Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 617 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Lilacs

May 2, 2019 at 10:13 am by Claudia

Yesterday may have been May 1st, but it felt like March 1st – very cold and very damp. Honestly, I’m starting to get worried that we’re just going to jump right into summer without a spring! Both of us were grumbling about the weather. It was too cold to do any work outside and – as usual – it rained overnight and will rain this afternoon and evening, as well.

The trees have really taken off in the past week, with almost every one of them leafing out except for the catalpas. They are always the last to show their giant leaves. I just walked outside for a minute and noticed that the bee balm has doubled in height in the last couple of days.

I walked outside to check on the status of the lilac bush. Oh boy – the blossoms are opening!

I leaned in to inhale the scent. Oh, my goodness. I swear that scent is good for the soul. I have instructed Don to make sure he visits the bush today.

It’s cloudy today but it will be warmer, which is a good thing. I’m still holding off on buying any more plants until it gets a bit warmer, which should be in a few days. In the meantime, I’m fixing up the porch, reading books, and watching old movies with my husband. We watched a favorite of ours last night – Waterloo Bridge. Have you ever seen it? It stars Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor and it simply breaks my heart. It’s beautifully done. I think I’ve written about it before on the blog. Leigh is exquisite and I’m not just referring to her physical beauty. Her acting in this role is beyond compare. And Robert Taylor, who I normally can take or leave, is absolutely wonderful.

We’re also completely caught up in Unforgotten on PBS, which we’re watching every week. We just finished the fourth episode – there are only two left. As always, the writing, the acting, and the direction are excellent.

I’m about halfway through the Donna Leon mystery. I’m happy to say that I’m enjoying it. I’m glad I stuck with the first book. Sometimes sticking with something is worth it, especially if there’s a whole series to explore on the other side.

Today? I’m not sure. Maybe some mulching, but it’s going to start raining in the afternoon, so I might not get that done. Sigh. Come on, sun!

Happy Thursday.

Tra La! It’s May

May 1, 2019 at 9:37 am by Claudia

I grabbed the opportunity to do some work outside yesterday. I wanted to get the pansies, geraniums, and lavender that I recently purchased in some pots.

Don found that chair on the curb during our neighboring town’s trash day. I have to clean it up a bit. We’re thinking it might look good at the kitchen table. In the meantime, I sat in it while I added pansies to the white urns.

Then the dark gray urns:

I got the urns from The Christmas Tree Shops a few years back. They’re not vintage, but they look that way.

Happy flowers.

And I planted them in the ‘window box’ I bought last year because I had too many pansies. Same case this year.

There’s another pot over on the porch table with even more pansies!

This is only the second year I’ve planted pansies. I’m so glad I did; they’re perfect for this time of year when the weather is dicey and the nighttime temps are cold. Eventually, when the sun gets too hot, I’ll switch them out for some calibrachoa. Though I somehow managed to keep the window box going into October and it just kept on blooming!

I also did some sweeping and cleaning up on the porch. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the fern makes it. My mistake in putting it outside too soon, along with the wind knocking it down two times, has resulted in damage to the plant. And it was so, so beautiful right before I put it outside! I could kick myself. I’m hoping that it will revive over time. I keep apologizing to it. Over and over. Sigh.

We plant lovers sometimes make mistakes. This one was a doozy.

We have rainy days ahead. And I have more mulching to do. I’m going to tackle that today. I also have to buy more plants for pots. (I went through a 2 cu. ft. bag of potting soil yesterday!)

Don and I talked about plant budget yesterday. I’m not adding any new plants to the beds this year. That will save some money. The budget goes for mulch, topsoil (for the seeds I plant) and potting soil, along with all the plants for the porch, funky patio, and secret garden pots. Our little cottage and our gardens are a haven for us. Seeing flowers blooming, having secret places to go to surrounded by natural greenery and a splash of color from potted flowers, sitting on our porch or on the funky patio – and we do that every day – surrounded by beauty brings us peace. And we need that now more than ever. So it’s worth it.

Call it “therapy.”

I’m reading The Girl of His Dreams by Donna Leon. So far, so good. After that, I have two more Ian Rankins from our library. But, I imagine, like most of you, I’m getting less reading time in as I spend much of the day working outside.

Happy May! I hope it’s warming up in your neck of the country.

Happy Wednesday.

Straddling the Seasons: The Porch

April 30, 2019 at 10:11 am by Claudia

Paging Don Sparks: Time to move those 50 pound bags of salt back to the shed.

Salt on the bench, potting soil across from it – the porch hasn’t yet decided what season it is.

I mulched two more garden beds yesterday, mowed the other side of the front lawn, then I had a long chat with my neighbor – we tend not to see each other around here during the winter months – and that was it for the day. Today, it’s cloudy and, of course, more rain is coming tonight. It’s seems to be a daily thing around here. But I think I’ll be able to pot the pansies and geraniums. Pansies will be in the urns near the porch, geraniums in the barrels by the funky patio. I haven’t purchased any impatiens yet, or the coleus that I plant in the vintage pots in the secret garden, nor any hanging pots. All of that costs money, frugal as I try to be. So I’m taking it slowly. That’s not hard to do given the crazy weather we’ve been having.

Normally, I’d be getting ready to plant these seeds, but since we had a frost just yesterday, I think I’m going to wait for another week just to be on the safe side.

As frustrating as this Spring has been so far, I am heartened by all the perennials that are emerging. I see coneflowers, hostas, sedum, day lilies, catmint, bee balm, rose bushes (though a couple are not doing all that well,) ferns…and that makes me very happy. Now, if we could have a few days in a row with sunshine and no rain, I’d be ever so grateful.

When I went to Rick and Doug’s to water their plants, I took some pictures of their garden to send to them. They have a lovely dogwood that’s in bloom as well as all sorts of other interesting plants. Oh, it’s so good to see something other than snow! And to see the spring green of our grass.

Happy Tuesday.

Lilacs

Tra La! It’s May

Straddling the Seasons: The Porch

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives