Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for dogs

Rearranging

August 27, 2016 at 10:37 am by Claudia

The roller coaster ride that is a lot of sleep, then too little sleep, then a lot of sleep continues. I have to follow the same advice I give to Don: Some times it just happens. You’ll get through the day.

It’s true.

So, it was very hot and humid yesterday which made me stay in the house except for the usual watering of plants. I sat in our newish chair in the living room and read. Occasionally my eyes would wander over to the portraits of Scout and Riley on the wall.

And then to the Parrish.

And then back again to the dogs.

So I finally got up and tried the canvas of Riley and Scout in place of the Parrish.

8-27 dogwall

Much better. It belongs there. When Winston arrives, the wall will be complete.

So…where to put the Parrish? I wandered around the house, trying it here and there. We have limited wall space, especially upstairs where we have attic rooms with slanted walls. I stood in the studio/office and thought about it. I left the Parrish propped up against the work table. I walked away.

Eventually, I tried this:

8-27 parrish

I had the calendar hanging here, but I moved it over to the far left side of the shelf, after trying the Parrish there first. I preferred it here, because just to its right is this:

8-27 2parrishes2

I may tweak the placement of The Dinky Bird – maybe a bit closer to Pierrot’s Serenade.

When I first created this little space, I was all for keeping it clean. By that, I mean relatively free of clutter on the desk and clutter on the walls.

I failed miserably.

I have stuff. Let’s face it. I collect egg cups, I collect mini pottery (over on the wall to the left of the desk,) I have a bulletin board full of memories and photos, I have all the clutter that goes with building  miniatures, and then I have the Parrishes. And the pottery. And…you get the picture.

But I thought about the Maxfield Parrish and how much I love his work and how long I’ve waited and waited to be able to purchase one or two of them and I thought: why not have them both on the wall that faces me when I’m working at my desk? I can lift my gaze from the keyboard and gaze upon the glorious colors and smile. And I do.

8-27 newchair

One other thing. I mentioned this on Instagram a few weeks back, but I don’t think I shared it here. We found this chair at our new favorite antique shop for $25.00. It’s a mid-century bentwood chair and, gosh, is it comfortable. It’s been added to our mismatched set of chairs that surround the kitchen table. It’s in great shape. I love it.

In case you’re interested: the Matryoshka doll/tea ball and tin of Anastasia tea were given to me by the producers of Anastasia, as was the round medallion on top of the tea tin. The tiny Delft shoes were a gift from Susi in Amsterdam, the shadow box contains a brooch give to me by my late brother, and the tin over on the work table was an antique shop find.

Happy Saturday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: decorating, dogs, Maxfield Parrish, office, studio 24 Comments

A Canvas and a Frame

August 25, 2016 at 9:25 am by Claudia

A tad sleep deprived.

Don has been having trouble sleeping. So I have trouble sleeping. Sometimes I have to leave the cushy comfort of our bed and sleep on the sofa in the den. Which is not so cushy.

So I’m dealing with the usual irritated eyes and slightly-on-edge feeling I get when I’m really, really tired.

This, too, shall pass.

8-25 rudbeckia

The rudbeckia is still going strong throughout the garden. That splash of bright yellow goes a long way when you’re dealing with an end-of-August garden. So cheery!

I ordered a canvas of my favorite photo of Riley and Scout and it arrived yesterday:

8-25 rileyandscout

I’m so pleased with the way it turned out. (It’s actually much more striking than this photo would indicate.) When Don came in the door and saw it, he got pretty emotional. As did I. We’re not sure yet where we’re going to hang it, but we’ll figure it out.

As Don said, they’re communicating in a way that only they can communicate. It’s private.

And Mr. Riley got framed.

8-25 rileyframed

We might wait to hang this until we get the watercolor of Winston. Then we’ll figure it all out.

I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see these portraits on our living room wall (which is now becoming a sort of second gallery wall, in addition to the one by the stairs.) We feel like our kids are back home with us. It helps to ease the pain and sense of loss that we’ve been feeling. Shanna, you have blessed us. Thank you.

I’m such a goon! Those blue flowers in the Memorial Garden are Forget-me-nots, not Four o’clocks!

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: dogs, Don, Riley, Scout 24 Comments

Portraits

August 23, 2016 at 10:17 am by Claudia

Simply this:

8-23 Rileywatercolor

When this arrived in the mail yesterday, we were both home. We stood together, opened the box, pulled this out, and gasped. Then I cried. Then we found ourselves touching it, almost as if we could pet Riley and have him come back to life. We miss him so.

Isn’t this incredible? Shanna has captured the beauty of our boy. Those ears that I loved to stroke. His beautiful coloring. And his incredibly soft and gentle brown eyes. I could lose myself in those eyes and often did.

Did you notice the bit of butterfly bush and the Eastern Swallowtail butterfly in the upper left hand corner? Heavenly.

8-23 Rileywatercolor2

We may not have human children, but we are  parents. We were/are the mother and father of our three beloved dogs and there’s not a day that goes by where we don’t mourn their loss. Riley, who was rescued from the streets of Paterson, NJ. Who had never had any love or socialization. Who was difficult and scared for a long time but so worth it. Who had heartworm, but survived when we caught it in time. Scoutie, who was rescued from the desert in California, with a tail that had been docked for some reason. Lively and loving from the moment we met her. Winston, who had been given up by his family because of allergies and who was scared and bewildered when we found him at the Humane Society in San Diego. Who was our first child.

As I sit here at my desk and write about them, I find myself crying once again. Rescuing – for us – is the only way to go. Giving a home and a second chance to a dog is rewarding beyond measure.

Shanna has been most generous in these gifts, these treasured portraits of our babies. But now I’m going to pay her: I’ve commissioned a portrait of our boy Winston, because even though we lost him about 14 years ago, before my blogging days and a fancy camera, I think I can find enough photos of him for Shanna to create his portrait, as well. Riley and Scout lived fairly long lives; Winston was taken from us at the age of eight, when we discovered he had a tumor on his heart. He was gone far too soon and I fell into a depression after we lost him. We had Scout, thank goodness, but oh how I mourned him. And I didn’t yet have the outlet of a blog where I could write about him.

All of these portraits will be on our living room wall.

I’m not sure where I will put this photograph, but I just had it enlarged. It used to be the wallpaper on my phone:

8-23 scoutiewithglasses

Scoutie wearing my glasses.

I’m off to Michael’s today to buy some frames.

Shanna, I can never, never thank you enough. I dreamed of finding someone to paint our children, and you were the answer to my prayer. Bless you.

Happy Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: dogs, Riley, Scout, Winston 56 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

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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Lambs Like to Party

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