Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 671 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Lush Gardens, More Rain, & Books

June 20, 2019 at 10:30 am by Claudia

More rain and thunderstorms on the way for tonight and tomorrow morning. Then we’ll have two days of sun before the rain comes back – on Don’s birthday, no less. I’m trying to stay upbeat and so is Don – we work really hard at it – but man, I have NEVER seen anything like the rain we’ve had since April. Endless.

Okay. So here’s the upside. I’ve also never seen the garden so dense, the plants so tall and full. The hostas are mammoth. My daylily is constantly blooming – much longer than normal. The coneflowers are super tall. The catmint is gorgeously purple and filled with bees. The spirea is vividly pink this year. And on it goes. The lushness of everything is pretty darned amazing.

Endless record-breaking rain does have its perks.

And we did manage to have our second cup of coffee on the porch this morning. So that’s good.

I woke up way too early this morning. It happens occasionally. I’ll power through.

I mentioned in a post on Instagram that I was thinking of starting a separate account just for reading and books. Not unlike my book blog, but without the expense, the crazy commitment to reading way too many books, pressure to review, etc., that made me eventually delete it. When you’re an ‘official’ book blog with people asking you to review books all the time and you already have a blog where you post every day, it can become overwhelming and it did.

This time, I’ll just share what I’m reading, the occasional visit to an interesting bookstore, that kind of thing.

Most everyone seemed to think it was a good idea. I haven’t started it yet, but when I do, I’ll give you the information. It won’t change my primary Instagram account where I do most of my posting. It’ll just be a little space to talk about books.

What do you think?

Okay. Don is making an omelet at my request. Have to go!

Happy Thursday.

Chipmunks, Books & Movies

June 19, 2019 at 9:51 am by Claudia

Thunderstorms are coming, but thankfully, they haven’t made an appearance yet. We were able to sip our second cup of coffee out on the porch. The porch has become Chipmunk Central. Their nests are beyond this railing, down in the ground near the side garden, and they use the porch as their path to the big garden and everything that lies beyond. We are constantly amused by their antics, especially when they appear and, in mid-run, realize we’re there. Do they go back? Do they forge ahead? It’s adorable.

We did tell them that they need to clean-up their nuts after they chow down on them. I’m not sure they listened.

Oh, endless rain yesterday. It went on and on and on and I didn’t run errands, but regretted it later, because I felt especially stir crazy. More today, tomorrow, and Friday. That’s all I’ll say because I’ve gone on way too much about the rain as it is.

That being said, this is what happens when it rains and the tree is in bloom. Lots of catalpa blossoms on the ground. (There’s even more now.) It’s sort of beautiful. Some of you asked how tall the tree is and I must admit I’m not very good at estimating that. I’m sure it’s at least 50 or 60 feet tall – or more. The catalpa and the maple are both very old – though I think the maple is the older of the two – and very, very tall. You can really see that when you are across the road looking at the property.

Again this morning, we caught a whiff of the intoxicating scent as it traveled on the breeze to our little spot on the porch. Oh. My. Heavens.

We watched 84 Charing Cross Road last night. I’d been thinking about it recently because I’m not sure I’ve ever read the book though I’d seen the movie long ago. Anyway, I found out that Don had never seen it and I was sure he’d like it. He did. Such a lovely story, beautifully realized as it covered two decades, starting in the late 1940s, in both London and New York City. Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins are simply wonderful. And a great supporting cast, including Judi Dench. Corresponding with a bookshop in another city across the ocean, in search of books that can’t be found locally, establishing a correspondence of twenty years – it’s the perfect dream. I had a tiny taste of it when I corresponded with John Sandoe Books. I can only imagine how satisfying it must have been for Helene Hanff and the staff of the bookshop in London to get to know each other through the letters they sent to each other.

And now I’m wanting to order something through John Sandoe again. What, I don’t know. The Brits write so beautifully and every note – even in our modern email form – is a delight.

Today I’m off to do some shopping, thunderstorms or no!

Happy Wednesday.

Rain, Rain, Go Away – Please

June 18, 2019 at 9:38 am by Claudia

Just add lots of rain to this picture and that’s our current situation. It’s raining very hard and as I sit here, I can see catalpa blossom after catalpa blossom float to the ground. The rain will be their undoing.

And the rain will force the finale of these:

I know all good things must come to the end, but darn it, the catalpa just bloomed! Ask me how sick of the rain I am. Go ahead. Although maybe you shouldn’t as you’re bound to hear some curse words. We have rain today through Friday. Rain, thunderstorms, blah, blah, blah. I am so, so, SO sick of it.

As I was drinking my first cup of coffee this morning, I checked my email and there was a notice from my security company that came around midnight saying my site was down. I looked at the clock and figured that since it was 7 am, it was probably back up by now. Nope. So I called my hosting company and they verified that there was a big problem with the server and my blog was one of those affected. Drat. In that kind of situation, there’s nothing I can do but wait it out. So I made our second cup of coffee, sat on the sofa with Don and chatted. I’m glad to say it’s back up now – obviously – or I wouldn’t be writing this!

I’m trying to change my reaction to these technical mishaps that are beyond my control. They tend to push my “worry” button, but in the end, all I can do is talk to my host, or in the case of other problems, talk to my security company. That’s why I have them.

Anyway, all is well, for the time being.

Edited to add: If you tried to visit the blog during that time and found a message saying it couldn’t be contacted or something like that – the exact wording depends on the browser – it doesn’t mean you were blocked. It just means the server was down and my blog was also down. If the server is down, my blog can’t be located on the web. I say this because I got an email from a reader thinking she had been blocked. If you had been blocked – which I rarely do and only if I’ve been harassed or threatened repeatedly – the message on your browser would be a different one, specific to no longer having access.

I saw Lonesome Dove perched on an electrical wire this morning. I’ve only seen him at the birdbath one time this spring and I miss him. I opened the window in the den and, sure enough, I could hear his haunting call.

What to do with all this rain this week? I tend to get stir crazy. Yes, of course, I’ll read. Maybe I’ll finally clear out and sort through the items in my dresser drawers – one of my least favorite things to do. I have to buy a birthday present for a certain someone whose birthday is next Monday. (Hint: he’s in the next room playing his guitar at the moment.)

I’m on my 11th or 12th day without sugar. I have a major sweet tooth and, even though I wasn’t eating all that much sugar, I was having some every day, and one day I just said, “Enough.”

I’ve done this before and it was time to do it again. I’m not having any major withdrawal symptoms, but I do feel more energetic and that’s good. Hopefully, I’ll lose a bit of weight in the bargain.

Okay. I’m off to figure out what I’m doing today.

Happy Tuesday.

Lush Gardens, More Rain, & Books

Chipmunks, Books & Movies

Rain, Rain, Go Away – Please

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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