Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Sunday Thoughts

September 6, 2015 at 8:35 am by Claudia

It’s a sweetly quiet Sunday morning here in our neck of the woods. The occasional car goes by, Scout is snoring at my feet, Don is in the other room on his laptop, the air is blessedly cool and I’m on my second cup of Peet’s French Roast. I’m very disciplined about my coffee. Only two mugs a day and no coffee after 12 noon. If I drink any coffee after 12, it can be disaster when it comes time to go to sleep.

9-6 goldenrod

We’ve been watching Frasier  on Netflix. Much of the time there’s nothing on the tube that we want to watch on any given night. We’ve taken to watching all the episodes of Frasier  in order. That would be 11 seasons worth. We’re on Season Two.

It’s from a bygone era, you know: fiercely intelligent writing and acting, writing which never sinks to a lower common denominator, instead, the writers assume we’re smart and we’ll get it – the references, the repartee, the humor. And we do. It’s so well cast and the actors’ work is superb. Don worked on that show a couple of times and has worked with Kelsey Grammer both on screen and on the stage. Kelsey used a lot of his fellow stage actors on Frasier.

Anyway, we’ve been talking about Frasier  a lot lately. We mourn the lack of smartly written comedies nowadays. There are a few, but not like there used to be. A pox on all reality television! I am so sick of it permeating the airwaves. The vast majority of it is a peek into lives that aren’t any of our business, aren’t interesting to anyone other than the people living those lives, and the peek involves obviously staged situations….hence, it isn’t at all ‘reality.’

9-6 pokeweed

I’ve been taking lots of photos of the dollhouse, as another publication – this one British – wants to do a feature on it. I’m very flattered and grateful. However, when you take photos for a magazine, they have to be submitted in their original large size, unedited. This makes for a big problem for me, because I always  edit dollhouse photos – I have to. Taking photos of certain rooms is always problematic because they’re dark and narrow – i.e., the bathroom, kitchen and study. I’ve tried everything! Natural light. Lights on both sides of the dollhouse. Hauling the dollhouse outside and hoping for better light. The shot will look good in the view finder on the camera and then I’ll see it onscreen on my laptop and shudder.

It’s a pain in the tush and I’m never happy with the unedited look of them. I can only pray that whoever edits them at the magazine can work some sort of miracle.

I’m reading The Hanging Girl  by Jussi Adler-Olsen. I’m a big fan of the Department Q series and this newest  book in the series does not disappoint. I’ll be reviewing it on Just Let Me Finish This Page  sometime this week.

I hope you’re having a lovely holiday weekend. Monday holidays never excite me, although I’m sure they did at some point in my younger working life – especially when I worked 9 to 5 in an office. In the theater, Monday is the traditional day off, so we usually feel cheated on the holiday front because there is never an additional day off to balance things out. And what do you do when the only day you have to take care of business is on a day where everything is closed for the holiday?

What are your plans for this weekend?

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

 

Filed Under: dollhouse, flowers, media, miniatures 41 Comments

Respite

September 4, 2015 at 8:05 am by Claudia

Thank you for your compassionate comments on yesterday’s post. I find I cannot write anything else about it, as the images of that day are still cycling through my brain and I’m haunted by them.

Though I was not up to replying to your comments, believe me, I read each and every one of them.

I won’t even go into the anger I feel towards those who did nothing.

I worry and fret that I could have done more, acted more boldly on behalf of the fawn, but Don reminds me I did all I could possibly do. And so it goes.

It’s been a tough week for us on many fronts, so we remind ourselves to stay positive, to express gratitude for what we’ve been given, to hug our girl, to take time to find some peace in the midst of what appears to be lack. But appearances are not truth. The truth is, we are blessed.

9-4 dollhouse late afternoon

The late afternoon sun creating some highlight and shadow in the den. Caroline must be ready to turn on her lamps for the evening.

9-3 zinnia with bug

If you look closely, you’ll see tiny bug – a spider? – on one of the petals. A lovely surprise that was revealed only when I started to edit this photo.

Today, the technician comes to replace the windshield. I’m going to tackle a little miniature project for Caroline’s house. I’m going to read.

I spent a lot of the past two days mowing our unending lawn. I wanted and needed to do it. It helps to have something physical to do that gives me a short respite from sadness and anger as I concentrate on the task at hand. And I have a bit of control, you see; at the end of the task, I see beautiful results.

It’s hot and humid here, so summer is still going strong.

Happy Friday.

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Filed Under: dollhouse, flowers, life 38 Comments

Tuesday Thoughts: Hay Bales, Morning Glories & Words

September 1, 2015 at 9:23 am by Claudia

• From my walk yesterday:

9-1 hay bales

Via the iPhone.

They’re like sculptures.

• It’s September and, thank goodness, there are still flowers blooming everywhere. Roses, phlox, geraniums, zinnias, rudbeckia, and morning glories.

9-1 Morning Glory

Morning glories grown from seed are unpredictable. We had morning glories growing along two long lengths of a chain link fence when we were living in San Diego. Blooms were everywhere and they emerged like clockwork. They were perennials in that climate.

Here? It’s different from year to year. I soak the seeds, plant them in the ground and, very slowly, little vines appear. By about August, the vines are twining around the chicken wire fence. The first year I planted morning glory seeds, I had lush blooms for a month or so. Everywhere.

9-1 Morning Glory 2

I’ve come to realize that every year will be different. Case in point: this year, the spindliest vines that look like they could be uprooted in a strong wind are producing the flowers. The lush and long vines that are providing lots of leaves and growth? Not a bloom in sight. I live in hope, however. Every day I examine those vines for signs of a little bud.

9-1 Morning Glory 3

So far – nothing. This one is on one of the smallish vines.

• Every once in a while, I write about language, usually in the form of a pet peeve concerning current usage. At the moment, I’ve got two of them swirling around in my brain. I’m absolutely sure there are more, but these examples have been especially troublesome lately.

And before you say anything, I’m sure the dictionary has already expanded its original definitions to include these changes, but then again, some dictionaries have now caved as to the meaning of ‘literal’ to include a definition that is “Used to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or strong feeling.” (See this link.)

Ummm…that isn’t the meaning of ‘literal.’

Just because a lot of people are misusing a word, i.e., literal, doesn’t mean we should change the meaning to accommodate them.

Number One (and I’ve mentioned this one before): Curate. If I see it one more time I’m going to scream. As in: bloggers ‘curating’ a collection. In reality? They picked their favorites. It’s a rather grandiose way to describe something we all do at some point when looking at items online. A curator is someone who cares for and tends to and chooses a collection, as in someone who works for a museum. That sort of curator has years of training and expertise and knowledge. If some online store asks a blogger to choose their favorite pieces, which is, in effect, an advertising and promotional tool for that store, that’s what is being done. Favorites are picked. Curated? No.

Number Two: Gifted. Gift is a noun. If I receive a gift, I am being given  a gift by the giver. If I wrap a present, I am giving  a gift to someone. Give  is a beautiful word. Why cheapen it and the selfless action of giving by saying ‘gifted?’

It drives me a wee bit nuts. And I hear it everywhere.

Yes, I know language changes. After all, a great deal of my professional work is about language. But taking a word and making it ‘less than’ makes no sense at all to me.

You give a gift.

A curator is an expert who devotes him/herself to working with and caring for a collection.

But then again, and I’ve also talked about this before, suddenly everyone is an ‘expert’ in this online world.

I know a whole lot about certain subjects, but I’d never call myself an expert. That’s not false modesty, it’s just the truth.

Sigh.

Happy Tuesday.

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Filed Under: flowers, garden, language, words 73 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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