Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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On Books and Acting and Aging Flowers

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The changing texture of flowers that are going to seed fascinates me. I could spend hours photographing them. There’s something noble and majestic about them.

It’s Saturday. Don is out mowing the lawn and I will join him after I write this post. It’s supposed to rain later in the day, so we’re trying to tackle the longest parts of the lawn today and we’ll get to the rest next week, when it promises to be rainless.

I finished The Book of Bones  yesterday. And then I moved on to a short novella by Alan Bennett titled, The Uncommon Reader, which I got from the library. Bennett is brilliant and this little gem centers on the Queen of England, with Bennett imagining what would happen if the Queen suddenly discovered the world of books and reading. How would that impact her schedule? How would her equerries and aides handle her newfound passion? What about the Duke of Edinburgh? It’s positively charming and delightful and only 117 pages long, so I read it in its entirely this morning. Bennett wrote it about 10 years ago and I recommend it highly.

Now what? I’m not sure. I’ve got a couple of ideas in mind.

We’re watching a three-part series that originally aired here on PBS, called The Worricker Trilogy. We’re big fans of the actor Bill Nighy and we discovered it while searching on Amazon Prime for anything that featured him. The trilogy is excellent. We’ll watch the third installment tonight. Nighy is such a wonderful actor, honest, real and spare in his performance. I admire this kind of acting more and more, as does Don. It isn’t about “Look at me and all my histrionics, aren’t I talented?” but rather about the role itself and being true to the text. That takes a supremely confident actor who is not caught up in his ego. Nighy is that kind of actor. So is Helena Bonham Carter, who is a costar in the second installment. Too many actors want to show you all they can do and that, my friends, is either ego run amok or simple insecurity. To just live in the role, to simply inhabit it – especially on film – is the best kind of acting.

Ah well. I must go and help my husband mow. Duty calls!

Happy Saturday.

 

 

Morning Walk & Henry

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I woke up early today. It was still dark outside. I actually like it that way – there’s something lovely about the quiet and the dark. Add in some coffee and a good book and you’ve got the perfect way to start the day. Around 7 am, we went for a morning walk. It’s so much cooler in the mornings lately, the air feels fresh and brisk. A very nice way to start the day.

Then we came back and made our second cup of coffee. And we saw this:

Our boy Henry. We don’t see him very often, so it’s a big deal when we do. He has more gray hair and he’s a bit heavier. (Same.) Anyway, we were thrilled to see him. I ran for a camera and tried to take some photos with my telephoto lens from inside the kitchen.

We really love Henry and think of him as one of our babies. He’s been around here as long as we have, most likely even longer than that. We’ll have been here 14 years at the end of this month.

Anyway, he has a pretty good life: a great shelter under the shed – and the shed foundation is just fine, by the way – human beings who love him and let him be, lots of grass to eat. We’re just so delighted when we catch a glimpse of him.

Did anyone watch The African Queen  last night on TCM? Neither of us had seen it for years, so it was like watching it for the first time. What a great movie, with stellar performances from Bogart and Hepburn!

I’m still completely engrossed in The Overstory. I have a stack of books waiting for me, as well, not to mention Louise Penny’s newest, which is being published on August 27th.

Other than that, Don had a great day taking portraits yesterday. He worked at two venues, so it made for a long, but very satisfying, day.

Today? Grocery shopping. Well, it must be done, right? But the extra treat will be fresh sweet corn from our favorite farm stand (the same place where I buy plants for the garden.) I can hardly wait!

Happy Monday.

Thursday Thoughts

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Seen in the gardens:

Heavens, it’s a gorgeous day out there! Actually, I should say ‘here’ as I’m sitting on the glider writing this post. Today is the first day I’ve noticed less birdsong. Cicadas, yes. Mourning dove, yes. An occasional bird. But not like it was and that always makes me a little sad.

It’s a little too quiet out here. I can hear the sound of the river across the street. And traffic, of course. Bird song does a good job of blocking out the sound of traffic.

We mowed the largest side of the front lawn yesterday and then, after Don left to run some errands, I mowed the corral and the little area next to the shed. There’s still more to go, but we’ll wait a day or two. It just felt so good to be out  there after being housebound with the heat and rain and some back problems. I had an endorphin high going. I love mowing because the results are so immediate. Too-long grass instantly transformed. Everything looks neater. That’s especially needed when you live in the country and your lawn is a big mix of all kinds of grasses and weeds. No manicured lawns out here!

I also pulled some weeds and weed whacked the funky patio. There’s more to weed whack but one can only do so much in a day.

We watched a Shirley Temple movie – Bright Eyes – on TCM last night. No one was more surprised than me when Don indicated that he wanted to watch the whole thing! He kept saying how talented little Shirley was and we were both happy to see one of our favorite actors, James Dunn, in the movie. It turns out Dunn did four movies with Shirley. Our favorite James Dunn role, and one he won the Academy Award for, was as Francie’s father in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  He absolutely breaks your heart in that role, a role he was made to play. Don noted while watching Bright Eyes  that, despite his joviality, Dunn has an underlying sadness. You see that sadness in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

There are two movies that are guaranteed to make me cry, no matter how many times I’ve seen them: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn  and To Kill a Mockingbird. Actually, I’m sure there’s even more but those are the two that immediately come to mind.

Oh, just heard a beautiful bird call! Gorgeous.

I may buy some replacement flowers for some of the pots. The lobelia is looking rather tired.

I’m having one of those “I love my porch and my garden” days.

Happy Thursday.

 

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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