Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Potpourri on Sunday

at by

• This is a wildflower/weed that is growing on the edge of the funky patio. It’s easily 4-5 feet tall. There are a few more in the memorial garden. It’s just started blooming and the flowers are a subtle pale brown. Aster family? I’m not sure. This year, I left a lot of what-is-this plants alone because I was curious about them. I’m glad I did because the wildflowers are hardy and seem to be withstanding the heat.

I haven’t done any research as to its name, but I like it.

• I hear fewer birds singing at this point in the summer and it always makes me sad. The past several mornings, however, I’ve heard the call of a mourning dove. My favorite bird. My favorite call. That is a lovely way to start the day.

• This morning, while sitting in the den, I heard a bird call that was so loud I actually thought it might be in the room with me. In actuality, it was right outside the open window but danged if I could see the bird. A completely different call than I’ve ever heard before. A mystery.

• Also, this morning while sitting in the den – I heard this loud whirring sound. I wondered if it was some sort of vehicle coming down the road from a long way off. As I turned around to look, there was a hummingbird hovering and looking in the window. That sound was the hummingbird’s wings. I still can’t believe how loud it was. Fortunately, it’s a quiet Sunday morning, so I was able to hear that whirr without any competition from traffic. Amazing.

• And finally, we have a cricket living somewhere in the office. Upstairs. How did it get there? I’ve tried to rescue him a few times, but I can never find him. At first, he was over by the window. Now he’s in the corner near my desk – an area that’s so full of ‘stuff’ that I’ll never find him.

Okay, my friends. Time for more coffee.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Lakes

at by

From the days before the coneflowers started dying a month earlier than normal because of no rain and relentless heat.

I get depressed every time I go outside.

Anyway, I’m tired today after a week of coaching, so I’m going to take it easy. Except for the usual: watering plants outside, watering plants inside, cleaning, laundry.

And working on the puzzle.

Maybe dressing a doll or two.

And finishing my book which should have been finished long ago. My attention is a bit scattered lately and it shows in the slow pace of my reading.

Next Saturday, I have to drive to Rochester – clear across the state of New York – for a run-through of Jane Eyre. And the following week, I’ll do it again. I don’t know if I’ll have much, if any time to explore Rochester, but it looks lovely. At the very least, I’ll drive to Lake Ontario to take a walk by the lake. I’m  a Great Lakes girl, having grown up in Michigan. I’ve spent a lot of time by and on all of the Great Lakes and I miss them.

I miss lakes in general, having also grown up going to the cottage owned by my dad’s family. Eventually, the siblings sold their portions of the cottage and my beautiful Aunt Lettie (and Uncle Charlie) became the sole owner. I’ve got photos somewhere of my grandfather and his sons building the cottage, which, at the time, was either the only cottage on the lake or one of only a few cottages on the lake. Now the lake is overrun by increasingly bigger houses. I think I was last there about 20 years ago? Maybe longer. Summers at the lake are part of my DNA, I guess. At this time of year, especially, I yearn to sit on the dock listening to the water lap against the shore. If I have one regret, it’s that we somehow never managed to have the money to buy a small little cottage on a lake.

My cousin Eileen and me at the lake.

Me and our dog Friskie at the lake.

Don is, of course, an ocean guy. He grew up in San Diego. And I love the ocean, too. The few times he has taken a dip in a lake, he has been amazed at the ‘smoothness’ of the water compared to the saltiness of the ocean.

I know a feeling of peace is ephemeral. But I always feel that I’d be a bit more at peace if I was at a lake on a daily basis. I miss it terribly, more so the older I get.

Ah well.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

 

Friday

at by

Because it’s Friday at the end of a long week: Pippa in her new crocs.

I can’t get over this pair of crocs. Oh my goodness!

They were made by my favorite “cobbler” Cora Huang. I have shoes and boots from other makers and I love them. However, when I first purchased Sophie and was wondering where I could get shoes and boots, and was completely new to the Blythe community, I stumbled upon Cora. In a truly international doll/clothing/shoes world, Cora, much to my delight, lives in Connecticut. It’s nice to order something that won’t take weeks to get here. But the best part is her craftsmanship. Her shoes are beautifully made.

I’d say the majority of the shoes the girls wear are Cora’s.

I have one more new pair that I’ll share when I actually put them on one of the girls. They remind me of back-to-school shoes. I always got one new pair of shoes in the fall, invariably brown. As I got older, they were invariably brown penny loafers. Do you remember Bass Weejuns?

Now ask me when I last bought new shoes… Answer: last year. A new pair of Birkenstocks. Ask me when I last bought any new clothes…Answer: last fall when I had to order long underwear and heavy socks for cold location shoots on Spoiler Alert. I don’t much care about clothes these days. I’m happy with a new t-shirt. Maybe one new sweater in the winter. But I don’t have a lifestyle that requires being fashion conscious. I used to love it. Now I find it  exhausting.

Technically, the girls don’t need any new clothes or shoes, but much of the fun in collecting these girls lies in dressing them up.

Today I coach Jim for a bit in the early afternoon and then we’ll go vote.

Yesterday, on my one day off from coaching this week, I cleaned, watered plants outdoors – all sorts of little things that needed to be done.

Very satisfying.

To close,  I marvel at Lucy’s strength! She’s been holding her arm up to give the peace sign for two weeks now. How does she do it?

I certainly couldn’t do it.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives