Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Daffodils

April 13, 2022 at 9:29 am by Claudia

The daffodils on the edge of the woods just started to open this morning. Looks like there’s a little spider in there.

Lord knows how long these daffodils have been here. They were here when we moved in. We have at least 4 different clumps here and there on the property. This particular plant has always been on its own, a splash of yellow against the trees. But last year, a little patch appeared about a foot from the original. And this year, another little clump has appeared. I love that.

The same thing has happened with the daffs in the big garden bed. They bloom later than the flowers in the photos, as they’re a different kind of narcissus. Last year, a single daff popped up about 8 or 9 feet from the main plant – right in the middle of the gravel in front of the porch. I was completely surprised by its appearance and very happy I didn’t pull it thinking it was a weed. This year, there are two more about 3 or 4 inches away.

One of the magical things about gardening is the self-seeding and/or spreading of flowers. I didn’t plant these daffodils, so I can take no credit. But watching plants multiply and pop up in other areas of the garden is a joy.

We had our monthly “french fries for lunch at Five Guys” date yesterday. We figured we would combine it with a visit to B&N to see if the new Country Living was available. It wasn’t there yet, which was disappointing, but the french fries made me smile.

Today, we’re going to clean the inside of the shed as it’s sort of a mess after all the leaking that occurred. We’re going to scrub it down and rearrange what we have in there, as we had to place items in certain areas to avoid water damage. Now, that’s no longer an issue, thank goodness.

Eventually, we’ll go to our storage space and start to sort through everything there. Hopefully, we can dump most of it and the items we want to save can come back to the shed and we’ll save the $125/month fee. They increase the cost every 6 months and we really can no longer afford it. Worst case scenario, we clear out as much as we can and then rent a much smaller unit for less money.

I finished The Man With The Wooden Hat  by Jane Gardam and now I’m into the last book in the trilogy, Last Friends.

It’s supposed to rather warm today – unseasonably warm – with a high of 76.

We’ll take it.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: flowers 26 Comments

Signs of Spring

April 12, 2022 at 8:55 am by Claudia

Teeny, tiny grape hyacinths growing in the space between the rocks. There’s another one coming out from the gravel by the porch. One of the earliest signs around here that spring has sprung. It was sunny and lovely yesterday and I did some initial work outside. Not a whole lot, as I am mindful of my back. It felt so good to be out there. I picked up branches that had fallen due to snow and wind, cleaned the porch railings, and basically started making a list in my head of what must be done around here.

And it’s a long one.

The lilac has buds in varying stages of growth. These are the furthest along. You can see the tiny purple bits inside.

Normally, I’d be further along than I am in yard and garden and porch clean-up, but between my back, lingering winter weather, and tons of rain, I’m behind. I just have to be patient with myself and do what I can when I can.

It’s raining this morning.

Well. The cassette tape. I got it to play and I was having a lovely time listening to the broadcast and then the sound got weird and I hit stop. The tape was caught in the rollers. We extricated it, but the tape broke, so we had to splice it. Okay. I fast forwarded past the problem area, was able to listen to another nice chunk of Jurgen Gothe and his eclectic music programming and then – it broke again.

That’s it for the tape. I’m very sad. But it’s also 23 years old and it was kept inside my old CR-V for several of those years. Sigh. I won’t deny that it left me feeling down. Maybe it can be salvaged in some way, but I suspect it isn’t worth the expense.

Crap.

I might take a little drive today to see if Barnes & Noble has the new Country Living. I’m curious to see how they styled my egg cups. I think it should be on the stands now, as it’s the May issue and it’s almost mid-April.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: flowers, spring 20 Comments

Easter Bunnies & The Tape

April 11, 2022 at 9:18 am by Claudia

Three Vintage by Crystal bunnies out on display for Easter.

Sunny today and warmer temperatures this week. I’ll take it. I’m going to go out and check on the progress of the lilac buds. Update tomorrow.

I also see some tiny green buds on the Shag Hickory and an Ash. The daffodils up in the shade are developing buds, the daffs in the big garden bed have emerged from the ground and the daffs that sprung up from gravel last year – right by the porch – are getting bigger every day. Little things, but boy, do we need to see them about now. Winter hung on longer than usual and we are really ready for GREEN. Speaking of green, the lawn is getting greener by the day – all that rain, no doubt.

After yesterday’s post about Disc Drive, I began to wonder where that cassette tape that Don made for me was. The only car that played cassettes was the CR-V and it’s long gone. Did Don mistakenly throw it out when he cleared out the car? Did I put it somewhere in the house? Have I lost it forever?

I checked out my car. Nothing. If it was in my storage closet in the office it was going to be difficult to find without taking everything out, including the kitchen air conditioner which is also stashed there. (Storage – the eternal problem around here.) Then I had an idea to check the top drawer of the sideboard – a mess of receipts, used checkbooks, batteries, etc. After a lot of digging, I found it!

Don , you are forgiven for writing Disk instead of Disc. And he recorded it in Calgary, not Toronto like I thought. He often worked for a theater company that had stages in both cities. 1999! We had only been together for 5 years. I’m going to listen to it this afternoon. Let’s hope it still plays.

I’ll update you on that tomorrow.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: bunnies, Don, Easter 24 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

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