Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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.

This and That

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Between the time change and Wonderland of Play, I swear it’s taken me the entire week to recover! Getting used to the time change always takes a few days, of course. And as I live a fairly low-key life these days, a huge event like WOP wipes me out. But it was oh so worth it.

I’ve been doing little chores around the house, one of which was installing a shelf in the office. It’s to the left of my desk between the pink cabinet and the wall. I’ve been messing with it for a few days; first trying to find the studs. They were a little too far away from the wall (a wall shared by the office and our bedroom closet.) This house was flipped and sometimes it shows. So then it was plan #2, using dry wall anchors. The first one worked perfectly. The second was a screw up on my part, I drilled a too-large hole so the anchor disappeared in the wall. Yesterday, I went to Lowes and bought new anchors, a new level (I can’t find the one I had,) some more spackle, and some joint compound for my work on the dollhouse. The shelf is in a narrow area bounded by the desk and the cabinet so it involved some bizarre body positions, but I finally did it.

It’s for my Gene Marshalls. On the left, Hello Hollywood (with a suit designed by my friend Doug,) Love at First Sight, a Simply Gene wearing Mandarin Mood, Iced Coffee, Tea Time at the Plaza, and Warmest Wishes – a special collaboration with FAO Schwarz.

This arrived in the mail:

I was on the waiting list at the library, but since our system involves many local libraries, my number in the queue was way too high. So I bit the bullet and bought it. I’m going to start it today. Speaking of books, I was ready to dive into a new mystery when I went to bed last night. It had great reviews. After 20 pages .I could go no further. The writing was terrible. Sigh.

That’s why Barbra has moved up in my queue.

And one more photo – the girls are fighting over this helmet. It’s Pru’s turn to wear it.

She’s still shoeless because Mom has run out of shoes. More are on the way. I thought this picture might give you a better view of the hat/helmet.

Okay. I’m due to have a chat with Doug this morning, so I have to get going and make that second cup of coffee.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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