Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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On Sunday

January 3, 2016 at 9:56 am by Claudia

1-3 TSPlivingroom

Just playing. I don’t think I’ll have any time to work on this before I have to leave. Gosh, I love that sofa. I’m so glad I ordered it. Now to get one for my real-life den…

The fireplace needs painting. But since it needs spray-painting that will have to wait for warmer weather.

I managed to put off my research yesterday. I was feeling a little out of it, so I figured today would be a better day to begin. The brain needs to be sharp, you know. And that wasn’t the case yesterday.

I did, however, make French Toast for my husband. And it was yummy.

I slapped some paint on the bulletin board. It’s not perfect, but I don’t care. I hung it in the corner because I didn’t want it interfering with the clean view in front of the desk: white desk, aqua mantel shelf, egg cups. Nothing hanging on either side of the mantel.

I’d rather have it off to the side, where it’s not in my direct sightline.

1-3 bulletinboard

Bulletin/Pin boards evolve over time, I think. They take on a life of their own as we add things from current projects, reminders, snapshots, ticket stubs…whatever. So this is very basic right now; things that have meaning for me, photos I like to see as I’m sitting at the desk.

I found that photo of my parents when I was in Florida. It’s from my niece’s wedding. They look beautiful and happy. That photo of my dad in uniform came inside a letter he sent me this year. Love the photo of the cast, crew and creative team from Our Town  at Chautauqua this past summer. Such a lovely memory and a wonderful production. There’s Don and me at the beach in California many years ago. You might recognize the student I’m working with in that other photo. (We’re both a lot older now.) And there’s a card from Don that I especially love – all about life being an adventure – I wrote a post about it a while back.

That red is the same red I used on the Top Secret Project – might as well use what I have on hand, right?

It’s very cold out, but hey – the sun is shining! That makes such a difference! And I can hear the wind chimes right outside my window.

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: decorating, life 28 Comments

Hello There

January 1, 2016 at 9:16 am by Claudia

1-1 sunset

Well, hello there, 2016.

So far you look rather gray-ish and not very pretty. Maybe you’ll give us a glimpse of the sun at some point today?

Don got in gear yesterday and cleaned and sorted his part of the shared office space. We grabbed some storage bins and filled them up. So therapeutic! The room is looking much more spacious. When you consider that we had a bed, Don’s desk, two file cabinets, my grandmother’s large trunk, two chairs, 5 guitars, a linen cabinet and Don’s dresser in there, you can see how crowded it was. And why we avoided it like the plague.

Once we got rid of the bed everything changed. By the way, some of you have asked about the hallway. We moved Don’s vintage 30s waterfall dresser into the niche where I had my sewing machine. It actually looks good there. And we moved the pine cabinet that functions as our linen cabinet to the space formerly occupied by the pink cabinet. It makes more sense for the linen cabinet to be in the hall. All in all, it’s working out nicely.

So we made a little trip to the storage facility and dropped off some bins and other things. We made a mad dash to the bank because I had mistakenly torn a check that was sent to me in half. I know. What the ?? I was tearing up some junk mail and somehow the check got torn in half as well. Thank goodness I didn’t tear it into little pieces. The bank teller taped it together and the machine accepted it. Huzzah!

We had a slice of pizza.

Then we stopped by the used record store and came home with:

• A mint album (never opened) of Django Reinhardt (with Stephane Grappelli.) It’s fabulous.
• A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (Harry Nilsson) – one of my favorite albums ever and one I have moldering away in the shed. Needed to be replaced. In mint condition.
• The Ballad of Sally Rose – Emmylou Harris (sealed – never opened.)
• Pete Seeger – American’s Balladeer (sealed – never opened.)
• Follies In Concert  (Stephen Sondheim) – I have the album (in the dreaded shed) and the CD. I needed to replace the album because vinyl just sounds better. Hurrah, I did!
• Funny Girl (original Broadway Cast) – again, the album is in the shed. Time to replace it.

We’re having such fun! We came home and listened to a couple of our new finds and then had dinner, watched the New York Philharmonic/Live at Lincoln Center  and then watched part of Taken 3 , which was so dreadful we laughed out loud.

Lights out by 11:00.

Today? Who knows?

Happy New Year to one and all. May this year be filled with peace and joy and fulfillment and happiness and love. I’m so grateful for your presence in my life.

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

 

Filed Under: life 38 Comments

Simple and Stress-Free

December 23, 2015 at 8:51 am by Claudia

12-23 fog

This is what it looks like around here this morning. Very, very foggy. We’ve been having lots of rain, more is expected today and tomorrow, with record-breaking temperatures predicted for Christmas Eve. What a strange mix of weather this holiday season brings!

Please tell me I don’t have to go to Target today. Please?

Unfortunately, I think I do. I’m going to try to get that little chore done as early in the day as possible. But not until the fog lifts.

Nothing all that exciting happening around here, my friends. We’re reading, playing the guitar (well, Don is), taking care of Scout, shopping for the makings of our Christmas Coffee Cake and Christmas dinner. We are giving ourselves a Christmas present this year; we already know what it is, though I am going to wrap it. There will be a few little surprises, but simple and stress-free is the order for the day.

12-23 treeandchair

The Christmas Coffee Cake recipe is here. It’s simply the best coffee cake we’ve ever had.

Book Review on Just Let Me Finish This Page of The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. A lovely story about the power of books to transform.

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

 

 

Filed Under: Christmas, life 48 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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The Dogs

Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

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