Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Tuesday Thoughts

July 27, 2021 at 9:24 am by Claudia

I slept in this morning because I had problems falling asleep last night. Note to self: no more staying up late because of the Olympics. I regret to say that I have become that person who doesn’t do well if her daily routine is thrown off. I’m grateful I got some sleep, but here I am at 9 am, still groggy, still barely awake, trying to compose a post.

But it’s beautiful outside; very sunny and bright. My view to the right from my blogging chair in the  den? Flowers – all of the flowers at the back of the big garden bed; brown-eyed susans, tall David phlox, along with the sunlight drenching the leaves of the catalpa.

I’m very, very grateful for this house and our property and the gardens I have built up over the past 15 years. I’m grateful for mama robin who is feeding two babies all by herself and for the babies that are getting bigger every day. I’m grateful for all the bird nest adventures we’ve had this spring and summer; three nests, three broods.

My list could go on and on but I’ll stop there. In the midst of the madness of this world, I have to stop sometimes and concentrate on the good. It isn’t always easy. Will we ever work again? I don’t know. Don asked that question yesterday. Just when we think we might be coming out of this pandemic, selfish people who refuse to get vaccinated help fuel a fourth wave. The ramifications of that are enormous. Too many people will die needlessly. Needlessly. Too many people will be forced to cope with more lockdowns, children are at risk, families once again unable to see each other, businesses going under. All of this, why? Because a simple vaccine that will save lives has been politicized. I look at my smallpox vaccination scar from childhood, clear evidence that vaccines work. But we live in a world of conspiracy theories, of cult-like lemmings, ready to go over a cliff just to spite those who have real expertise and who are trying to save them.

I predict – and I hope I’m wrong – that theaters will be impacted by this once again. As will television and film. So, the question “Will we ever work again?” is real. I hope we do. We need to work. Don, especially, needs to work. He desperately wants to work.

Anyway, nothing I’ve said here is new, but it’s now been a year and a half since either of us has worked, longer for Don because he hadn’t worked for a few months before the pandemic started. I had just finished a coaching job a couple of weeks before lockdown.

Okay. Enough complaining. I confess we have lived in a world for the past five years that I don’t understand, don’t want to understand, and am bewildered by. And it just seems to get worse.

I haven’t painted in a few days – maybe I’ll feel motivated later today. I’m reading a lot and that’s a good thing. I received three beautiful portraits of the dogs in the mail and I’ll share them with you when my laptop comes back and I can take proper photos of the artwork. I miss my laptop! But I do know that Apple received it yesterday and the repair work is in process, so hopefully, I might get it back by the end of the week.

I also got a notice in the mail that the miniature show I attend most every year (near Hartford) is back and will be held in September. I really want to go. Masked, of course. Fingers crossed that I can.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: birds, flowers 26 Comments

Flora and Fauna

July 25, 2021 at 9:42 am by Claudia

The limelight hydrangea is in full flower. Unlike my Annabelle hydrangea, the limelight always blooms later in the summer. Eventually, these flowers will turn pink. It’s a beautiful plant, lush and full.

In case you’re interested, I filmed a short video yesterday. It’s just a short little tour of the big garden bed and the beds by the porch entrance. Everything is in flower and it was sunny and beautiful so it seemed like a good time. It’s on my Instagram feed.

But you can tell it’s rained a lot (an understatement) because in certain areas of the property, I’m getting a lot of mosquito bites. For instance, yesterday we decided to sit in the Secret Garden for a bit – mostly to see if mama robin objected. She did. So we quickly got up and left so she could relax. I’d say we were out there about 3 or 4 minutes. I got 5 mosquito bites. Yikes. The Secret Garden is at the bottom of a hill and it stays wet longer than any other part of the property, so it makes sense that mosquitoes would thrive there.

Nature update: So far, I’ve seen lots of butterflies, including a black swallowtail, an Eastern swallowtail, a great spangled fritillary, and a few monarchs. This morning, our little groundhog was hanging around the big garden bed and we saw our first bunny in over a year. Unfortunately, the little bunny was in one of my garden beds! I opened the door and eventually, he scampered off, white tail bouncing. Oh what a cutie! And of course, mama robin continues to feed her babies constantly throughout the day. She’s a single mother so she has to do it all. I see more of the babies bodies now as they get stronger and thrust themselves up even higher to get food.

I finished my book this morning and, since I’m reading them in chronological order and I missed the one that was published before this one, I’m going to catch up by reading that next. I’m really enjoying the Ruth Galloway series.

I haven’t begun another painting yet. Just wasn’t in the mood. Today is dark and rainy, so light might be an issue. We’ll see.

By the way, I’m finding the fact that the email versions of these posts have been going out on time consistently lately rather ironic since they will soon be no more. Ah well.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Filed Under: animals, birds, bunnies, flowers 12 Comments

Painting #8

July 23, 2021 at 8:48 am by Claudia

This isn’t the best photo, but here’s the latest in my Pottery Portraits series. This is a basket vase in the Clematis pattern. I am unable to use Lightroom, my photo editor, because it’s on my laptop. I would have sharpened the photo and resized it, etc., etc., by my hands are tied. So this is what you get. I’m happy with this one – the handles were my biggest challenge. In fact, I had started a portrait of it a while back but the handles threw me, so I moved on to another vase. Glad I tried it again.

I got a little daring with the background color, but I like it. Don really  likes it.

I miss my laptop.

I did a lot of weed pulling yesterday and that was satisfying. Today will be….wait for it…sunny. All day. So we’re going to mow the front lawn, and we’ll time the mowing of the area outside of the kitchen window (where the nest is) when mama is absent from the nest. Yes, she’s still doing it on her own. And yes, I know that normally, both parents take turns feeding the babies. I’ve watched robins and their broods many times – one time they were right outside my window on the balcony of a place I was staying in while working in Wisconsin. I got to watch the entire cycle. That’s how I know papa is absent. She is doing it all.  I worry for her as she must be exhausted and there are probably at least 7 or 8 more days of this until they fledge and even then, she’ll be the only one helping them while they’re on the ground. I’ve called her my hero before and that’s even more true now. I don’t know what happened to papa, I don’t even like to think what happened to papa. If they are the same pair that had babies in the nest by the shed, he was a diligent, hard-working dad. It’s sad.

I stood in the bathroom, camera in hand, for a long while, waiting for mama to feed the babies. It’s hard to get a clear picture when there are black walnut leaves all around the nest, but here you can see her feeding one of the babies. I know there are at least two babies, but I think there are three.

We’ll probably take a short break from Wallander (last night’s episode was incredibly powerful) to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics. I always enjoy them. I’m not sure actually going through with them was a good idea, however. And I keep reading of decisions made by the Tokyo contingent as well as the IOC that I find quite troubling. But watching a contest between superb athletes is always exciting, so here we go.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

Filed Under: bird nest, birds, oil painting 26 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.

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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

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