Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Potpourri on Thursday

January 4, 2018 at 8:37 am by Claudia

• I’m officially ‘over’ Winter and it’s only January 4th. These sub-zero temperatures and, now, more snow, with freezing rain and ice in the forecast for the beginning of the week are too much. I’m over it. Don: “Look at the snow falling, it’s really pretty.” Me: “Don’t like it. Don’t want it.”

And we’re not even getting the brunt of this storm, which will hammer those who live nearer to or on the coast. We’re far enough inland that we’ll just get 3 to 5 inches of the white stuff.

The house is so dry that Don and I are constantly complaining about it. And before you ask, yes, we do have a humidifier and we use it every day. It isn’t making much of a difference. Rick and Doug have two of them, and they say the same thing: Nada. It’s been a tough winter so far.

Okay, enough kvetching.

• I entertained myself yesterday afternoon by taking photos with my big girl camera.

Paperwhites.

New growth.

Baby pileas. Or is it pileae?

More new growth. This schefflera has finally calmed down. For the longest time after I bought it, it kept shedding leaves, and since the previous schefflera that I had bit the dust, I was beginning to think scheffleras and I were on a collision course. I cut back on frequency of watering and it seems to have acclimated itself to the conditions in the cottage. I’m very happy about that!

• I managed to snag a copy of The Hidden Staircase, number two in the Nancy Drew series. This one is pretty hard to find, especially in fairly good condition. Once again, it was all in the timing. I happened to do a search right after someone had listed this as a Buy Now. It was a really good price, so I jumped on it.

Isn’t that a fabulous illustration? I love the clothes and the cloche hat.

Two more to go. They are from the last of the series that Tandy illustrated, with darker covers, and they’re fairly easy to find, so I should complete this collection soon.

• And finally, last night’s sunset:

Happy Thursday.

Filed Under: flowers, houseplants, Nancy Drew, snow, winter 40 Comments

Sun, Cold & Screeners

January 3, 2018 at 9:28 am by Claudia

As I natter on about the cold, I’m aware that today is to be the warmest day of the week and it will still  be below freezing. I’m also aware that keeping the blinds drawn makes it a tad warmer inside, but we have so few hours of daylight and I need sun.

I’d give anything for a 32° day.

One positive in the midst of endless cold: I’ve been drawn to the winter sunshine and the way it changes the look of the cottage throughout the day. Don pointed out the way the light was illuminating the Vernors soda crate the other day.

The crate and the blue of the table, along with a bit of a spotlight on the jade plant – lovely.

Light and shadow.

Since Don is a member of SAG, the Screen Actors Guild, we get to screen the movies that are up for Best Picture at the SAG Awards. They’re called ‘screeners.’ They trickle in through the mail in early January. Last night, we watched Get Out, a brilliant piece of work by Jordan Peele, who wrote and directed it. You might be familiar with him through his series with Keegan Michael Key called Key and Peele. It’s one of our favorites.

The film is incredible and we can’t stop talking about it this morning. I don’t know how to describe it except to say it’s a combination of horror/dark comedy/social commentary about race in America. The direction is impeccable, the cast is top notch, and the actor playing the protagonist, Daniel Kaluuya, is brilliant. I want to watch it again. It’s that good. I recommend it highly. It makes you think. And think again.

I’m not sure what our pick for tonight will be, but I do know it’s the perfect way to spend a winter evening – watching a movie with my sweetie.

Christmas is still up. I’m thinking I’ll take it down at the end of the week. But then again…

Happy Wednesday.

 

Filed Under: Christmas, houseplants, movies, winter 34 Comments

Blooming and Growing

January 2, 2018 at 9:22 am by Claudia

Oh, heavens, it’s cold. From the comments I’ve been receiving on Instagram, many of us are locked in this deep freeze. Seems a bit early for that sort of thing, doesn’t it? On Friday and Saturday, the temperature is not going to go above 7° – What the ????

I start my car every day – thank goodness I just had the battery replaced!

All of the paperwhite blossoms have opened and the scent is so heady!

I just finished reading the Person of the Year edition of Time. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it highly. The cover story is an in-depth look at The Silence Breakers – women who are standing up and speaking out about sexual harassment. It’s long past time for it to stop. We all have stories. I’ve certainly had to deal with my share of this crap, but none of it comes close to some of the horror stories I’ve read since the Weinstein scandal broke. Equal pay, equal rights, and no more sexual harassment and objectification – starting with ousting the predator in the Oval Office. There’s no justification for it. None.

Two new leaves on the monstera (split-leaf philodendron) have opened. I love that spring green color of the new growth. This one was a rescue, if you remember, from Terrain. I found it in the Sale area and it was extremely root bound. Scarily so. It seems to be thriving now, which makes me very happy.

Here are the flowers on the sansevieria. There are two more on the side of the plant facing the window. Don was putting trays away last night and he exclaimed, “The scent is amazing! Is it coming from the flowers?” Yep.

Thanks, Mom and Dad.

Also from Don this morning: “I’m not ready for the tree to be taken down yet.”

Good. Because I’m not either. I love coming downstairs in the morning and seeing the glow of the lights. (Don usually gets up before me.) So we’re going to let it stay until we feel it’s time to take it down. There aren’t any rules about this sort of thing and if there were, I’d break them.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Filed Under: Don, houseplants 36 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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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

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