Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 918 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Chatty on a Tuesday

April 11, 2017 at 9:29 am by Claudia

Greetings from the land of abnormally warm temperatures! 77° yesterday, over 80° today. I’ve been cleaning out the garden beds (I’ll be glad when I’m through with all the raking!) I ran to Lowe’s yesterday for new garden gloves and also picked up a paver. Why? Because I’m tired of the bird bath being on a slant (the ground at the top of the drive slants downward) and thought I might be able to get it a bit more level if it was placed on a paver rather than the ground. Mission accomplished, with the help of two stone ‘shims.’

Later in the day, I stopped and visited some friends:

Hello, Emby! The sweetest horse in the world. I fed him lots of carrots, told him that his Uncle Don missed him very much and that I would be visiting him at least once a week. He gave me two kisses. I’m very honored.

That’s Sissy in the shed eating her hay. When she has fresh hay, she has absolutely no interest in carrots. She lifted her head and gave me a look when I called out to her and then went right back to her supper. I messaged these photos to Don and, as I suspected, they made him very happy.

Hello, new Nancy Drew! This (#19 in the series) arrived in the mail yesterday (I have two more on the way.) Nancy is rocking a 40’s hairdo. Love the map, the piano, the globe, the fireplace…all of it.

More egg cups. Walking ware, some California Pottery with the original sticker, Harlequin by Homer Laughlin, a bunny, lustre ware, a chick emerging from an egg and your basic green and white egg cup. The ceramic egg was a gift from my mom. The painted egg may have been, too – I’m not sure.

I have some more that are scattered throughout the house. I’ll gather them together today and take a picture.

My Peet’s is tasting especially good this morning.

Don drove to the desert yesterday on his day off to see the tail end of the wildflower bloom there. But he’s very tired. These are long days in rehearsal and 6 long days a week with only one day off takes its toll. I find I always have to get back ‘in shape’ when I start rehearsals again after a period of time away from them. Don hasn’t done a play in a long time, so it’s a big change for him. And this is a new musical, to boot, with songs, dances, re-writes…everything.

We’re both suffering from a big old case of the ‘misses’, as in “I miss you so much.” It really hit him yesterday. It’s lonely being on the road, even if you’re in the midst of rehearsals with a lot of people. At the end of the day, you go back to your apartment and you’re all alone. I understand, believe me. I’m going to try and get out there in May. We need some time together.

The Anastasia cast album has been recorded and will be available in June. Huzzah!

Happy Tuesday.

Today’s Gardening Lesson

April 10, 2017 at 9:17 am by Claudia

Class, today’s lesson is about the mercurial nature of garden plants; i.e., those plants that seemed to be thriving, then didn’t. Then did.

Case(s) in point:

This tulip, planted long ago by a former owner of the cottage, pops up every year. Last year? Nothing – not even a leaf – leaving me to conclude that it had met its maker. Thankfully, it’s back.

Or these hyacinths, normally blessing us with beautiful and fragrant flowers. Last year, the leaves appeared but there were no blooms. Yours truly thought that maybe they were reaching the end of their time here. (I discovered them while digging a garden bed on the other side of the cottage. They had flipped over under the ground, so they weren’t producing anything at all. I replanted them in the big garden bed and discovered the mystery bulbs were hyacinths.) Anyway, back to the subject at hand – this year there are blooms.

Or this oriental poppy, which usually provides the most vivid orange and purple flowers in the spring. Last year, it simply didn’t appear. Not even a leaf. This year, it’s back.

My conclusion: Last year’s winter was very mild. If you remember, we didn’t use the snow blower once. No snow pack to speak of at all. This year’s winter was another story entirely. Lots of snow, lots of cold weather. Therefore, I posit that these plants need a cold winter with the requisite snow pack to thrive in the spring.

End of class.

