Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1147 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Garden Mysteries

May 5, 2015 at 10:00 am by Claudia

5-5 more wild honeysuckle

My prediction, unfortunately, came true. We have moved from a few days of spring-like weather directly into summer. And we’re not happy about it. Yesterday it was 87 degrees. Temperatures promise to remain in the 80s all week long.

Ummm…..it’s too early for that nonsense. It’s the first week of May. Don and I were both surly yesterday because of the temperature. We had to install the window air conditioner in the kitchen because it’s too hot for us and definitely too hot for Scout who does not handle the heat very well at this point in her life.

And I’m still feeling like crap. And I have to go to Hartford tomorrow, no matter how I feel.

Enough complaining.

I do have a few garden mysteries this year. We had a brutal winter, as you know, with extremely cold temperatures and mountains of snow. This year, for the first year I can remember since we moved here, our one lone tulip didn’t come up. It was planted long ago by some previous owner of the cottage. Maybe some critter got to it…or is it due to the weather?

And my hyacinth has emerged from the ground, but with smallish leaves and no flowers to be seen anywhere. Not a one.

And my poppy plant is full and beautiful – but there are no buds to be seen.

So, in the case of the tulips – nothing. In the case of the hyacinths and poppy, greenery but no flowers.

The winter had to be the most extreme we’ve had in the almost-ten years that we have lived here. Is that the culprit? Or is it just the changing cycles of bulbs and perennials?

Any ideas?

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page in case you missed it yesterday.

Happy Tuesday.

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Taking A Little Time In The Day For Me (Win a $100 Visa Gift Card)

May 4, 2015 at 9:00 am by Claudia

Like all of you, I do a lot in the course of a day. I write and maintain two blogs, I read a lot of books because I write book reviews, I work professionally as a coach for the theater, I take care of the house, garden, make things… you get the picture. I’m not a mom of human kids, but I have a 16-year-old dog named Scout – the apple of my eye – who needs a lot of attention and care as she navigates her world. On any given day, depending on the amount of things that need to be accomplished, I can easily get overwhelmed and feel like I’m not doing anything as well as I would like to.

As I’m writing this, I’m trying to finish a book that has to be reviewed in two days. I’m cleaning up our two acre yard after a long, long winter and preparing the garden beds for spring. I’m digging. I’m planting. I’m mulching. I’m preparing to coach a production of Kiss Me Kate that starts rehearsals in a few days. I’ve got a list of Things to Do that seems to be a mile long.

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that I believe in treating myself. I do it every day. I take long bubble baths. I take time to read for pleasure. I watch old movies. I cuddle with my husband. I cuddle with my dog.

And I have hot chocolate almost every day, around 4 o’clock. This is a ritual I’ve come to love.

milano 3

Hot chocolate along with a little treat, of course. I’m here to say that my sweet tooth is alive and well. One particular combination that makes me a happy camper is that of mint and chocolate. I can’t resist. A longtime favorite is Pepperidge Farm® Milano® cookies, in this case Mint Chocolate. I’ve been a fan for years.

Milano certainly encourages me to pause and take a moment just for me. Hot chocolate, a Mint Chocolate Milano and a good book sounds like the perfect recipe for savoring the moment.

milano 1

Excuse me while I take a bite.

I’ve found that if I don’t allow myself a little respite from the responsibilities of the day, everything suffers. And I can often get through unpleasant tasks (like shoveling snow!) when I know a treat is waiting on the other side.

Work, then reward. Sounds good to me!

milano 5

I think I’m going to have to hide these from my husband.

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A Triumph (Sort Of)

May 3, 2015 at 9:52 am by Claudia

As I write this, I see tiny leaves on the maple tree that I can see through the den window.

Leaves!

The past two days have been in the high seventies and sunny, so plant life is growing by leaps and bounds. Don took his first stab at mowing part of the front lawn yesterday. I was jealous, because I love mowing the lawn, so I took a few passes until I realized I was exhausted and just might be pushing it a wee bit. And Don gave me the ‘Time Out’ sign. But it felt good. There’s lots more mowing to be done, on spring green colored grass. It looks so pretty.

Since my brain isn’t functioning at its normal whip-smart level (I joke), I find myself aimlessly on the laptop and, when I get a spurt of energy, reading a book. Maybe watering a plant and running the vacuum. Letting Scout in and out. Feeding her. Or watching the last three episodes of the second season of Broadchurch. (Good, but not as good as the first season, in my humble opinion.)

I want to be doing much more, but simply cannot, so there you go.

This particular bug is a pain in the tush.

Don had to go into the city on Thursday and Friday. Late in the afternoon on Thursday, I received a text with a picture of Don pointing to something. It was this:

5-3 magnolia bakery

Yes, that sly devil bought four cupcakes. His audition was on the Upper West Side, and what was facing him as he exited the subway? A Magnolia Bakery.

Yesterday, in a fit of feeling sorry for myself, I ate one with yellow cake and chocolate icing (my favorite combination.) It was so scrumptious that I ate another; which, if I had been in my right mind, I would have refrained from doing. I overindulged.

I actually left a bit on the plate. Untasted. Unconsumed.

This is what happens when you’re housebound and your husband knows you’re miserable and wants to make you feel better. He brings you cupcakes. You see cupcakes and you eat them. Because, even with a stuffed-up nose and a less than sharp sense of taste because of said stuffed-up nose, you can taste that chocolate icing and, well….it’s really a sort of triumph over the debilitating side effects of a cold.

Right?

Happy Sunday.

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Garden Mysteries

Taking A Little Time In The Day For Me (Win a $100 Visa Gift Card)

A Triumph (Sort Of)

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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