Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

You are here: Home / Archives for anniversary

Eighteen

at by

I had this header for quite a while….

 

This one never made the cut.

I loved this one – that was a peony that I had in my apartment when I was working in San Diego for 6 months. I took several pictures of it.  Remember those blue glasses?

My very first laptop which was white. I still miss that color. But boy, was it heavy compared to today’s laptops. I liked this brown color scheme on the header.

Oh, and this was pretty! All of these were in use at some time or other when I was still on Blogger.

Have you guessed why I’m showing you these?

If your answer is “Claudia started this blog 18 years ago on February 17th!” you’re right. I debated on posting about it the day before my blogiversary or the day after. Before won out.

The photos of me are shockingly young compared to my current state of gray hair, weight gain, and double chins. I wish I was still thin, but Don still loves me, so I’m good.

My friends, it’s crazy that I’ve been blogging this long! Crazy! Most people who were already blogging when I started, or who started around the same time, are no longer blogging. They’ve either mysteriously disappeared from online, or have moved to Instagram or Substack. Sadly, some have left us. But there are a few that have hung in there all this time. We’re a rare breed these days.

I’ve loved most every minute of it. Truly. The minutes I haven’t loved are when there were technical problems, or when the blog would briefly disappear in the Blogger days, or when distasteful people would leave distasteful comments. One of the major plusses of moving to WordPress on a host/server was the ability to block someone. And, since it’s my home, I do just that. Had to do it again just the other day. But everyone who writes a blog or a substack or an IG post has to deal with that kind of thing. It’s the way of the online world.

But let’s shift to the best thing: YOU. All of you. Some of you have been with me since pretty near the beginning. Some of you joined in much more recently. It ebbs and flows. I have been so blessed by your friendship, by your comments, and by the community we have built here. Not me. WE. What a blessing it is! I treasure each and every one of you. I have met people from all around the world, virtually. And yes, it is virtual, but I would also say it is very, very real. My world opened up that day 18 years ago and it has expanded ever since.

You have been with me when I’ve traveled to other cities on coaching assignments, on trips across the country, or to Paris and London and Edinburgh. You’ve been with me when I’ve had work on Broadway and when I worked on a film and had an unexpected opportunity to act in that film. You’ve watched me plant gardens and mow lawns and you’ve listened to Don play the guitar and sing his songs. You’ve cheered me on as I took on the renovation of a dollhouse, crocheted blankets, made quilts and scarves, started oil painting, added to my collections, and suddenly started buying dolls in my late sixties (“What the heck, Claudia??”)

And you’ve been right here for me in times of loss. In this 18 years, I’ve had dear friends pass away, we’ve lost our two dogs, Riley and Scout (we just passed the 10th anniversary of Scout’s death.) I’ve lost my mother and my father and Don lost his father. You’ve been such a source of comfort and support.

I thank you for all of that. From the bottom of my heart.

I don’t know how much longer I will be doing this. I suspect it will keep going for a year or so. But probably only that. As I grow older, I run out of things to talk about. Our lives here are quieter. We aren’t working as often as we’d like to. We tire more easily. At some point, I’m going to have to fold my blog tent and move on. As you know, it’s not inexpensive to maintain this blog and that’s another consideration.

My blogging friend Kim, of Dear Daisy Cottage, was faced with that scenario when TypePad, her blogging platform, suddenly announced it was closing down. She wrestled with what to do. Should she move to another platform? Or should she just fold her tent? She had been blogging as long as I have – I think even longer. She finally came to the conclusion that she would end it. She took screen shots of all of her posts, said her goodbyes via the blog, announced it on Instagram. We all came together and thanked her for her beautiful and positive posts, for her lovely home that she decorated so beautifully, for her dogs, and her grandchildren, all of whom made an appearance on the blog. She’s still on Instagram and though it isn’t quite the same thing, we can see her there, we can read about her life there.

I think she was lucky. The ultimate decision whether to save years of posts was pretty much taken out of her hands. TypePad has disappeared into the ether.

My blog will disappear when I decide to stop blogging. I’ll take Kim’s advice and take screen shots of my blog posts.

But none of that is for now.

It’s just a heads up for all of you. I’ve never worked at ANY job for 18 years.

Only here.

