Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Friday in the Garden

July 24, 2026 at 8:47 am by Claudia

I’ve worked a lot on the property and gardens during the past two days and I’m wiped out. So today is “take it easy” day (though I had yesterday marked as that and I didn’t follow my own instructions.) I’ve pruned and pulled weeds. I mowed the lilac side of the front lawn and all around the shed. Don mowed the corral and the back forty. We’ve been busy. Frankly, it’s been so nice to have somewhat normal weather for the past few days and we know we have to take advantage of it. A real rarity this summer.

From the rear of the big garden bed. I love it when this area fills in with flowers.

I’m realizing that August is around the corner. Once again, another summer is flying by. Time to drink in all this beauty while it’s still here.

Joe update: I texted him the other day. He is in a rehab facility. He said it’s like “boot camp.” They work him very hard and he’s exhausted – 3 to 4 hours a day. His right leg is not responding well. He has a “hematoma that is pressing on a nerve which fires a major muscle,” so the leg is not responding. A possible complication from the ECMO machine. There’s a chance he might go home on Sunday, but he will need outpatient care, and will have to be on a walker with limited movement, but as he said, at least he’ll be home. He has to remind himself how far he’s come. He’s a fighter, my Joe.

Finally, thistle plants spring up around here and one that is just outside the big garden bed is quite formidable.

As you can see, it’s over 7 feet tall. Don is 6’4″.

I like to keep a little wildness in the garden areas. Sometimes, I’ll just let a plant like this flourish because it’s fascinating to observe.

Time for the mundane: laundry.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Filed Under: flowers, garden 2 Comments

Wednesday

July 22, 2026 at 8:19 am by Claudia

This has been the strangest summer. We’ve had two rounds of dangerous heat – both several days long. We’ve had and continue to have smoke from the wildfires in Canada. Yesterday, we had thunderstorms all day long, big thunderstorms with lots of lightning and thunder, along with massive downpours that looked like solid sheets of water. And we’ve had long stretches of drought-like conditions.

It’s been exhausting. It’s also been maddening because everything out there is overgrown and very wild looking and I haven’t really been able to tackle it because of all of the above. I’m going to start pruning and cutting and cleaning it out today. Both Don and I feel like we haven’t been able to spend as much time outside as we normally do.

I’m taking a little break from the dollhouse renovations. I’ll eventually work on the floor for the second floor stairs/hallway. After that, I’m not sure. I have a very limited budget, as you know, so this will be slow going.

One good thing, I’m reading a lot again, which is lovely. I’m currently reading Ironwood  by Michael Connelly, the second book in a new series for him that takes place on Catalina Island off the coast of southern California.

We watched Oppenheimer  last night, something we’d put off because its SO LONG! We ate dinner a bit earlier so we could watch it and still not be up too late. It was quite well done and the acting was terrific. There were sound issues, which seems to happen a lot these days. The balance between the soundtrack and dialogue was really off and I spent the first hour constantly turning it down and then having to turn it up again. It’s really annoying and inexcusable, really. So we missed some of the dialogue. Something is or is not happening in the mixing process. Cillian Murphy was wonderful in the title role and Robert Downey Jr. was absolutely pitch perfect.

But it was too long and would have benefitted from some cuts.

That’s it for today.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: life 18 Comments

Reading, a Bit of Coaching, and the Girls

July 20, 2026 at 7:17 am by Claudia

Not enough sleep last night and I have to do a short coaching session later this morning, so I’m writing this post earlier than usual. I have to do a bit of prep and clear some space upstairs for my laptop and the zoom session. Thankfully, I use the ‘blur’ feature on zoom so the current state of my workspace (very messy) will be softened!

I finished Land   yesterday morning and cried my eyes out. It’s exquisitely written – a story of land and family taking place in Ireland. Profound. Beautiful. At the end of the novel, I felt much like I did when I finished O’Farrell’s Hamnet. I wanted to hang on to the story. I didn’t want to let it go. I held it close to me all day long. What an extraordinary writer Maggie O’Farrell is.

I dropped it off at the library and picked up Michael Connelly’s newest mystery, which will be quite the change from Land. And I found of copy of Madeline Miller’s Circe, which I haven’t read, because all of the talk about The Odyssey  movie made me think of it.

The Dragonfly Blythe sisters.

This has been cropped because…

the original had Nina’s left foot turned backwards. I guess she’s double-jointed. Quite the trick, Nina!

Okay. I’m off to drink more coffee and get my head in gear.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

 

Filed Under: life 6 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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