Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Pesky Deer, Slippers, & Books

August 28, 2019 at 10:39 am by Claudia

Do YOU have your very own pair of slippers from the Golden Nugget?

I thought not.

I know you’re envious. That’s the kind of thing that happens in the very glamorous jet set life of a voice and text coach.

Actually, Don is  jealous. There was another pair in the closet. I should have brought them home for him. (I did check with the hotel before I packed them, just to make sure it was okay.)

I’m sick about my morning glories. The pesky deer have chewed up all the leaves on the plants that are in the chicken wire fence garden. All of them. They also ate my moonflower vines – which were small and slow growing, but they had finally started to move up to the trellis. I’ve been growing morning glories for years and this is the first time any animal has eaten them. With deer, it’s a seasonal thing. Every once in a while you get a deer that is extra brave and comes rather close to the house. We’ve got one of those guys this season. Conversely, they haven’t eaten one bit of the hostas, which are usually their favorite plants to dine on.

I do have one more morning glory plant that lives on the fence right next to the side/kitchen door. I’m hoping that it is a bit too close to the house for them. And we’re trying to be very vigilant in the early morning and at dusk. We keep getting up and going to the side door to keep watch. And that’s all we can do. It’s just so hard when you’ve been nurturing seeds planted in the first week of May – all this time – only to see them destroyed.

I bought this yesterday. Even though I have to get it on publishing day, I usually don’t read it right away. It will be a year until another one comes out, so I delay my gratification.

Works for me.

Besides, I have plenty of books around here to read. Too many.

Another gorgeous day around here. It’s been so lovely lately. Cool mornings, autumn light, but nicely warm days.

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: books, deer, flowers, garden 36 Comments

Potpourri on Tuesday

August 27, 2019 at 9:50 am by Claudia

• Mowing and mowing and mowing. Since we were both so busy last week and it rained several times, the lawn needed attention. We still have to do the back forty, but it’s looking better out there. Now, for the inside of the house!

• The sunflowers that I planted from seed have bloomed. The flowers themselves are moderate in size, but I love this color. There should be at least one more blossom, however, we’re missing one because the deer ate it (I saw it happening.)

• Speaking of deer, I noticed this yesterday afternoon:

All along the fence, there are stubs where there should be leaves. I’m pretty sure it’s the same deer who likes to jump into the corral and eat whatever is growing on the other side. The morning glories look dreadful now, thank you very much. It hasn’t bloomed yet, but will it now? Last year was a bust with many of the morning glories and I’m not sure why. Fingers crossed.

• As I was sitting in the lobby of the theater in Las Vegas, I saw a big advertisement for their upcoming season. This brought a double-take:

Three things:

The young actors have been cast to look exactly like the actors in the original Broadway cast. Same picture, same hair, same, same.

It now says Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville.  Hmmm. That wasn’t there before.

It’s a non-union tour. It’s a non-union tour. It’s a non-union tour. It’s a non-union tour.

Let’s make that four things: You get what you pay for.

• Moving on – today is the publication day for Louise Penny’s newest, A Better Man. Yours truly will be trotting off to the bookstore later today. It’s my little tradition. I buy her newest book the day it comes out.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Filed Under: books, Escape to Margaritaville, flowers, garden, Louise Penny 29 Comments

Flowers and a Little Housekeeping

August 20, 2019 at 10:24 am by Claudia

Late summer garden. It’s sort of a mess, though I did do some weeding the other day. Truth is, it’s so hot and humid this week that I couldn’t weed if I tried. I just turned the A/C on at 9:30 this morning, which is far earlier than usual.

Tomorrow I leave for Las Vegas, quite early in the morning. So I won’t be posting. I’ll try to post while I’m there. If I can’t, I’ll be posting on Instagram. If you don’t have an IG account, you can come to the blog and click on the Instagram link on the right sidebar and it will take you to my account.

I know I’ve said this before, but I have to say it again because it still keeps happening. For those of you who get my blog post via email, please understand that if you ‘reply’ via that post, I am unable to respond. Those posts are sent via a special email address that is just for the posts. Not for correspondence. I’ve had people get upset with me about that in the past, even though I remind everyone about this at least 3 or 4 times a year. Go figure.

If you want to write me, come to the blog. You can click on the title of the post in the email version and it will take you to the blog. Personally, I’d rather  you did that as clicking on the blog gives me the ad income necessary to support this blog. (You get it for free, but it isn’t free for me.) Once you get here, go to the top of the right sidebar and you’ll see an envelope icon. Click on it. An email form will appear.

Easy.

I say this because a reader wrote me the other day via the email blog post asking how she could find the post I wrote about Bookmobiles. Again…the sidebar. There is a box on the sidebar that says ‘Search.’ Type in ‘Bookmobile’ and it should come up. There may be more than one post referencing them, just look for the post that has Bookmobile in the title.

Okay. Here’s a picture of Don and me taken by one of my former students last week.

It’s a bit blurry, but at this point in my life, blurry is a blessing, you know? Anyway, we like it.

I’m a lucky girl having that man as my life partner.

I’ll see you when I see you – in the next couple of days, most likely.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: blog, Don, flowers, garden 33 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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