Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Concrete, Puzzles, and Banjos

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Very cold morning! The plants have been inside for four days and as far as I can tell, I have only two days where the temps don’t go down below freezing before I have to say goodbye.

Sob.

I woke up to the sound of a Carolina wren singing away. I heard the same bird yesterday. It’s awfully nice to hear that cheerful sound as the days get shorter and colder and we head toward a period of time that is always difficult for me.

Behold, the World of King Arthur!

This was a fun one. I was obsessed by King Arthur when I was young, probably fueled by my love of the musical, Camelot. This brought back a lot of memories as well as new information about the legend, as the maker always includes a key to all the figures. Loved the big red dragon.

I’m expecting a new one today – not from the same designer, but a fall scene in the city – presumably Manhattan or Brooklyn. My birthday is next week and I told Don not to get anything for me but when he pressed me, I sent him the link to a puzzle. Why not, right? They keep me sane and I’m sure he’s grateful for that!

Our concrete repair work is looking really, really good. We’re surprised by how good it looks. We just have to do the skim coat and it’s best to wait a few days for that. Most likely Thursday or Friday, which will be a bit warmer than usual.

Don had a gift card given to him by the people who ran that concert series last summer. Don booked all the performers and oversaw everything; he’s doing it again next year. Anyway, he was in his favorite music shop the other day and was searching through a pile of used instruments and he found a banjo. For $75! It’s in pretty good shape, but it needs some cleanup. It was so fun to hear him playing it yesterday. He has had a lot of instruments since I have known him, but never a banjo. I love to watch him when he gets something like the banjo, he is so excited. Don has always had a charmingly childlike (in the best possible way) enthusiasm and it has never left him. I am profoundly grateful for that. He teaches me to be joyful.

Pictures of a couple of girls:

Holly wearing the hat. We’ve got a definite color story here.

And Miranda.

Don’t cross her. She sees right through you.

By the way, British friends, Spoiler Alert  is now available in Great Britain. I believe you can find it on Apple+ and Amazon Prime Video. You can see my coaching work with Ben Aldridge and a little bit of acting in a hospital scene.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

A Cold Monday Morning

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Yesterday in the early morning, there were four bluejays flying around the property – much like the robins did. It took me a couple of beats before I realized they were trying to get to the water in the birdbath but it was frozen.

I ran outside and chopped up the ice, but I think it was too late. If they returned, I didn’t see them. Sorry, guys! I know there are heaters for birdbaths, but, no. I can easily go out there and chop up the ice as part of my morning routine.

It’s 23 degrees outside as I write this. The porch plants came inside on Saturday and they’ll be here for a couple more days, but frankly, there will only be a couple of days in the week ahead where the nighttime temps are above freezing. Sigh. This is the part I dislike; deciding when to let go. Because then, it’s official: winter weather is here.

We are in the middle of a project. The entrance/step up to the front porch has deteriorated a bit. The porch is bluestone and the skim coat and quite a bit of the cement has deteriorated. Yesterday, we cleaned up the ‘riser’ to the porch and mixed some Quikrete. Trowels in hand, we started to fill in the areas that had deteriorated – adding stones and support along the way. Don just left to buy some more QK, as we will now call it, and today we’ll add another layer, hopefully completing it with a smooth skim coat.

Just call us Mr. and Mrs. Amateur Mason.

The World of King Arthur in progress. Have I told you that I love jigsaw puzzles?

So that’s the day ahead: washing the sheets, a little work on the puzzle, reading, vacuuming, and finishing up our masonry project.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

 

Robins Stop at the Inn

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Yesterday morning, I looked out the window and noticed a lot of birds flying around. At first I thought they must be starlings, but no. They were robins; I don’t know how many, but I’d say at least 30. They’d swoop into the trees, swoop back down to the ground, drink from the birdbath, and dine on burning bush berries. It was magical. I’d say they were here for an hour and a half.

They were on their way south and stopped at the Hill-Sparks Inn for some food and drink.

I just looked outside again. There’s a few more stopping for a visit.

Anyway, I grabbed my big girl camera and took some photos with my telephoto lens.

The birdbath was a mess; thank goodness there was some fresh rainwater in there.

A few fights over the birdbath.

Completely delightful.

By the way, groundhogs go into hibernation in October. Someone hasn’t got the memo; the big groundhog has been sighted into November. In fact, last Saturday, I opened the kitchen door and he ran past me. I haven’t seen him in a few days, so maybe he’s finally made the move. Lots of chipmunk and squirrel activity right now, as well.

I’m going to go clean the birdbath.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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