Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Checking In

February 12, 2019 at 1:02 pm by Claudia

I’m a little late with this today, but on top of everything else, I’m so out of it that I mistyped the password for the blog (twice) and locked myself out!

I did post on IG earlier. We’re still sick – both of us. I finally went to the doctor yesterday just to rule out pneumonia and bronchitis and I don’t have either. It’s just something that’s going around – the doctor said it lasts for about 2- 3 weeks. All I know is that I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.

I started antibiotics, just in case they might help.

I’m completely wiped out. I’m coughing half the night. I don’t feel like eating much.

And to top it off, we’re getting a big snow event along with sleet and freezing rain. Since neither of us is capable of shoveling, and we know it’s going to warm up in a day or so, we’re just going to leave the snow and ice to melt.

I’ll be in and out on the blog, depending on how I feel.

Thanks, friends.

 

Filed Under: life 26 Comments

Strange Emotions

February 5, 2019 at 9:43 am by Claudia

I apologize for being a sporadic blogger of late. This “whatever-it-is” is taking its own sweet time leaving my system. I’m definitely seeing progress but I don’t have a lot of energy. Still coughing, sneezing, etc., but the chest is clearing and that’s a good thing. Frankly, when it takes all morning and into the afternoon for me to begin to feel halfway decent, the last thing I want to do is take a picture and blog.

And now Don has come down with it. He’s feeling pretty yucky this morning and I’m going to try to muster the energy to take care of him, like he took care of me.

For the time being, the loveseat and trunk are in our storage locker. I had a negative emotional reaction to them the other day – quite a strong one. I don’t quite understand it, and I’m sick, of course, which must have an effect on my emotions, but I couldn’t get everything back in that trunk soon enough. I also couldn’t handle seeing the loveseat in the living room and not knowing where, if anywhere, I wanted to put it. Same with the trunk.

It’s interesting. I’ve known I would have to retrieve this stuff eventually, and I kept putting it off. Most of the stuff in the trunk is memorabilia from high school and college and my time as a camp counselor. None of it symbolized an unhappy memory. But I couldn’t stand looking at it. I tried to articulate it to my husband and he, being the incredibly wise man he is, stepped in and said he understood and did I want him to move them to storage for now?

Yes, I said. So he did just that yesterday and I felt a wave of relief. All of this has been in my friend’s basement since I moved away to go to graduate school, which would have been 1983. Why it’s triggering such strong feelings, I have no idea.

I almost didn’t share this with you but I knew you’d ask me where I decided to put things. So there’s your answer: in storage.

I did keep the Haviland china here. No negative reaction to that.

This is the Pink Roses pattern. It’s Haviland Limoges and it was made in France – at least, the serving pieces have those markings- the teacups are marked ‘Austria.’ I’ll have to do some research into Haviland patterns. Since this was my great grandmother’s set of dishes, it’s from the late 1880s – early 1890s. As with much of the Haviland pieces of the time, there’s a lot of gold on the handles and edges.

I’m going to try and clear a shelf in the china cabinet in the den and display them there, which means I’ll have to re-home some of my McCoy pieces.

Okay. That’s it for today.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: life 32 Comments

Thursday

January 31, 2019 at 10:49 am by Claudia

Very, very cold. Water dripping from the taps so the pipes don’t freeze. Waking up in the middle of the night with a coughing jag.

I’ll be glad when all of this has passed.

I heard the shocking news that one of my former students passed away yesterday. Lonnie was a student of mine at Boston University and what a bright light he was. Kind, compassionate, funny, wise – he spent the years after graduating working for those in need, especially those who were suffering from AIDS. His extraordinary work touched thousands and, in reading the comments about him on Facebook, it is clear that he made a real difference in so many lives. He had a heart attack last week. We thought he was doing better. But his wife wrote yesterday that his brain activity was profoundly affected by the heart attack and they made the decision to take him off life support.

He had a four year old daughter.

I hadn’t talked to him in person for years, but we occasionally communicated via FB. All of us in the Boston University theater community are shocked and deeply saddened. He was such a fine person. An angel here on earth. Gone far too soon.

Stay warm out there.

Happy Thursday.

Filed Under: life 18 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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