Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 862 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Beignets, Coffee and the French Quarter

October 21, 2017 at 10:34 am by Claudia

A long, long day of travel on Thursday with a side note about the airport in New Orleans – the roads and access in and out of the airport are so poorly planned. The backups were endless with no room for cars to exit and enter and we sat in that mess for at least an hour. I was sharing a cab with four other gentlemen and we couldn’t believe it! It was like that carnival game where you sit in a little car and try to hit the other cars, can’t remember what it’s called. Our cab driver was endlessly patient and we applauded him.

Anyway, I was exhausted when I got here but when Don came in the door after his rehearsal, all was well. Yesterday, we ate some breakfast and then trotted on over to Café du Monde for beignets and coffee. There was a line, but it moved very quickly.

Here we are in line.

Oh, lordy. I had never had a beignet before, so this was a totally new experience for me. They are incredible; light and airy. I could only finish two of them because they’re so sweet. The combination of the beignets and the chickory coffee was perfect – in fact, I bought a couple of cans of the coffee to take home. This Peet’s drinker loved it.

We walked around the French Quarter until Don had to leave for rehearsal and then I continued walking around and taking pictures of the architecture.

Every house and building has such a distinctive style. Shutters are everywhere; practical in the heat and during hurricanes. This blue is so vivid.

I swear my neck was sore from constantly aiming the camera up to shoot all the balconies and wrought iron and hanging plants on every building. So beautiful.

I can’t stand it, this is so charming.

Halloween decorations are everywhere. Clearly, this is a big holiday in New Orleans.

Jackson Square, with the cathedral in the center of the photograph.

The Petit Theatre is run by a friend of mine. I stopped in, but had just missed him. It’s so lovely inside.

My favorite little discovery yesterday was this little house or maybe it’s a shop, I’m not sure. It was absolutely fascinating and I couldn’t get enough of it.

So many details: the lights hanging from the ceiling of the porch, the haint blue ceiling color, the handpainted bench, the shutters, the trim, the plants and this sign:

I love it.

Door details.

Just above the gate you will see colorful flowers. They’re made of glass.

Everything about this little gem was so individual, so quirky and wonderful and charming. Give me this sort of free-spirited artistic expression any day of the week.

I have to take Don back there so he can see it.

I have tons of pictures, which I’ll share with you this week. Don has two shows today and two shows tomorrow. I’ll be going to tonight’s performance.

More later.

Happy Saturday.

Little Miracles

October 19, 2017 at 8:00 am by Claudia

I’m writing this on Wednesday evening. I’ll be too busy tomorrow to write a post, so here goes.

Short but heavy on the photos. A little miracle on Wednesday – despite the leaves dying on the morning glory, there were beautiful blooms today!

You can see all the wilted and dying leaves – although some of them are just fine.

But there are many buds still left to open and the week ahead is supposed to be warm, so I hope that they thrive.

Also blooming:

Beautiful October roses.

And my stalwart and dependable hollyhock:

I hate to leave them to the elements! I’ve watered the porch plants. I may put a few on the ground outside the porch to catch some rain. Come to think of it, I’d better do that now.

Happy Thursday.

Much to Do

October 18, 2017 at 9:12 am by Claudia

We may be at the end of the road for my beloved morning glories. I say ‘may’ because I was absolutely sure when I returned home last night that they were gone. It 9 pm and dark when I pulled in the driveway. As I walked to the door, I stopped to see if they had made it. All the leaves were wilted, so I figured they had died during the day.

The moonflower, which grew so slowly this year that I never even got a flower, is definitely gone.

But this morning, as I look outside, I see some of the big buds trying to open. Maybe there’s a last hurrah yet in store? I’ll keep you posted.

As I was mourning them last night, I thought about the big fat bumblebees who love them. Like this one, who spent Monday night tucked in the center of a flower and at just about the time I left for the city, was finally waking up and backing out of his temporary lodging. I snapped this picture right before I left.

I’ve seen this more than once this year. As Don says, it’s like a scene from a Disney movie. Big fat bumble bee flies around, chooses a flower, flies into the center, drinks his fill of pollen, then falls asleep. I am absolutely charmed by this bee-havior. I kept thinking about this guy off and on throughout the day yesterday.

I have much to do today – the list seems endless – before I leave tomorrow morning. Because I had to work in the city yesterday, and I’m grateful for the work, I lost a day of prep. After I post this, I’ll make a list.

I was thinking about the many plants I had in my bedroom in the early seventies. It was a jungle in there, with hanging plants, plants on stands, plants on tables – they were everywhere. Anyway, one of the plants that I had forgotten about was the dieffenbachia or dumb cane (because it can numb your tongue if ingested.) I really loved that plant. It’s the kind of plant that was very popular then but one that I don’t see much anymore.

So there I was in Lowes, looking for another Zz plant (there were none) and I saw this dieffenbachia jammed into the rear area of a shelf, looking – frankly – like a lot of plants I see at home centers; root bound, not watered enough, big brown spots on the leaves, as well as yellowing leaves. It was only $5.98, so I told it I was coming to its rescue.

I brought it home, repotted it, and removed the yellow leaves.

One good sign – there are new leaves unfurling.

I remember the one I had back in the day being quite large. This baby is rather modest in size. Let’s see what happens.

Okay. Have to get a move on. Much to be done today and I was up too late last night because I couldn’t have my dinner until 9:30 – so I had to give it time to digest. Unfortunately, my internal alarm clock woke me at the usual time, so there we are.

Happy Wednesday.

Beignets, Coffee and the French Quarter

Little Miracles

Much to Do

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives