Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for autumn

Splashes of Autumnal Color

October 9, 2015 at 9:28 am by Claudia

Yesterday was a gloriously beautiful Autumn day. We mowed all of the grass on the property, a very satisfying feeling, and then I took advantage of the warmth and the sun to take some pictures for those of you who have been requesting all things Fall.

10-9 house and leaves

10-9 top of maple

The top of the maple that’s next to the house (where the big garden bed is).

10-9 back of house

That’s the house you see tucked in there among the trees. I took this while standing in the back forty, which is up a hill from the house. That’s the mountain ridge that we can see from our cottage – the same ridge where we occasionally hike.

10-9 looking at shed

10-9 the other maple

The maple tree on the other side of the house, which is simply beautiful. Hydrangeas and porch to the right.

10-9 leaf caught in tree

As you can see, there’s still a lot of green; the colors have just begun to change.

I’ll have more photos for you as the leaves change and more colors are added to the landscape. I took a lot of photos of the gardens, as well – I love capturing the changes in all of the plants as we move away from summer.

Book review on Just Let Me Finish This Page today. Her Final Breath  by Robert Dugoni – click here.

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: autumn 38 Comments

Chatty on Wednesday

October 7, 2015 at 8:56 am by Claudia

10-7 mini rainbow

•  Early yesterday evening I was outside with Scout. I looked up and saw this.

The sun was to the right (out of picture range) and was it the moon glowing under that cloud? I’m not sure, but that little rainbow-like slash of light appeared. Since my eyes are very sensitive to light, I thought maybe I was seeing something that wasn’t there.

But the camera saw it, too.

A lovely little moment in time.

•  We bit the bullet yesterday and ordered heating oil. Gas prices are pretty low at the moment, so we thought this would be a good time to do it and sure enough, our oil guy told us that now was the time because prices were soon going up. High or low, heating oil is expensive.

The heavy gold quilt is covering the bed once again. I’m wearing my flannel pajamas.

I’m pretty sure it’s Autumn.

10-7 zinnia with web

Meanwhile, the zinnias just keep on blooming.

10-7 orange zinnia

•  Design Sponge, one of my favorite sites, did a Guide to Ulster County, NY yesterday. That’s where we live. You might find it interesting. Grace Bonney, the founder of Design Sponge, recently moved up here – she’s not all that far from us – and has fallen in love with this beautiful area, just as we have.

We’ve got it all here. And this time of the year? Simply glorious.

•  Housekeeping: If you’ve noticed the Cookie pop-up at the bottom of the blog, let me explain why it’s there. The European Union has a law that requires websites to indicate if cookies are being used on their site. Cookies, in case you’re not familiar with that term, are:

‘small pieces of data sent by a website and stored in the user’s web browser while the user is browsing that website…Cookies were designed to be a reliable mechanism for websites to remember information (such as items in a shopping cart) or to record the user’s browsing activity (including clicking particular buttons, logging in, or recording which pages were visited by the user as far back as months or years ago.” Wikipedia.

Every website uses cookies. Ads use cookies. The EU thinks anyone viewing a website should be alerted to that fact. And Google is now enforcing that law. So, any of us who have potential visitors from the EU have to have a ‘cookie warning.’

Blogger blogs already have one. The rest of us have to take care of it ourselves, hence the plug-in I added yesterday (on both my blogs.)

Oy. It’s a bit of a pain in the tush, since anyone who goes on the web for even a minute encounters cookies. You can set your web browser to not allow cookies, if it’s of any great concern to you.

But we do what we have to do, right? I’ve tried to make it as unobtrusive as possible. So, there you go.

I spent a chunk of time yesterday diddling around with all of this and it’s time I’ll never get back. Sigh.

•  Book review of X  by Sue Grafton on Just Let Me Finish This Page today. Click here.

•  Whoops! Forgot to add that The Poisoner’s Handbook (starring Don Sparks) is now showing on Netflix! We saw it listed last night and Genevieve, one of my readers, also wrote me to let me know about it.

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: autumn, blogging, flowers, garden, new york 34 Comments

Autumn in the Mountains

November 11, 2014 at 8:31 am by Claudia

Late in the afternoon yesterday, we decided to go on a hike up in the mountains. It was warmish and lovely. This is the first time we’ve been up there in Autumn.

Fall hike 1

Fall hike 2

Fall hike 3

Fall hike 4

Fall hike 5

Fall hike 7

Fall hike 6

Glorious. Our shoulders dropped, the endorphins kicked in, and all this is about a mile or two from our door.

And in case you missed it, I posted this photo of Scout on the blog’s Facebook page yesterday. A bit blurry, but adorable nonetheless.

simply adorable scout

Scout, in an uncharacteristic move, put her paws up on the arm of the loveseat and looked right at me like she was ready to have a little chat. Don grabbed his iPhone and called her name and this was the result. That smile will melt your heart.

I’m in love, love, love with this picture.

By the way, the MHC Facebook Page has been neglected lately, as has my Instagram page. I’ve even considered deleting the FB page. Between writing two blogs and all my other responsibilities, it’s hard to keep IG and FB in the forefront of my daily thoughts, nor do I feel the need to most of the time. I’ll try to be better, but frankly, that’s just the way it is sometimes!

My dad is a WWII Veteran who has never romanticized war and has nightmares about his experiences as a young soldier to this day. In honor of our Veterans, may we strive to find a way to end war and the destruction and heartbreak it brings.

Happy Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: autumn, Don, hiking, Scout 36 Comments

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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.

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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

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