Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for cottage

Home Again

October 26, 2014 at 9:20 am by Claudia

homeagain1

We’ve got some leaves here. No leaves left on our trees. Oh my goodness. I have a LOT of raking to do.

My neighbors, by the way, did a stellar job of clearing out our gutters and I am so grateful to them. We are very lucky to have them nearby.

I drove home with no stops, hoping to get to our post office to pick up the mail before it closed at noon. We arrived in our little town at 12:15. Darn. Packing everything up, going up and down the elevator countless times, loading the car, waiting to get Scout in the car before I pulled up the rugs – all of that took a bit longer than I thought it would. Meanwhile, Scout got increasingly more hyper as she realized something was going on. By the time we got here and she watched me unload everything and sniffed around her corral, she was exhausted.

I also think she misses the park. So do I. I’ve noticed by the way she goes up the steps from the den that she seems stronger. So little trips in the car so she can take a walk are definitely a must. I don’t want her losing that strength she has built up.

But we miss the park. And, though I was happy to be home, suddenly being done with all my work in Hartford and coming home to a house that’s been closed up and is missing my husband made me a bit blue. This transition will take some time.

homeagain5

But I have leaves to rake. And grocery shopping to do.

There must have been a frost while I was gone. I don’t think it was a hard frost, but it was enough to kill the morning glories and a lot of the zinnias. I did find this morning glory bud:

homeagain2

It’s supposed to get a bit warmer this week, so perhaps we might see one more flower?

To my delight, some of the roses are still blooming:

homeagain4

The zinnias in the barrels are still alive, though bedraggled. I’ll share some photos of them tomorrow.

And my impatiens, sitting in pots on the porch, without water for three weeks?

homeagain3

Still blooming. These are the same impatiens I overwintered. They are amazing.

I guess I’ll be overwintering them again.

The television, which you might remember was on its way to its final demise before I left, bit the dust yesterday. I turned it on and the sound was doing its noisy clicks and pops and then suddenly the picture went crazy and that was it. All I wanted to do, of course, was watch the World Series. I managed to register online with MLB so I could watch it on my laptop. (I could watch it upstairs on the old TV in our bedroom, but I didn’t want to abandon Scout so early in the evening, especially since this whole moving thing is so confusing for her.)

So, on the agenda: new television, washer repair and/or replacement (remember it died, too?), paint the kitchen, bookshelves in the den, and sort and organize each room of the house.

And read books I have to review.

And rake. And rake again. And rake again.

While putting away the food I brought back from Hartford yesterday, I came across a little treat that I hadn’t had time to eat before I left:

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What a nice surprise!

It’s all gone now.

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: autumn, cottage, flowers, Scout 35 Comments

Worth the Wait

September 5, 2014 at 9:21 am by Claudia

FRIDAY morning glory old new bud

I can’t get enough of the beauty of morning glories. Every day, I am treated to a new feast for the eyes.

They really are the most wonderful last-days-of-summer treat. The day lilies are gone. The coneflowers are drying up. A few roses are blooming, as well as the rudbeckia. The morning glories have taken over center stage, thrilling us with their magical, ephemeral beauty.

FRIDAY morning glory pollen

I never get tired of them. It always seems to take forever for them to grow and produce buds, but they are well worth the wait.

And my hyacinth bean vine, also slow-growing this year, has produced some flowers.

FRIDAY hyacinth bean vine

I existed for so many years without a garden. I lived in dorms and apartments and all sorts of rentals that either didn’t have the space for a garden or where planting anything was a no-no. It wasn’t until we rented our Craftsman bungalow in San Diego that I made my first stab at a garden. It was in the backyard – a little plot right by the back door. (The same door that I walked out one day, only to trip and fall and break my left ankle, which resulted in my wearing a cast on that ankle for my wedding. Oh, yes.)

Then we moved out east and lived in a rental cottage. After a year or so, I asked the owners if I could put in a little strip of a garden alongside the house and they said yes. It was quite lovely. I wonder if it’s still there? I also planted a lot of pachysandra under the big pine tree right outside the front door. I hooked a hose up to the bathroom sink and snaked it outside through the window in order to water the plants. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

When we bought this house and moved in – nine years ago on August 30th – I knew I would finally be able to plant and nuture my own gardens.

I was in my fifties.

It took a long time, but it was worth it. And I treasure every minute of it.

I’ve written about my favorite bookstore, the Strand, on Just Let Me Finish This Page. Stop by to see just why I love it so.

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: bookstores, cottage, flowers, garden, morning glory 26 Comments

The Sweetness of Home

August 18, 2014 at 8:45 am by Claudia

Gosh, Don and I are homebodies. We find that the older we get, the more we love hanging around our cottage. We don’t need a lot of outside stimulation, though we get plenty of that when we’re working away from home. Maybe that’s what makes life here all the more precious, our work in theater, television and film always involves lots of people so it is, by nature, very social. There’s also a lot of visual and sensory stimulation. It’s wonderful, but returning to the cottage and our quiet life here always calms us and grounds us.

Yesterday, we went to a friend’s restaurant for brunch and to listen to some music. Afterward, we checked out a few antique shops – sort of disappointing, except for one incredible antique lighting and vintage bathroom fittings shop – and checked out a great used bookstore. For more about that, read today’s post on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

While it was fun, about two hours into it all we could say was that we couldn’t wait to get home.

Crazy. I like seeing new places and all of that, but I love being in my little cottage. Actually, I’ve always been that way. I’m a nester and after I’ve created my nest, wherever that is, I like nothing more than hanging out there. The big surprise is that Don, the guy who was on the road for years and had very few possessions when I met him, now feels the same way. We love our life here at the cottage.

But, all of that is balanced by a strong yearning to travel. We both have that urge. We’d love to have an RV and travel all around the country. We want to go to Europe together (we’ve both been there separately.) And we will do that someday, that’s for sure.

We are fortunate that our work takes us to different cities, even countries, and that when we’re working, we make lots of new friends and connections. All of that enables us to really appreciate our time here at home. We sure don’t take it for granted.

The obligatory flower photo of the day:

sunlit morning glory

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: cottage, Don, On The Road 31 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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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.

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