Life at the Hummingbird Cottage
Jul. 14th, 2025 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerI just realized it’s been over a month since an update on life at the Hummingbird Cottage. This cannot stand! Surely you are all desperate to hear the latest news!
Still no hummingbird sightings, but there appears to be an entire flock of ducks resident on the pond, although they only come out en masse in moonlight so it’s hard to be sure how many there are. (Ghost ducks?)
The herbs are flourishing, especially the lemon balm which is the chief weed. I’ve been procrastinating on pulling it out, but at last it occurred to me that if I rip out the clump in the front garden, I could replace it with black-eyed susans (a favorite flower) and purple coneflowers (not a favorite, but they look well with black-eyed susans), which are both native wildflowers and also flourishing.
The intentional herbs are also doing well! I just found a recipe for herb scones which I’m looking forward to trying, since as soon as one has a flourishing herb garden one must begin scrambling for recipes that use herbs in order to keep the herbs in check. The chives are especially happy.
The cherry tomatoes in contrast are NOT happy. They both have a few little green tomatoes and look rather wilty, probably a combination of being planted late and not watered enough. Also one of them is beside a twining vine of some variety which began to engulf its tomato cage, so I moved the tomato cage over into the clump of vines which have since completely devoured it (really ought to get an arch or something, these vines are SO ready to go), which left the tomato plant free but also, possibly, a bit traumatized. And I expect the vine is sucking up more than its fair share of water and nutrients from the soil.
In non-garden news, I got a bike! It is a used Elektra Townie step-through bike, cream-colored with teal wheel rims and a capacious basket on the front which is just crying out for a baguette and a bouquet of wildflowers. I rode it to work for the first time today, coasting down the hill with the breeze in my face and a song in my heart… I will of course have to go back up the hill at the end of the day, but such is life.
To the house itself, I don’t think there have been any major alterations. The wicker cart I mentioned in my previous entry has been spray-painted white, and currently hosts two pothos plants (birthday presents!), although I intend to move them to higher ground so they can show off their trailing abilities. First I need to get a step stool, though, in order to water the pothos at its higher home.
Long term plans: a four-poster bed with soft white curtains. A built-in bookcase with a ladder in the living room. Presumably living room seating of some kind? (The living room is currently empty except for (1) a cat tree, (2) the wicker cart with the pothos, and (3) a box spring which came at a discount with the guest room twin mattress, which is for one of my friends, who needs to come retrieve it.) I feel the rest of the living room will fall into place once I get the bookcase sorted.
Still no hummingbird sightings, but there appears to be an entire flock of ducks resident on the pond, although they only come out en masse in moonlight so it’s hard to be sure how many there are. (Ghost ducks?)
The herbs are flourishing, especially the lemon balm which is the chief weed. I’ve been procrastinating on pulling it out, but at last it occurred to me that if I rip out the clump in the front garden, I could replace it with black-eyed susans (a favorite flower) and purple coneflowers (not a favorite, but they look well with black-eyed susans), which are both native wildflowers and also flourishing.
The intentional herbs are also doing well! I just found a recipe for herb scones which I’m looking forward to trying, since as soon as one has a flourishing herb garden one must begin scrambling for recipes that use herbs in order to keep the herbs in check. The chives are especially happy.
The cherry tomatoes in contrast are NOT happy. They both have a few little green tomatoes and look rather wilty, probably a combination of being planted late and not watered enough. Also one of them is beside a twining vine of some variety which began to engulf its tomato cage, so I moved the tomato cage over into the clump of vines which have since completely devoured it (really ought to get an arch or something, these vines are SO ready to go), which left the tomato plant free but also, possibly, a bit traumatized. And I expect the vine is sucking up more than its fair share of water and nutrients from the soil.
In non-garden news, I got a bike! It is a used Elektra Townie step-through bike, cream-colored with teal wheel rims and a capacious basket on the front which is just crying out for a baguette and a bouquet of wildflowers. I rode it to work for the first time today, coasting down the hill with the breeze in my face and a song in my heart… I will of course have to go back up the hill at the end of the day, but such is life.
To the house itself, I don’t think there have been any major alterations. The wicker cart I mentioned in my previous entry has been spray-painted white, and currently hosts two pothos plants (birthday presents!), although I intend to move them to higher ground so they can show off their trailing abilities. First I need to get a step stool, though, in order to water the pothos at its higher home.
Long term plans: a four-poster bed with soft white curtains. A built-in bookcase with a ladder in the living room. Presumably living room seating of some kind? (The living room is currently empty except for (1) a cat tree, (2) the wicker cart with the pothos, and (3) a box spring which came at a discount with the guest room twin mattress, which is for one of my friends, who needs to come retrieve it.) I feel the rest of the living room will fall into place once I get the bookcase sorted.
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Date: 2025-07-14 11:59 pm (UTC)I love your plan for a four-poster bed. Is there anyone among us who DIDN’T grow up dreaming of sleeping in such a thing?
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Date: 2025-07-15 01:02 pm (UTC)Are your herbs in pots? I've never had luck with potted herbs (never seem to water them just the right amount), but in the ground they seem very happy.
I feel that I owe the four-poster bed to my younger self. And also to my current self, who, let's face it, also loves the idea of a bed with CURTAINS, even if I never actually pull the curtains and instead they just hang there looking pretty.
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Date: 2025-07-15 10:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-15 12:52 am (UTC)I like the sound of ghost ducks. Those are a very cute haunting.
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Date: 2025-07-15 01:00 pm (UTC)I spotted the ducks this morning, so I believe THESE ducks are not in fact ghosts, but now I am contemplating the ghost duck possibilities...
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Date: 2025-07-15 02:16 pm (UTC)And hurray chives!
And hurray bike! Healthy life, healthy planet!
although they only come out en masse in moonlight so it’s hard to be sure how many there are --Retinue of enchanted maidens????
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Date: 2025-07-15 03:27 pm (UTC)Very excited for the bike! The hill on the way home defeated me yesterday so I ended up walking the bike up it (but I on foot kept pace with the bicycler ahead of me who kept biking, so I don't feel too bad) but hopefully after a few months biking to and fro from work, I will take the hill with aplomb.
I saw the ducks in the sunlight this morning! So I THINK they are just ducks and not enchanted maidens, but who can say...
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Date: 2025-07-15 05:14 pm (UTC)Herb scones! Which herbs will go in them?
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Date: 2025-07-15 05:20 pm (UTC)And I figure that now that I have my own place, there is nothing to stop me from living my furniture dreams. Four-poster bed first of all, as unlike having a bookcase put in, it requires no coordination with contractors.
IIRC the herb scone recipe calls for chives, basil, and thyme. (Actually it offers a range of herbs you can choose, but those are the ones in my garden that fit the recipe.) I'm planning to make them this weekend to eat with lentil soup.
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Date: 2025-07-15 05:48 pm (UTC)Oh, that combination of herbs with lentil soup sounds delicious—hope it works well :D
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Date: 2025-07-15 06:45 pm (UTC)It sounds lovely! And I think you're right that once the bookshelves are taken care of, you'll know how to set up everything else.
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Date: 2025-07-17 12:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-07-15 07:00 pm (UTC)It's been a weird year for tomatoes for everyone I know. Everything seems to have gotten a late start and the up and down weather hasn't helped. I have yet to try doing tomatoes since I moved up to MN.
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Date: 2025-07-17 12:32 pm (UTC)