Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

  • About MHC
    • Disclosure
  • Dollhouses/Minis
    • Hummingbird Cottage
    • The Studio (Formerly TSP)
    • Dove Cottage
    • The Lake House
    • The Folk Art Dollhouse
    • The Modern Dollhouse
    • Dollhouse Source List, Information and Tutorials
  • On the Road
  • Collecting
    • Roseville Pottery
    • McCoy Pottery
    • Egg Cups
    • Bakelite
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / Archives for deer

The Storm

March 15, 2023 at 9:18 am by Claudia

First of all, yesterday was Pi day, so we had to celebrate:

It was our duty.

Yesterday was an amazing day. The nor’easter hit everyone in this area and to our east. Very, very intense. If you remember, I said that our local weather gurus told us that there was a distinct chance that some of us living in certain areas of the Hudson Valley would be impacted by ‘downslope.’ When you live near higher terrain, downslope can come into play. In this case, the winds came from the NNE and impacting those of us who live near the Schawangunk Mountains (the mountains that we see from our house) and Catskill Mountains (north of us). The rising, moist air hits the mountains and turns dryer on the other side. So, even though people just a bit northeast of us and west of us were getting lots and lots of snow, our snow was light, never really stuck to the ground, at times turned to rain, etc. It kept snowing, but it turned into nothing. The most snow we had was what fell overnight and that was less than an inch. By the afternoon, much of it had melted.

I kept reading about conditions throughout the Hudson Valley and beyond. 11 inches, 16 inches, roads not passable. Here? The roads were wet all day – no snow accumulation. Our local supermarket is about 5 miles to our east. That area got at least 6 inches of snow. Even within our town there were differences. One guy posted a photo of his completely green lawn.

We are so grateful that we don’t have to do any shoveling, or stay in the house and wait until the snow melts. I’m looking out the window now and I can see very little snow and most of that is left over from the previous snowfall. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

By the way, instead of the 6 -18 inches forecasted, we received maybe 1 inch.

Thanks to our weather guys who were spot on. I followed all of the changes in the forecast – and every weather forecast from various sources kept changing over the past two days. It was fascinating. Today, and last night, we have a lot of wind as the storm makes its exit.

Sophie during the storm.

And then, to top it all off, we had a prolonged murmuration of starlings that was magical and beautiful. We’ve had a lot of them lately. Later in the afternoon, I heard a car slowing down on our road, glanced out the front window, and there were 11 deer walking at the bottom of our front lawn. They were trying to figure out how to get to my neighbor’s property. As they crossed over, they headed up their lawn walking next to the fence. (That’s when I counted them.) I alerted Don and we stood in the kitchen as they were now moving toward the back of the property, and we watched them jump, one by one, over the fence to our back forty. Toward the end of the line, there were only two deer yet to jump the fence. One of them stood on his hind legs, moving his front legs – almost like he was ready to fight. After he did this, the other deer jumped over, and then he followed. Was he the head guy in the herd? It seemed like he was the guide or gatekeeper. Again, so fascinating!

Weather, birds, and animals. Couldn’t be better. This is the same group that I saw a few weeks ago. It’s very rare that we see that many deer together. In fact, I’ve never seen that until recently. Heavens, they’re beautiful. I kept telling them that it would soon get greener out there – more food is on the way.

Oh, and we didn’t lose power! So now we have 6 big containers of water that we don’t need.

So there you go. That was our day yesterday.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: birds, deer, snow, storm, winter 28 Comments

Battery and Deer

February 6, 2023 at 9:46 am by Claudia

I don’t think it’s possible to cram anything else into this cabinet, though I did add a silver candlestick which you can’t see because it’s on the left in a corner.

Success! We went outside yesterday around 1 pm with our new jumper cables in hand. After watching a couple of YouTube videos because it had been so long since either of us had jumped a battery ourselves, we carefully attached the clamps. We spent the most time trying to find the recommended ‘unpainted metal’ in my car that we were supposed to use as a ground for the negative clamp. (Drawings in manuals are always hard to figure out. And I mean – ANY manual.) Don started his car, I waited about 5 minutes, then I turned the key and….huzzah! It started right away. Then we took off the clamps and I drove around for about half an hour.

When I returned, I pulled up to the shed next to Don’s car (which is more protected from the wind – more on that later) and I saw a few deer up in our woods, so I stayed in the car. Wait a minute…I kept seeing more deer…there were 13 or 14 of them! I’ve never seen that many deer on our property at the same time. Maybe 6 at most. I waited and then I couldn’t wait any longer so I exited the car as quietly as possible but they heard me, of course. I went in the house, alerted Don, and we looked out the window and were able to see all of them run off in a long line, flicking their white tails.

It was glorious to see.

Anyway, Don said he read a lot about frozen/cold batteries and that’s what happened to mine. The wind on Friday was so extreme and it came from different directions throughout the day. The wind chill was way below zero. My car, parked near the funky patio, was unprotected. Don’s was parked facing the shed. So his battery was fine, but mine froze.

Last night, I went out to make sure I had completely shut the door of the car when I was trying to quietly exit earlier in the day. I had, but I took the opportunity to start it – just to check that all was well – and it started immediately.

Weather: no snow on the horizon except the occasional snow shower (that means nothing sticks or stays) at least through February 20th. I don’t see any snow on the mountains either – at least the portion of the ridge that I see out my front window.

I cannot remember this happening before. It’s a bit alarming.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: china and pottery, deer 24 Comments

Butterflies and Fawns

July 29, 2022 at 9:04 am by Claudia

Two eastern swallowtails. There were three – I saw them from the bedroom window – but by the time I got downstairs, one had departed. It’s rare for me to see more than one at a time.

Yesterday, I saw a monarch laying eggs on the milkweed. I tried to get a picture, but that butterfly was on a mission and moved very quickly.

I also saw another fawn outside the kitchen window. He/she was alone, so I gently urged him to go back to the woods, not down toward the street. The mission was successful until I went out on the porch about ten minutes later and saw him running across my neighbors front yard (very near the street) toward their pond. Maybe Mom was over there?

The humidity is back and it’s so oppressive. I have to limit my time outside because a) I hate humidity, it makes my brain feel foggy, and b) I’m allergic to molds and mildew and humidity is not my friend. I must admit, I’ve always hated humid weather. I could never live in the South.

Don asked me to send him a copy of the butterfly and bee that I posted yesterday. Later in the day, he ran some errands. When he got home, he gave me this:

I love seeing it enlarged and frame. Love you, husband.

Also yesterday; I couldn’t stand my long hair one more minute, so I enlisted Don in z “I HAVE to have a haircut!” venture. We took at least 4 inches off! Heaven.

Meredith still feels absolutely miserable and she was running a fever yesterday. Little Z is getting more computer and tv time than he is usually allowed. Mom needs rest.

Okay, my friends.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Filed Under: butterfly, deer 27 Comments

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 11
  • Next Page »
  • Email
  • Instagram

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.

Thanks for stopping by.

Searching?

The Dogs

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.

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

All Content © 2008 - 2025 Mockingbird Hill Cottage · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Reject
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT