Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Yarrow, Friends, & Chickens

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Let’s face it. Mother Nature is a far better decorator than most of us. Would I have thought of filling this part of the yard with masses of yarrow? No. I merely planted some yarrow years ago which faded away after a couple of summers. Then it turned up on the edge of the chickenwire fence garden. Then in  it. Then one plant cropped up in the Memorial Garden. And all the while, especially after we no longer had the dogs, it started to self seed all over the corral.

Now I have a little meadow of yarrow. It makes me quite happy.

We had a lovely time with Rick and Doug yesterday (and Sam!) The enormity of greeting each other sans mask and with a hug was not lost on us. It’s been a year and a half since we’ve hugged each other – since I’ve hugged anyone but Don. It was truly wonderful. And after acknowledging the moment, we picked up just as true friends do, as if we were continuing a conversation that we’d had the day before. Sam was so happy to see us! Lots of kisses and cuddles.

A big day for us. We are so grateful.

We’re still taking it slow in terms of our reentry, but Rick and Doug were fully vaccinated even before us, so it’s safe. We didn’t feel one qualm about getting together yesterday.

And we sure needed it.

Thank goodness, the humidity has gone away. It was truly horrible yesterday. Just awful. We had some thunder and some rain late in the afternoon. When I went outside this morning there wasn’t a speck of humidity in the air.

I want to get back to painting at some point today. But first, a bit of weed whacking this morning – everything  is overgrown.

I know a lot of us have been dealing with oppressive heat and I hope it has lessened in your neck of the woods.

By the way, our neighbors put up a chicken wire fence along the property line because the chickens kept coming over here, plus it’s difficult for their owner to watch them all the time and she gets concerned about predators. I’ve had to go outside a couple times a day and shoo them away. As they left our property, the rooster would sass me! Anyway, one of the most comical sights lately was the day after they installed the chicken wire and I saw them on the other side of the fence, staring at me, especially Mr. Pickens, the rooster. It’s as if they were saying, “What the ???!?”  They looked like they were in jail.

I could hear Don laughing out loud in the kitchen. They are funny little creatures

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

 

 

Fallen Blossoms

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The catalpas have just bloomed and there are already tons of blossoms on the ground. Between the wind and the pounding rain and thunderstorms, they haven’t had a chance.

Let me just get this out and I’ll shut up: I am so sick of this weather. It’s been unbearably hot and humid for several days. I thought it was supposed to break last night, but no, we have yet another day of this before it moves on out. More thunderstorms predicted for today, heat indexes in the nineties.

I do not do well in this weather, which is why I could never live in the south.

Okay. Enough of that.

Don’s appointment went well yesterday. We ran a few errands on the way home; the natural foods store in town and one of the two art shops in the same town, which is just north of us. I’m sure we’re blessed with two such shops because it’s a college town. I hadn’t been inside the shop since last year and when I was there before, I was picking up Tombow markers. This time, however, I was buying oil paint so I explored an entire section that wasn’t on my radar during past visits. (It’s also the same shop where we had our vintage French lithograph framed.) Lots and lots of oil paints from many different manufacturers. I picked up a few tubes, along with a small sketchbook, and then had a lovely conversation with the woman behind the counter which was all about…you guessed it…oil paint and slow-drying acrylics, which she really loves.

I bought some paint at Michaels a few weeks ago, but I’d much rather do business with the small independent art supply shops in town. And I’m going to do that from now on.

Had a dreadful night with very little sleep, so I’m – as I say often – ‘on the edge of cranky.’ But we’re going over to Rick and Doug’s for the first time since the pandemic started to have some french toast and some maskless conversation, so I must stay un-cranky.

This will be the first time we have been in another person’s house without a mask – or in another person’s house at all – since last March.

Two weeks from tomorrow, someone has a big birthday. He happens to live with me. Let’s say it’s one of those decade markers that can be unsettling. I’m still trying to figure out what he wants to do that day. He keeps waffling, which I totally understand. I tend to want to stay home on my birthday.

Will we actually go somewhere and eat outside? I’m not sure he’s ready for that yet.

Oh, and I stopped the car in the middle of what is normally a very busy road to let a mama duck and her two babies cross to the other side. Thankfully, the guy behind me stopped and there was no oncoming traffic. They were adorable.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday,

Miniature Oil Painting

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We’ve been walking around in a kind of daze. 91 degree days which feel like 97 degrees are the culprit. The oppressive heat makes us both lethargic. Today, a few degrees cooler, still humid, with thunderstorms. It’s too early for this sort of weather and I’m over it.

The catalpa is in bloom. I’ll try to get some closeups later. It just started blooming the other day and there are already petals on the ground. The scent is so heavenly. Don said it kept wafting toward him as he sat on the patio yesterday.

We’re watching The Bridge, a series that was recommended by a reader – I think it was Fiona. It’s Swedish and it’s excellent. Thanks so much for the recommendation! (On Amazon Prime.)

Don has an eye appointment this morning with the retina specialist. So I’m writing this earlier than usual since I’ll be driving him there.

I did paint a bit yesterday. I painted the background for another Roseville painting. It will take a couple of days to get dry enough for me to start on the vase. In the meantime, I’m playing around with mini paintings for the dollhouse studio. That easel I ordered is in route to my mailbox, so I want to have a few canvases to display – one of them will mostly likely be ‘in progress’ so it can sit on the easel.

Anyway, here’s the first experiment.

It’s so tiny!

It’s drying at the moment. I’d love to have some of these paintings stacked in a corner of the miniature studio, some propped against the wall, and one on the easel. Maybe I’ll get around to framing one, if I end up painting one that I really, really like.

These are fun little projects that don’t take up too much time. I like painting both life-size and 1:12 size canvases. The artist who lives in the English cottage loves to paint, so much so that she transformed that little room into a studio. So she has to have some finished work!

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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