Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for decorating

If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be Another Apartment

October 7, 2014 at 8:28 am by Claudia

If it isn’t the cold, it’s my sinuses. Never ending. Can you tell I’m frustrated? Still coughing, mostly in the evening. Don, bless him, was on the receiving end of another mini-meltdown last night, partly due to my coughing, but also due to my worry over Scout sliding on these laminate floors.

The apartments used to be carpeted, but no longer, so I’ve scattered the mats I brought with me and the additional mats I bought about two weeks ago. There are two 4 x 6 throw rugs here as well. But Scout, back in her pacing, stressed mode last night, kept going to the parts of the floor that weren’t covered, where she would slip and fall.

I ended up keeping her in the carpeted bedroom with me all night. She wasn’t allowed to roam as she usually does. Today? Rehearsal and then another trip to Target to look for more mats. What the heck I’m going to do with all of them when I’m out of here remains a mystery, but I have to make it as safe as I can for my girl.

Anyway, we’re in. I think other pets have been in this space. There might have been a cat, as I’ve seen a few white hairs and they are not Scout’s. I’m allergic to cats. Scout is obsessed by cats. The apartment had been cleaned, of course, but I did some additional vacuuming. Hopefully, Scout will begin to relax a bit today. Fingers crossed.

I already have more gray hairs than I did when I came to Hartford a little over two weeks ago.

I’ve already made some changes in the apartment, which I will take photos of later, but here’s some photos I took yesterday afternoon:

tues-apt3

You remember the kitchen layout, right? This is the same layout as my previous apartment, only flipped. I’ve since switched out that task lamp (which I brought with me, I’ve learned there are never enough lights here) with the one in the bedroom, also brought from home. The flowers are still going strong after buying them two weeks ago at Trader Joe’s. By the way, that’s a Keurig up there on the fridge. I may…someday…try it. But the three little coffees that management left are flavored coffees and I’m not a real fan.

tues-apt2

Dining area. Natural finds on the table, an oak leaf and a pine cone. Scout’s vintage cream colored quilt is now on the floor beneath the table, functioning as a rug. Would I like to see a lovely length of laminate floor instead? Yes. But she keeps going back there and slipping, so quilt as rug it is. I’ll take a picture at some point.

tues-apt4

Why these sinks are so small is another mystery. Darko, the Artistic Director and the Director of Hamlet, was talking about them the other day. He can’t figure out why they are so small. None of us can.

Love the pendant lights and the tall windows.

tues-apt1

The bedroom is tinier than last year’s and the door is right by the bed, which is annoying. Ah well. It has a nice walk in closet and a dresser with lots of drawers and there’s room for Scout to stretch out and move around during the night. That’s good. My back is adjusting yet again to another mattress, but bless company management’s heart, I asked for the mattress I had last year and they tracked it to this apartment. Unfortunately, the apartment I had last year (and one I truly loved) has been made into a smoking apartment. Yuck. And somehow along the way, the mattress moved down three floors to this apartment. So here I am. I’m grateful, because I know I can handle this mattress and once I get used to it, I’ll be okay. But I’m a little sore this morning.

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My cluttered desk, which I’ve since moved over to the left. And a bowl of miso soup.

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I hung the quilt I made several years ago. You’ll notice the sofa is purple…it’s like they were made for each other. That quilt on the floor is now opened up and under the dining room table. I asked for permission before I hung the quilt because the walls looked freshly painted. I didn’t want to do anything without checking it out first. But Samantha (the company manager) said it was fine. I do like seeing it there.

tues-apt6

My girl, exhausted.

More on the adventures of Scout and Claudia tomorrow. In the meantime, I have to write up my notes from Sunday’s run-through and get ready for rehearsal.

Happy Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: decorating, On The Road, Scout 48 Comments

Clarifying Thoughts in my Cold-Ridden Brain on a Saturday

September 27, 2014 at 8:08 am by Claudia

That little cold/sinus thing became rather a big thing and I’ve been very much under the weather. I even had to miss the last day of table work yesterday. To be perfectly honest, I’d love to stay home today but I just can’t. Since I’m usually suffering from some sinus/allergy thing on a daily basis, when a cold arrives, it hits me smack upside the head and I go down for the count.

As I said on Facebook yesterday, being sick is crappy but being sick when you’re away from home is even crappier. I know that is not the most elegant use of language, but I feel far from elegant. I am grateful for a rather large suite here at the hotel. I think if I was in a small room, I would feel very confined and want to climb the walls, especially because I was room-bound yesterday. I wanted Don to be here and he couldn’t be here. I needed a cuddle.

You understand.

I’m supposed to drive home tomorrow night in order to spend Monday mowing the lawn, etc., but we’ll see about that. Right now, it’s the last thing I want to do.

thistle - fuzzy

A thistle turned silky.

I’ve been pondering something for a while now. I’m just going to say it: I’m really tired of decorating blogs. I find myself reading them less and less. Why is that? This is purely from my particular point of view, of course, and I’m sure many of you feel the exact opposite. And, let me hasten to assure you, I still read the blogs of my blogging friends – I don’t count them in this equation.

But in general? I’m over them.

