Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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A Little of This, a Little of That

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Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being such great, supportive friends. I have been so touched by all the comments I have received about the article in Romantic Homes. Don and I can’t wait until we get to buy some copies at the bookstore. Would 20 be too many???

I’m still flying high…although I can’t fly too high in this horrendous humidity! We’ve had an incredibly hot, humid weekend here in the Northeast. Yesterday, I went along with Don to Woodstock where he played his music as part of a Concert on the Green.


Okay, I know I’m biased, but isn’t he cute? He did a bang-up job but by the time he was done I was ready to swoon from the humidity. I do not do well in humid weather. I could never live in the deep South. Although it seems more and more like the South here in New York this summer.

Continuing on in a somewhat random fashion, I was hanging laundry on the line the other day and I encountered this – also hanging on the line.


It’s the exoskeleton of a cicada nymph. (I had to do some research before I could tell you this.) Apparently the nymphs live underground until the nymph is ready to escape the exoskeleton as a winged adult. They dig their way out of the ground and climb up high. You can see the split in the back where the adult escaped. I was fascinated by this exoskeleton and the fact that it was still tenaciously hanging onto the clothesline.

Let’s end on a pretty note. Here is the surprise gift I received from my friend Joy of The Vintage Rabbit.


What a sweetie Joy is! You can see that there is a necklace in the pretty bag. Want to see it up close?


Could it be more perfect for a theater girl like me? Thank you, Joy. I miss you out there in California.

The Blob & the Tunnel

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Thanks for all the lovely comments about the porch. We really love it. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I must talk about the elephant in the room – or on the porch. This is a photo of my husband taken before I left for California. You can see there are no leaves on the trees yet.


He had just come home with this exercise bike…found at the curb in a neighboring town. Yes, he’s awfully cute, but we had nowhere to put it. I will say, for the 999th time, that our house is very small. The usual conversation ensued.

“Are you going to use it?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, if you promise to use it. And you’d better cover it with a drop cloth so it doesn’t rust when it rains.”

I didn’t like the idea of this big drop cloth covered blob on the porch, but I was leaving town so I let it go.


And there it remains. Unused. It sits there, with my husband’s bike that he’s thinking of selling – under the drop cloth. You wouldn’t believe how many times I have tried to shoot something on that porch with it looming in the viewfinder. I have expressed my desire to see it disappear. I’ll keep you posted.

Around here we say the words, “in the tunnel” a lot. What is the tunnel, you ask? It is Scout’s favorite place to lie on the floor. Definition: A ‘tunnel’ is the place on the floor between one’s legs and the piece of furniture one is sitting on. When Scout indicates she wants to go in the tunnel, I have to lift my legs in the air and hold them there until she gets in place. This can be exhausting if she is especially fidgety. Or if I am working on the laptop or balancing my dinner on a tray. In fact, she’s in the tunnel right now:


I am by far the most popular person for the tunnel. Don gets the request occasionally. Me – all the time. But honestly, could you say no to that face? I sure can’t.

More soon.

A Visit to the Old Homesteads

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I read through my email this morning and noticed that a photo of my sideboard turned kitchen island was featured at Houzz today. It is in a feature entitled “What to do with a Sideboard.” I was very surprised and pleased!

I’ve reached ‘S’ on the Where Bloggers Create list. Amazing studios out there in bloggerland!

Today I took a little trip in the car – a nostalgic trip – to take some photos of the apartment I lived in when I first moved here and the house Don and I lived in for 6 years.

It was good and bad.

The apartment building looks the same as ever –


This two story apartment building had 7 or 8 apartments and mine was the one you see on the ground floor.


See those steps? Don kissed me for the first time on those steps after an opening night party. Ah, memories…

Now for the house. We rented a Craftsman house in a charming neighborhood for 6 years. I planted a garden, mowed the lawn, pruned the bushes – it looked lovely. Since then it has been rented to a succession of people, including students. My garden is gone.


The grass is dead, the maple trees (rare for San Diego) have a lot of dead branches on top, the siding is dirty and hasn’t been cleaned in years.

An ugly security door has replaced the charming wooden screen door that was there before. Behind that ugliness is a gorgeous, dark wood, extra-wide door. Now it is totally hidden from view – in a neighborhood that is quite safe. Do you see all the plants that look brown in the front of the photo? Those are alliums. They surround the front and the sides of the house. In the spring they have the most beautiful pink blooms. People used to stop and ask me about them.

I guess this is what happens to a home that is neglected. My old next-door neighbors, on the other hand, have planted a beautiful xeriscape garden in their front yard, built a small natural stone fence – it is gorgeous.

Well you know the old truth, “You can’t go home again.”

On a brighter note: Happy Birthday to my husband!! I miss you, honey. I’ll be home in a week and a half and we will celebrate.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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