Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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And On It Goes

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The limelight hydrangeas are in bloom. A small bush, planted maybe 7 or 8 years ago, is HUGE! Every year it gets fuller and fuller.

But my little hydrangea that I planted in the chicken wire fence garden had only one bloom this year. That has never happened.  I do believe it gets too much sun, especially this year, but the blooms weren’t appearing even before the heat wave. I’m scratching my head on that one. I may need to move it.

This heat wave is never-ending. On and on it goes, through Monday or Tuesday. It’s too miserable to be outside except in the early morning. We did get a bit of rain yesterday. A bit. We had a gentle rain shower early in the afternoon. It probably lasted 10 minutes. Then in the late afternoon, we had another shower of 10 -15 minutes. But in each case, there was lots of thunder off in the distance and neighboring communities had big storms. Nothing here.

If only this could happen in the winter instead; everyone else gets big snowfalls, and for some strange reason, we get nothing. That  I would be happy about.

But some rain is better than none and I’m grateful for it, if only for the fact that I don’t have to hand water this morning.

I’m going to do some prep work this morning on one of the shows I’m coaching. At some point this weekend, I am going to put the puzzle back in the box and free the kitchen table for tax deduction work.

Exciting weekend, right?

We’re going stir crazy, but only because the heat and humidity is so bad and has been for over a week and a half.

Sigh.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

A Hot Weekend Ahead

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The bridal veil spirea is in full bloom; lots of frothy blossoms down by the edge of the road. A big thank you to whatever previous owner decided to plant it years ago – I so enjoy these beautiful little flowers. A mass of white in the midst of the spring green that is everywhere.

I worked outside yesterday, knowing that for the rest of the weekend, we’d be trapped inside due to the heat that will plague us today and tomorrow. A heat index of 97 or 98 today, only slightly less tomorrow. Then the usual threat of severe thunderstorms as the front exits and we drop 20 degrees on Monday. The weather has been truly insane. I noticed that Colorado got snow yesterday!

I mowed the lilac side of the lawn, pruned some bushes, and pulled lots of weeds. After I finish this post, I’ll go outside and water everything before it gets too hot.

Thanks so much for all your comments yesterday. There are a lot of introverts here, but there are also those who consider themselves extroverts. Or a mix of the two. I am very friendly when out and about, I smile, I hold doors open, I often interact with babies (they tend to like me,) I talk to people in line, I’m chatty with store clerks. I helped a woman carry a shopping trolley up two flights of subway stairs when I was living in NYC. That’s my nature. It’s also Don’s nature. I was raised to be friendly and polite and helpful, to put others at ease. Interactions are wonderful, but they don’t require much beyond that moment in time. It’s prolonged social interactions, crowds, having to hit the on button and stay there for a long time – that’s all very hard for me. When at a large gathering Don and I often joke about our need to have an exit strategy; “When do you think we can leave?”

I wouldn’t go on a tour with lots of people; it would drive me crazy. Same for a cruise. I love to travel, but I usually do it with Don or, in the case of coaching, alone, and I like to explore on my own, on my terms.

Oh, I could go on and on, but I’ll stop there.

I am going to get that book and the other book that was mentioned in the comments. It helped to hear your thoughts about them.

A bee dining on Solomon’s Seal.

So, given the temperature, we’re hanging out indoors today. For those of you facing this same heat wave, stay safe and hydrate. Better yet, stay inside!

I’ll leave you with this:

Wren, standing by my easel wondering why I’m not painting anything.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

February

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Why did Caroline dump Christmas decorations on the porch?

Actually, I’d like to blame this on Caroline, but it’s all on me. And this has been there for a year. None of the dollhouses were decorated for Christmas 2021. Perhaps it’s time to take these upstairs and put them away?

Also, it’s time to dust the dollhouse interior and exterior. And Don’s mini studio, as well, as that’s right in front of a window and it gets dusty rather quickly. (I use a small paintbrush to dust.)

The “blues” are driving me nuts. I think I might have found 5 pieces that fit yesterday. To say this is slow going is putting it mildly. Don suggested that I start a new puzzle and just let this one go, but no! It’s a challenge and I’m not going to move on until I fit each and every piece in place.

Then I’ll have a piece of sugar-free chocolate to reward myself.

It’s sunny today and cold, but it will be milder during the afternoon than it’s been recently. We’ll have a couple of days respite until we get snow and ice on Friday. Oh, joy.

I’m almost finished with The Missing Hours, which I read for a big chunk of time yesterday. It’s okay, not great, but whether I like it or not, Julia Dahl is a very good writer. It’s simply that the plot doesn’t interest me a great deal. Her first books revolved around crimes in the closed Hassidic community and I found them incredibly fascinating. I kind of wish she’d go back to that.

I’ve just started reading It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again  by Julia Cameron, who wrote The Artist’s Way – a book that both Don and I read and studied when we lived in San Diego. Subtitle: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond. It was a gift from Todd, a producer on Spoiler Alert  and Jim’s husband. Todd and I had so many conversations about creativity and Covid isolation and finding our way through it all. Todd was trained as an artist and he’s rediscovering that part of himself. He walked onto the set the last day and said he had a present for me and it was this book.

One of the highlights of working on the movie was getting to know Todd. Because so much of the time on the set is spent waiting, we talked a lot. He’s a wonderful person and I adore him.

Okay, my friends.

Happy February.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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