Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

You are here: Home / Archives for books

Flowers and a Paperweight

at by

The bridal veil spirea is in full bloom. Oh, how I love this bush! It’s down by the road. I’ll get some more photos with my big girl camera later today.

Aside from rampant allergies, all is well. We have to do some mowing today or tomorrow, but Don’s recycling this morning, as well as running to the grocery store, so I assume we’ll mow tomorrow.

I have had my eye on this paperweight from John Derian for almost two years. Derian is known for his decoupage, using vintage images. Once a year, he has a sale on seconds with minor imperfections. Last year’s sale did not include this particular item.

But this year’s sale did! There was only one available and I grabbed it for half off the original price. It was delivered the next day. All of these items are handmade in their studio. The glass is very heavy and it’s simply beautiful. I can see a couple of teeny bubbles, but they’re hardly noticeable and more importantly, they don’t bother me at all.

Isn’t it pretty?

Well, the CDC has given us new guidance on mask wearing and it’s very exciting. I am still a wee bit hesitant about not wearing one indoors, and for the time being, I’d have to wear one anyway as Governor Cuomo, as well as the Governor of New Jersey, have stated that our mandate is still in effect until they review the guidance with experts.

But it does give us a view of what might be happening soon.

All that being said, I think everyone has to do what he/she is comfortable with. We’ve been in the grip of this pandemic for over a year and hesitancy is to be expected.

I’m trying to figure out what I want to paint next. The jury is still out on the next ‘experiment.’

In the meantime, I finished the latest Jane Casey – she is such a wonderful writer! – and I’ve started to read Nine Coaches Waiting  by Mary Stewart for the 100th time.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Day Four Hundred Fourteen

at by

What is that sound I don’t hear?

Wind.

It went on for hours and hours yesterday; I stopped counting the number of times I had to run out to the porch to retrieve something that had fallen or had blown across the porch. It’s rather cold this morning, but it’s sunny and I cannot wait to get out there and do a bit more potting.

Don is making something in the crockpot for dinner – we’re trying to get through the next two days with the little we have on hand so we don’t have to grocery shop until Monday. We avoid our local store on the weekends. Too crowded!

Our neighbors across the street are having an outdoor birthday party today and invited us, but we’re not really party people. They have a Grateful Dead cover band playing from 6:30 until 9:30. But, like good neighbors, they gave us a heads up and the band will finish at a sane time, so we plan to watch The Wizard of Oz  on TCM instead of our current subtitled series (Baron Noir) because it will be too noisy to concentrate on the subtitles. And obviously, we know Oz pretty well by this point in our lives.

I gave up on The Paris Library. I tried, but it’s not my cup of tea. The prose is clunky (only my opinion, of course) and since The American Library’s activities during the Occupation of Paris are documented, I’d rather read the non-fiction version of this story. As you know, historical fiction is not my thing; I have definite opinions about that genre. So. It is now in my DNF (Did Not Finish) pile and I’ll donate it to our local library whenever they start taking donations again.

I started More Fool Me, the third volume of Stephen Fry’s memoirs, and I think I’ll read it and some fiction at the same time. Fiction title is yet to be determined.

A question: are you enjoying these little posts about my career? I woke up this morning thinking, “How boring this must be!” and started to question whether I should continue with them. Part of me says “You’re rattling on and on about your past and who cares?” but then again, this blog is all about me rattling on and on, isn’t it? Anyway, let me know. I’m perfectly fine with it either way.

Today marks 27 years since we lost our beloved student John Lentz to senseless gun violence. He was murdered walking out of Balboa Park after a closing night party. His girlfriend, Dhyana, was also shot, but survived. I miss him every day. He was kind, talented, bright, and could make me laugh like no one else. He was about to graduate with an MFA and had a bright future ahead of him. It was taken away in a second. I don’t think I’ve ever cried as much as I did that day and for the week that followed as we journeyed to Kansas for his funeral.

Rest in Peace, dearest John.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

Day Four Hundred Twelve

at by

Yesterday was a busy and lovely day. I happily potted away on the porch, in the Secret Garden, and on the Funky Patio and Don, who had vowed to rest up, mowed the back forty. I still have some more potting to do, but I accomplished a lot yesterday.

Earlier in the day, I asked Don if we could take a drive to another town where a specific farm stand carried the type of lavender I like. So, after lunch on an 80 degree day (!), we got in the car and drove over the mountains (the long way) to this little town. It’s a beautiful place, with old stone houses. So picturesque!

We stopped at a place I’ve shared with you before:

Remember this great old cooler? I swear, that Art Deco lettering gets me every time.

They don’t carry a lot of plants, but I did find my lavender and Don bought some herbs, which I’ll repot. We drove back home the shorter way, which is equally beautiful. It was just enough time away. Perfect.

Given that the temperature reached 82, it was unseasonably hot and humid and it stayed that way throughout the night. We both had an uncomfortable night. When Don got up, the temperature in the house was 78. But it’s raining now and the temperature has dropped to the sixties. Of course, as seems to be the case here lately, we’ll pay for the high temperature with thunderstorms today and…you guessed it…high winds tomorrow. Can you hear my sigh?

All that being said, we’re grateful for a rainy day. We’ve been very busy and we need a day off.

I’ve started The Paris Library. I’m only about 30 pages into it and I know it’s a fascinating story. But after the beautiful, seemingly effortless prose and storytelling of Emily St. John Mandel, who manages to juggle several plot lines with grace and ease, the writing here seems labored and the introduction of characters and plot points clumsy. Don’t worry, I plan to stay with it, but the differences in skill and style are somewhat jarring.

Today? Some cleaning, some time with my new puzzle, some time with my husband.

All good.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

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