Mockingbird Hill Cottage

The burning bush is starting to turn red. Fall is definitely here.

I’ve been feeling under the weather for the past two days, so not much has happened. We need to mow the lawn but that has been put on hold until I perk up. Maybe tomorrow? Or today, if I eventually feel a lot better.

I did paint the bookcases red, but it’s too dark in the studio to get a good picture. I’ll share one tomorrow. Honestly, I liked the pink, but red seemed to be best for the room. I don’t know how many coats of paint there are on these shelves now, but I know there are a lot.

I’m reading Daniel Silva’s newest thriller. I’ve read every book in his Gabriel Allon series. I know I will lose myself in the story and that’s a comfort. The last two books I checked out were disappointing and I didn’t finish them. I have several on hold with the library system.

I am doing my best to distract myself from the pain of living in a country I no longer recognize. The heartbreak, horror, and anger I feel, I must  feel. But I can’t stay there. And that’s all I’ll say about that.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Last day of September and then we’re really into Autumn. Fallen leaves are everywhere now and the front lawn needs a good mow. I think we’ll tackle that tomorrow.

We have a few late blooming roses. What a sweet gift!

I finally spoke to Joe last night. We’ve been texting a lot, but I didn’t want to overwhelm him with phone calls until I felt he was ready for that. Too many people have been hovering over him, well intentioned of course, but Joe is very private and independent and now that he’s able to take care of himself and move around, I felt I could grab some time with him. He still uses a walker, still has no feeling in his right leg because of complications from the ECMO machine. He can drive, but it involves a lot of maneuvering to get in the car and to get his feet in position. And whether he sues due to their error which resulted in the cardiac arrest will probably come down to whether he can ever play the organ again. Because if he can’t, his career is over.

We talked for over an hour, with lots and lots of laughing and shared memories. It was so good to hear his voice and to hear it sounding full of life. He’s had such a battle.

Bathroom ’tile.’

I’m going for something in the den – a room I’d like to make a bit more fun and playful. (In fact, I’d like the third floor to be reserved for creativity and play.) The two bookshelf units arrived on Monday and I painted them yesterday, using a shade of pale pink that is in the print on the sofa and also in the wallpaper.

It’s a work in progress. I’ll need to tie it all together with a rug and art on the walls, and pillows, etc. I may re-cover the piano bench as well. The red chair might stay, but it really belongs in Dove Cottage, so I  will look for a chair that helps tie things together.

I’ll admit it: right now it looks strange, but I have a vision in my head. And when the bookcases are filled with books and art, that pink won’t seem so overwhelming.

This is a little blurry as I took it early this morning. The shelves need one more coat of paint. I briefly thought of a dark blue for the shelves, but the room is already dark and I didn’t want to make it even more so.

I can’t afford the expense of taking risks in my house, but I think I can take a risk in a dollhouse.

Just now, I had a thought: red? Ooh, red! I’ll try some test pieces of wood.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Depending on your point of view, you’re either very lucky or unlucky that this post is being published today. We are on day 3 of the nor’easter, which has been mostly about wind, and today, lots of rain. But on Saturday at around 1 pm, our cable/internet/and phones stopped working and we didn’t get it back until sometime in the early hours of this morning.

The hardest thing was contacting our provider as we had no WiFi and had to go outside, walk here and there and attempt to get some sort of LTE signal. Meanwhile, the wind was blowing, leaves were hitting us in the face, and we were shouting into the phone. The outage covered our neighborhood and well beyond, I think.

So we couldn’t watch the final episode of a series that night. We actually had to sit and talk to each other! (Actually, we love talking to each other.) I couldn’t check on the news, which wasn’t at all a bad thing. No scrolling through Instagram. At one point on Saturday evening, we got in the car and drove to our local supermarket, where we were able to pick up a strong signal and checked our email. Then we drove around the neighborhood for a while. Same thing yesterday – we went to our local library and used their WiFi. While we were there, we ran into two people who were also without cable, internet, etc. We had a nice chat, commiserating about the whole thing. That’s when I learned one of them had heard from our provider and that restoration was to be at 2 am this morning. I still didn’t trust that, but when we got up this morning it was back on. Thankfully, we never lost electricity.

Boy, we sure are dependent on all these things that were certainly not necessities, or even in existence, when we were growing up. But we learned we could exist without them.

Don loved it because we did things we normally wouldn’t do – changed it up a little – and he’s all for that. Interestingly, in the middle of the whole thing, a text came through on my phone and it was my niece, who was in Sydney, Australia with her daughter! Couldn’t make a local call, but I got a text from Australia.

Quite the adventure!

I’m going to count my blessings and read today.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.