Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1244 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

It’s Personal

July 23, 2014 at 8:44 am by Claudia

I’d like an order of hot and humid, please.

Oh, wait, what was I thinking? Please cancel that order!

It’s too late?

Drat.

Yep. We’re in the middle of a hot and humid stretch that is causing this girl who hates humidity to stay inside. The activity level in the birdbath was at an all time high yesterday, which necessitated several trips to replenish the water supply.

The birds are feeling it, too.

rudbeckia beginning

The rudbeckia is just about to open.

coneflower beginning

And so are more coneflowers.

I edited a few of my comments on yesterday’s post. I did it simply because I feel protective about my father’s issues and don’t want to discuss too much in this very public place. He’s confused and scared and, yes, extremely difficult to deal with lately, but I want to make sure I draw the line at how much I reveal. I’ve said before that maybe someday I’ll speak in more depth about those issues in terms of how they have impacted me, but I won’t do it until he’s gone.

He’s my dad and I love him, and he’s troubled and complicated and insecure and lots of other things that make dealing with him very hard indeed. But he’s also a good man who is devoted to his family and kind to others. He has a big heart.

So, there you have it. Writing a personal blog involves constant decisions as to just what I choose to reveal and what I choose to keep private. I know you understand.

maroon & yellow daylilies

Did you notice those four words in the sentence I just wrote? “Writing a personal blog…?”

There are times when I have to tick a box as to what kind of blog I write. Often those choices include Decorating and DIY or Lifestyle or Food – that kind of thing. I’ve never felt comfortable choosing “Lifestyle” which is often the only option that might fit. Here’s why: I don’t prescribe any sort of Lifestyle for my readers. I’m not Martha Stewart. I don’t write about how you should do things or what you should do. There’s an occasional tutorial, though come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I wrote a tutorial.

So the other day I was reading about something, somewhere, and saw the term Personal Blog.

And I smacked myself upside the head.

I know this might very well seem like a “Duh!” moment to you, but I, on the other hand, said “Of course! I have a Personal Blog.” I write about my life and my adventures and my cottage and…my lifestyle. But not your lifestyle or what I think you might want your lifestyle to be.

I know. Seems obvious, doesn’t it? But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wrestled with how to describe this blog when pursuing advertising opportunities or filling out surveys.

I have a personal blog. And a book blog, which has new post up today, by the way. It’s all about one of my favorite authors. Stop by.

Happy Wednesday.

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Garden Bugs

July 22, 2014 at 8:12 am by Claudia

Sometimes when I walk around the yard and gardens, camera in hand, I will find myself seeking out insect life. I like to get pictures of bees and ants and unnamed bugs living in and among the flowers. That’s what happened the other day when I ventured out of my sick bed for a little exploration.

bee on coneflower1

bee on coneflower 2

bee on coneflower 3

tiny tiny bee

red bug

ant on coneflower

I’ve been observing the bumblebees, especially in terms of the coneflowers. I’ve got tons of coneflowers here. I’ll watch them land on the flower and leave in a split second if the flower isn’t ready for them. The available pollen has to be at a certain level, I think. And visually, their preferred coneflowers do seem to have a plusher-looking cone, which must mean the pollen is ripe for the picking. I could watch them for hours.

I’ve seen my friend, the Hummingbird Moth, flitting in and around all the flowers. Don, in fact, thought it was a hummingbird. I have a lot of flowers that attract hummingbirds here in the garden, but I can count on about 3 fingers the times I have seen one on the property. But I’m sure happy to see the Hummingbird Moth back again.

This particular bug, the one that I’ve got, keeps hanging on. I’m feeling better overall, but every morning I end up feeling clammy and sweaty. I also have a LOT of congestion. Whether the two things are related or not, I’m not sure. As the day goes on, I feel better, but I find myself taking a nap or two. Don tells me I have to patient and take it easy.

Do not like.