Really, I was thrilled when I saw these babies yesterday. I knew that the leaves of the hyacinth had broken ground, but not until I had the chance to examine them more closely did I see the flower buds. I started cleaning out the garden beds yesterday, raking the leaves/mulch that I leave there during the winter. That’s when I saw the tulip leaf. And there are tiny bits of hosta breaking the ground, catmint, bee balm, sedum, grasses and crown vetch as well.

I started off cleaning off the porch, sweeping and organizing everything. Then I raked the garden bed closest to the porch, filling the tarp with leaves, lugging it up to the area behind the shed. Then I moved on to the big garden bed. I got about 3/4 of the way through it when my back started complaining, so I stopped for the day. There’s a lot of work to be done out there, but I must say it feels so good to be working outside again!

Lilac buds.

Daffodils coming up on the edge of the woods.

More egg cups – the rooster on the left in another one made by Fanny Farmer, you can see the word Fanny on the base. It’s very heavy and was made by McCoy. A bunny, chick, duck, goose and another rooster on the right. The wooden man and woman set was a gift from a reader of this blog. The eggs are salt and pepper shakers. And the egg cup in the middle is from Prague (from Don.)

Congratulations to Jeannine, who is the winner of a copy of English Roses!

Happy Monday.

Spring in the City

April 9, 2017 at 10:41 am by Claudia

I’m back from a long day in the city. Yesterday was sunny, in the mid to high fifties, and all New York seemed to be out and about on a Saturday. Since I got in early – better early than late when taking the bus – I strolled down 40th Street toward the Main Library and Bryant Park. (I avoid 42nd Street like the plague as it is always crowded with tourists.)

The day was clearly about Scotland because I saw kilts and tartans everywhere. (I’m part Scottish, but I have no idea if it was a specific day being celebrated or just Scotland itself.)

See? Bagpipers.

I had no idea there was a Whole Foods in this location. It was a lovely surprise, so I grabbed some lunch there. I don’t walk through this area as much as I used to. When we lived in our rental cottage, we lived very close to the Metro North commuter train line so I arrived at Grand Central Station, which is just a few blocks from here. Now that we live where we do, the bus is often the best mode of transportation and our buses go in and out of Port Authority, which is on the other end of 42nd Street.

For those of you less than familiar with NYC, Bryant Park is behind the Main Branch of the New York Public Library. It’s very European in feel, with little bistro tables and chairs all along the green, a small carousel, and elegant food kiosks.

I walked through the park toward the entrance to the Main Library.

If it’s possible to have a favorite building in NYC, this one is mine: The Chrysler Building in all its Art Deco glory.

The entrance to the Library. They don’t make them like this anymore.

This group of people had gathered on the steps to watch:

These lovely highland dancers.

Takes me back to my high school production of Brigadoon. A shout out to the McLeod sisters and my dear friend Jerry who did the highland dancing in that production.

I went into the Kinokuniya Bookstore – my first time there – and was amazed! It’s the largest chain bookstore in Japan. Lots of books, both in English and Japanese and wonderful craft books, by the way, though I didn’t buy any. Paper, pens, stationery, wonderful gifts – the store is on three floors and it’s extraordinary.

I bought a couple of neat pens and this pretty pencil pouch:

After digging in the depths of my bag one too many times, I thought it was time to corral everything together in one place. Isn’t this lovely?

After lunch, I headed over to the theater.

I had a chance to chat with Christy – our Anastasia – before the show as well as a few of the other cast members. The matinee was lovely, all of the cuts and rewrites have made it a tighter show. I took notes, of course, but it’s in very good shape.

They are recording the original cast album today and tomorrow. So exciting!

After the show, I hightailed it to Port Authority, where I managed to catch the 5:00 bus. It’s Spring Break time, so both of the buses I traveled on yesterday were packed.

Today…I’m going to start cleaning up the property and the garden beds. Huzzah!

Happy Sunday.

Chatty on a Tuesday

Today’s Gardening Lesson

Spring in the City

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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