Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

You are here: Home / Archives for jigsaw puzzles

A Respite from the Rain

at by

Current puzzle: difficult and slow going, partly because I’m outside when I can be so I’m not devoting as much time during the course of a day to it as I did during the winter and partly because… it’s difficult.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that, as of today, I have stopped using the pandemic day count as the title of my post. I was meditating this morning and I felt a clear direction to stop and move forward. So I have. In the end, making the decision was simple. Of course, now I have to go back to thinking up a title for each post, but I did it for twelve years, so I guess I can do it again!

The endless rain has stopped, at least until Saturday, when more is predicted. Both Don and I are ready to get back outside. I think a good portion of the day today and Friday will be taken up with mowing. I’m also going to prune some bushes today and do whatever else seems indicated before we mow in the afternoon (we have to give the grass some time to dry.) The two rivers that run through our neighborhood are very high at the moment and quite loud. I can see the tiny beginnings of leaves forming on the catalpas, which are always the last trees to leaf out and everywhere else there is green, green, green.

It’s been a long time coming.

Today is my brother’s birthday. He would have been 74. He’s been on my mind a lot lately. I miss him. Happy Birthday, Dave. It’s also the birthday of his youngest son, Eric, who lives in Chicago. I got to spend some time with Eric when Don was touring in Margaritaville.

Okay. Time to get a move on!

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Day Four Hundred Nine

at by

I’ll just get this out of the way: Best Actor and Best Actress should have been Chadwick Bozeman and Viola Davis.

I loved Nomadland. I wrote about how much I loved it here on this blog. And I am a huge fan of Frances McDormand. Everything she does is excellent. But I don’t think this particular performance was Oscar-worthy. Davis was brilliant. Take-your-breath-away brilliant.

I can’t speak to Anthony Hopkin’s performance, but I am absolutely sure it is excellent because…he’s Anthony Hopkins. But Chadwick Bozeman’s performance was incandescent. Stunning. Transformative. Heartbreaking in its brilliance. I don’t remember ever being that blown away by a performance and between my 40 year career in the theater and a lifetime of watching film, I’ve seen a lot of wonderful performances.

The ceremony itself? The less said about it, the better. They should have stuck with last year’s Virtual model, which was excellent. It either has to be grand and sparkling or, in the time of COVID, like the wonderful virtual show of 2020. Anything halfway in between doesn’t work. I would have much rather seen clips of the actors’ performances than hear a story about their first movie going experience. Anyway, I’m going on too long. The only reason we kept on watching is because we wanted to see the late, great Chadwick Bozeman’s win. Ah well.

Puzzle finished. Except for three missing pieces. So frustrating! Believe me, I didn’t lose them. When a piece falls to the floor, I know it because we have hardwood floors and I immediately pick it up. One missing piece? Possible. Three? Impossible. I really loved doing this gorgeous piece. It deserved better.

 

I finally started installing baseboard in the dollhouse. It’s tricky as the floors and walls are slightly wonky because it’s a rescue.

And I hung this oversize ‘ironstone’ platter above the AGA.

Today, I’m going to do a bit more clean-up work outside and tomorrow I’m going to buy some plants for my pots.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

 

Day Four Hundred

at by

• As we’ve reached Day Four Hundred, I’m currently pondering whether today will be the last post with the number of days in the title. I haven’t come to a conclusion yet, but I’m leaning toward phasing it out. As I weed in the garden bed today and do the laundry, I’ll be thinking about it.

Current puzzle: Main Street, from 1939.

• The new John Derian puzzle that I ordered last week from Amazon has been delayed. This is made all the more annoying since Oblong Books had it on their shelf and, knowing that I already had it on the way, I didn’t buy it. Amazon is saying delivery will be sometime between May lst and the 15th. No can do. Looks like I might be headed back to Oblong sooner than I thought.

• It rained much of the day yesterday, so everything around here is soggy. The perfect time to pull some weeds in the big garden bed. That’s what I’m going to do this morning.

• Something else to ponder: My sister and I were chatting the other day during FaceTime about messages from our parents. As you know, I had several visits from my mother, both when she was in the nursing home and on the day she died. I’ve never sensed a message or appearance from my father. Or my grandmother. But I did have one, long ago, from my grandfather.

And from my brother – more than one. Both Meredith and I have had dreams in which we were dancing with our brother. Vivid, powerful dreams. I remember feeling pure joy during and after that dream. He will be gone 30 years this year. It doesn’t seem possible. I love the fact that we’ve both danced with David in our dreams.

• Don is currently at our local farm stand/nursery. I was all set to go along and buy some plants but I saw it might go down to 33 this week (that’s awfully close to freezing) so I decided not to go. If I went, I would be tempted to buy plants and I don’t want to worry about them and have to bring them inside this week. So I’ll wait a week and, in the meantime, catch up on all the things that need to be done outside.

That’s it, my friends.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives