blog — Page 26

A Not-So-Blank Canvas

August 31, 2013 at 8:43 am by Claudia

It’s a holiday weekend, but not for me. I work today and tomorrow. Monday is just another day off, since it’s always our day off. So I will continue to merrily tap away on the keyboard of my laptop and write posts to share with you.

I suppose if one wanted to call it that, I have a logo. Or to use Big Bloggers’ Speak: a Brand. I’m talking about that little lamb with the party hat that you see in my header and on my watermark. It’s also on my blog/etsy business card. I certainly didn’t create it with a plan in mind. I just took a picture some 4 years ago of a little lamb and the party hat I created for her.

But she stuck. She wormed her way into my heart. She landed in a couple versions of the header I used on the Blogger version of this blog. When I made the move to WordPress, I decided to go with clean and simple and there she is, right there among the letters that spell out Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

Well, all this recent talk about that little partying lamb got me thinking. Look what arrived yesterday:

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I ordered a wrapped canvas version of my photo.

My stars! I’m in love.

It’s 16 x 20 inches. There was a special offer from this particular company and I got it on sale. At deep discount.

I like whimsy. This, to me, is exceedingly whimsical. I might hang it in my studio at home. Or in the den where I blog. I’m not sure. I just know I thought it would be really cool to have a canvas version of My Little Lamb with the Party Hat. I’ve never had a canvas version of one of my photos. This might well become addictive.

I decided to hang it on an already established hook here in the apartment. I’m sure the landlord here wouldn’t appreciate me adding a largish hole to the wall. Little pinholes, fine. Big ones? A no no.

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She’s hanging above my desk, where I can see her as I blog and surf the web and type up notes for the actors. She is making me smile on this early Saturday morning and that’s no small thing. I’m still groggy with sleep and I’m in the midst of my morning coffee ration. As Don knows, getting any sort of reaction out of me when I first get up is tricky at best.

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Love, love, love this canvas. I ordered it from this company. It was created and shipped within a couple of days of placing my order. It took about 3 days to arrive here in Hartford.

Here she is this morning:

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There are different options available as to the actual wrap, but I chose to have the photo on top of the canvas and to have the sides wrapped in aqua.

Is this temporary apartment in danger of becoming too warm and cute and cheery?

Nope. I need all the warm and cute and cheery I can get.

Happy Saturday.

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The Trouble With Having a Blog…

February 28, 2013 at 8:46 am by Claudia

The trouble with having a blog is that it is a daily journal. For me, it’s an honest chronicle of my days here at the cottage – for better or worse. It can be joyful or sorrowful. It’s always cathartic. But, it also serves as a reminder of what happened a few months back or a year or two ago.

Yesterday, while I was responding to comments, I glanced at the “You May Also Like” links at the end of that post. One of them was entitled, “Riley and Scout: The State of Things.” I clicked onto it and there, right in front of me, was a photo of Riley, taken six weeks before he died, laying down on the mat we had fashioned for him in the living room.

I burst into tears. Not gentle tears, but great, huge sobs. I couldn’t stop. I was reminded of my boy’s struggle and of our struggle and of all the love I have for him and I wanted him back. As I read the post and the comments, I was immediately plunged back into that time last summer when we knew the end was in the not-too-distant future, but also knew it wasn’t time yet. That time when I fashioned a hospice here in the living room and I spent my days taking care of him.

Oh, how I miss him.

That photo of him sleeping on the mat filled me with sadness and at the same time made me long to be able to stroke his sweet face again. Crying is a good thing, I know. It just took me by surprise yesterday.

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I’m so grateful that I have this girl, my Scoutie, with me. She misses him, too.

Oh, how hard it is to lose a beloved companion.

Okay, let’s move on to cheerier things.

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Don received this as a little Christmas present when he was in San Diego. It’s called a Critter. You wind that key and it walks. Actually, it walks in a jittery kind of way. It’s so cool. We were sure Scout would be intrigued by it, but she is indifferent to the whole thing. I, on the other hand, love winding it up and seeing what happens. Guaranteed to put a smile on my face.

And, finally, a question.

