Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1006 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

A World Gone Mad

July 15, 2016 at 9:10 am by Claudia

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Some days I’m able to write as if there wasn’t an atrocity happening somewhere in the world. I’m able to put pretty pictures in this space and rattle on about my life. That’s not a bad thing.

But it’s not a truly good thing, either. Because every day we hear of some bombing, of some attack, of horrific loss of life. Some of it terrorist sponsored, some of it perpetrated by an angry and screwed up lone wolf – a terrorist wannabe – all of it fueled by hate. Attacks occur all over the world: in Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Syria, Nigeria…

And in France. Maybe I have to acknowledge this one because we happened to turn on the television (which is silent during the day) just after the first news of the unspeakable attack in Nice broke. And we sat there and watched, horrified and sickened, saying what we have been saying daily: “Every day. It seems to be happening every day.”

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A world gone mad.

This is a day where I simply can’t write as if it’s a normal day. This is a day where I find myself at a loss.

And that’s all I can say, except to express my heartfelt sympathies to all those who have lost loved ones in this carnage. And to all those who have lost loved ones to all the carnage that goes on in the world and in this country every day, endlessly. Over and over and over again.

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Memories and Missing

July 14, 2016 at 10:08 am by Claudia

This will be a quickly-put-together post, my friends. I had a somewhat sleepless and frustrating night, eventually nodding off sometime before dawn, so I didn’t get out of bed until 9 and I’m barely functioning as I wait for the coffee to kick in!

I just couldn’t turn my brain off; some worries floating around in there, but mostly snatches of songs from Anastasia playing over and over, along with memories of our dogs. I couldn’t stop thinking of Winston and Riley and Scout. I guess my mind didn’t want to let go of them. Then this morning, as I tried to go back to sleep once more, memories of living in Cambridge and teaching at Boston University.

A very strange night.

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More of these gorgeous daylilies. There are two plants in the side garden bed. This one just started blooming yesterday.

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This is the first time that milkweed has popped up in the front yard. This one is right by the stone edging of the big garden bed. Maybe, oh please, I’ll see a caterpillar?

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The spirea has finished blooming for the most part, but there are a few valiant blooms popping up her and there. The teeny tiny bugs seem to like this one.

I miss our dogs. And Scout has been on my mind daily, but especially during the past week. I can recreate the scent of her head when I would lean down to kiss her. I can feel the texture of her coat. I remember the quirky things she did. I really miss taking pictures of her. She was so much a part of this blog that I sometimes feel part of the life of the blog has died. And, of course, though Don and I get along famously and love being together, the cottage seems empty. Scoutie was the heart and soul of this place.

We are not ready to adopt another dog, so please don’t suggest it, my friends. We’ll know when it’s time. We want to travel a bit in the next year. We want to make sure we’re ready when it is time to adopt. And our hearts are still broken. It’s only been five months since she left us.

Damn. Life has been very hard for the past couple of years and the shadow of loss is there all the time. It just takes over every once and a while.

Happy Thursday.

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Morning, Flowers, Henry & Endeavor

July 13, 2016 at 9:32 am by Claudia

Morning at the cottage. The only ‘staging’ involved was pulling the pile of my husband’s clean underwear out of the shot.

I’m sure you appreciate that. And you’re welcome.

I have several succulents on the kitchen table. Succulents and I have to learn how to work together for the good of all. I think I overwatered one of mine – even though I was being pretty careful on that front – and it’s not doing well. The others are okay. Perhaps it’s time to buy a book about succulents and learn more about them?

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These daylilies are growing in the garden bed on the far side of the cottage. They grow big and tall and have the most beautiful pink/lavender petals with a dash of bright yellow in the middle. I had to hold this flower to get the shot because, for some reason, the flowers are facing away from the sun. Go figure.

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I love the way brown-eyed susans look before they bloom. The petals look as if they are covering up the center, almost as if they’re embarrassed to be seen. I have a lot of these now as they’ve self-seeded in another part of the big garden bed.

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I bought a bag of mulch yesterday and mulched the beds in the Memorial Garden. I watched the bunnies dine. I tried to determine if there are two Henrys…I think there are. A seemingly smaller Henry was dining right in front of our living room window the other day. And then I saw another Henry later in the day, dining near the shed. So I’m not sure if it’s the change in perspective that makes that Henry look bigger. Or if there are indeed two Henrys. Don isn’t sure, either. There were no babies this year as far as I can tell. We would have seen them scampering about near the shed.

My next door neighbor tells me she has groundhogs living under her shed, as well.

Then, late in the day, we sat on the porch and rocked on the glider.

Do any of you watch Endeavor on PBS? Each season has only four episodes and Sunday’s was a cliffhanger! Now we have to wait another year to see what happens. Don tells me they are currently filming the next and final season. And the final season of Inspector Lewis starts in a week or so.

Sob.

Happy Wednesday.

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A World Gone Mad

Memories and Missing

Morning, Flowers, Henry & Endeavor

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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