Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Friday Free Associating

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Some seemingly random thoughts on a Friday morning:

1. I’m not feeling all that well this morning. Not sure what’s going on, but I feel a bit off. I’m going to turn it all around with positive thoughts.

2. Don’s show opened last night. Here he is as Alfred Doolittle in Pygmalion:

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Photo by Henry DiRocco/The Old Globe Theatre

He’s perfect for this role. The audiences love him. If you’re in the San Diego area, go see him! Here’s a link to the write-up in Playbill and to the Old Globe’s website. Robert Sean Leonard is playing Henry Higgins.

3. I’ve watched both Argo and Silver Linings Playbook and really liked them both. Argo is incredible – I was on the edge of my seat. Ben Affleck’s direction is excellent and the acting is wonderful. Silver Linings Playbook is delightful: quirky, funny and heart-warming. I was thinking about it this morning when I woke up – that’s always a good sign. I’m not usually a big Bradley Cooper fan, but he is absolutely terrific in this movie. Yesterday, Les Miserables arrived in the mail! I have to say, this is sort of fun – a definite perk of my husband’s long membership in the Screen Actors Guild.

4. My dissatisfaction with Barnes & Noble continues. I dropped in there the other day to look for a copy of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, a hugely popular, bestselling mystery/thriller. Not one copy anywhere in the store. When I say this is a bestseller, I mean it is currently a bestseller. Not in the past, now. I must have circled that store 5 times thinking I might have missed the display. Oh, let me correct that. I circled the small section of the store that is devoted to actual books. Nope. Nothing. She has written other books. I looked for them. Nothing.

I found it at Target.

What can I say?

5. My good friend, James Latus, is a well-known Stage Manager both on and off Broadway. I’ve been fortunate to work with him on two different occasions. Besides being the nicest guy in the world, he is an incredible baker (and cook) who regularly lavishes his cast and crew with scrumptious treats. He’s just started a new blog, The Backstage Baker, and there are already some great recipes there. Stop by and visit!

Okay. That’s all for now. I’ll be back at 8:00 EST for A Favorite Thing.

Happy Friday.

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Cheerfully Creative Clutter

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I seem to have taken over the den with all my paraphernalia . (My husband might say that I tend to do this will all the spaces in our home.) From my station in my blogging chair, this is what I see (no editing or staging, of course):

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The coffee table: A basket full of stacks of books, papers, a Scrabble game. A catalog from a company selling miniatures. A catalog from Garnet Hill. The remote. 2 DVDs. (This week we’ve received preview copies of two movies, Silver Linings Playbook and Argo through the Screen Actors Guild and yesterday we received 3 more that are available for download on iTunes. I think I’m watching some movies this week!) My eyeglass case. My agenda. Quilting supplies: thread, air erasable fabric marking pens, a ruler, an old dog food measuring cup that I use to trace circles on my quilt.

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The desk: the usual things plus two books, an obsession scarf due to be mailed out tomorrow, a quilting hoop and The Quilt. Handquilting a queen-size quilt is an awkward operation. I constantly have to move layers of fabric around in order to get the hoop readjusted and find a way to get my left hand under the quilt. It’s big. It’s bulky. I’ve quilted 3 rows of blocks so far. Yesterday, Scout and I took the day off. We were exhausted. I sat in the chair hand quilting. In the evening, I moved to the sofa. We watched old westerns all afternoon: Wagon Train, Bonanza, The Big Valley, The Rifleman. And then I watched Ironman in the evening. I’d never seen if before. I like Robert Downey, Jr. He’s never boring.

den

And in this corner: yarn and lots of it. You see what I mean? All sorts of things. Add to that all the stuff on my chairside table and ottoman. I’ll spare you that.

As I looked at it yesterday, I liked seeing the cheerful clutter. Then I wondered what Don would think if he was also trying to exist in this space. The truth is that he would be just fine with it. He always says that he likes seeing creative clutter. He thinks it makes a home come alive.

I think he’s right.

I’m off to visit all the links from yesterday’s post.

And I’m linking this post to Elaine’s Sunny Simple Sundays.

Happy Sunday.

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Holiday Nesting

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afghan

I needed something to keep myself occupied over the holidays. With a lot of time to fill, I pulled out the afghan/throw I started crocheting….well…a long time ago. It was put to the side when I started crocheting all the Obsession Scarves. I’ve spent an enjoyable few days plopped on the sofa in the den, watching The Bishop’s Wife and Meet Me in St. Louis and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (that movie breaks my heart, every time) and old episodes of The Rifleman and The Big Valley.

This is a variation of the ripple stitch in seemingly random colors ( but not really). It’s a scrappy throw for the den. Because it’s so big, I usually leave it on the sofa between bouts of crocheting.

Of course, my little nester had her eye on it and it wasn’t long before I saw this:

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and this:

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That girl sheds like crazy and everything in me wanted to move her back down to the other end of the sofa. But it was Christmas and, let’s face it, her hair is going to get on it anyway, especially if we use it in the den.

Besides, she’s awfully cute.

I’m glad Christmas is over. It was a long day, punctuated by a couple of Skype calls with Don and phone calls with my sister and dad. I got to say Merry Christmas to my mom, which I’m grateful for. Any sort of phone conversation with her nowadays is very rare and very short – she is not doing well.

I did make myself a special vegetarian holiday dinner: mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, steamed asparagus, some Quorn (which is a chicken substitute – no meat for me), jellied cranberry slices ( I love them) and my grandmother’s Cloud Biscuits:

biscuits

Ummm mmmm good.

I’m off to run a few errands as we have a winter weather watch up for this afternoon and tomorrow. Yuck. I want it to be out of here by the time I have to drive to Hartford on Friday.

Thank you for all the holiday greetings!

Happy Wednesday.

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Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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