Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for houseplants

Day Two Hundred Eighty-Three

December 21, 2020 at 7:58 am by Claudia

I love this ornament. The aged, faded beauty tells a story, not a personal story because I bought it a few years ago, but the story of many Christmases in some house, somewhere.

Oh, this is a strange time. A strange week. We’re doing our best to make it festive, though we’re missing gifts. Unless a miracle happens, we might be delaying our gift exchange. Fingers crossed, though it’s surely not the end of the world. This morning, we’re going grocery shopping for the week, so I’m writing this post early in the morning. We want to get there before it becomes too crowded and I’m desperately trying to wake up enough to write a list.

Tonight is the start of our week of Christmas movies every evening. We plot this out every year, usually ending with It’s a Wonderful Life  or A Christmas Carol  (with Alastair Sim) on Christmas Eve. Tonight will be White Christmas.

I’ve been feeling crappy for the last three days – my sinuses are really acting up. It’s time to start using the humidifier again as I suspect the dryness of the house is making things worse.

By the way, my parents’ 45 year old snake plant (sansevieria) is blooming. It has the most wonderful scent. I repotted it last year and it didn’t bloom (I was prepared, as I’d researched it.) But this year? It’s back! The paperwhites in the kitchen should bloom by Christmas. The ones in the den are growing a bit more slowly. That’s fine with me. I’m all for extending their bloom time.

Less than a month until Inauguration Day.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Filed Under: Christmas, houseplants 20 Comments

Plants, Movies & Books

February 20, 2020 at 11:04 am by Claudia

I do my best to keep this fern going during the winter months, knowing that if I can, it will blossom once it’s outside again. But there are lots of dead fronds along the way, lots of vacuuming, lots of worrying. As long as I see new growth – and I do – I know it’s okay. It’s just in dry, inside-the-house, winter mode.

This is the only place I can keep it – upstairs in the office – where it gets enough light and we aren’t bumping into it all the time. I have to do some nifty maneuvering to get to my desk but I’m a pro at it now.

We watched Dr. Strangelove  last night. It was on TCM. It’s one of our favorite movies. Don had been in the city all day and as he was doing something in the kitchen he mentioned that he’d like to watch something funny that night. As if on cue, we saw that Strangelove was on. It’s simply brilliant on every level.

It’s quite cold here today and I think it will remain that way for a few days. But it’s partly sunny, so I’m happy. Actually, I don’t mind the cold. I grew up in Michigan and have spent most of my life beyond the Michigan years in the Northeast. That’s really all I know, except for 8 years in San Diego, which were nice and refreshing for a while until I realized that I missed the seasons. Even my Southern California born-and-bred husband now loves winter.

I’m reading Hi Five  by Joe Ide. This is his fourth book in the IQ series. I can’t recommend his books enough. Ide is a terrific writer, funny and irreverent and Isaiah Quintabe, IQ, is such a wonderfully drawn character. When I learn that Ide has written a new book, I’m so happy. After my experience with Lock Every Door, it feels so good to read a book in which the plot is complex, as are the characters, and I know I’m being guided along by a pro.

We’re going to lay low today and hang out here in the cottage. I’m looking forward to it.

Happy Thursday.

 

 

 

Filed Under: books, houseplants, reading 24 Comments

Potpourri on Friday

September 20, 2019 at 10:20 am by Claudia

• Oh my heavens, it was cold on our morning walk! I think it must have been in the forties, though I didn’t stop to check my weather app. Anyway, I felt it. Such a cold morning given that the temperature is going to hit the eighties tomorrow and Sunday. But that’s autumn for you.

• This David phlox is still blooming in the big garden bed. I managed to click the shutter just as the white spider emerged. Great camouflage, wouldn’t you say?

• Don is playing his guitar as I write this. We had our second cup of coffee after the walk. Part of our little morning ritual involves an app Don has called Word of the Day. We look at the word, think about it, and then I will say what I think it means, and Don will say what he thinks it means. We’re usually right, but sometimes we are completely wrong, or one of us will say we have no idea what it means. I have come to realize that there are a few words I routinely read that I assume I know the meaning of, but in reality, I don’t.

Then we read a bit from Samuel Pepys diary. Pepys, in case you’re unfamiliar with him, lived in London in the 17th Century. He kept a diary over the course of 10 years. It tells us a great deal about daily life in the city, as well as the Great Fire of London, which Pepys witnessed. He was an administrator for the navy and, eventually, a member of Parliament. He kept the diary from 1660 to 1669. We have the volume for 1660, so we have started reading it aloud to each other. We just started doing that this week.

Yes, we’re nerds.

• Huzzah! My monstera is growing another shoot! That makes seven in the last two months. So proud of my once-abandoned baby.

• I head for the miniature show tomorrow. I briefly debated whether to go or not, but it’s always inspiring and I can use some inspiration. I shall be back into the dollhouses come winter, so any and all inspiration is welcome.

But it will be a long day because it takes over 2 hours to get there. Don and I were talking about it this morning and I said it’s the only miniature show I go to and that there’s a big one in Philadelphia in November, but I never seem to get there. He said he’d go with me! I didn’t even ask him! Bless his heart, it would be much easier with him along for the ride.

How did I get so lucky? I thank God for that man on a daily basis.

I’ll post tomorrow if I have time, but if I don’t, it’s because I have to get on the road early in the morning.

Happy Friday.

Filed Under: Don, flowers, garden. grass, houseplants, miniatures 26 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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