Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Small House Attic Bedroom, A Bath & A Prague Update

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bedroom

When I speak about small house decorating and the lack of wall space we deal with here at the cottage, I’m not kidding! The downstairs has lots of windows, which we love, and not so much wall space. The upstairs? Well, you can see from this photo that the roof lines are sharply angled. It makes for a charming attic bedroom look; but oh, how I’d love to have a bit more vertical space. Same for the other bedroom/office/husband’s studio. Those windows are on the petite side, too. If I had a dime for every time I’ve bumped my head on the ceiling, I’d be a wealthy woman!

chineseprints

I added these two Chinese watercolors to Don’s side of the bed. They’re his. He bought them when we were courting and he was staying in the actor apartments at the Globe. As you know from my posts while staying there, those apartments desperately need a personal touch.

I see my hand in most of the decorating around here. When we first moved in together, I was the one with all the stuff. Don had been on the road as an actor for years and had very few possessions. So, after painting all the bedroom furniture while he was away with his blessing, I also wanted to make sure he had something that was his here. The watercolors, which are on rice paper, are truly beautiful.

In other news, someone had a bath yesterday:

wetscout

Scout: Again with the iPhone? I’m like a drowned rat here!

She sure smells better. We were long overdue and since a bath requires a forty minute round trip drive to the Dog Wash and warmer-than-winter-temps, it took a while before we could successfully complete this task. I emailed this photo to Don, who is pleased to know his daughter will be sweeter smelling when he arrives home next week.

Speaking of Don: On Wednesday he did some more sight seeing and ventured to the grounds of the Castle. It was very cold and windy but he was determined. Before he left, he told me he would love to be able to perform one of his songs at a coffee house or open mic night in Prague. As he was exploring the grounds of the castle, he saw a young woman and her son and the woman was carrying a guitar on her back. Fortunately, she knew a bit of English and they spoke about music and guitars and it turned out she was to be the host that evening for an open mic night! Serendipity. So Don went there, borrowed her guitar and sang one of his songs. The other performers all sang in Czech – Don was the only one singing in English. He said the audience was really attentive and wonderful. Now he can say he’s performed in Prague!

Yesterday, he filmed all day and he will again today. He loves every minute of it. They are filming on the grounds of an old hospital which is no longer in use and there is no heat. The wardrobe staff hurries over with a big old down coat for him to wear in between shots. He’s having a great time.

I’m on Act 3 (out of 5) of Twelfth Night. The hand quilting on the bed quilt top is nearly done! Two more evenings should do it.

Happy Friday.

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The Problem With Doing Paperwork In The Kitchen

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My kitchen table is that catch-all we all have: a place for incoming mail, things to be sorted and, occasionally, the place I spread out and work. Yesterday, I was all set to start work on Twelfth Night, so I headed to the kitchen. Along the way, I noticed some cobwebs way up on top of the pantry, where we have an old bread tin and a basket on display.

Well, that simply had to be dealt with before I could start work on the text. So I grabbed my long handled duster and eliminated the cobwebs. The next thing I knew, I was climbing up on my stool, taking everything down, cleaning the top of the pantry, and washing the bread tin.

pantry

But what about all the pottery that is displayed on top of the kitchen cabinets? You know, those places that are out of reach and somehow never get dusted?

Well. Now that I was aware of just how dusty things could get up there, I had to take action.

Yep. I was soon climbing on counters, retrieving my pottery, vacuuming the tops of the cupboards, washing the pottery.

washingpottery1

While the pottery was drying, I sat down and started Act 1 of Twelfth Night. About halfway in, I returned the pottery you see in this photo to its proper home and grabbed some more from the other set of cabinets. Same drill.

washingpottery2

I continued my work on Act 1 in the middle of my own particular stage setting consisting of vacuum, attachments, stool, duster, table filled with books and paper, pottery drying in the dish rack and Scout sleeping beside me.

That’s what happens when you try to do paperwork in the kitchen. Too many distractions.

Today I tackle the top of the hutch. And Act 2. But first, I have to run some errands.

Don’s having a great time. Yesterday, he had costume fittings and got his hair cut. It’s short. The look reminds me of old photos of George Orwell. He also met the rest of the cast and had lunch with the director. And explored Prague. He thought he would start filming today, but he has the day off. So he’ll have at least one more full day to sightsee. Lucky Don! Then it’s an early call on Thursday and filming all day.

Skype is wonderful. We can see each other and chat a couple of times a day and I love that. He is having a great adventure and I love that, too.

Happy Wednesday.

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Work to Do, Prague and What Makes Me Laugh

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balljars

The sun is pouring through the kitchen windows this morning. I had to get a shot of the Ball jars – so pretty. If you look closely, you can see the reflection of my flannel pajamas. Though it’s sunny and slowly getting warmer, it’s not quite warm enough yet to switch from my flannels.

It’s quite cold in Prague and there was a bit of snow falling yesterday as Don arrived. He is absolutely charmed by that beautiful city. He walked around in his jet-lagged state and took scads on pictures on his iPhone. We’ve Skyped a couple of times and I saw the view from his hotel window. Gorgeous. You can see a castle in the distance. Here’s hoping he got a good night’s sleep last night. Today he has costume fittings and will most likely be getting a hair cut. The man he is portraying had short hair. It’s been a long time since Don had short hair. It will take some getting used to!

coffeetable

Once again, the minute Don leaves, the piles on the coffee table in the den seem to magically increase. Reading material, crochet, the remote, quilting supplies. I spent the evening last night hand quilting. I want to get that done while Don is gone, so that I can maybe bind it before I leave. Maybe. I might be biting off more than I can chew. Because I also have to clean up the garden (too cold right now) and do this:

shakes

That’s on the docket for this morning. I have the finished edited version of the text and now I start the slow process of checking pronunciations, meter, stress, and word meanings. It’s a slow process on any Shakespeare text, but because I’ve coached Twelfth Night so many times, I think it will go a bit more quickly.

We’ve been watching episodes of Frazier at night on the Hallmark channel. Such smart, witty writing – the kind you have to keep up with, the kind that makes you laugh out loud. It’s such a contrast to most of the stuff on television these days. Except for maybe Modern Family, I rarely laugh out loud when I’m watching something on the tube. And even that show (written and produced by one of my former students – yay, Abe!) doesn’t make me laugh like Frazier does. When you have a combination of smart writing and wonderful actors, you get that increasingly rare phenomenon: a truly funny and witty show. Don and Kelsey Grammer have worked together a few times – onstage and on Cheers and Frazier. Cheers: that’s another show that I can watch in reruns and laugh out loud. It’s timeless, as is Frazier. Anyway, I don’t want to go on and on. I just don’t like writing that is dumbed down.

Okay. Have to get a move on here at the cottage. There’s work to be done! How are you spending your day?

Happy Tuesday.

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Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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