Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for Don

A Sweet Surprise

August 3, 2024 at 9:15 am by Claudia

A month or so ago, Don posted a request on our local Facebook pages: did anyone have any old outdoor benches that they wanted to get rid of? He got a lot of responses and proceeded to drive around and gather the useable and sturdy benches. His idea was to have an area in Maple Grove, which is a clearing in our woods, where he and his musician friends could play music.

This is what it looks like now. He’d love to get a couple of benches that look like the one on the right, but for now, the white benches are sturdy, made of wood, and they’ll do. Maple Grove looks out on our neighbor’s fields.

Even more recently, he grabbed the old lawnmower and the hoe and cleaned up the paths. When he was finished he said that he wanted to show me what he’d done, as part of it was a response to a longtime request that I had. There’s another area to the left of Maple Grove, also a path, that is usually overgrown. I have always wanted the path cleared there so that it would open onto our neighbor’s fields and the beautiful view of the hills beyond. He did that, along with widening it.

Here is what he showed me:

Dan, who runs our recycling/transfer station, had seen Don’s post and saved a bench for him that someone dropped off. Don didn’t tell me about it, but he immediately envisioned it as a place for me to sit and meditate and gaze at the view. He brought it home and secretly took it up to the woods.

Isn’t this beautiful? And don’t I have a thoughtful husband?

This view is always lovely – the sun comes up over those hills. And it’s especially beautiful in the autumn.

From the other side.

My Don appreciation post for this week.

I absolutely love this and, needless to say, I absolutely love my husband.

Okay. Back to another heat advisory and temps in the high nineties. I’m almost looking forward to autumn.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Filed Under: Don, woods 36 Comments

Thoughts

July 17, 2024 at 9:12 am by Claudia

The yucky weather continues. Both Don and I feel groggy and take 1 or even 2 naps during the day. Today, we’ll get more thunderstorms in the afternoon and there’s yet another excessive heat advisory. It feels as if I’ve spent most of my summer indoors, which, believe me, is not the way I like it.

We stand inside the house and watch bunnies chasing each other and the groundhog dining on our grass. And there’s a steady stream of birds at the birdbath. I plan ahead as to when to water outside; if it rained the day before, I’ll do it later in the day. If it hasn’t, I’m loading that huge watering can with water at an early hour, then dousing everything that gets a lot of sun and all the pots on the porch.

I’m really tired of this weather trend.

I finished The Year of Magical Thinking  yesterday morning. I found it so moving and brave and beautifully written. Reading it for the first time at this time in my life is hard. It pushed buttons, things I don’t want to linger on, but fear deeply. I think about death a lot. I think about the now very real possibility of losing Don. Or, Don’s real possibility of losing me. Both of us have said many times that we wouldn’t want to go on without the other. I can’t imagine a life without my husband. I know some of you have lost your partner and/or spouse and have already had to face this. I watched my dad cope with the loss of my mother. He tried very hard to stay active and hopeful but it was devastating for him and he died eighteen months later.

There are no answers. It’s just something that preys on my mind. Life and death.

This is a passage I read out loud to Don the other night when we were reading in bed:

Marriage is memory, marriage is time. “She didn’t know the songs” I recall being told a friend of a friend had said after an attempt to repeat the experience. Marriage is not only time: it is also, paradoxically, the denial of time. For forty years I saw myself through John’s eyes. I did not age. This year for the first time since I was twenty-nine, I saw myself through the eyes of others. This year for the first time since I was twenty-nine I realized that my image of myself was of someone significantly younger. – Joan Didion

Boy, did that hit me. For me, it would be since the age of forty-one.

I’m still pondering passages in that book. I’m still and always worrying about loss and the end of life.

It may not be your cup of tea, but my goodness, what a powerful account of love and marriage and loss and identity and survival.

I’m back to Bring Up the Bodies, the second book in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall series. I put it aside when I played catch up with the Daniel Silva spy thrillers. I’m awaiting James Lee Burke’s newest, Clete, from my local library system. It’s been out almost two months and I was #3 in the queue when it finally arrived at our local libraries and I’ve just now reached #1. And that doesn’t mean it’s coming to me this week, so I’m reading what I have and what I’m in the mood for on these hazy, hot and humid days.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: books, Don, reading 26 Comments

Coneflowers and Birthday Boy

June 24, 2024 at 8:18 am by Claudia

Slowly, they’re developing petals and soon there will be lots of coneflowers around here (save for the ones the pesky deer chomped on.)

The weather broke overnight after several thunderstorms. It’s in the 70s today but will be 88 tomorrow. It’s very breezy right now as the heat dome departs our region.

But today, today is my husband’s birthday! Happy Day!

It’s also Little Z’s birthday, who – after this post – can no longer be called “Little.” He’s 13 today. What???? How can that be? We had a communal FaceTime session yesterday to celebrate our boys.

Don is not here today because he’s doing what he loves to do; filming the last episode of the limited series he’s been working on. When he was told he would be filming sometime this week, he secretly hoped it would take place on his birthday. He got his wish. So he got up at 4 am this morning to drive to the filming location in Westchester County. He’ll be tuckered out but happily so. Depending on how long his day goes, we’ll celebrate this evening or tomorrow. We will definitely have to wait to blow out the candles on any sort of cake/cupcake until tomorrow because he has my car today and I can’t go buy anything.

He was supposed to call me when he got there so I could relax and know he made it on time. Did I receive a call? No. So, though I’m almost 100% sure he’s there and in hair and makeup as I write this, I worry a little. He does this often and when it happens I could throttle him. Ah, well. Take a deep breath and remember it’s his birthday today, Claudia.

You know how I feel about him. I’ve said it all before over the past 16 years. He’s simply the best partner/boyfriend/husband/companion/playmate I could have hoped for back in those days when I wasn’t even sure I wanted to marry anyone. He came into my life at the perfect time. He’s the best person I’ve even known. I thank God for him every day.

Happy Birthday, darling Don!

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: Don, flowers, garden 23 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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