Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Someone is in Trouble

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This post will be rather short. Someone who lives in this house with me neglected to contact our security company about a low battery warning we had on a smoke detector, even though I asked him twice, and at 4 am I woke up to non-stop beeping/chirping.

Needless to say, I am not in a good mood. I was already sleep deprived and this has sent me over the edge.

He knows he’s in trouble and he’s steering clear of me. Wise choice.

Phlox in the big garden bed.

More of the big garden bed.

Rose of Sharon.

I’ll be back tomorrow, of course. Hopefully, I’ll be feeling much more rested.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Butterfly and a New Tenant

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Yesterday, I followed this beautiful black swallowtail around the big garden bed. I don’t remember seeing one last year. This week has brought an eastern swallowtail and a black swallowtail. Magical creatures!

We’re in the midst of air quality warnings because of the wildfires in Canada. The sky is very hazy. I’ve limited my time outside because I have respiratory issues. It’s just as well, as I have to do some prep work for my coaching job.

Although I vowed my collection was complete, I saw a particular Blythe on my feed a little over a week ago. I couldn’t stop looking at her. She was the creation of a Japanese customizer. I left a comment on the post asking if she was available and was told she was being sold on Yahoo Auctions, which operates in Japan. I went to the listing and poured over all of the details. But I was uncomfortable trying to use the auction site because non-citizens of Japan have to use a proxy to bid and then, if you win, the item is shipped to the proxy first, then the proxy ships it to you. It seemed very complicated and potentially problematic,

Honestly, I spent two full days pouring over the auction listing.

Much to my surprise, the auction ended without anyone bidding, and I received a message on IG from the artist saying she could sell her to me via PayPal and shipping via EMS which is the priority mail of Japan. I talked it over with Don. He loved her, of course. Should I? Shouldn’t I? I knew I’d never see anything like her again. So, I bit the bullet and purchased her. She arrived here in less than a week.

I promise to give you better pictures, but she arrived late in the day on Monday and this is the best I could do.

The tips of the hair are dyed a darker green. She was listed wearing this kimono and I’m a sucker for kimonos, especially red ones. The eye chips are glass and they’re mesmerizing. And the face up is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.

Look at that face!

(I need to comb her hair. Oh wait, I did, you’ll see it in the following photo!)

In honor of her Japanese heritage, I named her Myoshi, after one of my favorite actresses, Myoshi Umeki. Umeki was the first Asian to win an acting Oscar. She won it for the movie Sayonara, directed by the great Josh Logan. (Don had the honor of working with Logan late in Logan’s life.) I have watched her in Flower Drum Song  over and over again.

Some rearranging of the shelves ensued as I had to figure out how to fit her in. There’s not a lot of available real estate. Mabel is now sitting in front of three girls on the bottom shelf.

Miyoshi is on a stand, asI don’t want to  crush the bow on the back of her kimono.

Lucy’s reaction to her new shelf-mate is troubling…

Anyway, I’m really thrilled to have her here. I will most likely have to sell a doll in the near future, but I dread doing it, so I’m going to wait on that decision.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Babies, Butterflies, and Flowers

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After I wrote Saturday’s post, we went grocery shopping. When we came back, I checked on the baby birds.

They had fledged.

I never expected to see them fledge, of course. But after we got home, I watched one of the parents flying around carrying food, clearly searching for the birds. Calling, chirping, flying from the porch railing to a branch on one of the maples, looking in all directions. That eventually stopped, so the birdies had been found. Later in the day, I peered into the bush and both babies were perched on branches above the nest. One of the parents was there and somewhat angrily shooed me away. Message received.

Since then, nothing. They’re around, I’m sure, because the parents have to feed them and teach them to how to be independent, but I haven’t seen them in the vicinity of the porch.

I miss them. As Don said to me, “You have literal empty nest syndrome.”

But weren’t we lucky to have a ringside seat to this little miracle?

An eastern swallowtail that’s been hanging around here for a couple of days. They’re so beautiful.

Part of the big garden bed, now filled with coneflowers, phlox, and milkweed. There is more phlox this year than ever. It’s rather wild looking, partly because the dangerously hot weather kept me from weeding, but also because it has evolved into an almost meadow-like country garden. Sometimes I run across a older photo of a more groomed version of this garden, but this suits me fine and as I age, it is probably the best solution.

The weather has been lovely. The humidity has disappeared and it’s nicely warm. What a relief!

Edited to add: BUT, we have an air quality alert because of the fires in Canada. So maybe I won’t be weed whacking today.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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