Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Blooms, Weather and Leaf Peepers

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Oh, Claudia, ye of little faith, this morning glory that you were sure was a dud, all leaves and no flowers, has bloomed prolifically. Today’s count: at least 30. What an amazing surprise from Mother Nature. Every morning I wake up and peek out the bedroom window to see how many flowers have opened. While everything else is dying back, these beauties are more than making up for it.

Another bee diving into the center of the flower.

Well. Don is supposed to fly to New Orleans tomorrow and, as you must know by now, a hurricane is headed there tonight and tomorrow morning.

Hmmm.

Many of the actors are now flying on Monday instead of Sunday. Don and a group of actors who need to be there at the start of the tech rehearsals for the show (which start on Monday) are another story. Last I heard, one of the producers was thinking of flying them down later in the day tomorrow on her private jet (!!!) But it’s all up in the air now.

Never dull, is it?

I’m checking in on the weather but staying away from the Weather Channel hype, because they drive me crazy. Does anyone watch the show where they have a set that looks like a bar? I think it’s Weather Underground. Really? You need a set that looks like you’re hanging out in your basement?

Just show us the maps and give us the weather. Don and I laugh every time we see that set.

I did end up driving north and I bought a few things at my favorite natural foods store and at Home Goods (I’ll show you tomorrow.) But I’m still a bit tired after Wednesday and I forgot my vow at this time of year: Don’t drive anywhere other than the grocery store on a Friday or a Saturday or a Sunday. It’s Fall. Leaf Peepers are everywhere. Our local farmsteads are packed with visitors sampling the cider and the cider donuts and picking pumpkins. The amount of traffic is, to say the least, annoying.

I made the mistake of thinking that a couple of hours between 12 and 2 or so would be pre-the weekend craziness.

It wasn’t.

So I’m staying home and doing some work in the house, but mostly reading and enjoying my little bolthole.

Did I show you the dishtowel I found in Manhattan last weekend? I posted it on IG but if you missed it, here it is. It’s perfect.

Happy Saturday.

Creature Love

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I’m feeling more energetic this morning and for that I’m grateful. It’s a beautiful autumn day and  the sun is shining and I just found out we don’t owe anything on our taxes and that we are getting a modest refund and my morning FaceTime with my husband was great and my Peet’s is making me happy and it’s all good.

How’s that for a run-on sentence?

Lately, I’ve seen Henry chomping down on the grass right by the Funky Patio, which is pretty close to the house. Brave for that timid boy!  I saw him yesterday and because the windows were closed, he couldn’t hear the click of my camera and run away as he usually does.

There he is, that sweet boy.

Then, to make it even more perfect (can you have degrees of perfect?) my lonesome dove landed on the birdbath.

And then, in the ultra degree of perfect, the monarch butterfly that I saw the day of my dental work (I took that as a good sign) appeared over in the chicken wire fence garden.

For a brief moment, all three creatures were within a few feet of each other. Then Henry heard something and ran back to his lair. But for that moment, my Creature Love boxes were all ticked.

Happy Claudia.

It’s such a lovely day today, that I might take a little drive northwards. We’ll see. Or I might go to our local antique barn. Hmmm. What to do?

Happy Friday.

 

A Pat On The Back

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There are at least 30, if not more, morning glories in bloom this morning. A wonderful way to start the day. Gosh, they are glorious! Aptly named. It’s going to be warmish here today and I plan on sitting outside on the funky patio, where I can get my fill of them.

I am feeling more than a bit of relief today as I had some major dental work done yesterday and I made it through the whole thing without Don by my side. I have what must be bordering on a phobia about the dentist. I get so fearful that it almost incapacitates me. But I knew I had to go as something happened over the weekend that made an appointment a necessity. I called them on Monday. My appointment was yesterday at 3:00. In the meantime, I was in stress mode, trying to calm down, meditating, praying, and finally, trusting. Normally, Don would go with me, but obviously he couldn’t. But that guy was ‘by my side’ via texts and phone calls all day long.

The whole thing was made a bit more stressful when I realized a bridge was closed that I normally crossed to get to the office and I followed the detour, all the while looking at the clock, and got lost. I finally called the receptionist and she guided me there, but I was 15 minutes late.

Fortunately, I have the kindest, most compassionate, and non-judgmental dentist I could ever hope to have and his practice is only 10 minutes away from our house – on a normal day. He was wonderful and I ended up having a few things taken care of and he even made me laugh. Bless him. Then he told me how proud he was of me and that he wished Don had been there to see it. Such a lovely man.

When it was all done, I had to drive to the pharmacy to pick up two prescriptions, find some soft food to eat – I hadn’t been eating much for the past few days – and I was so tired and exhausted that I felt like a wet noodle.

Today, I’m allowing myself to feel proud that I did it without Don there by my side. I’m giving myself a pat on the back. I’m okay. Tired, but okay. Today is for taking it easy.

In the midst of the waiting yesterday, I hung this:

We decided we didn’t like the look of it above Stella – the yellow doesn’t mix well with the yellow we have on the walls. So it’s been sitting on a table until yesterday, when I decided I needed to make a decision. I like it here. I’m not sure what I’m going to put there, if anything, but I like that cheery yellow and red display piece hanging above my desk.

I had to move the calendar to the left, which necessitated another ‘hanging’ decision.

Early morning, darkish picture, but I brought the other Maxfield Parrish, “Pierrot’s Serenade” downstairs and hung it under “Dinky Bird.” They should be together, don’t you think?

So I did  accomplish something other than forcing myself to go to the dentist yesterday.

Now, with the dentist stress over with, I feel like I can allow myself to get excited about my upcoming trip to New Orleans. And about 10 days after that, my trip to Chicago. More road trip adventures ahead.

Happy Thursday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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