Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

What’s happening in the garden

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I have a fairly new garden. We’ve lived here slightly less than 3 years. When we moved in there were very few plants established. Of course, the peonies were here and some lovely hostas. But, that was about it. We fell in love with the 4 beautiful trees in the front yard: a shag hickory, a weeping willow, a sugar maple and a catalpa. I also saw the potential for a garden, but didn’t do any planting until the following summer. Since then, its been trial and error in this rocky soil. Some things do well, others don’t. I tend to stick to perennials which means I have to be patient until they get established. I’ve been trying roses, with limited success. The bugs certainly seem to like them. Some scenes from the garden:

These are my rose bushes. The yellow rose is the Julia Child rose and it has a licorice-like scent. The deep pink is Lady Elsie May. I’m pleased that it has really taken off this year.

A close up of the Julia Child rose

A view of the shed


One of the shed window boxes

A close-up of a Lady Elsie May rose

My creeping geraniums


Coreopsis

Hostas, sedum and day lilies

One of my potted arrangements on the porch

I will post more photos as the summer progresses. I missed the blooms on the Catalpa tree – they appeared and disappeared when I was away. If you’ve never seen a blooming Catalpa, you must. It is a glorious sight – snowy, fragrant white blooms all over the tree. They only last for a week or two and I think the heat this year shortened their bloom time. We have three Catalpas; one in the front yard and two up in the wooded portion of the property.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Our clock

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You know how something you see can worm its way into your heart? This clock did that to us. We were at an antique center; my husband went one way, and I went another. When I had finished looking around I went to find my husband. He was standing, mesmerized, at a glass case filled with antique clocks. There were many of them, most inside locked glass doors and some on top of the case. Don couldn’t stop listening to the ticking and the sound of the various chimes as they struck the hour and the half-hour. There is something that is so comforting and soothing about that sound, isn’t there? In my case I am reminded of my grandmother’s house. I spent a lot of time there as a child and that sound – the ticking, ticking, ticking – is a treasured remembrance of those times.

We stood there a long time – waiting for the hour and half-hour chimes to ring. The clocks were set at different times so that we could hear each individual clock. This clock was our favorite, with its elegant lines and beautiful case. We went on our way and a few months later, my husband suggested a return visit. He wanted to look at the clocks again. So we went and watched and listened. I knew he was completely hooked. All the clocks were observed and evaluated and we still loved this one best. Fast forward a few more months: we went to the same antique center with our houseguests. The clock was still there – it was still the one we loved – so we put a deposit on it, and put it in layaway. Unfortunately, the dealer wanted it paid off by the end of the month -so it was not really a layaway. Sometimes you have to trust that the universe will provide and it did. We picked the clock up on my husband’s birthday and it now has a place of honor on our tiger oak sideboard.

It was built in 1923 (the year of my Dad’s birth) by the Sessions company – it is a Sessions Tambour clock named “The Montreal.”

It has a two-tone chime on the hour and a harmonic chime on the half-hour. It is beautiful and the sound of its ticking and chimes fill our house with happiness.

More later, have a wonderful day!

Back home

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I’m back from San Diego! Let me rant for just a minute. I am beginning to hate flying anywhere. It always is a hassle and invariably there is a delay involved. I fly out of a relatively small airport so I usually have some sort of connection to make. On the way to SD I flew through Detroit (my home town). All went well with the first leg of the trip. Once I got to Detroit, there was a 3 hour delay for mechanical problems. It was already quite late in the evening. Of course we didn’t find out about the mechanical problem until we had taxied out to runway, sat there for a long while, taxied back to a new gate, got off the plane, and then heard what was going on. Then we had to run back to our original gate, only to wait for a long time to finally board the plane, to wait again because the luggage wasn’t on board yet. I finally got to San Diego at 1:30 a.m – which was really 4:30 a.m. back home. By the time I got to bed it was 2:30 a.m. and I had been up for 23 hours. And, I had to work the next morning.

The trip back involved, again, mechanical problems. I had to get up at 3:30 a.m in order to drop off my rental car and get to the airport for a 6:25 a.m flight. As before, the first flight was on time and we arrived early in Atlanta. I was thrilled because I would have an hour before I had to take off again…four hours later, we finally got on the plane. When I arrived home I felt like collapsing in my husband’s arms. A bit dramatic, but if I had been in a movie, perfect. My rant is almost over, but I have to add one thing: on top of all this one has to pay for food on the plane. What happened to the old days of flying?

Okay, rant over. I am home, and that is the most important thing. I worked long hours in San Diego, coaching three different Shakespeare plays and had a wonderful, if exhausting time. I ran into lots of old friends. What a blessing it is to see old friends and catch up on each others’ lives. I saw the beach, briefly, managed to have dinner with dear friends and shop for my husband’s birthday. I was back in time for the birthday which was yesterday. We had a lovely day together. All is well.

More later, including a photo of our “new” antique clock.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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