Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

  • About MHC
    • Disclosure
  • Dollhouses/Minis
    • Hummingbird Cottage
    • The Studio (Formerly TSP)
    • Dove Cottage
    • The Lake House
    • The Folk Art Dollhouse
    • The Modern Dollhouse
    • The Beacon Hill Dollhouse
    • Dollhouse Source List, Information and Tutorials
  • On the Road
  • Collecting
    • Roseville Pottery
    • McCoy Pottery
    • Egg Cups
    • Bakelite
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / Archives for Claudia

Random Thoughts: Sunday Edition

November 2, 2014 at 8:04 am by Claudia

fallcolors1

I do love fall colors, don’t you?

• Why, oh why do we keep having to change the time twice a year? It drives me nuts. I’ve read all the reasons behind the original idea and they seem entirely outmoded now. Now I have an entire winter of darkness arriving at 4 or 4:30 to look forward to. Thanks a bunch.

• I’m still making coffee the new way. I really love it. The coffee maker hasn’t been used once since I returned home. What I find amazing is that the taste is so much better and the ultimate cost is so much less. Filters and coffee. That’s it. And I find myself really looking forward to the ritual of pouring the water into the filter, bit by bit, until I have a full, aromatic mug of coffee.

It’s the little things that can turn out to be big things in the end.

fallcolors2

• I caved yesterday and ordered one more Emmie Blind from someone on eBay. It was more expensive than the ones I previously ordered, but there seem to be only a couple of them left out there in the width I need, and as I walked into the bathroom and saw the same dreaded tie-up blind that I had in the living room, I knew I had to do it. I’ve searched and searched for something comparable on the internet and haven’t found it. And interestingly, the fabric blinds I did find were all more expensive than the one I was dithering about on eBay, so what the heck? I did it. By the end of this week, Emmie should be happily established on all the living room and bathroom windows.

• Goodness, am I enjoying watching Netflix on the new television! We all know there is a dearth of quality programming on most of the networks, so having the option of watching Netflix on a big screen rather than my 13″ laptop is greatly appreciated. I’ve been watching the BBC series Luther, starring the amazing Idris Elba. Have you seen it? It’s a gritty cop series that takes place in London. Excellent writing, acting and direction. I can’t wait for Don to get back home and see our new television. I envision many cozy evenings ahead.

• I’m not watching Death Comes to Pemberley on PBS. Not because I don’t want to, but because I want to read the book first. I usually avoid all those Pride and Prejudice take-offs like the plague (why mess with the best?) so I avoided this one. But I am a huge fan of P.D. James (I met her once!) and I know anything she writes is of the highest quality. I was having a conversation with Darko’s assistant, Sarah, when I was in Hartford. She’s a fellow book lover and her mother is a librarian, so we loved talking books. She raved about it, which was enough for me. It’s now on my list. A list, by the way, that is so long I could easily be daunted if I thought about it for any length of time. So I won’t.

• Missing my mom. I had a hard day yesterday in that regard.

Atthekitchendoor

• Scoutie slipped off the loveseat and fell yesterday. She usually jumps up there and looks out the window before she lays down and her two rear feet are on the outside edge of the cushion. Sometimes she slips because she her feet are too close to the edge. I heard a thud from the living room and ran in there to help her up. I think she must have really bruised herself as she was definitely in pain last night. Today, she’s a bit better. Poor girl. We will take it easy today and I’ll give her some more Rimadyl, which seems to be the only medication she can tolerate. I worry about my baby girl so much.

• I drive to New Haven on Friday to bring Don home. It’s been way too long. Our pack needs to be back together in our little cottage. It can’t come soon enough.

