Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for flowers

Warming Up a Hotel Room & Thank you

April 18, 2012 at 9:21 am by Claudia

Bless you. Yes, you. Thank you for your warm, loving comments on yesterday’s post. Since I strive for truth in my writing, I must admit tears came to my eyes as I read your comments. I wrote that post because I had to. And having to write something always signals to me that I need the catharsis that will come when the post is finished.

I post every day because it is a good discipline for me. And in a spirit of total honesty, it helps my ad income. The more hits I get, the more income. Primarily, though, sitting down and writing is a pleasure for me. I go through periods where I am full of ideas for posts and then, inevitably, I sometimes dry up. I still write. It may be a sentence or two with photos as the primary substance of the post. It may be a link to another blogger’s post. Having to come up with something is, 99% of the time, a good thing. That’s not to say that I will always post every day. But, I’ll sure try to.

I’m back in Hartford. It’s sunny and lovely. I miss my husband and dogs, but that goes without saying. I told you that I changed rooms twice last week. On Friday night, the music from a bar in the building across the parking lot from the hotel was so loud that I thought I would lose my mind. Loud, thumping bass. So I changed rooms (during my one hour rehearsal break the next day) to another side of the building. This room was much smaller and the light wasn’t as good. That night, the traffic from the I-84 off and on ramps and subsequent stop light was so loud that I couldn’t block it out, even with ear plugs in. Guess what I did the next morning at 7:00 AM? Changed rooms again. Not to my original room, though I tried to get that, but to one two floors higher with the exact same configuration. I’m sure I’ll have to put up with the bass on the weekends, but I’ll shut the windows and turn on the air conditioning. Two nights of noise is a lot better than every night.

I brought back something from home to warm up my room.

What do you think? That quilt was one of the first quilts I ever made. I pieced all those bits of 30’s reproduction fabric and then hand quilted the whole thing. I always hand quilt, which might explain why I have two large quilt tops stashed in my closet waiting to be hand quilted. It can be daunting.

I used to have this hanging over the railing in my studio.

I love 30’s fabrics. They remind me of a simpler time. I also bought more flowers at Trader Joe’s but the other flowers I bought last week were still going strong. So I found a makeshift vase.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: decorating, flowers, On The Road, quilting 18 Comments

Around the House

March 26, 2012 at 11:25 am by Claudia

Yesterday I was in the mood to clean. I’ve long since learned that I have to be in one of those efficient, determined moods to do any deep cleaning. I tackled both bathrooms and the kitchen. If you are a longtime reader of this blog, you are more than aware of the fact that I hate cleaning the bathroom. I abhor, detest and dislike intensely cleaning the bathroom. I even wrote about it in this post.

I even washed the fake fruit in this bowl. Oh, I forgot; the thing to do is call it faux fruit. But really, it’s fake fruit.

Now it’s clean and spiffy, as are the countertops and the island. Side note: since I’m in the mood to use the word ‘detest’ let me add that I detest our tile countertops (the grout never looks clean) and I also detest our humongous black microwave. It takes up too much space. But since it came with the house and is still working, I can’t get rid of it. Oh, and I cleaned the inside of the microwave.

Do you see that piece of paper on the butcher block? Here’s what it says:

These are the kind of love notes my husband and I leave for each other. Mr. Riley has a debilitating disease which involves his spine and hind quarters. His poor muscles just don’t have the control they used to. So, if Don is working late, I leave him a note with a Riley update in hopes that if we cover our bases no ‘incident’ will happen during the night. We love our boy and aim to make his life as stress-free as possible.

Speaking of my husband, this pile of his washed and folded clothes has been in this chair for 3 days. Any bets as to when he will take it upstairs?

The other night, Don was waiting for Riley to, you guessed it, poop and sat down on the bench. He decided to play with his jumping jacks. The next morning I arose to find the guy in the center (soldier?palace guard?) decapitated. He has since been repaired. The monkey was also decapitated at one time, which is why his head is permanently cocked to one side.

Aren’t these flowers Easter-like? I found this mixed bouquet at Trader Joe’s and it reminded me of Easter eggs and Easter baskets and Spring.

Today it is very windy and tonight the temps are going to go down to the mid-twenties. A hard freeze. I’m worried about my lilac bush and all the other plants that have popped out of the ground in this early Spring.

Have a marvelous Monday!

Filed Under: flowers, Mockingbird Hill Cottage, Riley 14 Comments

Flowers, Books & Yarn

March 6, 2012 at 9:26 am by Claudia

I made the bi-weekly trip to Trader Joe’s over the weekend and came home with these. Aren’t they gorgeous? They’re waxflowers and I’m crazy about them. I like the wildflower-like big splash of color they bring to the living room. And look! There’s my pink milk glass hobnail vase.

I found this in a local antique shop a couple of years ago. It’s been nestled in my china cabinet ever since. I thought it might be nice to actually use it as it was intended…as a vase. This is one of my favorite finds. Such a soft, pretty shade of pink.

I wonder…can I plant some waxflowers in my garden? Are they compatible with my zone? Hmmm.

At the moment, we have an abundance of fresh flowers in the cottage. Some yellow alstromeria on the kitchen table, some mixed alstromeria in the den…

although the petals have begun to fall. Do you see the blue book in the foreground? It’s a vintage copy of Great Expectations that was just sent to me by my friend, Sharon. She enclosed a sweet note that said she was sending it to me because I ‘like old things and proper English.’ Oh, I do, Sharon! Thank you so much! An interesting accidental vignette, don’t you think? Charles Dickens alongside of modern day suspense/mystery writer Lee Child and my iPhone: When Centuries Collide.

Today I plan to pick up more rocks from the endless swath of dirt that is my front yard. There are a lot of them – we have rocky soil. I don’t want them there when I reseed. I’ll use them as edging for my garden beds.

The crocheting continues. And I am reminded that I have some prep work to do on The Tempest. Rehearsals start in just about a month.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Filed Under: crochet, flowers 27 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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