Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Flowers, Monarchs & A Puzzle

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I’m not sure they could look any prettier and it’s going to be 78 degrees today (too hot) but next week it will be much, much colder and I thought I’d take a moment to salute this year’s limelight hydrangeas while they’re still here.

Gorgeous.

This bush is much younger than my Annabelle hydrangeas, but you’d never know it. It is huge!

And one of the many reasons, but perhaps the most important, for growing zinnias from seed – they bloom late in the summer into the fall and a newly emerged monarch butterfly flying southward can stop and dine for a couple of hours. They provide much needed sustenance for the trip and are one of the few flowers available at this time of year.

This beauty was hanging around the zinnias for a few hours and didn’t seem to mind my presence. When you’re really hungry, things like that don’t matter. Hydrangeas don’t do it for monarchs. The coneflowers are gone. There are a few stray roses, but giant zinnias provide lots of surface on which to dine and I will make sure to sow those seeds again next year.

Things like this make my week. Having some food on hand for a hungry monarch makes me very happy.

I finished the puzzle.

The World of Virginia Woolf.

It’s quite lovely. Next up, something a bit more intense: The World of Frankenstein. Perfect for this time of year, don’t you think?

I’m currently retreating from the world and news of the world.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Zinnias

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They keep on coming, these amazing zinnias. There are more buds that should open in the next couple of days. We are going to have about three days with warmer temperatures and then it will turn colder and, as I scan the weather forecast, below freezing temps at night next week. You know what that means…I bring in the plants for the night until the time comes when I give up the fight. But that won’t be for a few weeks.

Another one:

I did bring the in Boston fern for the winter. My other overwintered plant – the geranium  – will head inside in a few days. I’ve had both of these babies for several years and they seem to be thriving.

I’m reading Richard Osman’s newest – The Last Devil to Die – and I’m enjoying it immensely. I’m working the jigsaw puzzle and it will be done in a couple of days. The next one up is from the same manufacturer, The World of Frankenstein.

Books and puzzles keep me sane in a world gone mad.

I’m going to mow the lilac side of the lawn today, if only to get some exercise. It’s not that big, so it won’t exhaust me. Don raked up a huge amount of catalpa leaves on Monday – catalpa leaves are quite large. All that wind over the weekend brought down a ton of leaves.

The event I’m attending is actually called Wonderland of Play – it’s in partnership with BlytheCon this year, but it’s not called  that. WOP is run by a woman named Jen who lives about an hour south of me. She’s been an entrepreneur in the world of handmade designs and toys and vintage things for a long time. Her partners are two women who have shops in Brugge, Belgium. All of them are Blythe lovers. WOP took place in Brugge last year, it’s in NY/NJ this year, and it will take place in Brugge again in 2024. BlytheCon will be a separate event next year in Las Vegas.

I’m looking forward to it, but also dreading it. I am a true introvert and this kind of event takes its toll on me. I’ll be ‘on’ that day and then I’ll have to retreat for a couple of days. Lots of people, lots of visual stimulation, lots of driving, etc. I’ll also be one of the oldest people there. I miss the days when I wasn’t the oldest person in the room. That’s been the case with nearly every play I’ve coached in last few years, as well. I am a gray-haired older woman to all these people even though that’s not how I feel inside. Inside, I feel younger and thinner and fascinating.

Ah well!

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Autumn Beauty

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Moody skies, zinnias, and fall color. There was quite a bit of wind over the weekend, so there are huge catalpa leaves on the ground all over the property. Time for Don to rake again.

Speaking of Don, I woke up in the middle of the night coughing. When this kind of thing happens in the middle of a deep sleep, it usually takes me a while to realize that I need to get up and clear my throat and suck on a cough drop. Usually, Don sleeps through it, but this time it woke him up and he couldn’t get back to sleep and now he’s very sleep deprived. I feel terrible! Usually, it’s a snore that keeps me awake. Anyway, he always, always has a better attitude about it than I do. I apologized to him this morning, and he said “It’s find. The coughing woke me up, but my brain kept me awake.”

Anyway, I’m going to do my best to help him through the day. Mainly by being quiet, so he can grab a nap or two.

I finished The Running Grave  by Robert Galbraith – all 945 pages of it. I think it’s the best yet in this series. I quite literally couldn’t put it down. So many twists and turns and beautifully detailed characterizations. It’s still in my brain this morning. Rowling is such a gifted writer – to produce a book that is, let’s face it, very long, but so well written that one reads page after page after page without stopping because it flows so beautifully. She is brilliant.

If you are not familiar with this series, it’s written by JK Rowling but the author name she originally published under was Robert Galbraith. If I remember correctly, she chose the name so as not to be linked with the Harry Potter series, but the news that she was the actual author leaked pretty early on. You should definitely read the books in order because the recurring characters undergo a lot of changes and knowing and understanding their journeys is pivotal. This is #7 in the series.

And now, I’ve just begun reading Richard Osman’s The Last Devil to Die, the newest book in the Thursday Night Murder series.

What would I do without reading? It’s been the one constant in my life and has, quite literally, saved me.

Two weeks from yesterday I am going to attend Wonderland of Play/BlytheCon in New Jersey. It will be held in Jersey City,  about a two hour drive from my house. Before Covid hit, there were various BlytheCon celebrations yearly; BlytheMadrid, BlytheConUK, Play and Party Prague, etc. These events bring together Blythe artisans and Blythe lovers and I’ve witnessed how amazing they are in my IG Blythe feed. This may be the only time I get to go to one, so I grabbed a ticket back in February and on November 5th, I’ll be meeting a lot of friends and artists in person. (I’ll be wearing a mask, but I’ll take it off for photos.) Lots of people I know are going, favorite vendors will be there, and it will be wonderful to be with fellow Blythe lovers who understand the hold this doll can have on a person.

I’m starting to get excited.

Okay. I need to zap my now cold coffee in the microwave.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday,

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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