Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

You are here: Home / Archives for Claudia

Day Three Hundred Twenty

at by

Once again, all my good intentions went by the wayside as I ended up spending time on the puzzle.

I can’t help myself.

Today, I promise to vacuum and swiffer, work on the dollhouse, and pay bills.

Just finished yet another long call with the IRS. When I paid our tax bill online on October 15th, I entered my social security number. But it never got credited (we’ve received late payment notices) because Don’s social security number is the primary number on the account. Because there is some end-of-the-year computer updating going on, every time I called, whoever I spoke to was unable to transfer the payment in order to credit it. Every person I spoke to was quite lovely and when it would fail, they would put a hold on the account so I wouldn’t be sent more letters and then they’d ask me to call back in two weeks. Today, it finally went through.

I’ve learned my lesson on that one. But, hey, it was the first time I had ever paid online.

It snowed yesterday. I’d say we have about 3 inches on the ground. It was quite lovely. We may get a bit more snow today.

I’m starting Winter Solstice  later today. Loved Jane Casey’s police procedural, Cruel Acts. She’s a wonderful writer. I always love it when I can’t quite figure out what will happen in the end.

I’m off to write out some checks and pop the bills in the mail.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Day Three Hundred Nineteen

at by

This is what I ended up doing yesterday afternoon. I ignored the dollhouse and started on this. Both the dollhouse and puzzles are calming for me, but jigsaw puzzles (and crossword puzzles) are the most calming – a form of meditation, if you will. I love John Derian’s puzzles. As far as I know he only has three designs, the one I just finished, this one, and one of a cat. I’m not a cat person, so that particular design doesn’t call to me.

This is based on an old map of NYC. Here is what it will eventually look like:

We’re getting snow today. We’ll have somewhere between 1 and 4 inches by tomorrow. There is a chance for a winter storm with more accumulation next Sunday and Monday. We’re looking forward to watching the snow fall today. First of all, it’s pretty. But mostly, it’s something different. Since we’re basically indoors these days looking out at a barren landscape and every day seems the same, something like snow ends up being exciting.

These guys (all 8 of them) have now discovered our yard. This was taken from the kitchen window. We’re fascinated by them. Our neighbor has informed us that the rooster is aggressive, so we’ll make sure to stay away from him. On one hand, it’s slightly annoying to me that they are now free-ranging on our property, but on the other hand, they’re interesting and we get a kick out of them. And don’t they eat ticks? Am I remembering that correctly?

They sure do lay pretty eggs.

I’m almost finished with my book and then it’s on to Winter Solstice.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Day Three Hundred Eighteen

at by

Cold. Very cold. Sunny. Snow tomorrow. But it doesn’t look like we’ll get a lot, just a few inches which is perfect.

Sleepless night. I have no idea why. I wasn’t worrying about anything. It was just one of those things that happen. Luckily, I don’t have to be anywhere, to coach, to have my wits about me, so I’m just going to go with the flow.

The last of my mini orders (for the time being) arrived the other day. These are from an Etsy shop called Mini My Eye. I purchased something from this shop when I was decorating Don’s mini studio. The owner uses postage stamps as artwork. And she has a wonderful variety of stock.

This is called “Les Muses,” painted by Maurice Denis in 1893.

This is a Japanese painting, “Kimono with Iris Pattern” by Saburosuke, painted in 1927.

Gorgeous. I’m not sure where I’ll end up placing them. To be determined.

The frames are a bit more gold than the photos indicate.

I’m going to putz around in the studio today. I have to sand the spackle that I added. And then I have to figure out what paint I want to use on the portion of the wall that isn’t wallpapered, then wallpaper, but that will probably won’t happen for a couple of days.

And I have to do some straightening up. If it gets too cluttered up there, it drives me a little nuts.

We watched PBS again last night. We love All Creatures Great and Small. Excellent! Everyone is pitch perfect, as is the setting and the costume design. Not as crazy about Miss Scarlett and the Duke. It’s okay. We’ll certainly watch it, but it’s not as well acted, nor as well written. For example, we couldn’t believe that Miss Scarlett couldn’t figure out that the bad guy was wearing a fake beard in the first episode. We sure could – we saw that coming a mile away. Anyway, the set and costume details are wonderful. It’s Mystery-lite, which is just fine.

Don just ran to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Oh, speaking of Don, he just put up a link to another of his songs. This one has always been one of my favorites. Here is the link to his post on FB, which will have a link to the song. It’s the first post on the page. The song is Guess I Still Get Crazy.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

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