Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Chatty On A Friday

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cupboarc

• Some unwelcome snow requires a cheery addition to the kitchen. I made a garland to hang on the cupboard. (I have the same garland in my shop.) I think I will make some more and change out the colors according to my whim of the moment. Right now, as I write this, the morning sun is shining on the cupboard and it’s as if a spotlight has been aimed right at the garland. Ahhhh.

• ‘Chatty’ reminds me of a doll from my childhood – Chatty Cathy. Remember her? I never owned a Chatty Cathy, but I had friends who did. It was a kick pulling that string and hearing her talk. Did any of you own one?

• Scout thanks you for all your kind comments on her post. She knew you would understand. At the moment, she’s in the tunnel having her ‘I just got up after a long night’s sleep, went outside to take care of business and now I’m sleepy’ morning nap. Writing a blog post leaves her physically and emotionally spent.

• Don thanks you for your kind words, too. We managed to fax all the necessary paperwork yesterday – not easy with our slightly wonky fax machine. But it’s done and now he’s waiting for the script to arrive. Since this is for American Experience, the script will be part narration, part documentary, part re-enactment. We’ve seen a photo of the man Don is portraying and he looks a lot like him. The producers must have loved seeing Don walk in the door for his audition!

Yes, I wish I could tag along. But, as you know, we freelance and to say our budget is tight would be a huge understatement. A round-trip flight to Prague? No. Have to pay the mortgage. It’s okay. I’m so excited for Don that it doesn’t matter.

• Blogkeeping: I wrote about the demise of Google Reader last week. I set up Google Reader quite a long time ago but I didn’t really use it. I tend to follow blogs in a variety of ways. I have my blog roll, which can be accessed in the menu under my header. I also bookmark lots of different blogs. There’s the blog update through Google Friend Connect (Blogs I’m Following) that can be accessed when I sign into Blogger. And then there are the blogs I discover through other bloggers’ blog rolls. Yikes. It works for me.

So, a couple of things: The blogs that you follow through Google Friend Connect are different from those you follow in Google Reader, though you can also opt to read them via Reader. I don’t know what plans Google has for GFC. As far as I know, they haven’t announced any plans to discontinue it. So don’t panic about that. If I find out differently, I’ll let you know.

I have never really liked Google Reader except as a way to see what blogs have recently posted – that’s why I hardly ever used it. For me, the blog reading experience is about seeing the whole blog. I’m a very visual person. I want to see the design, the header, the sidebar. Most bloggers work very hard to create the look of their blog and I want to honor that. Also, as I have said before, if a blogger depends on ad income, she will need me to click on her blog directly – not through a reader. And then there are stats – how many visitors, etc. Visiting a blog directly can matter a great deal to that blogger.

It’s the same reason I don’t subscribe to blogs via email subscriptions. To me, a post loses all its life when it’s transformed to an email. But, that’s just what works for me. I know that many of you subscribe to this blog via an email subscription or a reader and I’m grateful that you do! I know that lots of you prefer the convenience of those options. And it’s important to offer those options to our readers, as everyone has their own particular preference as to blog reading. We’re all busy and a reader can be a convenient way to get all the updates from your favorite blogs. The same for emails.

There are other RSS Readers out there that are ready and willing to help you transfer your Google Reader feed. I remembered this week that I had set up an account at Bloglovin several months ago and then promptly forgot about it. I decided to see if I could transfer my Google Reader feed easily to Bloglovin. Short answer: yes. It couldn’t be easier. Bloglovin does it for you. You get this message:

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Basically you click on import reader and it’s done. What I like about Bloglovin is that the interface is very user friendly and when you click on a particular post, you get the whole blog, design and all. Plus, if you are interested in discovering new blogs, you can search in a particular category.

I’ve added a Follow This Blog with Bloglovin widget to my sidebar, so if you are interested, click away!

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Ah. More egg cups. More bunny rabbits.

Left: A cute little bunny peeking around the corner of an egg house.

Center: Another bunny hanging around outside of his little house.

Right: One of my favorite bunny rabbits – because she reminds me of Scout. Same huge pink ears, same facial expression. She’s my Scoutie Egg Cup.

More to come.

Happy Friday.

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A Message from Scout

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scout&foot

I love my parents, but they can get real irritating.

I get up in the morning and Mom lets me out. Then when she’s finished with whatever it is she’s doing in the kitchen – she keeps saying the word coffee – she goes into the den and sits in her ‘blogging chair.’ Then I go in the tunnel and go back to sleep.

And she sits there with that darn thing she stares at. She calls it a laptop.

Then, after what seems like forever, Dad gets up. He always gets some water to drink.

Does he come in the den and sit, which would make things easier for me?

