and are blooming. Lots of buds visible, as well, so we should have blooms for the next two weeks or longer –  I don’t see any hard frost temps on the long-range weather forecast. Fingers crossed.

Don’s off to recycle and take some portraits. I’m going to do some cleaning.

I wanted to tell you about the relief pitcher for the Washington Nationals – Sean Doolittle. He is a big reader and a fan of Independent Bookstores. He’s made it his mission to visit a bookshop in every city he travels to and then post about it on Twitter. His handle is: @whatwould DOOdo – and his name on Twitter is Obi-Sean Kenobi Doolittle.

Is it too soon to ask this question again? (I asked about two weeks ago, but two weeks is a long time in book reading and I figure you might have some new titles to share.)

Anyway, here it is: What are you reading?

Happy Friday.

 

Filed Under: antiques, books, flowers, morning glory 43 Comments

Morning Glory

September 13, 2019 at 11:31 am by Claudia

Well, lookee here! Despite the assault by the deer, we have a morning glory!

It hadn’t completely opened when I took this photo. I’ve seen a few buds on this segment of morning glories – these are the plants that the deer dined upon. The other morning glories are nearer to the kitchen door and they have quite a few buds. It rained yesterday, so I’ll spray them with the natural deer repellent again today.

A happy sight to see as I looked outside this morning.

We spent a fair amount of time this morning watching the light show on the kitchen ceiling. We figured out that it was coming from the chrome on Stella. The sunlight was hitting the corner of the stove. It was rather amazing.

I doesn’t take much to entertain us.

It’s quite cool this morning, but sunny. I am this  close to finishing The Book of Bones  by John Connolly. I’ll probably finish it after I write this post. It’s excellent, as I’ve come to expect from this writer. But it’s not for the faint of heart. Connolly’s books are always intense and a wee bit gory.

Not sure what I’ll pick next, but I look forward to seeing what it will be.

I’m running late this morning, so I’ll close on that note.

Happy Friday.

Filed Under: books, flowers, garden, morning glory 32 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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