Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Discoveries: Trees & Books

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Lots and lots of rain yesterday – at times, torrential – culminating in severe thunderstorms during the evening. I know there were tornado warnings in some parts of New York and New Jersey, if we had one, I was unaware of it. And it looks like we’ve got more rain coming today and tomorrow and, again, on the weekend.

Ummm, Mother Nature? We’ve had more than enough rain this spring, thank you very much. I’m beginning to lose hope that the Secret Garden will ever be dry enough for us to sit there. Right now, that particular scenario looks impossible.

I’m hoping there’s a small window today where I can attempt to mow part of the front lawn. Doubtful, but you never know!

We have a beautiful tree up in the back forty. I’ve always loved its shape. One of our older, dead trees fell this year and this tree is now the star of the clearing. For years, I assumed it was some sort of ash. But the other day, I was up there to take some pictures and I saw blossoms everywhere! Have I never looked up at the tree at this particular time in the spring? Am I always looking downward as I mow the grass? Anyways, I was dumbfounded and realized it’s a chokecherry tree! And it’s gorgeous.

As I looked up chokecherries, the descriptions were always ‘modest in height’ ‘at the most 20 feet tall, rarely taller.’ Well, this guy is at least 30 feet tall. And he’s beautiful. Most of the trees up in the woods and the back forty are maples, oaks, catalpas, black walnuts, and elms. I love them all, but this chokecherry has more than a little of my heart. It has oval leaves that move gracefully in the breeze.

We’ve been here nearly 14 years and, once again, I have noticed something new which isn’t really new at all. Just to me.

Speaking of the back forty, we have some lovely wild honeysuckle there, actually we have it all over the property, but this pink honeysuckle is only found just under the chokecherry. It’s such a soft pink.

The lavender that’s in a pot on the Funky Patio.

I’m in the midst of a Beverley Nichols reading binge. I finished his first trilogy and have now started on his second. It centers on a house he bought after WWII called Merry Hall. In fact, this first book in the trilogy is called Merry Hall.

For someone who reads fiction predominately, I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction lately. Although, Beverley Nichols’ gardening books are non-fiction mixed with fictional characters based on real people. He reminds me a bit of P.G.Wodehouse, my husband’s favorite. I find them very relaxing and amusing, often chuckling out loud over some turn of phrase. Right now, they are the perfect read! I’m so glad I grabbed the first three books (that I already owned) off my bookshelf and finally read them. I was hooked. That started me off on a quest to gather the next 5 books from used booksellers, as they’re out of print. I have 4 out of the 5 and the 5th will be arriving today or tomorrow.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Sunshine?

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Do your eyes deceive you?

The sun has made its presence known. It may be only for a day, it may be for more than a day. But right now, in this moment, it’s gloriously sunny out there.

The leaves on the catalpa – always the last to emerge – are showing themselves as well. They’re so small right now, but soon they’ll be the largest leaves out of all the varieties of trees on the property. Big, gorgeous heart-shaped leaves. And, right about the same time that the peonies begin to bloom, the catalpa will show off all its lovely and exceedingly fragrant flowers.

I’m enormously grateful for all this beauty. I’m always grateful for it, but I suppose endless days of gloom and rain make the contrast all the more striking.

We watched The Shop Around the Corner  last night, even though Don protested initially, saying it was a Christmas movie, after which I proceeded to explain that I certainly watch it more than once a year and here it was in primetime and of course we were watching it. As I knew would be the case, he was glad we watched it. Ernst Lubitsch’s direction. Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, and a cast of simply scrumptious character actors. What more could you ask for?

I’m going to spend some time on the porch today.

Happy Wednesday.

Trees, Wildflowers & Ferns in Unexpected Places

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It’s a beautiful morning. It’s so lovely to actually see the sun shining for more than ten minutes at a time! Golden light, leaves falling, the beauty of autumn.

The top of the big maple.

The house this morning:

These wildflowers are growing everywhere on the property.

Those specks are falling leaves.

This is one of those longed-for spectacular fall days. We deserve it, if I do say so myself.

I have errands to run today. 4 days until we leave! There’s so much to do in that time but I have to say this: I am so happy to be leaving this country for a couple of weeks. I’ve had it with the corruption running rampant in Washington and I desperately need a break from it all. And yes, if it was at all economically feasible and/or practical, I would jump at the chance to stay there for six months. I don’t know my country anymore and it’s always a good thing to experience another culture. Hopefully, it will help put things in perspective.

If I could curse on the blog as I do in real life, I would.

I was worried about the big Boston Fern on the porch. I expect the other potted plants to die, as they’re annuals, but the fern isn’t. I wanted to bring it in for the winter, but the only place I could see it working (it takes up a lot of space) was on the kitchen table. So, yesterday, while I was waiting for deliveries, etc., I brought it in and plopped it on the table. I had to raise the hanging lamp, as well. Fully expecting Don to hate it, I waited for him to come home.

He loved it. Actually, he was initially more enthusiastic than me! But now, we both love it.

Yes, it’s huge. No, I don’t know how it will do in the kitchen. But we’re going for it. We never eat at the kitchen table, it just becomes a repository for mail and sunglasses. We eat on trays in the den. And you know that we like eclectic and funky. We like putting our own stamp on our house.

As I said on Instagram: At the very least, it’s a statement.

Excuse early morning kitchen view.

Okay. Have to get a move on.

Happy Thursday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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