No.

He sits in the yellow chair in the living room.

So I have to go up the two stairs and be with him. I rarely go in his tunnel (I like my mom’s best) so I jump up on the sofa.

He pulls out his laptop. Yes, he’s got one, too.

What is it with these things? They remind me of that other thing I see them stare at when it’s night.

What do they see?

I don’t like having to split my time between my parents. It’s exhausting.

Then I have to get off the sofa, walk over to the french doors and stare at my mother until she feels my eyes boring a hole into her. Then she gets up and gets me breakfast.

After all of that, I’m really tired and I have to decide whether to hang out with Dad or Mom.

I go back and forth.

And so it goes on throughout the day.

My favorite time is when I stare at Mom until she comes into the kitchen and cuts up some carrots for me.  This is usually around 5 o’clock.

And then I stare at my Dad and even have to bark at him a few times until he finally starts dinner. (Why do I have to do this every day? Doesn’t he understand my schedule?) Then I watch every move he makes and sometimes food falls to the floor and I am happy.

Then comes the night, when we all sit together on the den sofa. Mom always complains that I take up ¾ of it and she and Dad are squished together at one end.

Oh don’t get me wrong. Sometimes they can be fun. Mom chases me around the room. She will ‘pounce’ with me. And they can both get real silly. They sing a lot and sometimes we all dance around the room. And Mom did take me on that adventure to Hartford.

But it’s hard running this house. I have to herd them a lot. I am responsible for them and I have to make sure I spend time with them both. And what do I do when Mom goes upstairs to her studio? I don’t go up the stairs anymore, so I have to plant myself at the bottom of the stairs and wait for her. Or I pace. Or I make little whiney noises and she tells me to stop. I keep doing it until she gives up and comes downstairs.

The things I have to do.

By the way, it’s that time of year that I dread – when Mom tells me she’s going to take a picture of me in some bunny ears she has. Again. She seems to get a real kick out of it. And she’ll put that darned picture on her blog. I have no say in the matter.

Yesterday she put one of Dad’s winter hats on me and made Dad look at me. Then they laughed.

They’re nuts.

Since I’ve taken over the blog today, here are some more of Mom’s egg cups:

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She’s moved on to the bunny rabbit egg cups. (I see bunny rabbits outside and I bark at them. They run away.)

Left: a sort of crazy looking bunny rabbit.

Center: Two bunnies holding up an egg. (Mom really loves this one.)

Right: Another little bunny in an orange jacket and blue pants – he’s peeking around the side of the egg.

What’s with all the bunnies?

Nice talking to you again.

P.S. – Mom says to tell you that her post about Fabric Eggs and Egg Cups was featured in BlogHer‘s DIY Section.

Scout

Good News and More Egg Cups

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gloveboxes

A pretty picture for this snowy Wednesday morning. And why not?

Much shoveling yesterday, but made so much easier by the presence of two of us! The snow was heavy and wet. Such a strange day; while we were shoveling, it was sleeting, then raining, then snowing, as if Mother Nature couldn’t quite make up her mind what she wanted falling from the skies.

I rewarded myself with a nice hot cup of hot chocolate.

We’ve had some good news here at the cottage. Don has been cast in an episode of American Experience for PBS. This episode, tentatively titled Murder by Poison, is based on the bestselling book, The Poisoner’s Handbook. It’s a fascinating book that tells the story of two men, Charles Norris (the chief medical examiner of NYC) and Alexander Gettler (a toxicologist) who, in the early twentieth century when murder by poison was the perfect crime and corruption in the coroner’s office was a fact of life, “set the justice system on fire with their trailblazing detective work, triumphing over seemingly unbeatable odds to become the pioneers of forensic chemistry and the gatekeepers of justice.” (From the publishers’s blurb on Amazon.)

Don is playing Charles Norris. And he looks a great deal like him. He’s growing his goatee as we speak. Whoops, Don tells me it’s a Van Dyke.

He’s filming in Prague.

Prague!

Oh my goodness! I’m so thrilled for him. (Can I somehow miniaturize myself so that I can hide in his suitcase? I’d love to see Prague.) He leaves on Easter and is there for about 9 days or so.

Isn’t that exciting news?

Don goes to Prague. I go to Hartford (but not until he gets back). Hmmm. What’s wrong with this picture?

eggcups3

Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry…..

Today’s egg cups:

On the left: a duck holding up an egg and looking a wee bit tired.

Center: One of my favorites (but then again, I have many favorites) a chicken eating seed and a duck who is peeking? hiding? holding up the egg? Whatever, it’s adorable.

Right: A rather elegant goose pulling an egg cart.

Happy Wednesday.

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Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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