Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Day Three Hundred Nineteen

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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.

Sunday: Reading, Deer & Sunshine

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They’re still hanging in there. Pretty good for grocery store flowers!

It’s sunny and a bit warmer today. The rest of the week will be in the fifties and yours truly is up for that. Yesterday was a strange weather day. Windy at times, never got above freezing, and for a period of time while we were at Rick and Doug’s, the sun shone through dark clouds while a magical snow squall appeared out of nowhere. Tiny little flakes swirling and swirling everywhere. It was what I call a ‘weather day’ – changing by the hour. I love that.

Both of us have been reading a lot this weekend. I’m currently more than halfway through M Train  by Patti Smith. I’m completely enthralled by her mind, her writing, and her sensibility. I was also reading The Thirst  by Jo Nesbø, but I found I wasn’t quite in the mood at the moment for this particular story, which is rather gory, so I put it down and started The Pursuit of Love  by Nancy Mitford. I bought it last year at Shakespeare and Company in Paris. The bookseller who was attending to me told me it was her favorite novel. I’ve heard that from a few others since then. As I opened it yesterday, I saw the familiar Shakespeare and Company stamp inside the front cover, and I was immediately immersed in memories of our time in Paris.

There’s something delicious about having the time to read and read and read some more. That is where we are this weekend. In between reading, we eat, we visit with friends, and we talk about what we’re reading.

So we’re here. It’s March. As I scanned the forecast this morning, I saw no real snow on the horizon. Of course, there is always a chance of a big snowfall appearing out of nowhere, but so far, so good. Fingers crossed.

Currently, there are two young deer dining on the grass right outside our back kitchen window. Since that grass is in an area that stays wet (it’s at the bottom of a hill) it’s quite green, whereas the rest of the grass around here is not. These two young ones were here yesterday as well. We’re happy they have something to eat and that they’re safe in that secluded little Secret Garden. We don’t talk when they’re out there. We barely move. Their hearing is so acute that any little sound will scare them.

Today, more reading and season 3 of Babylon Berlin, which is available on Netflix as of today. Some journaling, some laundry, for sure – it’s Sunday and that is ‘wash the sheets’ day – and a spot of cleaning,

I hope you’re having a good Sunday.

Happy Sunday.

Last Night

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No pretty picture today.

Last night I was sitting in my chair in the den – it was about 6:30 pm – and I heard the sound of an animal being hit. In fact, I thought it might be a dog because I heard it cry out. I got up, grabbed a flashlight, told Don about it, and walked outside down to the road. I looked about 30 feet down the road and saw a deer lying there. A car stopped and the woman inside told me it was a deer and that it was still alive and that she would call 911. I returned to the house, told Don what was happening, and he put on some shoes, took the flashlight, and walked down the road to the deer.

I remained in the house for a bit trying to figure out who to call on a Friday evening when every place was closed. It’s impossible. Don stayed with the deer, which was quite young. He used his flashlight to direct traffic around the deer. The deer kept lifting his head, but couldn’t move. So Don crouched down, kept petting him and talking to him, apologizing for what happened to him, all the while trying to figure out how to move him without making his injuries worse. And then he sang to him.

By the time I got back out there, the deer had passed away. I spoke to the deer in much the same manner as Don. Don had me direct traffic as he moved the body off the road.

You know who didn’t care enough to stop and help the deer? The driver. Just as happened a few years ago when a woman hit a fawn in front of our house, stopped to check for damage on her car, and then drove on, even when – as I discovered about 30 minutes later, the fawn was lying there on the side of the road, not more than 10 feet away. Both then and last night, one of us stayed with the deer, speaking quietly, doing everything we could to offer some compassion, waiting for someone to get there and help, only to watch as the deer passed away.

And then there was the deer that was hit right in front of our house only a month ago. Again, the driver didn’t stop.

I know that it gets pitch dark around here and that deer can appear out of nowhere. Sometimes hitting them can’t be helped, careful as one might be. What can be helped is the appalling lack of compassion in the driver who thinks it’s okay to drive away. Even if he/she drives on out of shock, perhaps some frigging compassion might cause him to rethink his decision, stop further on down the road, and turn around.

It’s been a tough year on our little stretch of road. We’ve lived here over 14 years and we’ve never seen it this bad.

Don speaks of that experience with the deer as sacred. Bless him. Bless that innocent young deer who had all too short a life.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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