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

Flowers and Frustration

December 31, 2013 at 8:44 am by Claudia

All of the potted impatiens that I brought in from the porch are still thriving. I think there are about eight pots scattered around the house. Most of them are tucked in corners of the living room, den and bedroom – usually on the floor because I don’t have anywhere else to put them.

They’re doing surprisingly well!

impatiens

I’m glad I didn’t let them succumb to the freezing temperatures.

It’s really hard, almost impossible, for me to deliberately leave a potted plant outside when I know a hard freeze is on the way. So, for a while, I shuttle them back and forth, day and night, until the moment that I know that daytime temperatures are going to stay cold.

Then they move inside.

I’d like to have an extra room or two. Oh, who am I kidding? Or three or four. One of them would be a room for the plants, with big windows and lots of light. I’d keep it on the cool side and I’d be able to stash all my outdoor plants there for the winter. They’d thrive. I’d put a big old comfy chair in there, where I would sit and read, surrounded by flowers.

Oh, and I’d like a greenhouse.

Is that asking too much?

Yesterday’s ‘adventure’: I spent over 2 ½ hours on the phone trying to reach someone at what will be my former health insurance company at the end of the day today. This company automatically changed my old policy, which had been canceled due to the ACA, and sent me a bill for a much more costly policy. All I wanted to do was cancel it.

Every time I tried, the robotic ‘menu’ would not give me an option to speak with someone about canceling my policy. There were all sorts of other options, some of which I tried but took me to a dead end. I would finally get a hold of a human being only to be told I needed to call another number, which would then take me to another dead end. This went on and on and on. Of course, I tried pressing O several times. That didn’t work. Finally, after 2+ hours of this nonsense, I reached a supervisor who said she would try to transfer me. I begged her not to connect me to the main number but to a person. She put me on hold and after a while, returned to say that she finally got through but got a message that Member Services had closed for the day.

Unbelievably frustrating. She did give me a tip or two as to how to dodge all the ‘options’ and get through to a person. I’ll be trying that in a few minutes. Wish me luck.

Is it too much to simply want to be connected to a person? Why do we have to hear a robotic voice endlessly loop through all the menu options? Surely it doesn’t require a Ph.D. to realize there should be an option to speak with someone in Customer Service?

This is the kind of thing that drives people crazy, including yours truly.

Have a safe and wonderful New Year’s Eve. We’re not big on celebrating or watching the ball drop. We plan on staying home. And I can pretty safely bet that we’ll be asleep before midnight.

Happy Tuesday

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: flowers, life 54 Comments

It’s Still Christmas Here at the Cottage

December 30, 2013 at 9:17 am by Claudia

In a small act of defiance:

Mondayfinalbokeh

Another Christmas photo. Because, for us, the Christmas season is still here. Try as I might, I can’t understand removing all traces of Christmas as soon as that particular day ends. What?? It seems so abrupt, like pulling a rug out from under someone’s feet, or dangling a beautiful treat in front of someone’s eyes and just as it gets close enough to be fully experienced, it’s gone. Poof!

To me, the Christmas season lasts until New Year’s Day. To others, it lasts even longer – until Epiphany. And last night, as we were watching the Kennedy Center Honors and admiring our beautiful tree, we decided it will stay up until at least this Friday, which will be January 3rd. I’m in no hurry to get rid of the tree. I’m in no hurry to get rid of Christmas. This is one of the reasons I wait until the second week of December to decorate. I want to experience the holiday season fully and if I chose to decorate too early, I’d run the risk of getting tired of it all much too soon.

Of course, I know very well that everyone has different traditions. But, to me, the holiday season doesn’t end abruptly at 12 am on December 26th. I can only remember a couple of times in our almost twenty years together that we took down our decorations before the New Year and that was because we had to leave our house for work out of town.

Didn’t like it.

Though I am tired of all the Christmas decorating posts, however beautiful, that have been going on since right after Thanksgiving. So I promise to post only this one photo!