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: autumn, coffee, Don, mom, Scout 42 Comments

The Last Hurrah

November 1, 2014 at 9:07 am by Claudia

On Sunday night, temperatures will drop to 30°, surely ending the gardening season. Because I believe there is beauty in all stages of a plant’s life, here’s a little look at the fading, yet still beautiful, garden. The Last Hurrah…

lasthurrah1

lasthurrah2

lasthurrah5

lasthurrah4

lasthurrah6

lasthurrah7

lasthurrah3

lasthurrah11

lasthurrah8

lasthurrah9

lasthurrah12

lasthurrah10

I’ll miss you, garden. Thanks for all the beauty and joy you have graced us with, for giving me the chance to see you for an entire growing season for the first time in a long time. It’s been wonderful.

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: flowers, garden 42 Comments

New: Television, Catalog, Egg Cup

October 31, 2014 at 8:42 am by Claudia

After doing my research like a good girl and responsible consumer, I headed over to Best Buy on Wednesday. I had narrowed down my choices to either Samsung or Sony Bravia. The prices were comparable. After looking at them and sending pictures to Don, I spoke to the salesman and asked which one he would recommend. (I kept quiet about the one I thought had the better picture.) Sure enough, he recommended the Sony, which to me, had a significantly better picture. So, that’s what I bought. (Both were Smart TVs, which means, for us, that we can get Netflix on a big screen.)

sony 1

Ain’t she purty? Our older flat screen, gosh it must have been about 8 years old, was so much heavier, so heavy that I have to wait for Don to get back home before I can move it out of the den. This set is almost too lightweight. It’s also a 40″ screen; the old one was 32″.

I figured out how to connect all the cables and wires and managed to get through all the prompts on the screen and….voilà! By the time the World Series started, I was nestled into the sofa texting Don about how great the picture was. (Not happy about the results of the World Series. Not happy at all.)

That cabinet is one I bought at auction for $5.00. It was the perfect size for our den, I brought it home and cleaned it up, repainted and ‘aged’ it, added some glass knobs and now it holds this stuff:

sony 2

Including a VCR that we never use anymore. Perhaps I should remove it someday. And yes, you see cords on the right. Ultimately, I don’t care about that sort of thing. It’s life. We live (and often work) here. If you live in the 21st century, cords are going to be everywhere, and trying to deny their existence is silly – at least to me. It’s the kind of thing I just don’t have the energy to care about.

Okay. I went off onto a slight tangent there.

B&H

Speaking of tech and cords, the new B&H Photo Video catalog arrived yesterday. It weighs a ton. B&H is an incredible store in Manhattan that I’ve written about before. It’s where I buy my cameras and probably where I would buy my television if I lived in the city. Since I’ve purchased items there, they send me this mammoth catalog every year. And just for a moment, I pretend I’m a professional photographer, since they seem to think I am. It’s really fun to look through.

Changing subjects: Teresa, a loyal reader of this blog, sent me a package. I picked it up from the post office box on Monday. Let’s see what was inside.

gift from teresa 1

Oh my! Three packets of Emergen-C – always needed in this household (I wish I could send some to Don right now), some Sweet and Spicy herbal tea (there were two bags, but I’ve already had a cup – delicious), a lovely note, and this egg cup which has stolen my heart.

Look at that adorable face!

gift from teresa 2

It’s on the tall side and I’m totally smitten. I also think it was hand painted.

gift from teresa 3

In 1958. Thank you, LH. You did a great job.

And thank you, sweet Teresa, for this lovely gift. Another egg cup that has a wonderful story. You know how much I love that. Every decorative item in a house should have a story and not a story about how a decorator found it. It should be a story of love and friends and things longed for, discovered, saved for, collected over time, received as presents from caring friends, of books well-read and thumbed through, of the lovingly well-worn, of things that bring one joy.

And on and on I could go.

It got cold last night. The leaves are falling from the catalpa, a sure sign that the temps were freezing overnight. Time to bring the impatiens in for the winter. Say it ain’t so!

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: friends, gifts, television 41 Comments

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 1208
  • 1209
  • 1210
  • 1211
  • 1212
  • …
  • 1846
  • Next Page »
  • Email
  • Instagram

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.

Thanks for stopping by.

Searching?

The Dogs

The Dogs

Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives

All Content © 2008 - 2026 Mockingbird Hill Cottage · Log in