Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Bragging About My Talented Friends

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Two of my friends are creating a stir in the blogiverse. I want to share their achievements with you.

First up: One of my dearest blogging friends, Brenda, of Cozy Little House, has started something wonderful – Cozy Little Shoppes.

What are Cozy Little Shoppes? Brenda has always wanted to promote cottage industries. Many bloggers have their own shops, be they Etsy shops or some other virtual form of shop. If you’re a shop owner and decide to be part of this, your shop button will reside permanently on Brenda’s sidebar. Brenda has a very popular blog and gets a lot of traffic. It is a wonderful way to advertise your particular cottage industry. When someone reading Brenda’s blog clicks on your button, she will be taken directly to your site.

She will also have a separate Cozy Little Shoppes page on her blog where she will include a short bio and information about your business. Not only that, Brenda will advertise Cozy Little Shoppes on various venues. She’s already started to advertise on the Flea Market Style blog. She will also highlight each new shop on her very popular Welcome Wagon Friday post.

The cost of subscribing is very reasonable. You can access all that information by clicking this link.

This is a labor of love for Brenda. She really wants to help empower shop owners. It is all about promoting wonderful cottage industries run by very creative women. She is also not above bartering for your subscriptions – maybe a giveaway from your merchandise for her readers?

I know that someday when my sister and I get our shop up and running, I will definitely take advantage of Cozy Little Shoppes. Stop by and visit Brenda – go on, you’ll be happy you did.

And now my friend, Elyse, of Cottage. Elyse is also a dear friend. Not only is she wonderfully creative – she has a shop called Tinkered Treasures – but she is a very talented writer.

Perhaps you’ve heard of Romantic Country magazine? Have you glanced at the Summer 2011 edition?

(Forgive the glare – this is my copy and the lamp is on!)

There is story inside about an adorable cottage entitled Tiffany Blue. I wonder who wrote it?

Gasp! Elyse!

I’m so thrilled for her. She deserves this. If you follow Elyse’s blog you know she loves wordplay – she has a delicious sense of fun in her writing. You’ll love her writing style.

Congratulations to both my talented friends!

Working in the Garden & Peter Cottontail

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Our own Peter Cottontail:

Taken from my vantage point at the kitchen window. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately.

Signs of spring, though so much later this year than last: tiny little sugar maple leaves. Please get big and green before I have to leave.

When it hasn’t been raining, I’ve been grabbing whatever time I can to work in the garden. I’m under a deadline here and am frustrated by a combination of unseasonably cold weather and lots of rain. I put in a new garden bed on Sunday. Oh my aching back! And it might just be a silly thing to do since I am:

a. leaving for 7 weeks in a little over a week and a half
b. don’t have a lot of extra cash (in fact, none) to spend on plants
c. will have to rely on husband to water any new additions.

What was I thinking? I’ve had this idea in my head for over a year and, quite frankly, if I wait until a time where I’m actually here in the spring, it might never happen. So I did it. I used a method I’ve read about online and that you might find helpful. After figuring out the dimensions of the bed, I covered the entire area with stacks of newspapers  (black and white – no color). Then I covered the newspapers with top soil. A little way into the process, I ran out of top soil and I didn’t want to stop to buy some more. So I used some leftover mulch. Then I used the garden hose and wet (wetted?) it all down. Fast forward about 2 weeks and I was able to easily remove the grass. It came right up. Quick and easy! Yesterday I added top soil.

I’ll have to put most of the plants in when I get back in mid-June. I still have to fill the planters and window boxes with impatiens, etc. And I have to mulch. The rest will have to wait until I get back.

Today is rainy. Big surprise. I guess I’ll have to start packing boxes to ship to Wisconsin.

Did I tell you I’m sick of packing?

You have no idea.

Thank You, Photos, a Camera & a Winner

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I’ve read every heartfelt comment on my last blog post. Several times. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. I say ‘us’ because I know many of you read all the comments, just as I do. This particular conversation has been wonderfully enlightening and I love it when that happens.

I posted a photo very much like this one on my photo blog, Through a Lens Daily, yesterday. On a very misty, foggy morning earlier this week, I saw little drops of water on all the wild roses. It was a great opportunity to see what I could capture with my camera.

My intention with that blog was to post a new photo each day. And I did that for several months. Then Old Man Winter came and with it lots of photos of snow. Eventually, I just couldn’t post one more gray, wintry photo. So I lost my daily rhythm. I happy to say it’s coming back.

I really love photography. My camera, a Canon PowerShot SX10 IS, is doing a very good job so far and I love her but she has her limitations. Buying a new DSLR with the option to change lenses is not in the cards at this point. I wonder if looking into a used Canon Rebel might be something I should think about? Maybe there is someone out there who has moved up to another camera level and would be willing to sell the older model. Any thoughts or recommendations as to where to look?

Now I feel guilty. About my current camera. Do you ever endow inanimate objects with human qualities? I do. So I need to tell my camera that I love her and I will always hang on to her, even if I have another camera some day. She could have a sister! Now wouldn’t that be fun?

A few more photos:

The hyacinth in full bloom. I wonder how it survived the torrential rains we had last night?

Another shot of my very quick and elusive friend, Mr. Cardinal. It was captured by taking an endless amount of photos from a great distance. This guy likes to move.

Finally, I used the Random Generator to pick the winner of a copy of The Kitchen Daughter.

Congratulations, number 29 – Sherry of Creatology! Sherry, send me an email with your address and I’ll forward it on to TLC Book Tours. They’ll send it to the publisher who will mail the book directly to you.

Have a great Sunday everyone. I’m going to work outside on this windy day. I have a lot to do and I leave for Wisconsin exactly two weeks from today.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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