We had a lovely visit with our friend yesterday with stimulating conversation and lots of laughter. It ended much too soon. As always, when someone we know and love sees the house for the first time, it was dark and rainy. Go figure. When we first moved into the cottage, we were treated to a visit by Don’s brother and his wife. We were so excited to share our house and our beautiful property with them; they had been such a source of support for us as we made the move into home ownership. They drove up here from NYC, where they had been staying on business, and it rained torrentially. A rain the locals ended up dubbing ‘a hundred years rain.’ You could barely see anything for the rain. It didn’t stop until they had left to return to the city.

It’s happened repeatedly since then. What can I say? It’s strange, but true.

Practicing some close-ups of the dollhouse (forgive any specks of dust you might see):

dhchair

dhshells

dhwickerchair

dhfireplace

dhredsink

dhsofa

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: Christmas, dollhouse, miniatures 70 Comments

Old Friends, Movies, Books & Television

December 29, 2013 at 8:35 am by Claudia

scoutie&monty

Monty the cow is temporarily on the floor. He had to vacate his usual space on top of the lab stool so that we could put up the little white Christmas tree.

Scout has found a napping companion in Monty. My two kids are bonding.

Scoutie&monty2

I’m thinking that Monty rather likes this temporary arrangement. He looks a bit surprised, but then again, he always does.

I’m having trouble remembering just what day of the week it is. That always seems to happen around the holidays. Is it Friday? Is it Monday? Oh, right, it’s Sunday. An old friend of ours who lives in Los Angeles and is visiting New York City for the holidays is taking the train up our way today to spend a few hours with us. I’m so looking forward to seeing him again. Don’s known him for years and years and I got to know him when I worked with him in a couple of productions at the Old Globe. It will be the first time he’s seen our house. (I always wish these first visits could be in the summer when the gardens are blooming instead of during the rather bleak landscape of winter. Ah, well.) The important thing is that we’re going to get to spend some time with an old friend.

Recommendations from Yours Truly

Movies: We’ve been watching lots of old movies lately. I introduced Don to The Bishop’s Wife the other night and last night we watched Gaslight. I hadn’t seen Gaslight in a long time so I didn’t remember all of the plot, which was perfect, because I was surprised. Such a great movie! Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar for her role and Charles Boyer is chilling in the role of her husband. Did you know that the plot of that movie (and the original play) inspired the use of the term ‘gaslighting?’

From Wikipedia: Gaslighting is a form of mental abuse in which false information is presented with the     intention of making a victim doubt his or her own memory, perception and sanity. Instances may range simply from the denial by an abuser that previous incidents ever occurred, up to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim. The term “gaslighting” comes from the play Gas Light and its film adaptations. The term is now also used in clinical and research literature.

It’s a wonderful movie, directed by the great George Cukor, with incredible set design and lighting, with all the contrast in highlights and shadows that can only happen in a good old black and white film.

Books: I’m currently reading Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon. Have you heard of this book? It’s the true story of Dr. Alexander’s rare and almost certain to be fatal illness that resulted in his being in a coma for seven days with the part of his brain that controls thought and emotion shut down. He had a Near Death Experience (NDE) that was simply extraordinary. As a scientist who previously discounted NDE’s as fantasies the brain created while in a state of being half-in, half-out of this world, this experience completely changed his life and his beliefs. The mere fact that he came back from almost certain death to tell his story is a miracle beyond imagining.

I have to tell you, this book is life-changing. Find it. Read it.

Television: If you love the Arts, as I do, watch The Kennedy Center Honors tonight at 9 pm on CBS. Simply the best awards show ever, head and shoulders above anything else in that genre. In fact, we think it is the best show on television, hands down. You will be inspired by the accomplishments and careers of the honorees, you will be entertained, and if you think the Arts are essential to our culture as I do, you will take heart. The show is always done stylishly, with impeccable taste. I find myself, each and every year, crying with joy throughout the show.

If you’re interested in education and the benefits of going back to school, read my post about my personal story, sponsored by Kaplan and BlogHer.

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: books, friends, movies, Scout 20 Comments

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 1311
  • 1312
  • 1313
  • 1314
  • 1315
  • …
  • 1845
  • 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