Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

  • About MHC
    • Disclosure
  • Dollhouses/Minis
    • Hummingbird Cottage
    • The Studio (Formerly TSP)
    • Dove Cottage
    • The Lake House
    • The Folk Art Dollhouse
    • The Modern Dollhouse
    • Dollhouse Source List, Information and Tutorials
  • On the Road
  • Collecting
    • Roseville Pottery
    • McCoy Pottery
    • Egg Cups
    • Bakelite
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / Archives for garden

Off and Running

August 1, 2017 at 8:45 am by Claudia

I’m afraid I am low on photos for today’s post. Everything I shot (albeit very quickly) yesterday was blurry! I was blurry myself as I worked in the kitchen cleaning walls and cleaning the wood floor around the stove, which has a grease build up that I am having the hardest time eliminating. I swear I’ve been scrubbing it every day for over a week! I’ve googled, I’ve tried all the suggestions, but still can’t eliminate it entirely.

New rules for new stove: spatter guards, which we used to use and had somehow stopped using, less oil (Don tends to use too much), clean up every night after using the stove – well, we do that anyway, but more extensive cleanup. Maybe, eventually, a hood. Two questions: Do you have a hood and does it really help with all of that? And do you have any suggestions as to cleaning the wood floors?

In the meantime, I have to start work on the script today, so after I finish writing this post, I’m headed upstairs to the office for Act One of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And then more cleaning. We want to paint that wall before I leave so that it’s all set for the eventual delivery and installment of the stove.

(Like I needed something else to do before next Thursday!)

It’s getting hot again here – and humid – so I’m also spending a big chunk of time watering the plants and the memorial garden and chicken wire fence garden, which can really get hit by the sun. I am reminded that I have to write all of this down for Don – instructions on watering, instructions on how to make up the bed. Not that he doesn’t know how to make up a bed, but our California King involves putting the blanket on in a certain way, and certain pillowcases go on certain pillows. You understand. Oh, and instructions as to the house plants.

I was thinking this morning about how, during the course of my almost ten years of blogging, I have gone through so many stages: starting out on Blogger, making the decision to insert some modest ads, moving to WordPress, for a brief time, obsessing about income for the blog and making it a money maker, abandoning that eventually as something I wasn’t interested in or even remotely committed to, and now, taking the amount of ads down to just a few. I have all the income I need from the blog – enough to pay for the costs involved – and I can’t remember the last time I was interested in a sponsored post. Not to say that might not happen again, but basically, the blog is where I want it to be. I no longer feel the need for it to be anything other than a daily journal of my life here at the cottage. I arrived at this stage of the blog a few years back, but as I remind myself today – It’s such a relief!

Oy.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: blog, flowers, garden 62 Comments

Things to Do, Cars, Flowers & Mom

July 31, 2017 at 7:54 am by Claudia

Coneflowers self-seed so, over the years, they’ve spread throughout the garden, but this year! This year there are more than ever. I love it.

Every time I look at this photo, I see the reflection on the door and, for a moment, I think it’s one of the dogs. I have pictures of both Riley and Scout watching me from the other side of the glass. I catch my breath and am reminded of how much I miss them. Every day. It never stops.

We had fun at the car show yesterday. It was an absolutely beautiful day but I should have worn a sun hat. The bright sun beating down on all of us as we walked around this big, open field was sort of exhausting. There were a lot of cars, many of them of the newer variety. I really like the older cars, so I got a little bored after a while. I did see my faves: vintage Thunderbirds and mid-sixties Mustangs.

I can’t help it, I’m from Dearborn, Michigan, home of the Ford Motor Company. I grew up with test tracks, World Headquarters, manufacturing plants, and Fords everywhere. Several of the parents of my friends helped design those cars. I told Don that if we ever have mad money, I’d like a ’65 Mustang, please.

I’m leaving in a week and a half and I have so much to do. I’m rather overwhelmed at the moment, so I need to drink a second cup of coffee and start making some lists. I haven’t even seen Darko’s version of the script yet, though I know it’s on its way to me. Yikes. Too much to do, including prepping for the arrival of the stove. (It won’t be for a while yet, but our propane/boiler guy is coming a week from tomorrow to check things out.)

Today would have been my mom’s 90th birthday.  Happy Birthday, Mom. You are in my heart always. I miss you.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: flowers, garden, mom, Riley, Scout 45 Comments

Sunday

July 30, 2017 at 8:05 am by Claudia

It’s an awfully pretty time of year. The garden is in full bloom. Thanks to lots and lots and lots of rain this year, everything is a lush green.

Don was gone most of the morning yesterday. Later, we went out to run some errands and stopped at a neighbor’s barn sale. They live just down the road, I always see them from a distance, but when we stopped to check out what they had for sale, I realized the gentleman is someone I’ve seen and heard speak at our local meetings about the glamping resort (no updates on that at present.) Anyway, I had no idea he lived in that old farmhouse!

We got a few things – Don got a big old cowbell (cue SNL skit that never fails to make me laugh) and I bought two plant stands. I haven’t taken a picture of one of them yet but as to the other, when we were bringing things into the house, Don plopped it down near the living room chairs. I had planned to take it upstairs but it turns out it looks quite good right where it is.

$18. I’ll take it.

One of our errands was to explore a plant store in a neighboring town. Plant shops (not nurseries) are a rarity these days, and I wanted something a bit more unusual, so we stopped in. It was a beautiful shop and why the heck I didn’t take some pictures, I don’t know! The owner, by the way, said the reason you don’t see those shops very much is that plant suppliers only want to sell huge bulk shipments to places like Home Depot and Lowe’s. It’s hard to find suppliers for smaller shops.

I bought a couple of plants, plopped them inside a couple of the Guy Wolff pots and there you go.

There’s a car show in a neighboring town today. It’s the same town that has a neat antique shop, so we’ll have a nice little outing.

We watched Some Like It Hot  last night. I never tire of it. It’s brilliant.

Happy Sunday.

Filed Under: flowers, garden, houseplants 22 Comments

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • …
  • 256
  • Next Page »
  • Email
  • Instagram

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.

Thanks for stopping by.

Searching?

The Dogs

The Dogs

Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives

All Content © 2008 - 2025 Mockingbird Hill Cottage · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Reject
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT