Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 493 — Life in our little cottage in the country

Day Seventeen

March 30, 2020 at 9:39 am by Claudia

Another rainy day with gray skies and, though I know we need the rain, this current state of being housebound requires some occasional sun. And we’re not getting that, nor will get that for the rest of the week.

Sigh, sigh, sigh, sigh.

But, we have these little gems on the kitchen island:

And that helps.

I read a lot yesterday, washed the sheets, cleaned a bit, that sort of thing. Don read a lot, as well. We thawed some frozen soup and had a nice lunch together at the kitchen table, where we chatted about all sorts of things. It’s a good thing we like being together so much – I imagine it’s a bit harder for those who are used to spending great chunks of the day apart. Suddenly being together 24 hours a day must take some getting used to.

I finished Derek Jarman’s Garden and am now reading We Made a Garden by Margery Fish. It’s less than 100 pages, so I should finish it today. Saturday ended up being book mail day; Don’s copy of Eric Larson’s newest book, The Splendid and the Vile (all about Churchill during the Blitz) came from Oblong Books, my order from the Book Depository also arrived. In that order – all three books were shipped on separate days but arrived at the same time – two more by Nancy Mitford, Love in a Cold Climate and Don’t Tell Alfred, and The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts. I have another order on the way from John Sandoe Books – my small contribution to independent bookshops, though Book Depository is not that. Goodness knows my TBR pile will grow, but at least I will have contributed to the coffers of shops that are struggling during this crisis. And since I’m hearing this may go on, at the very least, until the end of April, every little bit helps. But that’s all I can afford and now I have to stop.

Every day I wake up and remember what is happening and it seems unreal. Or surreal. Then I hear – as I did last night – of Don’s absolute favorite singer-composer, John Prine, being in critical condition with symptoms of COVID-19 and the enormity of all of this hits me once again.

Trying to be upbeat today and failing miserably. Some sun and a chance to work in the garden would help. Instead, I’ll give myself chores; vacuuming, dusting, cleaning, maybe some work on the dollhouse (which I have been ignoring for the past 5 days.)

The winner of a copy of Everywhere Holy is Deanna. I will send an email your way, Deanna, but if you read this first, drop me an email at the address (the envelope icon) at the top of the sidebar with your mailing address. Congratulations!

Happy Monday.

Day Sixteen

March 29, 2020 at 9:42 am by Claudia

A rainy weekend. But when I look at the lawn, thank goodness it’s raining! We need it. Thankfully, it didn’t start raining until the afternoon yesterday and I was able to get outside for a bit. I took my pruning shears with me and headed for the forsythia which grows in the woods beyond the shed. Technically, it’s not on our property, it’s on our neighbor’s. But they don’t mind. On the way back, I noticed a bloom on a clump of periwinkle – it grows in our woods.

Oh, what a welcome sight!

On my way back to the house, I noticed some tiny birds flying in and out of the bush that is part of the big garden bed. I noticed them the day before, as well. But this time, I stopped and watched them. A bit of back story: last fall, after a big storm with very heavy winds, I noticed that a portion of a limb from the maple tree had landed inside the bush. Right in the middle. I tried to free it several times, but it was too heavy and I was afraid I would seriously damage the bush.

See? When I decided to leave it there, I did so knowing that once the blush had leafed out, the limb would be masked.

As I stood there, quietly watching the two birds who kept flying in and out of the bush, it dawned on me that one of them was disappearing into the interior of the limb. I could hear a tapping sound, not unlike you hear from a woodpecker far off in the distance. One would fly in and tap repeatedly, while the other bird kept watch. Then the bird would fly out, the other would go in, and on and on. Each time a bird departed the hole, he would drop wood shavings that were in his beak.

They are making a nest.

I ran in to tell Don. We both started watching them. We were completely entranced. We had to do a little work outside – just about ten minutes worth – and they warily watched us, stopping all nest making until we went back in the house. But we kept on watching them from the window. I did some research; they’re nuthatches.

It’s the perfect place for a nest. Big birds can’t get inside. They will be safe. And as the bush leafs out, they will be hidden from view. Isn’t it amazing? I wanted that limb removed from the bush, couldn’t get it out, and now it’s the future home of these birds.

I told Don that I felt ‘alive’ for the first time in a long time. Don’t take me literally. I have a full life, even in the winter. But walking into the woods, cutting flowers, discovering tiny blooms, and watching these birds? This is the first time that I felt that quickening, that heightened awareness that I get when spring arrives and I can be outside tending to my gardens and watching my birds and groundhogs and deer and bunny rabbits.

This morning I awoke to lots of bird song. Lonesome Dove has been cooing. I can’t do any work in the garden yet, but I know it’s coming. During this surreal time, I can’t tell you how much that means to me.

We FaceTimed with my sister and Little Z yesterday. Then we FaceTimed with Rick and Doug. Much, much needed. It was a good day.

It’s pouring out now as I wind up this post. I just finished reading Derek Jarman’s Garden, which I loved. Another gardening book next? I think so. It will be the small and lovely book We Made a Garden by Margery Fisk. I bought it last year and it has been sitting on my TBR pile. Time to dig in.

Happy Sunday.

Day Fifteen

March 28, 2020 at 10:00 am by Claudia

Current reads. I find it isn’t necessarily easy to make a choice these days. My last book, Eight Perfect Murders, was disappointing. So, do I go with more fiction? Or nonfiction? Or pretty pictures? Yesterday, I reread Biblio-Style, that gorgeous book about the way people live with books. I needed to experience it once again. Last night, I started in on Pride and Prejudice, a true comfort read. And this morning, I dug into Derek Jarman’s Garden.

Do you find that you’re juggling more than one book at a time? I rarely do that, but I have definitely been reading a few books at once during this period of isolation.

I’m just grateful that I have them. Books are always a precious gift, but never more precious as they are now.

We watched more episodes of Cheers last night. It’s fun to chart the course of the characters in that very first season. We can see the writers beginning to figure out who is who and just how the characters will function within the framework of the ongoing story. It’s amazing how excellent it was from the very beginning.

I was up earlier than Don this morning – a rarity – and after making coffee, I went online to our grocery chain’s site to see if maybe there might be a delivery slot open at the end of next week. To my surprise (and I was barely awake) there was an opening available next Wednesday on April 1st. I grabbed it and then started to add a few things to our already long list. I only had an hour in which to do it before I would lose the slot. Don came downstairs and, poor guy, I immediately pestered him for any ideas he might have. Anyway, it’s done. I cannot tell you how relieved we are that we don’t have to go inside a store. They deliver the bags of groceries and leave them outside near the door. Don is very happy. It turns out he was very wary of entering any store and it had been weighing on him.

We’re in for a very rainy weekend. It hasn’t started yet, but it will. I think I’ll go out to the edge of the property and clip some forsythia. We don’t have any fresh flowers at the moment and it would be nice to see the bright yellow flowers in our kitchen.

Rain is on the docket for the next week or so, so heaven knows when I will be able to get outside to start garden cleanup. In the meantime, I’ll be watching episodes of Gardener’s World on Britbox – I didn’t watch all of last season, so it’s time to catch up.

I learned a new word: Sitzfleisch; literally ‘sitting meat’ but in reality, sitting on your tush. Heaven knows, I am doing that more than ever. (Found in an article in The New Yorker.)

Lonesome Dove is hanging out on the telephone wire in front of our house as I write this. I love him.

Happy Saturday.

Lambs Like to Party

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