Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

You are here: Home / Archives for books

Day Three Hundred Eighty-Five

at by

I was a little late getting them out but here they are. They really work beautifully with the Fiesta compote. I can see myself sitting at the round table in my housing in San Diego (I was working away from home for 6 months) cutting and then sewing them on my friend Ingrid’s vintage Singer Featherweight. It had belonged to her grandmother. She generously let me borrow it so I could make a quilt while I was away from home. My experience with that wonderful little machine led me to search for, and eventually find, my very own Featherweight. I found it in a local antique shop.

These little eggs are full of memories.

Later in the day yesterday, Don starting feeling achey and tired. Every muscle was sore. So he did have a reaction to the vaccine. He’s fine today. I was quite lucky and only had a sore arm and some fatigue. I felt very fatigued with the first dose, as well.

I ordered this little item for the fun of it. It was in the Etsy shop of Tiny Doll House NYC.

A miniature bust of Queen Victoria. The owners of the shop found it at The Kensington Dollhouse Show in London – the big miniature show in England. (How I’d love to attend it someday!) I thought it would be fun to find a place for it in the English Cottage. I’m not sure where, but I’ll figure it out.

I started reading The Shell Seekers  last night. You know that you can relax and just let the words pour over you when you’re reading Rosamunde Pilcher. It’s pure pleasure.

I’m plugging away – slowly – on the puzzle. It’s a botanical chart and the hardest parts are the many leaves and stems that are somewhat similar from plant to plant. I can only do a bit at a time before I want to tear my hair out. I’ll finish it, rest assured.

I’m anxious to get outside and work, but the temps went down to the mid-twenties last night and the same will happen tonight. It’s too cold out there. Hopefully, I can start doing some outside chores next week.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Day Three Hundred Eighty-Four

at by

We are now fully vaccinated, save for a two week period that will end on April 14th. I have to say that Walgreens does a good job of it, very gentle, efficient, and there are no crowds. Also, everyone in the store was masked and keeping a good social distance. Don went first and then me. We were very happy to have it done but the actual shot was sort of anticlimactic – a tiny prick and it was done. It wasn’t until I had been home for a bit and took a nap (I was tired) that I realized upon waking how enormous this was. After a year – 54 weeks to be exact – we were finally vaccinated. A whole year. And then I thought about the over 500,000 Americans who were not so fortunate, who were taken from us before a vaccine was available. It’s heartbreaking. As I said to Vicki in yesterday’s comments, I am humbled by the enormity of what yesterday means to us and by the incalculable loss of life in the past year – all those who weren’t so fortunate.

We had some sparkling cider on hand and we toasted each other in the evening, stopping to remember all those lost, especially my colleague Terrence McNally and the late, great John Prine.

As of this morning, the only side effect I have is a sore arm. Same with Don.

More egg cups, this time on the folk art shelf in the den: a gentleman egg cup (they were usually sold in a pair and the heads were salt and pepper shakers,) a red transferware cup, a little egg and cherub, a goose egg cup from France (found here in the States,) Humpty Dumpty with a hand painted egg from Prague, two wooden egg cups with salt and pepper egg tops (sent by a reader of the blog,) and a glass egg cup I found a couple of years ago. And my little family of wooden ducks in the foreground. The shelf itself was found in a shop on the other side of the river when we were living in our rental. I really love it.

I just finished Snow  by John Banville. Beautifully written. It’s a haunting mystery that takes place in Ireland in the late Fifties. Banville is a Booker Prize winner and I can see why – he’s a poet. I loved the book. Now to decide what to read next.

I have a few other things to share with you and I’ll do that tomorrow.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

 

Day Three Hundred Seventy-Nine

at by

We were doing some chores right by the porch the other day and I happened to look down and saw this:

Emerging from the gravel, these sweet grape hyacinths made me smile, so much so that I grabbed my big girl camera and knelt down on the uncomfortably rocky ground in order to capture their beauty.

Little miracles.

Oh my heavens, was it windy yesterday! Relentless. Today is cooler, but sunny and beautiful Tomorrow? Heavy rain. And so goes spring. Next week, there will be two days where it’s quite cold – in the thirties. Basically, the weather is all over the place.

We might take a drive today.

Next week is rather busy for us. Don has an eye appointment across the river in Poughkeepsie on Monday. And on Wednesday, we get our second vaccine shots. We’ve decided that two weeks after those shots, we’re going to drive to our favorite bookstore on the other side of the Hudson River – we’ll be masked, of course. But we’ll feel better about going into a store. We’ve already marked the day on the calendar.

Rest in peace to two literary giants: Larry McMurtry and Beverly Cleary.

McMurtry is most famous for Lonesome Dove. He loved writing and was prolific. He also loved books and reading. He loved books so much that he owned a bookstore in his hometown and a vast collection of books. There’s a section the book Biblio Style that shows his home and shop.

Beverly Cleary. What can I say? I wrote about her when she turned 100. I can’t imagine my childhood reading experiences without her. I loved her books. I loved her good and kind heart – shown clearly in everything she wrote. I think I checked Fifteen  out of my elementary school library at least twenty times. Cleary passed away the other day at the age of 104.

The puzzle is going swimmingly. (I’m using that word on purpose, as you shall soon see.)

We’re watching a series called Fortitude  on Amazon Prime. Anything that has Michael Gambon and Stanley Tucci in it is a must-see, though we didn’t know either of them were cast members when we started watching. I saw Gambon onstage in London years ago. My profession is based on the actor’s voice and speech and I’ve never heard any voice more powerful and more beautiful than Gambon’s deep, resonant, and wonderfully caramel-y tones.

Okay. Time to have some oatmeal.

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