Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Saturday

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You didn’t think for a second that I would be drinking anything but Peet’s, now did you? I’m on my second cup on this Saturday morning.

I’m sleeping well – the bed is pretty darned comfortable – although my neighbor to my right was playing music rather loudly last night. It’s 8 am and it’s happening again. Yikes. Don’t know what I’m going to do about that, but I don’t have the energy to deal with it at the moment.

Lovely cast, mostly new to me. One of the young actresses looked familiar to me and then I realized that she played Emily in the production of Our Town  that Don was in three years ago. Small world again! She’s a wonderful actress. We’re doing what is called table work, where we literally sit around a table and discuss the text, what it means, what it reveals about the characters. I love table work. I always learn something new.

That will be going on for the next few days. Another full day today.

I saw this guy on the milkweed the other day. This is the first time in the many years we’ve lived here that I’ve actually seen a caterpillar which will become a monarch butterfly on my milkweed! I was so excited!

And my geranium that I’ve overwintered for two winters now finally bloomed. So pretty! And very satisfying, I must say.

Happy Saturday.

Making My Home-Away-From-Home

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I rose early, drank my coffee, took a shower and then started packing up anything I hadn’t already packed. Then the loading of the car. Believe me when I say that every available space is taken by the time I head out the driveway!

The usual construction delays on I-84, with a stop at Trader Joe’s for fresh flowers – a must when I’m headed to Hartford.

I arrived around 12:40 and it took precisely one hour to unload the car. This involves me grabbing what I can carry, walking across the parking lot, entering the code for the building, going up the elevator, walking to the apartment, dumping the boxes/bags and then doing it all over again. About 15 times. That’s part of the reason I leave as early as I can. I just know that it will take time.

And, being who I am, I have to arrange everything and get settled before I can relax.

I took photos of the empty apartment but for some reason, they never registered on my iPhone. Hmmm. Anyway, here are photos of the apartment with everything I added to make it like a home.

As always, I bring two quilts that I made and hang them on opposite walls. You might remember there are two bizarre small, square canvases hanging on the wall just above the quilt. Rather than stare at them and contemplate ripping them from the wall (can’t do that) I hang the quilt as a distraction. It works.

I also bring lamps from home because the lighting is never enough for me and lighting is everything. The gray lamp on the table is from our office at home. The lamp at the far end of the sofa is one I’ve had for ages (originally from IKEA).

Fresh flowers in a mason jar on the coffee table, along with some books and magazines.

The basket is also from home. It’s holding my glasses, Carmex, and some chargers.

This time, I brought along a houseplant from home. I have these great window sills that are very deep, so why not put a plant there?

The desk. I brought that lamp along with me as well. Also added from MHC, framed photos, a piece of Roseville pottery, various notebooks and agendas.

The piece of painted wood is something I bought when we were in Cambria, CA. It’s from the oldest house in Cambria and the lovely junkers that owned a shop there added the vintage ladle. I think we’ll eventually hang it in our kitchen but it provides a nice splash of weathered color here. The copper mug is engraved with ‘Anastasia’ and was a gift from Christy (our very own Anastasia.)

The photo is of Don and me on the beach in CA celebrating our anniversary.

What’s the only item currently on the bulletin board?

A photo of our stove! I like to remind myself of its beauty.

I brought along the McCoy pot that was a gift from Tina and Noble. While at Trader Joe’s buying flowers, I noticed this plant. Hmmm. As I thought it might, the plant pot fit perfectly inside the McCoy. And now it’s in the other window.

This yellow lamp has been here as long I’ve been using this particular apartment, which is the one I always request. When I arrive, I find it in various places. This time it was on the desk. I promptly move it to the kitchen counter.

There’s the other quilt, currently covering up some mirrored squares that are inexplicably about 4 feet apart. This looks much better!

More flowers from Trader Joe’s in a vase I brought from home. And I always throw some fabric scraps in my suitcase – usually vintage barkcloth. I like this particular pattern here on the table.

In the morning and evening, I plop myself on the sofa and man the remote and/or read.

There you have it! I have a full day of rehearsal today and I’ve got to start getting ready.

I really like these apartments which are, to me, really high up there on the company housing scale. Tall, tall ceilings, a loft-like feel and shiny laminate floors, plus a very nice kitchen. It feels like home away from home. By the way, I also did an Instagram Stories last night which shows much the same thing you’re seeing here, only with my voice added.

(Don and I have already face-timed twice and I’ve been gone less than 24 hours.)

Happy Friday.

 

Heading On Out

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As I write this post late in the afternoon on Wednesday, Don is mowing the lawn. Now, I love mowing the lawn, but I have to say that I’m awfully tired at this point in the day because I’ve been on the go since early this morning, running errands, packing up bags of stuff, buying groceries and sundries, walking around the garden to imprint it in my memory, as I prepare to leave for Hartford.

I’ll be gone five weeks, but fear not, I plan to come back home to visit – hopefully, in a week and a half. I want to see my husband, the cottage, and the garden. Mostly, I want to spend as much time with Don as I can before he leaves for month of rehearsals in NYC.

Current hollyhock status. This is such a pretty version of this old-fashioned flower.

Morning glories.

Our very tall butterfly bush. Can you see the orb in the photo?

Zinnia.

The limelight hydrangea is so much bigger this year!

Big, fat hydrangea heads. My annabelle hydrangea blooms earlier in the year and by this point it’s beaten down by the heavy rains we’ve had, so it’s nice to have a second chance with the limelight.

Our local guy who tends our oil burner and does the plumbing came by today to check out where to set up the propane tank and to take a look at a section of the baseboard heating that I wanted trimmed. It extended into the area of the wall where the stove will be so I got down on the floor and checked it out a few weeks ago. Happily, the pipe that comes up from below the floor is actually under the window about 5 inches in from the end cap, so I thought it would be easy to trim off some of the housing and move the end cap over so that it doesn’t restrict the placement of the stove.

So, Gino came over (I wasn’t here) said the placement of the tank would be okay and to code (it has to be 5 feet away from any windows and we have a lot of windows!) and then looked at the baseboard heating, worried for a moment about the pipe and whether the pipe would have to be moved, and then confirmed what I already was pretty sure of, that it would be no problem. When Don told me that, I smiled knowingly.

As we get closer to the arrival of the stove (I don’t think they’ve finished working on it yet) Gino will come over and take care of everything, then he’ll  connect the line to the stove.

Gosh, I hope all this happens while Don is still here! He has to get several of his friends to come over to move the stove into the house. The shippers just leave it on the driveway. I’d feel better if he was handling it. Fingers crossed.

Okay. Have to go.

I’ll see you on the other side when I’ve arrived in Hartford.

Happy Thursday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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