Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Monday

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The view towards the back forty, taken this morning. In the foreground, some of the yarrow that now grows in abundance at the entrance of the corral. All self-seeded from one long-ago plant that I put in the big garden bed the first spring after we moved here. Amazing.

The two trees in the background are the ones we use to string our clothesline. If you look very closely, you might be able to see it. Just to the left of the trees is the place where I found the the self-seeded rose campion.

I weeded like a crazy woman yesterday and more weeding is on the docket for today. I also need to get some mulch for the path that leads to The Dude (in the secret garden.) We didn’t replenish it earlier this spring and I’m paying for it with the amount of weeding I have to do there. It’s driving me nuts. I also need a new weed trimmer – the guard on the one we have broke off and there’s very little of it left. It’s dangerous to use it without a guard. That’s on my To Do list for this week. Without the trimmer, the secret garden looks a heck of a lot wilder than it should.

I also have to do a bit of shopping later in the week as someone who shall remain nameless has a birthday on Friday.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

In Bloom

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We sat on the glider last night and marveled at the beauty surrounding us. Especially lovely, and deliciously fragrant, are the blossoms on the catalpa. This is that brief period in which all the catalpas – and there are a lot of them in my area of the Hudson Valley – are covered in beautiful, white blossoms. Don says the fragrance reminds him of night blooming jasmine. He’s absolutely right. I miss that scent, part of our everyday lives when we were living in San Diego, but we get to have much the same scent wafting through the air for a week or so.

Yes, that’s one of two wood/debris piles we have on the property.

The spirea, which I had to cut back a bit earlier this spring, is in bloom. It grows right next to the annabelle hydrangea and both plants suffered damage during the last two winters.

Speaking of the hydrangea, an update –

Some of the shoots coming out of the ground are going to blossom! I’m so happy to see it coming back. I still have some cutting back of the dead wood to do, but I was careful to keep some support for the new growth. Once I see how it all turns out, I’ll cut back some more.

Yesterday, I spilled an entire cup of coffee all over the table next to this chair, and all over the floor and several nearby objects. Sigh. The cleanup took forever, but all is well. I also mowed the corral and the back forty. It looks very pretty out there at the moment.

So glad that bunnies are back! We see one or two nearly every day now. One area that Don cleared in our woods has now grown back, affording more cover for our little friends. Hurrah!

I woke up way, way too early this morning, so I’m going to stop now. I’ve expended all my energy.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Trees, Books, and the Girls

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Saturday morning.

I did some more work outside yesterday, but once my lower back started aching a bit, I stopped. The main/big garden bed has been completely cleared of fallen leaves and debris. So have the two beds near the porch. I still have to clear out the memorial garden and the beds where I sow seeds, as well as the beds on the other side of the house. But there’s no hurry.

In the past couple of years I’ve discovered all the youngish crabapple trees on this property and this time of year, when they’re in bloom or about to bloom, is the best. In yet another ‘get to know your property line, Claudia’ story, I was looking out the kitchen window at the crabapple that is just off of the Secret Garden, right behind The Dude. It’s the first crabapple I discovered several years ago and I was so charmed by it that I cleared a path which leads to the tree.

As I looked at it, I also looked at the much larger and very tall crabapple that is beyond it. It’s in full bloom as well and it’s gorgeous and I sort of envied my neighbors for owning that large tree.

Until I looked closer, went outside and looked at the property line.

It’s our tree.

Go figure.

I’m thrilled that it’s ours. Do you remember last year when we discovered that our property lines were a bit more expansive than we had thought? These are the things you discover when you continue to stay close to home due to a pandemic and do a lot of chores on the property.

I’ll try to get a photo of that tree today.

We might take our first stab at the front lawn today. We had to wait for a couple of replacement parts for our lawnmower and they’ve arrived. The grass is really long in some places, so we will have to  stop the mower periodically to unclog it. Happens every spring.

But darned if I don’t love mowing the lawn so I’m rather excited!

So far this week, I’ve started one book and after reading a few pages, stopped. I just didn’t connect to the author and her writing style. I’ve started another book – a mystery – that was in my TBR pile and I’m not far into it but I must admit, I’m a little thrown by the occasional occurrence of awkward sentence structure. Where was the editor? In all cases so far, it would have been a simple fix. It’s not enough to deter me at this point, but every time it happens, it pulls me out of the story.

I recognize this particular error because sometimes I’m guilty of the same thing when writing this blog, but the difference is that I go back and reread my post before I publish and ninety per cent of the time I catch it and make the necessary correction. But this is a blog and that’s a BOOK.

Anyway, I’ll move on.

Just because I haven’t shown them lately – The Girls.

I suspect they’re anxious to get outside and explore the property. Soon, girls, soon.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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