Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Friday

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More crabapple blossoms. I’ve not had time to take pictures. We were outside all day yesterday, doing chores that needed to be done. We put the last of our Item 4 (gravel) down in an area that needed it. We did some much needed work around the shed. And we mowed the front lawn, which was getting quite long, knowing that we were due for a lot of rain last night and all day today. If we’d waited any longer, it would have been impossible to mow.

We took Monty Don’s advice and raised the blades on the lawnmower so as to cut only about an inch or two of grass. We’ll do this for the next couple of months. Monty says that it encourages stronger grass. Of course, our front lawn is a mixture of grass and wild violets and weeds, but it looks pretty good now. I think we’ve probably been cutting it too short.

You’ll be happy to know that I actually stopped and cut around that white violet. It’s still there.

Today, we’re going to go to a couple of neighboring towns – just to do something different. One of them has a nursery where I got my pansies last year and I’m hoping they still have some in stock.

I forced myself to read a chunk of the Donna Leon mystery this morning. I’m a bit more invested, but…there’s still something about her writing that keeps me from connecting to the characters. I don’t feel that ‘pull’ that I should be feeling, if that makes any sense. I know she has a huge following and that her books are widely read. However, I feel like I’m reading the text from a distance, rather than feeling completely immersed. And I read about 100 pages this morning – so I if I was to get caught up with the plot, it would have happened by now. Sigh.

Okay. I have to pay some bills and get going.

What are you reading lately?

Happy Friday.

Green, Mulch & Books

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Photo taken from the porch this morning. (It was cold, I was in my pajamas, so I shot it quickly.) An impressionistic view of the big garden bed which has been almost completely mulched. Just a bit more to add today or on the weekend.

I not only mulched this bed yesterday, I also took a break to buy more  mulch. It was very windy yesterday, much windier than I thought, and it was just plain hard working outside. The wind and all the pollen flying around are not a good combination for yours truly. I’m trying to pace myself – but I’m not always good at it. Anyway, today is lovely so far – tonight and tomorrow will bring heavy rain so I’m going to try and accomplish a bit more today before I am forced to take a day off tomorrow.

At the nursery where I buy my mulch, I explored the plant selection. Nothing was inspiring me. I think I’m a bit overwhelmed at trying to fill in the gaps in the big garden bed. This garden has been 13 years in the making, and since I favor perennials, I have to remind myself that patience is key. I’ll add a few plants this year and few next year. Preferably self-seeders. My favorite self-seeders around here are coneflowers, which, since I planted them many years ago, have spread and spread some more. So: they might be my first additions. Besides, I love the look of them, they are so evocative of a cottage garden. And they stay in bloom for a long time.

This is the bed right next to the porch. You can see sedum, day lilies, hostas, coneflowers and some Star of Bethlehem. Eventually, the hostas will be so big and wide that they’ll cover those stepping stones.

We watched Random Harvest  a couple of days ago. I’d only seen portions of it before. What a beautiful film! Based on a story by James Hilton, who wrote Lost Horizon, it stars Greer Garson and Ronald Colman. Their work is exquisite. I’ve long been a fan of Colman – I think he is one of the finest actors ever to grace the screen. And Garson is luminous. I could watch it again and again. If you’ve not seen it – I’m rather late to the game on this one – I urge you to watch it. Impeccably directed and acted.

I’m reading one of Donna Leon’s mysteries. I’m having a somewhat difficult time getting into it; I don’t think that has anything to do with the story, but more to do with my attention being diverted to the outdoors. I got a couple of her books from our local library. I also ordered a couple of Ian Rankins, which just came in. So now I am faced with the dilemma of trying to read all of these books in record time. This is what happens almost every time I check books out from the library. I run up against that darned deadline!

Happy Thursday.

Patience Needed

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Breezy, a bit cold, wind chimes doing their thing. In short, a morning in March.

But it’s sunny. So I’m okay with it.

We’ve had a fairly low-key weekend. I didn’t end up going to Michael’s yesterday. But I was restless. What for, I’m not sure. I think it mostly has to do with the fact that winter is getting ready to depart, yet I can’t really do anything outside. I’m in a sort of limbo. I imagine I’m no different from many of you. So, I just have to patient. I usually am, but yesterday? I wasn’t.

I did finish Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk  and loved it. I’m still thinking about it today. I remember the NYC of the eighties, the NYC in which 85 year old Lillian takes her walk. As someone who is in the city fairly frequently, I also know how the landscape of the city at that time would change during the next thirty years. The old National Biscuit Company factory, where squatters live in the novel, would become Chelsea Market. The Twin Towers would collapse on 9/11. The areas of the city that were dangerous at night would become much safer. I found the story fascinating on so many levels.

I’m about to start In Miniature – How Small Things Illuminate the World  and I’m also about to review (tomorrow) How to Know the Birds, published by the National Geographic Society.

We’ve recently changed our diet and have cut way down on sweets, too much cooking oil and fat, as well as salt. We feel good about making that change.

But, Don was also restless yesterday. We were both a bit down. We strayed a bit from our diet, which, I think, is fine as long as it happens rarely. We drove a mile to one our of local orchards and bought one of their apple pies. After all, it was Pi day last week and we missed it, so we had to atone, right? But I’m already thinking I might have one more piece today and then leave it. Or I might not have that piece. I feel better without sugar in my system.

Now, to get some exercise. This week, I’m going to start hitting our rail trail again. We need to walk, something that is not easy to do around here in the winter.

Music, reading, watching films, listening to Don play his guitar and ukulele, dreaming of my gardens. It’s all good.

Happy Sunday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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