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This flower is about 3 ½ inches wide. I used Peaches & Creme yarn because it’s a little stiffer and seems to work well for these garland flowers. Do you think that size makes it too big for a garland? It’s probably about twice as big as the aqua flowers in my other garland, which now that I think of it, are on the small side. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Just wanted to add this link from the PicMonkey Blog, Claim Your Artistry by Adding a Watermark. I already knew how to add a watermark at the time I edited a photo. What I found valuable about this link was the last section, entitled Making a Transparent Image to Watermark Many Photos. This is a real time saver. It might be helpful for you, too.

Happy Thursday.

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A Potpourri on Monday

February 25, 2013 at 9:30 am by Claudia

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The past week or so has brought the usual adventures and misadventures.

• One morning found me filling up the glass coffee carafe with water, then dropping it on the wood floor where it shattered in a zillion pieces. Not a good thing for a girl who needs her coffee in the morning. I figured out how to insert a bowl where the carafe should be and catch the coffee. (Where there’s a will there’s a way.) Once that bowl was full, I had to insert another. And another. Then I poured it all into a thermos. The sad thing was that I had to do this for two days as I was snowed in and couldn’t get to the store to buy a new coffeemaker. Must have coffee. Peets French Roast.

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• Right before I was to leave to get Don at the bus station (after 2 months apart) I was trying to wipe Scout’s dirty paws, as she had just come in from outside. Scout does not like me wiping her paws and she is very impatient. By the time I’m working on the third or fourth paw, she manages to elude my grasp and I have to chase after her as she trails water or mud all over the kitchen. This time, I happened to be near one of the kitchen chairs and as she squirmed out of my grasp, my head went down, meeting the chair. Result? Stinging pain and a gash in my forehead. As you can imagine, I was not looking my best for the reunion.

New nickname for Scout: Bronco Scout. She bucks her way out of my grasp like we’re at a rodeo.

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• Now that my husband’s back home, I’m being treated to far tastier dinners than I managed to put together in his absence. Don’s the cook in this house. I’m the baker. Cooking bores me. Thankfully, it doesn’t bore Don and he’s been whipping up all sorts of appetizing meals. Heaven.

He even made a special dinner to commemorate my Five Years of Blogging! How’s that for a good guy?

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• I’ve also been treated to the sound of my husband’s voice and his new guitar. For those of you who missed it, Don’s childhood friend Rob, who lives in San Diego, is a wonderful musician who has his own recording studio. The two of them just might have recorded a CD of Don’s music while Don was in town. Rob has lots of guitars and he lent this one to Don to use during his stay. It worked so well for Don’s voice and the kind of songs he writes that Rob gave it to him. Rob is one of the most generous guys I know.

Don is over the moon and loves this guitar. It’s a Martin. Named Maggie. (Have you noticed that we tend to name things around here?) Now we have two Martins in the cottage. The other one doesn’t have a name. Get going, Don!

• I have a couple of blogs to recommend to you.

First up: Heart Handmade UK. Claire, who I believe lives in Ireland, gathers the most gorgeous design posts from the web – most of them in beautiful pastel hues. She manages to find blogs and sites that are absolutely beautiful. When I first discovered her, I was so enthralled that I went back through most of her archives. She’s on my blog roll now and I look forward to her daily posts. And she has a sense of humor. Always a good thing.

Next: This blog is written by my friend Lynn. When I first moved out east, I worked part-time for a Veterinarian. Lynn was also working part-time at the same animal hospital as she pursued a post-graduate degree. She is a great girl; funny, kind, compassionate and talented. Fast forward a few years: I no longer work there because the commute was too long when we moved to the cottage and Lynn no longer works there because she got married, moved to a farm in Virginia and had a little boy. We are friends on Facebook and I was thrilled when I discovered Lynn has a blog! It’s called Kid and Goat. Lynn’s personality shines through on her blog, with pictures of life on the farm and of her house and her darling little boy. And wait until you see her goat, Sarah. Sigh. Stop by and visit her.

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• Don’t forget our Flannel Pajama Party next Monday! We’re going to share our pajamas, adventures in our pajamas, thoughts on pajamas…be there or be square.

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And finally:

The winner of the Obsession Scarf Giveaway is Debbie Hibbert! Debbie, I sent you an email last night. Pick one of these colors for your scarf and I will merrily crochet one for you. Thanks to everyone who left such lovely and kind comments on that post. They warmed my heart.

Happy Monday.

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A Not-So-Blank Canvas

The Trouble With Having a Blog…

A Potpourri on Monday

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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