And my father, always a difficult man, has ratcheted things up in the ‘difficult department.’ He’s impossible at the moment. Mean emails, bad decisions, childish behavior, lies…you name it. I think that when Mom was alive, the daily schedule he had, the visits to Mom, all of that kept him in check and focused. And he was terrifically devoted to her – no one could have done better. Now that she’s gone and he no longer has that daily routine, he has reverted back to the kind of behavior that, sadly, we saw all the time when we were younger. It pushes every button I’ve got and then some. Trying to find compassion instead of anger at the moment.

It isn’t easy.

Send some good thoughts our way, will you?

Happy Tuesday.

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Real Life: The Un-Pin Worthy

July 21, 2014 at 8:57 am by Claudia

Good news on the ‘feeling poorly” front: I am feeling much better today. Still a bit puny, but much better than earlier this weekend. Clearly, I had some sort of bug. Yesterday morning, I thought I’d never stop sweating…I had to throw my pajamas in the wash for the second day in a row. But by mid-afternoon, that had finally stopped. I managed to make mashed potatoes last night, but that finished off all my remaining energy for the day. Tired this morning, still a bit wimbly (Don’s favorite word for this kind of thing) but feeling like I’m slowly crawling out of the muck.

Don’t worry. I’ll take it easy today.

I have entitled this: The Un-Pin Worthy Photo.

But it’s real life. There are photos on this blog of my fabulous Vernor’s crate and Riley’s Dish Garden that are Pin Worthy. But this, my friends, this is the way this table is ninety percent of the time.

Likewise this:

A picture of the house shot at an overly sunny moment in the day. But if we back up a bit, we get this:

The chimney wrapped in a blue tarp, which has been there for several months and will continue to be there until we can save the money to get the masonry re-done. (That’s what was causing the leak in our bedroom.)

Un-Pin Worthy. And, often, Un-Blog Worthy. But you know what? The more I read blogs (and I’ve been reading them for about 7 or 8 years) the less interested I am in always seeing pretty pictures. Don’t get me wrong, I love a pretty picture as much as the next person and I like to take pretty pictures. But what draws me to a blog for the long run is substance. Stories. Real life. Adventures. Not just beautifully dressed children looking as if they popped out of a catalog. Or beautiful photos of the blog author looking like she stepped out of a catalog. Or, most often, beautiful photos of living spaces with nothing out of place that look like a magazine spread. Every once in a while? Sure! We all like to put on our best dress or show off our living spaces. I’ve done it here. Although, to be perfectly honest, every photo like that on this blog has something out of place. Or several things out of place. (I can’t help it.)

I just prefer the real. I like to know the person behind the blog. I like to see real life. That’s what keeps me coming back for more because pretty only does it for a short while. Then my eyes glaze over. You can show me pretty, but give me some substantive text and you’ve got me.

But, of course, there are all sorts of blogs out there and some of them are meant to be full of pretty pictures, are meant to look like magazine spreads, and more power to them. I’ve been known to while away 3 or 4 hours gazing at those photos. Those blogs are a nice little escape from real life and we all need that. They are the equivalent of what a magazine used to be for all of us.

‘Pinterest Worthy’ is nice, but it isn’t always real. And it’s easy to fall into that trap and feel less than worthy yourself because your table is piled high with mail and your garden has weeds and your bed is unmade and there is laundry to be done and no one has cleaned up the kitchen yet.

Hey, I’m not about to show you all the ‘real’ in my house…you don’t need to be privy to everything that goes on here! But I will try to show you as much of it as I can. Just so you know that all the pretty flower pictures (and that’s Mother Nature’s doing, not mine) are well and good, but we have a big old tree that fell in the back forty and we have poison ivy growing up several trees and there is a dead tree in the front yard and I’m overdue on weeding again and the Japanese Beetles decimated my roses. And the shot of the Vernor’s crate that was momentarily styled and free of clutter is a rarity. And the paint on my kitchen cupboards is chipping and they need cleaning and there is dog hair everywhere and every wall in this house needs painting.

That’s my real and imperfect life here at the cottage.

(New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page.)

Happy Monday.

It’s Personal

Garden Bugs

Real Life: The Un-Pin Worthy

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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