Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

The Secret Garden, Books, and Pippa

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Yesterday morning in the Secret Garden. Wildflowers are springing up everywhere. There’s lots of fleabane and some wild phlox. It’s very, very wet there as we’ve had so much rain!

Wild phlox popping up in the rock garden.

Aside from mowing and planting the vintage pots, I haven’t done much else in this space. I’m debating whether to pull some of the weird grass that pops up in the path that leads to The Dude. Do I get in there and get rid of it, or do I just leave it there? No one can answer that question but me. And I’m feeling lazy at the moment.

It was incredibly hot and humid yesterday and, after some great time on the porch in the early morning, we stayed in. Both of us said that the combination of heavy humidity and pollen was making us feel tired and foggy-brained. I know that I felt completely out of it on both Saturday and Sunday. Later in the day, while talking to my sister on the phone, a big storm rolled in – though thankfully, not as big as the storms last weekend – and today it is much cooler around here. Hurrah!

I was reading one of my other books by Elizabeth George while in bed last night and I suddenly realized that I’d read it before, even though it was in my To Be Read pile. So I grabbed the other one that was also in that pile and started in….already read that one, too! Whoops! I think there’s only one Elizabeth George that I haven’t read and I’m going to order it from the library.

So this morning finds me looking around trying to decide what I’m in the mood to read next. In the meantime, I’m reading a short and delightful book from Slightly Foxed/Foxed Quarterly  – A Boy at the Hogarth Press  by Richard Kennedy. Kennedy worked for Leonard and Virginia Woolf for a while when he was young. It’s a lovely memoir of his time there, complete with his pen and ink drawings. Kennedy went on to be a well-regarded illustrator.

I grabbed a few moments outside yesterday and took Pippa with me:

Here she is in the memorial garden.

And in the secret garden:

The girls are enjoying the opportunity to explore the property.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Sunday on the Porch

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I’m sitting on the glider this morning, enjoying the porch before it gets too hot to be out here. So much bird song! We’re due for another day of temperatures in the 90s before storms roll in. Actually, while I’ve been sitting here, the sky has clouded over. But there’s a nice breeze and my goodness, I love the sound of birds.

Yesterday, I watered twice, simply because it was so darned hot and humid.

I am so much happier at this time of year. Green everywhere, wildflowers popping up, bunnies, birds, groundhogs, chipmunks, my porch once again becoming an extra room. Don was out here with me for a while this morning and I said to him – yes, money is extremely tight, the world has gone mad, we’ll be paying this mortgage for the rest of our lives – but this porch, this view, this peace we feel when we get to work and enjoy our property, that’s what we wanted and thought we’d never have. And we have it.

Here’s what is happening with my Annabelle hydrangea:

A lot of new shoots are coming up from the ground and they’re growing taller every day. I want to give them room and cut back more of the old stalks, but then I see something like this on a stalk I thought was dead:

Do I still cut some of it back to give the new shoots room to grow?

And ideas would be welcome!

We just had a wee bit of rain. One of my favorite childhood memories is sitting on folding aluminum chairs on our porch, watching the rain come in, and seeing just how long we could stay out there without getting wet.

There’s a quick little video of the Secret Garden on my IG this morning.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

 

A Hot Weekend Ahead

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The bridal veil spirea is in full bloom; lots of frothy blossoms down by the edge of the road. A big thank you to whatever previous owner decided to plant it years ago – I so enjoy these beautiful little flowers. A mass of white in the midst of the spring green that is everywhere.

I worked outside yesterday, knowing that for the rest of the weekend, we’d be trapped inside due to the heat that will plague us today and tomorrow. A heat index of 97 or 98 today, only slightly less tomorrow. Then the usual threat of severe thunderstorms as the front exits and we drop 20 degrees on Monday. The weather has been truly insane. I noticed that Colorado got snow yesterday!

I mowed the lilac side of the lawn, pruned some bushes, and pulled lots of weeds. After I finish this post, I’ll go outside and water everything before it gets too hot.

Thanks so much for all your comments yesterday. There are a lot of introverts here, but there are also those who consider themselves extroverts. Or a mix of the two. I am very friendly when out and about, I smile, I hold doors open, I often interact with babies (they tend to like me,) I talk to people in line, I’m chatty with store clerks. I helped a woman carry a shopping trolley up two flights of subway stairs when I was living in NYC. That’s my nature. It’s also Don’s nature. I was raised to be friendly and polite and helpful, to put others at ease. Interactions are wonderful, but they don’t require much beyond that moment in time. It’s prolonged social interactions, crowds, having to hit the on button and stay there for a long time – that’s all very hard for me. When at a large gathering Don and I often joke about our need to have an exit strategy; “When do you think we can leave?”

I wouldn’t go on a tour with lots of people; it would drive me crazy. Same for a cruise. I love to travel, but I usually do it with Don or, in the case of coaching, alone, and I like to explore on my own, on my terms.

Oh, I could go on and on, but I’ll stop there.

I am going to get that book and the other book that was mentioned in the comments. It helped to hear your thoughts about them.

A bee dining on Solomon’s Seal.

So, given the temperature, we’re hanging out indoors today. For those of you facing this same heat wave, stay safe and hydrate. Better yet, stay inside!

I’ll leave you with this:

Wren, standing by my easel wondering why I’m not painting anything.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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