Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

The Path to the Burrow

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If you head to the secret garden from the side door, you’ll see a rain barrel just around the corner to the left and several step stones that lead you from the back of the house into the garden. If you want to head to the back forty, you walk in front of the two chairs, then take a slight right, where there are more step stones leading up a slight hill.

That’s exactly what our not-so-little-anymore groundhog babies do. I’ve seen Buddy cross from the tree to the gate, go through the gate and then turn that corner by the rain barrel and head for the step stones. It’s so adorable. Once he’s gone up that little hill, he stays close to the bushes, etc., on the left and then disappears into the underbrush. I walked up there yesterday and I saw a baby near the entrance to their burrow. He quickly disappeared. (We cleared out that area a few years back and that’s when we discovered the burrow. I think there were 2 holes. So in the interest of the safety of the groundhogs, we’ve let that area get a bit overgrown to provide cover.) I think the burrow leads to our neighbor’s shed, which is about 15 feet away from this entrance.

Rain is due today. It never made an appearance yesterday.

Someone has a birthday tomorrow so I’m going to try making a card for him today. We’ll see what I come up with!

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Blooms

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Rain is headed our way at some point today, though maybe not as much as predicted. Nevertheless, we should be getting rain over the course of the next four days. To all of you who are desperate for rain, I send a prayer up that rain will soon be on its way to you. I’ve been there, and it’s very stressful.

It was very sunny when I took this. It’s so hard for me to capture the beauty of this area once everything starts blooming. I don’t know why. The spirea is blooming, the hydrangeas are starting to turn white, the roses are really taking off this year, and the clematis is in the last of its bloom. We mowed the front lawn yesterday and I was so taken by the flowers! I don’t always get around to the front of the house, especially since the critters are demanding my attention on the side of the house. That’s not really brown in the lawn, it’s the grass trimmings that turn brown. It’s pretty green out there right now.

The other rose opened yesterday morning. So lush and beautiful! I only wish they lasted longer, but within a few hours, the look of the flower changes dramatically and it starts to decline. So I have to run out there and get a picture in the early morning hours.

We’re off to buy groceries this morning. Exciting, right? Actually, it is – there’s very little food left in the house. We hope to beat the rain.

Meanwhile, the birds are singing. The other day, I walked up on the trails that run through our little patch of woods and the bird song up there was incredible. So much more intense than what I hear down by the house. It was magical.

And those robins that I wrote about the other day? I was right. They either fledged that morning or the day before. We’ve had three bird nests this year; two at the shed and one in the burning bush. And of course, baby groundhogs as well. And baby rabbits, but I have no idea where that warren is. I’m sure there are a lot more nests on the property, these are just the ones I could see.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

 

 

Shelf Tour, Part Whatever

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Oh, hello! It’s time for another shelf tour.

This is the middle shelf in the china cabinet in the den.

Back row, left to right:

A peach colored McCoy vase.

A pillow vase in the Roseville Zephyr Lilly pattern. It’s flawless. This was a gift from a reader named Sonja. Sadly, I haven’t heard from her in a long, long time. I hope she’s well.

The next vase, in that scrumptious green color, might be my favorite. It’s in the Ixia pattern and it’s 8 inches tall. I love the art deco lines to the base and the flowers, as well as the subtle shading from green to cream. I painted this one in oils.

Next is my ‘saucy’ vase. It always reminds me of a woman standing with her hands on her hips. It’s the Snowberry pattern and it’s 6 inches tall. (Another oil painting.)

And then, a favorite vase in milk glass. Perfect for flowers, though I often forget to use it for bouquets nowadays.

Center row:

A cornucopia vase in Magnolia in a beautiful shade of green. It’s 6 inches tall and it was a gift from Sonja.

A little green duck made by Shawnee pottery.

A candleholder in the Gardenia pattern. I found this at an auction.

Front row:

A 4 inch tall vase in the Peony pattern. This was the other piece I found at the same auction I mentioned above.

A gorgeous candleholder in the Bleeding Heart pattern. A gift from Cathy, a longtime reader of this blog.

And  my very first piece of Roseville, purchased back in San Diego at a time when prices were sky high. It was the only piece I could afford. It’s a small jardinière in the Bushberry pattern.

Next to the Roseville is a McCoy singing bird.

Way in the back are two silver and glass candleholders that were my grandmother’s.

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A beautiful day today and I’m going to mow the front lawn. We’re supposed to get rain for the next few days starting tomorrow, so I have a deadline.

Three of the babies were around yesterday and I found myself longing for the days when Buddy is a solo visitor. Plus, the rabbit and the big groundhog that lives under the shed were hanging around. My afternoon was spent keeping an eye on the three babies and shooing them out of forbidden areas.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday and first day of summer.

 

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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