The Hummingbird Cottage

[osprey_archer]

At the end of 2024, I mentioned that I had made an offer on a house, and then never followed up on this fact, so I thought I’d update you all on my progress.

So: I’ve bought a house! It has a hummingbird stained glass window, so I’ve named it the Hummingbird Cottage. Before I bought the Hummingbird Cottage, I already had two pieces of hummingbird art (a painting and a stained glass window hanging), and two friends have already given me hummingbird cards, and one is making me a Hummingbird Cottage cross-stitch with a ruby-throated hummingbird, and in short the entire decorating scheme may swiftly become “hummingbirds.”

Hummingbirds may also prove an organizing theme in the disposition of the flower parts of the garden, as I have acquired a book about native plants that has a special list of flowers attractive to hummingbirds. I very much like the scarlet cardinal flowers, but alas I don’t think the soil is wet enough, so I may have to fall back on other blooms.

Other garden plans: a little herb border, with chives and rosemary and basil and thyme. Cherry tomatoes. Raspberry canes or blueberry bushes or perhaps both. Compost, which I have mentally moved to the side of the house with no windows. Does anyone know any good resources for learning how to compost?

Before I get too deeply into gardening plans, however, I’m going to see what comes up in spring, as the previous owner was evidently an avid gardener. (I looked up her obituary, and discovered that she lived to be 101, and went on over 100 cruises in her lifetime.)

And right now it’s too cold for gardening anyway, so I’ve been at work on the inside. I’m not moving in till mid-March, so I’m trying to get as much done as possible before then. The past three days I spent painting with a rotating cast of friends, and now it is almost all painted (including a rich cranberry red tea nook) except the guest room may need a second coat of the soft misty blue-violet agapanthus.

Have moved in most of my books (which currently reside in the linen closets) and will shortly begin packing my lesser-used kitchen gear. I’ve also put out a general offer to take unwanted furniture off my friends’ hands, and have scored a daybed, a TV, a pair of end tables, and a china cabinet. Need to find some rugs to protect the carpeting from the cats. Also need to cut a cat door into the cupboard under the stairs so I can put the litterbox in there, as it is one of the only non-carpeted places in the house and I would very much prefer NOT to get litter all over the carpet...

Also very much need a nap, but alas, that will probably have to wait until sometime after the move.

Comments

[sholio]

That is completely delightful and wonderful! I love that it comes with a built-in theme; how excellent.

[osprey_archer]

I already foresee a cascade of hummingbird gifts over the years and I've decided I simply have to embrace it.

[asakiyume]

Ooh, yes, if she was an avid gardener, there will be great things for sure. (But I still think you should have raspberry canes!)

[osprey_archer]

I need raspberry canes in my life! Delicious fresh raspberries, warm from the sun! Also imagine my little niece going out in a sunhat and gumboots, carrying a little basket to gather the raspberries...

[thisbluespirit]

Aw, congratulations - and good luck with it! That sounds lovely!

[osprey_archer]

Thank you!

[philomytha]

Congratulations! It sounds like a wonderful home for you! I inherited a garden at my last house from a keen gardener, and I completely support watching and seeing what comes up, she'll probably have known what suits your local conditions well.

[osprey_archer]

I always like a plan that rewards being as lazy as possible, like "watching and seeing what the previous gardener put in." We shall see if she was big into perennials so I can be lazy for years to come! Also hopeful for some daffodils and tulips. Love a happy spring flower.

[troisoiseaux]

one is making me a Hummingbird Cottage cross-stitch with a ruby-throated hummingbird, and in short the entire decorating scheme may swiftly become “hummingbirds.”

Oooh I know what to make you for Christmas.

Congrats!!!

[osprey_archer]

Lolol YES I would happily accept a hummingbird embroidery. Maybe with some of those beautiful flowers around the border, like you had on your last embroidery?

[ermingarden]

That sounds lovely! Congratulations!

[osprey_archer]

Thank you!

[threeplusfire]

What a delight! I hope lovely things come up in the spring. I've spent a lot of time planting tulip bulbs just for me and I'm currently working on my native wildflowers to spread. One day I'll conquer the whole yard and won't have to mow.

[osprey_archer]

I'm crossing my fingers for tulips (and daffodils, and crocuses...) as I love all those spring bulb flowers and would love not to have to plant them all myself! But we'll see.

[aurumcalendula]

Congratulations! That sounds like a lovely house!

[osprey_archer]

Thank you!

[mme_n_b]

Congratulations! I hope it becomes a place of happy thoughts and memories.

[osprey_archer]

Thank you!

[ellenmillion]

So excited for you! Congratulations!

[osprey_archer]

Thank you!

[duskpeterson]

"It has a hummingbird stained glass window, so I’ve named it the Hummingbird Cottage. Before I bought the Hummingbird Cottage, I already had two pieces of hummingbird art (a painting and a stained glass window hanging), and two friends have already given me hummingbird cards, and one is making me a Hummingbird Cottage cross-stitch with a ruby-throated hummingbird, and in short the entire decorating scheme may swiftly become 'hummingbirds.'"

Sounds gorgeous!

