Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

First the Deluge, Now: Smoke

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Our skies, lately.

And now, after the deluge, we have smoke from the wildfires in Canada. I could smell smoke this morning and Don, who doesn’t have my rather spot-on sense of smell, scoffed at me. Sure enough, we have an air quality warning and the weather app says “expect widespread areas of smoke and haze, reducing visibility at times.” We had an air quality warning yesterday (my eyes were burning at the end of the day) and we have another one today.

Why does Don ever doubt me?

The lawn needs mowing but I’m not going out there today.

I’m tired of being stuck inside because of torrential rain and thunderstorms and now, smoke.

I did manage to get outside for a bit yesterday (hence, the burning eyes) and I took some photos of these beauties:

These day lilies are so gorgeous. I love day lilies with a ruffly edge and this intense color is gorgeous. The blue in the background is the color of the bin lids I use to try to keep the babies out of the garden. They’re still hanging around. I caught a quick glimpse of one of them yesterday, but sightings have been down because of all the rain. Our resident bunny mom is here no matter what the weather, several times a day. She’s a gem. She doesn’t get in the garden beds, which I greatly appreciate. Like Henry, she is gentle and has good manners.

Okay. I’m off to write out some checks and to water the porch plants before the haze gets too intense out there.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

 

 

 

Soggy

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Rain and rain and thunder and lightning! More this afternoon and then we should have a couple of dry days. Everything looks extremely waterlogged out there. I’m not complaining, but I will be happy to see some relatively clear skies.

Someday.

I know many of you are experience smoke from more fires in Canada. Hang in there.

There’s nothing much to report on today. I tackled a few chores yesterday afternoon, did some laundry, read, and scrolled through social media. Not very exciting! I really want to start in on the office/studio, but it’s too humid in there during the day and until this front moves out, I’ll have to hold off. It’s a big, big job, involving both my little creative space and the inside of the closet. I WILL HAVE TO BE RUTHLESS. In the meantime, the stuff I’ve already pulled out of corners to sort through still hasn’t been sorted. I did do one thing yesterday: I moved the English Cottage (Dove Cottage) off one of my work tables and carried it across the room to the top of the music cabinet that we recently moved upstairs. It’s up out of the way, it looks good, and now I have more surface space.

New jacket and shorts from a seamstress in England. Normally, I wouldn’t have used Mei as a model for this outfit. I don’t know why. Maybe I think colorful clothes work better on another girl? I fought that urge and dressed Mei and I think it really suits her. That jacket has a hood. Never mind that the hood would never fit over a Blythe head! The outfit is beautifully made.

Reading is slow for me lately. My attention is all over the place and it’s hard for me to focus. I’m reading Babel, a book I have been curious about for a while. I got it from the library. It’s long and dense and I have vowed to sit with it this afternoon and polish off a chunk.

We also had a local primary election here yesterday, so we voted, though I don’t think my candidate got the nod. I’ll have to check. The other candidate will never get my vote – long story, but I’ve seen the content of her character and it’s lacking.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Another Shelf Tour

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Goodness. We had thunderstorms all day long yesterday and well into the night, as well. Truly unbelievable! I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that before – they never stopped. We’re due for more this afternoon. Of course, the hydrangeas are no longer erect; they’re drooping. This happens every year. Just as they’re blooming, a torrential rain comes along and no more perky hydrangeas.

Anyway, it was interesting. And rather exhausting as well. We must have had a couple inches of rain. Today and tomorrow will also be rainy and then I think we’ll get a break on Thursday.

A darkish shelf – it’s cloudy out there.

This is the bottom shelf in the pink cabinet which is upstairs in the office.

On the left, a stack of magazines and books in which I was featured. On top of them, my dad’s name plate that used to be on his desk when he worked at Michigan Bell Telephone Co. On top – a dish holding sewing pins, 2 Ladurée boxes from Paris.

Next to that stack, two more Ladurée boxes, and a Santa sitting on top of a bell from Vintage by Crystal.

To the right in the rear of the cabinet – a stack of vintage glove boxes. I love them.

In front of them, four Vintage by Crystal pieces, and a toy we had when Z was a child. We used to hold it up when we were Facetiming with him.

Behind the Vintage by Crystal pieces is my favorite piece of Roseville. It’s very hard to find and it took me a long time to find a a listing that was affordable. You can hardly see it in this rainy day picture, but here’s a better picture:

This is the Cherry Blossom pattern. It came in two different colorways, the other being earth tones. But, heck, you know why I was drawn to this colorway. I love this piece so much and now that I’m looking at this photo, I’m thinking I need to place it in the foreground instead of behind the figurines. I just did a quick search on eBay and I could only find a few pieces listed. This pattern and another pattern – Morning Glory – seem to be rare, so in a pretty affordable Roseville market, they remain pricey. I’ll post a photo of Morning Glory one day. I really love it.

Wait a minute, there should be another bunny in that photo. Where the heck is it? I’ll have to conduct a search.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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