Thank you my dear friends. Here’s to another year together.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

An Anniversary

at by

Not so good things first.

The snow and ice storm that hit us was terrible. By the time Don could get out there with the snow blower yesterday afternoon, the layers of snow and ice were almost impenetrable. The ice kept clogging the shute on the snow blower. It was impossible to clear everything through to the ground. So we’re left with a layer of ice on everything we cleared. There is ice on every tree and shrub. They are encased in ice. We had very high winds last night and we’ll have more later today. I see some small branches have broken off some of the trees. So far, no other tree damage. And we still have power.

And here’s the thing. It will not get above freezing until Saturday. So this won’t go away. I’m very worried about my shrubs. I’ve never seen anything like this here.

More prayers for today are welcome.

________________________________________________________________

A photo of one of my many blog headers. This is the only one I could find as I lost all of that history when my last laptop died. In the old days, I used to love playing around with the design of my blog. But I haven’t done that in a long time. Today’s version of the header has been in place for several years. And I’m fine with that.

Why am I writing about that? Well, today marks the 17th anniversary of Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

Who would have thought?

As I always say on this day, that’s the longest I’ve held any job in my life!

5, 254 posts.

I can’t really count comments since my responses to your comments are also counted as comments and that skews the total.

It’s been a pleasure, of course. Mostly. There have been hateful comments, some trolls, and lots of spam. I’ve had to block several people, including a few longtime readers. The thing about social media is people often take advantage of the fact that they are in a virtual world and are not in the same room with you and slew all sorts of crap. Then they often dare you to delete the comment, which, of course, I do. Go figure.

BUT, 99.9% of this blogging life has been absolutely wonderful. YOU have been wonderful. Thank you for that. You know, I started out on Blogger and I was there for 4 or 5 years, but I was hacked a couple of times and I no longer felt safe there.There was no way to contact anyone for help. I also wanted more control, a plug in to eliminate spam, a way to design the blog that I couldn’t with Blogger, and a lot of other little things that have made this blog more personal. So I transferred the entire blog to a host/server. And the blog is much safer, Sometimes I regret that only because it involves quite a bit of expense on a yearly basis. As we work less and less these days, we have very little income coming in and that fact may result in the retiring of the blog. But, don’t panic; I haven’t made any decisions on that.

I’m a visual person. That’s the reason keeping a journal never worked for me. But when this new thing called a ‘blog’ appeared on the horizon, I was intrigued. I kept saying to Don: “Maybe I should start a blog…” He finally said, “Then DO it.” And I did. I discovered that writing text along with the ability to add photos was my version of a journal. Perfect for me. It didn’t involve talking out loud in person which was perfect for my introvert self. But I did have contact with all sorts of wonderful people from all over the world. And those people became friends. What a gift. What a frigging incredible gift! I am so grateful for everyone, past and present. Because, just as in real life, people come and go. So, for however long you have been with me here at MHC, thank you.

I’ve shared our dogs, our home, our property, our adventures out in the world, my collections, and my hobbies. You were there for me when I lost Riley, my father-in-law, my mom, my dad, and Scout. Things are very different 17 years on. As I get older, my life gets simpler. It’s not so exciting these days, but my anchor – my husband – keeps me grounded in the joy of simple things.

Thank you, my dear friends. It’s been a joy and continues to be. Thank you for all of your support over the years, for being here, for commenting, for understanding.

Bless you,

Stay safe.

Happy Monday,

 

 

A Saturday Surprise

at by

I sat in my chair this morning for a long time, reading a book and drinking coffee. After it became light, I eventually walked into the living room to raise the blinds. Then to the kitchen to raise another blind. I stopped at the window in the side door to look out at the property. And this is what I saw:

A morning glory! After Don heard me say “Oh my god!” a couple of times, he came to join me. He said “There’s your blog post.”

Yep.

There are lots and lots of flower buds developing and we’re trying to outrun a possible freeze next Thursday. So in the meantime, I hope lots of flowers open. I’ll take a photo of every one of them. I used to routinely see a lot of morning glories, but for the past several years, I’ve just had the vines and no flowers. No flower buds at all. So this is a little miracle. I’d almost given up. This year, I talked myself into sowing the seeds at the last minute.

And it’s our 26th wedding anniversary today.

An anniversary flower better than any bouquet.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

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