[osprey_archer]

Thank you!

[littlerhymes]

Organising your garden around hummingbird-attracting flowers is such a lovely concept!

went on over 100 cruises in her lifetime.
Omg?!

[osprey_archer]

I love to imagine sitting on my back patio overlooking the pond watching the hummingbirds sip at my flowers.

One hundred cruises is SO many cruises. I'm just not sure I could get so into the cruise life?! However, I've learned that one can take a cruise on a three-masted sailing ship of Ye Olde Style, and I WOULD like to give that a try.

[littlerhymes]

I have never wanted to go on a cruise and she was going on more than one per year (assuming her family didn't give her a cruise annually as a birthday gift from birth - a safe assumption unless the family fortune was in cruise liners?!) - some people are simply built different.

A three-masted sailing ship I would consider an Age of Sail cosplay adventure rather than a cruise. Omg where can one go?

[osprey_archer]

I have a friend who went on a three-masted sailing cruise off the coast of Maine, and I BELIEVE there might be opportunities on the Great Lakes although I have not, admittedly, looked into it deeply. My dad is a big wooden boat fan (he subscribes to Wooden Boat Magazine) so I am hoping he will do the planning part tbh.

[littlerhymes]

...Wooden Boat Magazine. Truly I'm learning so much! I will await further updates!

[luzula]

Awww, that sounds lovely! : D

Re: composting, do you want to compost your food waste too or just the gardening waste? If the food waste, you might need a closed container outside to avoid rats etc, or you could go the indoor route and do bokashi. If just the garden stuff, the easiest is just to put everything in a pile and wait; it will eventually decompose.

For faster decomposition you could do a hot compost, which is a lot of fun! : D You will need a mix of about equal parts of nitrogen-rich material (green plant parts and/or fresh manure) and carbon-rich material (brown plant parts like dried dead leaves or wood chips). Mix it all up in as compact a shape as you can, to get a critical mass going. You can tell if it's working by sticking your hand in and feeling if it's getting warm. If it approaches 70 degrees Celsius, mix and turn the compost (which you should do anyway a few times to get oxygen into it).

[osprey_archer]

I'd like to do food waste too, so I'll look into closed containers. That seems like a good place to start, and perhaps over time I'll work up to hot compost.

[lokifan]

That sounds so lovely <3 And I love the gardening plans!

Coincidentally, today's Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA has a hummingbird made of the aurora: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250210.html

[osprey_archer]

Oh, how lovely! Love the hummingbird aurora.

[tamaranth]

congratulations on Chez Colibri! I love the sound of your colours.

[osprey_archer]

I like vibrant colors! Although I did end up painting the kitchen a cream color ("natural linen," there's nothing like paint chip names) in order to highlight the hummingbird stained glass window.

[mific]

The cottage sounds great!
For plants that need wet feet you can make a bog garden by taking an unperforated container (e.g. something plastic from a dollar store) and making just a few small holes in the base, then sinking it in the ground and filling it with soil plus some peat moss - the water won't drain well so it's like a bog.

[osprey_archer]

I will file this information away! My first-year garden plans are all focused on the edible side of things, so there's a whole year before I need to make any firm decisions about how much I want the cardinal flowers.

[qian]

Congratulations! What a delicious name for a house. It sounds lovely.

[osprey_archer]

Thank you!

[lirazel]

Oh this sounds lovely! I love hummingbirds in general and having them as a theme for your home is wonderful!

[osprey_archer]

Yes, it worked out so well! It fits so perfectly with my already-existing hummingbird theme - I decorated my college dorm room in hummingbird pictures cut from calendars.

[regshoe]

Hummingbird theme! That's absolutely adorable, and congratulations :D

Your gardening plans sound really exciting, but it's also exciting waiting to find out what's already there come spring. I hope there are some good surprises!

I'm also going through the new house process (moved in, but lots still to do), and I sympathise about the general 'very much needing a nap' of it all.

[osprey_archer]

Need a nap so much but ALSO need to get more moving stuff done so much... it's a real struggle to balance!

[anna_wing]

The Royal Horticultural Society website has information on composting.

For ( non-meat)food waste, one way is to dig a hole, put your day's food waste in it, put earth on top, then the next day put more food waste on top, then more earth etc, until the hole is filled. Then start a new hole. This gradually improves your soil, and you get a lot of exercise along the way.

[osprey_archer]

This method does have the immense appeal of being super simple, which not every composting method can boast. I'm assuming you just keep the dug-out soil in a little pile next to the hole till the hole is filled? And there's nothing wrong with getting some exercise out of it...

[anna_wing]

I'm assuming you just keep the dug-out soil in a little pile next to the hole till the hole is filled?

Yes. If you worry about heavy rain you can put a tarp over it and over the hole too, though if the soil is reasonably free-draining it shouldn't be too much of a problem. As a method it works very well for fruit and vegetable waste and eggshells (rinsed clean).

One of my relatives used to get fish-guts etc from the market and bury them under new plantings. It works very well indeed, but you have to dig deep...

[silverusagi]

Congratulations on the house!!

[osprey_archer]

Thank you!