Now, I’ve loved decorating from my childhood days of wallpapering my Barbie case to the present. I’ve spent who-knows-how-many dollars on decorating magazines over the course of my lifetime. I love to see unique and striking rooms. And I like decorating my little cottage. I’m a nester, for sure. So, it’s not as if I’m a person who just doesn’t care about that sort of thing.

I used to love reading them. But, there is such a glut of decorating/diy blogs now – so, so many that it makes my head spin. And quite frankly, there aren’t a whole lot of new ideas out there, just variations on the same theme. To be fair, I suppose that’s the way it is with most things, not just decorating.

Is this just a phase I’m in? Maybe. I do tend to do things in phases; for example, crochet. How many scarves and throws did I crochet? Over a hundred. And I haven’t picked up a crochet hook in about a year. Been there, done that. So, you see, I do tend to be that way about things.

But, further examination brings me to the realization that there is just too much out there in this virtual world. Too many decorating blogs, too many photos on Pinterest, too many faux animal heads, too many vignettes, too many, too many. I suppose I can be included in that: too many garden and flower photos. Maybe even too many decorating photos, though I haven’t really posted anything of that nature for a while now. I mean, you’ve seen my house. If something changes, I’ll share it with you, but in the meantime, nothing’s new. You may get a shot of the living room every once in a while, but that’s about it.

Your response to this might well be: “Well, Claudia, if you’re tired of all that, don’t visit those blogs. You have control over where you go on the Internet.”

And you’re right. I do have control and I haven’t been clicking on those sites lately. I’ve stayed away. I’d much rather read about a good book or a social issue or see someone blog from the heart or, if we are talking about decorating, see a room that has been decorated in such a purely individual and quirky way that it doesn’t look like anything else I’m seeing on the Web. That takes some digging, of course, but to me, it’s worth it.

Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I get bored too easily. Maybe writing the book blog has sent me in a new direction, has solidified what I am truly interested in. I’m not sure.

Anyway, when I’m wrestling with some realization, I generally try to put it in words in this online journal of mine. The process of writing about it always helps me come to terms with whatever change is on my particular horizon.

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

 

Filed Under: blogging, decorating, life, On The Road 50 Comments

A ‘No Gourd’ Zone

September 15, 2014 at 8:21 am by Claudia

water drops 2

Last night, the temperatures dropped – it may have been the coldest night in the last few months. Leaves are scattered around the property. Autumn is definitely on its way…but no, it is not here yet. I have no desire to rush headlong into a new season before it actually starts. Yesterday was quite warm during the daylight hours. When Autumn officially arrives in a week or so, I will greet it with a smile. But not until then.

I am not a seasonal decorator. I’m not counting Christmas, of course, but even then, my decorations have been winnowed down in the last few years to a group of very special items that we love. Let’s face it: there is a lot to look at in my cottage. China and pottery is everywhere, favorite prints and paintings are on the walls, there’s always lots of color, books are everywhere. I’ve written about this before in a post called Confession: I Don’t Decorate for the Seasons. And it still holds true.

Why? Well, it could be because we live in a part of the country that has four distinct seasons, each of them glorious. I can look out my window or sit on my porch and see nature’s seasonal decorations. And who could ever top that?

But even when I lived in San Diego, vastly different than the Northeast, I didn’t decorate for the seasons. I might have used some indian corn at some point during my eight years there and we carved a pumpkin or two around Halloween. Those were the days when we had trick or treaters, so we did it for them.

water drops 1

This cottage seems to adapt to the seasons quite well on its own. In the spring and summer, our many windows provide lots of light and give us peeks at trees and flowers and butterflies and birds. In the fall, the light changes and the cottage seems cozier, though I haven’t done anything specific to honor the seasonal change. Lamps are turned on a bit earlier. The throws that are always (in any season) in a basket in the den are used more frequently. But I don’t decorate with them. I see the glorious colors of the changing leaves right outside my windows. In the winter, as the light changes yet again and is reflected off the snow, the cottage becomes even cozier- a haven from winter’s cold and falling snow.

But I don’t do any of that. The cottage itself morphs and adapts and nature’s splendors are right outside our doors – always on view.

I also must confess that I have an aversion to tchotchkes scattered around the house with the words Autumn or Fall or Spring! or whatever on them. Likewise ‘Snow!’ I avoid the seasonal displays and decorations at stores like Michael’s like the plague. Definitely not my thing. I’ve never been able to figure out why I need some words or decorations to tell me what season it is.

Oh, I know. I’m most likely the odd one out here. I understand. I know I often march to a different drummer.

orangey zinnia

Ah…. see? Mother Nature designed this zinnia and its autumnal colors are perfect for this time of year. I take no credit. I’ll soon be seeing these colors in the leaves as they turn. I’d rather look at this ‘decoration’ than anything I could display in my house.

(By the way, Don, this is for you. More zinnia pictures are coming your way.)

Also, the thought of having to seasonally decorate my home makes me want to take a nap. I’m betting, however, that a lot of you love to do just that. And more power to you!

Just don’t stop by expecting to see gourds and pumpkins and indian corn and the word, ‘Autumn,’ everywhere.

You’ll be disappointed.

(New post on Just Let Me Finish This Page: “On Not Wanting a Book to End.” Please stop by.

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: autumn, decorating, Just Let Me Finish This Page 33 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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